Law & Order on NBC season 25, episode 3 review:

SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Law & Order Season 25, Episode 3.

One of the perks of Law & Order going back to its first season has been the proliferation of theater actors who have graced the NBC show. They’ve given the guest characters color — and in the legendary Jerry Orbach’s case, created one of the series’ best heroes. Law & Order Season 25, Episode 3, “White Lies” is another example of casting making all the difference.

“White Lies” in itself is a fairly good episode. It takes a while to distinguish itself from the plethora of “eat the rich” stories, but it does so by adding a strong emotional layer to the story. The script also largely avoids getting up on its soapbox, which has been a common criticism of the Law & Order revival. There’s one brief speech from ADA Samantha Maroun about good and evil that seems to have forgotten the events of the season premiere. But other than that, the episode isn’t trying to tell the audience what to think or feel. Instead, the guest actors drive the story.

When businessman Tom Hardiman is shoved in front of a taxi, Detective Vincent Riley and Lieutenant Jessica Brady wind up going through a lot of the usual motions about corporate greed and bad business (like the difference between a “corporate…