With her blonde hair, vulnerable look, and doe-like eyes, Francie Swift looks as if her stock in trade might be Laura Wingfield, in "The Glass Menagerie! And she has uses that to very good effect, in her two signature "Law And Order" appearances, the episodes "Switch," from 1995, and "Merger," four years later, in 1999.
In "Switch," Francie plays a woman with multiple personality disorder. Their names were Megan Nelson (her birth identity), Bobby Walker, and Nancy. The psychiatrist she was seeing is found murdered, because she was getting to the truth that Megan witnessed her father murdering her mother. I was sure Daddy did it. But Megan, the most vulnerable of them all, had the personalities to protect her. It turns out that Nancy, a real sophisticated bitch, did it, to protect Megan, though you can bet Daddy was happy. Megan still has mental troubles, and Francie was great at conveying them. Especially when she transitioned into Bobby Walker. But she wasn't nearly as good as Cynthia Nixon as Janis Donovan in "Alternate." However, don't be fooled by Megan's buttery act. She'd stab you in the back.
So would Mercedes Garrison, the character Francie played, in the 1999 episode "Merger." The title is a clever tip-off to what the whole story is about. Mercedes' younger sister, Christine, is murdered, and everyone seems to want to pin the murder on Mercedes, who is just a basket case. It turns out that Megan is the daughter of a wealthy family, who is supposed to marry the son of another, so the families' two businesses can....merge!!!!!!!!! But Mercedes has a secret; when she was fourteen, on a trip to the islands, she got involved with some boy, and got pregnant. The baby was gotten rid of (adoption, I think!!!!!!!!) and the whole thing was hushed up, because, to the son, Megan, if the secret were known, would be damaged goods, and the merger marriage would not take place.
Christine knew the secret, and wanted to tell. Maybe she resented Mercedes. The poor basket case. Yeah, right! Because, it turns out, to protect the family money, Christine was not murdered by her sister, Mercedes; she was killed by her won mother, Pepper, played by that evil Ann Twomey. Remember how skilled she was as the pedophile pimp, Sarah, in the 1991 TV movie, "Bump In The Night?" She should have been killed, too. Christopher Reeve commits suicide; there should have been a scene showing Ann's character, being burnt at the stake.
Same thing with "Merger." She should have been roasted for killing her own daughter.
Even the father, played by Walter Bobbie, is horrified! But, you know what? The wedding does take place. So, the family gets their merger, using the vulnerable daughter as a sacrificial lamb, to be nothing more than pussy for the son to produce children! The whole thing disgusts me!
However, if I were Mercedes' husband, I would be very careful. She has her mother's icy blood in her veins, and, sooner or later, that doe-eyed act is going to be dropped, and her true diabolical nature will come out!
Wish there had been a followup episode, showing that!
Just love Francie's approach to the diabolical!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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