The Serpent's Tooth

Episode aired Mar 19, 1991
TV-14
1h

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

478

YOUR RATING

Michael Moriarty and Richard Brooks in Law & Order (1990)

CrimeDramaMysteryThriller

A businessman and his wife are killed. The couple's two sons emerge as the most likely suspects, but detectives later find business ties to the Russian mob.A businessman and his wife are killed. The couple's two sons emerge as the most likely suspects, but detectives later find business ties to the Russian mob.A businessman and his wife are killed. The couple's two sons emerge as the most likely suspects, but detectives later find business ties to the Russian mob.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

478

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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7.5478

Related interests

James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Sharon Angela, Max Casella, Dan Grimaldi, Joe Perrino, Donna Pescow, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Tony Sirico, and Michael Drayer in The Sopranos (1999)

Storyline

Did you know

Trivia
This episode appears to be based on two separate cases/incidents:
The 1989 Menendez brothers case. A double homicide that occurred in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. [Cragen: "That case in La La Land..."] On August 20, 1989, Lyle and Erik Menendez murdered their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, and then went to the movies to give themselves an alibi. They were later convicted of the murder in a highly publicized trial. They claimed that they were driven to it by a lifetime of abuse from their parents, including sexual abuse from their father. The past criminal records of the brothers stood in contrast to their "escape from parental abuse" theory. Under the terms of the sentences for their multiple crimes, the brothers are expected to spend the remainder of their lives in prison. The Menendez brothers case is also the subject of the "Law & Order" spin-off series Law & Order True Crime (2017), which is a "true crime" anthology series that goes into the details of the investigation and the trials of the brothers.
The 1974 Ronald DeFeo case. Ronald Joseph DeFeo Jr. was an American mass murderer who was tried and convicted for the 1974 killings of his father, mother, two brothers, and two sisters in Amityville, New York. Sentenced to six counts of 25 years to life, DeFeo died in prison on March 12, 2021. The case inspired the book and film versions of The Amityville Horror (2005).

Goofs
When the detectives first see the male victim's body there is tape on the floor in the usual 'body outline' manner. Unfortunately the blood from the body is on top of the tape instead of under it.

Quotes
Margaret Langdon: He had a short fuse. Mrs. Jarmon kept reminding him they were just children.
Max Greevey: Nick get the worst of it?
Margaret Langdon: You have to understand, he was the first child.
Mike Logan: Miss Langdon please, you're not speaking ill of the dead, we have to know! Did he beat his kid or not?
Margaret Langdon: Almost every day. He used whatever was on hand. A belt, a tennis racket, one time he used a wooden coat hanger.
Max Greevey: Mrs. Jarmon didn't do anything to stop it?
Margaret Langdon: You have to understand, she was terrified of him. It went on that way for years, then finally when Nick was 16 he had enough and he hit him back. He never laid a hand on Nick after that.
Mike Logan: Until Nick broke his jaw.
Margaret Langdon: No, that was because of Gregory.
Max Greevey: Greg hit his father?
Margaret Langdon: No... Mr. Jarmon was beating Gregory with a cane. Nick had to stop it... that's when he hit him.