The Wheel (Law & Order)

"The Wheel" is the 286th episode of NBC's legal drama Law & Order, and the ninth episode of the 13th season.

Plot

The smoldering corpse of an Asian girl found outside the Chinese consul general's apartment leads the detectives to believe she had immolated herself to make a political statement. When forensics shows that she had been murdered beforehand, they find themselves in the middle of a religious conflict with the consul general their prime suspect and his attorney, an old friend of District Attorney Branch.

The episode refers to Falun Gong and related protests that occurred in Tianjin, China, in 1999.

Episode cast and crew

Main cast

Fred Thompson - District Attorney Arthur Branch
Sam Waterston - Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy
Elisabeth Röhm - Assistant District Attorney Serena Southerlyn
S. Epatha Merkerson - Lieutenant Anita Van Buren
Jerry Orbach - Detective Lennie Briscoe
Jesse L. Martin - Detective Ed Green

Guest stars

Judy Kaye - Judge Susan Liebman
Leon Adair Jr. - Bailiff
Chris Sarandon - Howard Pincham
Grant Chang - Akai Yuen
Ken Leung - Tommy Wong
Liana Pai - Wendy
Kate Rigg - Sally Xiao
Tzi Ma - Chinese consul general Li Chen
Marni Lustig - Colleen
T.J. Kenneally - Eileen Letchworth
Eileen Letchworth - Mr. Schumacher
Khrystyne Haje - Rebecca
Bob Sorenson - M.E. Steve Kurt
Mike Pniewski – Asst. M.E. Cooper
Anthony J Ribustello - Hank
Matthew Lawler - Rudy
Denny Bess - Billy Finn
Tom Zemon - Bill Walker

Director
Richard Dobbs

Producers
Gary Karr - supervising producer
William N. Fordes - supervising producer (LA)
Roz Weinman - supervising producer
Dick Wolf - executive producer
Michael S. Chernuchin - executive producer
Jeffrey Hayes - executive producer
Peter Jankowski - executive producer
Arthur Forney - executive producer
Richard Sweren - executive producer
Richard Sweren - executive producer (NY)
Lewis H Gould - executive producer
Eric Overmyer - executive producer (NY)
Wendy Battles - executive producer (LA)
Kati Johnston - producer
Jill Goldsmith - producer
Terri Kopp - producer
Marc Guggenheim - co-producer
Kathy O'Connell - associate producer
William Finkelstein - executive producer
Arthur Penn - executive producer

Writers
Aaron Zelman — executive story editor
Noah Baylin — story editor
Jill Goldsmith— writer
Dick Wolf — creator

Casting
Suzanne Ryan - casting director

Production management
Lewis H Gould — unit production manager

Art department
Gary Weist - production designer

Editor
Michael Schweitzer - editor

Music
Mike Post

Camera, film & tape
John Beymer - director of photography

Special Note
This episode was the first dedicated to the memory of Jerry Orbach who played Detective Lennie Briscoe