With a name like "Purple Heart" you might expect this episode to have something to do with the military. Instead, this one is about loan sharks and the wife of the victim, the latter of whom is briefly said to have fought in Operation Desert Storm. Soon there's a second murder too, and it's up to the prosecutor's office to link them.
The best part about this one is guest star Michael Beach; he really puts up a fight as the defense attorney, turning - as Steven Hill says in the episode - witnesses into suspects. The case gets even tougher when the judge (Dominic Chianese) rules that the prosecutors will have to make their case without hinting that the defendant was involved in her husband's murder.
This was a 7 for the been-there-done-that loan shark stuff, but Michael Beach's zealous performance raises it to an 8 for me - and LisaGay Hamilton is similarly excellent as Denise Johnson.
Good stuff.
The best part about this one is guest star Michael Beach; he really puts up a fight as the defense attorney, turning - as Steven Hill says in the episode - witnesses into suspects. The case gets even tougher when the judge (Dominic Chianese) rules that the prosecutors will have to make their case without hinting that the defendant was involved in her husband's murder.
This was a 7 for the been-there-done-that loan shark stuff, but Michael Beach's zealous performance raises it to an 8 for me - and LisaGay Hamilton is similarly excellent as Denise Johnson.
Good stuff.