Law & Order Season 4 Episode 13 Breeder

Breeder is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of the crime procedural TV series, Law & Order. The episode originally aired on January 13, 1994, on NBC. The episode deals with a case of a baby who was found abandoned and dead in a subway station. The detectives of the New York City Police Department's 27th Precinct try to trace the infant's parents and find out why the baby was killed.

The episode starts with a woman walking down the stairs of a subway station, holding a baby. She leaves the baby on a bench and walks away. Moments later, a transit cop finds the baby and reports it to the precinct. Detectives Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Mike Logan (Chris Noth) are assigned to the case. They investigate the crime scene and determine that the baby was suffocated to death. They also find a piece of paper with the word "Breeder" written on it.

The detectives start to search for the baby's parents and identify a woman named Margie Fowler (Cynthia Nixon) who had given birth to a baby at a local hospital a day before the incident. The detectives visit Margie and her husband, who initially deny any involvement in the crime. However, they later confess to leaving the baby in the subway station because they couldn't afford to take care of it. The police also learn that Margie had delivered twins, but one of them had died shortly after birth.

As the investigation progresses, the detectives find more clues that lead them to a group of people who are involved in the illegal trade of babies. They discover that the word "Breeder" was a code word used by the members of the group to refer to the women who were paid to carry the babies and then give them up for adoption. The detectives apprehend the leader of the group, who confesses to ordering the murder of the baby to cover up their illegal activities.

Meanwhile, the District Attorney's office is struggling with a separate case involving a woman who was accused of murdering her own baby. Assistant District Attorney Jamie Ross (Carey Lowell) is assigned to prosecute the case and has to deal with the ethical dilemma of prosecuting a mother who, in her opinion, acted out of desperation and not out of malice. The storylines of both cases eventually intersect, leading to a surprising conclusion.

Breeder is a thought-provoking episode that deals with sensitive issues like infanticide and illegal adoption. It raises questions about the ethics of surrogacy and adoption, and whether or not it is fair to profit from these practices. The episode also explores the motives that drive people to abandon or kill their own babies, and how societal and economic pressures can lead to desperate measures. The story is well-written and keeps the viewers engaged from start to finish, with solid performances from the entire cast. The episode concludes with a bittersweet ending that will leave the viewers with a lot to ponder on.