Since his health scare in 2005, Vincent D'Onofrio has appeared in only half the episodes of this show, alternating the lead with former Law & Order star Chris Noth. This may explain the show's declining fortunes. With his quirks, twitches and improbable feats of deduction, D'Onofrio's Detective Goren can be annoying but does provide this version of the Law & Order stable with a point of difference. Without him it's just another cop show and that's what we get tonight.

When a witness in a rape trial is murdered the morning she is to give evidence, detectives Logan (Noth) and Falacci (Alicia Witt) find themselves up against an ambitious and unco-operative assistant DA and a cranky football coach determined to protect his players.

The episode unfolds with the requisite twists and turns and races to a satisfying conclusion, even if Noth looks as though he'd rather be somewhere else. Witt, on the other hand, plays his hot-headed partner as if there's no tomorrow, which was more or less the case. Her short run on the show ended one episode later when Julianne Nicholson returned from maternity leave to resume her role as Logan's regular partner, Detective Wheeler.