This episode combines two brilliant ideas, either of which on its own would have been sufficient to make a great hour of TV. Put together, they make this one of the finest episodes of Law & Order ever made.
First, there is a devilishly ingenious murder plot. Joanne Sullivan is on the run from underworld casino bosses whom she has been cheating along with her husband. To escape her pursuers, she murders her sister, leaves her body naked in an elevator, and assumes her identity. Because Joanne resembles her sister, the plot succeeds: the police believe that she's really her sister Lucy Sullivan, who leads a quiet and unexciting life in their hometown of Terre Haute, Indiana.
However, it's easy to overlook the intricacies of the crime, because they are quite overshadowed by another drama: the escalating sexual harassment of new ADA Jamie Ross by Judge Nathan Marks. Jerry Adler's performance makes Marks, with just this one appearance, the most memorable judge of the entire series. In Adler's hands, Marks is supercilious, condescending, arrogant -- an easy character to hate, yet also brilliant in his wit and wordplay.
Carey Lowell, in just her second appearance as Ross, handles herself with aplomb, seemingly relishing much of the verbal combat. And McCoy gets to go to jail for contempt. The scene where he introduces DA Schiff to his new cellmates (including a murderer) is hilarious.
This episode also raises some worrying questions about the extent to which the human frailties of judges affect the integrity of the criminal justice system. In this case, the system works and Judge Marks eventually gets put in his place. In the real world, perhaps he would not.