Lead (Season 10, Episode 15)
Premise: The murder of a convicted pediatrician brings back ADA Alexandra Cabot and leads to a young man whose disability may have been caused by poisoned toys.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 10, Episode 15
- Starring
- Det. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Det. Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), Sgt. John Munch (Richard Belzer), Det. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Capt. Donald Cragen (Dann Florek), ADA Kim Greylek (Michaela McManus), ADA Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March), Dr. George Huang (BD Wong), CSU Ryan O’Halloran (Mike Doyle), Judge Barry Moredock (John Cullum), Judge Lena Petrovsky (Joanna Merlin)
- Guest stars
- John Gallagher Jr. as Jeff Lynwood, Fredric Lehne as Clive Lynwood, David Thornton as Lionel Granger, Robert John Burke as IAB Lt. Ed Tucker, Mariette Hartley as Lorna Scarry
- Director
- David Platt
- Writers
- Jonathan Greene
Summary
“Lead” opens with pediatrician Gilbert Keppler convicted of sexually abusing four boys and confined to his home with an ankle monitor until sentencing. His lawyer, Lionel Granger, serves the squad with a lawsuit claiming the NYPD and Denslow Medical Center knew about the abuse and waited to act. IAB Lt. Ed Tucker asks why the arrest took three weeks. Flashbacks show that the first accuser, Justin McTeague, had a year earlier falsely accused his math teacher, Kevin Sammers, wrecking his career, so Cragen had the detectives find another victim before moving. Bradley Hicks told the same story, and Keppler was arrested with a patient, Chuck Paisley, on the table.
Keppler’s suit says Denslow knew a year before the police did, but the hospital’s lawyer, Logan Coldwell, will not discuss it. When Benson and Stabler go to see Keppler, they find him shot and beaten to death. Greylek has gone back to the Justice Department, and the ADA who arrives is Alexandra Cabot, out of witness protection for three years and brought back by Jack McCoy. Munch tracks down former head nurse Lillian Siefeld, who saw Keppler abusing a boy and reported it, only for Coldwell to threaten her job, and an obstruction charge against Coldwell is prepared. DNA from gloves at the scene points to Clive Lynwood, whose gold-plated .45 is missing, but defense attorney Lorna Scarry argues the partial match is meaningless, and the judge dismisses the case.
A fingerprint etched into a shell casing by salt points to Clive’s 19-year-old son, Jeff, who works at a burger restaurant and shares half his father’s DNA. Jeff, who is developmentally disabled, says Keppler abused him as a small boy and describes taking his father’s gun to Keppler’s home and beating him after Keppler called him names. Granger takes Jeff’s case. Jeff attacks Huang during an evaluation, and when Cabot pushes hard on cross-examination, the judge rebukes both lawyers. Jeff’s habit of chewing objects leads to a diagnosis of pica, and a brain scan shows damage from lead poisoning that began with paint he licked off toy cars as a child; Keppler never tested him for lead.
Spoiler, the ending: Called as a witness, toymaker Michael Rowan insists his company has not used lead paint since it was banned, until Cabot produces lab results and emails showing he knew, and he is arrested for reckless endangerment. Jeff is found not guilty by reason of mental defect and committed to a hospital. Rowan Toys has agreed to support him for life, and Cabot reveals that Rowan signed hoping to avoid charges, which she then refused.
Why it stands out
- Stephanie March returns as ADA Alexandra Cabot, replacing Kim Greylek; her previous appearance on the series was in season 6, when Cabot was still in hiding.
- This is Michaela McManus’s final episode as Greylek, whose run lasted only the first 15 episodes of the season.
- The episode was dedicated to crew member Dennis Radesky, who had died.