Post by fonebone on Mar 23, 2023 2:23:37 GMT -8
Law & Order "Almost Famous"
Pretty good week. Aside from the runner. That always pisses me off.
Price did two really great things. Telling the dude if he didn't take the deal he was going to do everything he could to make him spend the rest of his life in prison. What's great is the jerk believed him. The other great thing he did was saying he was gonna prosecute Max for manslaughter. I don't care how young he is or how dumb his parents are. He made a bad choice and has to live with it. Good for Price for knowing that even after hooking the Big Fish.
I thought the judge was absolutely terrible. She made so many bad calls in both the courtroom and chambers I thought it was going to turn out she was on the take. In reality the show is badly written. No judge in real life would have allowed that awful lawyer to accuse the guy on the stand of being pedophile simply to score points. It was reprehensible and every "I'll allow it" told me that judge deserves to be thrown off the bench. Similarly appalling was her excluding the video because the awful lawyer convinces her the kid is "acting as an agent of the government". Honestly, I think the real problem is bad writing, and the writers simply don't know how to write credible judges. And this has been a big problem on the relaunch so I can't even call this misstep an outlier.
The acting coach at the beginning was a perfect red herring in the sense that everything the viewer saw him do made us think he was abusing that kid. It's a pretty sweet trick the writers had an explanation for everything, even the child porn charge (done as a highschooler from a topless pic from his girlfriend). Even the outcry the officers heard from the hallway and the scenes he was practicing made him sound entirely guilty.
Something bothers me a little, and it's a problem for all television, and not just this show. But I didn't believe the idea that somebody is putting kids under contract to do Jackass stunts and nobody is doing anything about it. It seems like a problem that doesn't exist that fogey writers believe does. The show isn't just old-fashioned because of the quips the detective do bemoaning social media and how they want nothing to do with it. It's because they are making it sound worse than it probably is. These are old people fears. Maybe the showrunners need to shut off Fox News for a hot minute.
Decent week. Outside of the crappy judge (and maybe the actual unbelievable premise) I didn't have too many other complaints. Well, the runner. Always the runner. ***1/2.
Law & Order "Mammon"
The rest of the episode wasn't bad but the ending shows why I believe Rick Eid runs the show entirely without a conscience.
It wasn't entirely "Not bad" however. The chase scenes continue to annoy and confound me. Do the producers actually think we find them exciting? This iteration of the show strikes me as a bit pathetic for always going back to them.
But the episode wasn't terrible. ***.
Law & Order "Heroes"
Rick Eid wrote it and it was surprisingly decent so I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. And yeah, the ending hits and ruins the entire episode. On-brand for Eid.
I think Riley did great on the stand which is why I'm so pissed Eid did wrong by him. Just like Eid does wrong by every single person who helps either the police or the prosecution. It's pathological at this point.
Let me clarify something regarding officer cowardice. I find unwillingness to engage in a dangerous situation due to fear a lot more forgivable than cops spraying bullets everywhere due to fear. I think the reason people were so upset about the cops sitting on their hands during that Texas school shooting is because of how free with their guns cops usually are when confronted by people they perceive to be threats. But really, I think a cop being human is understandable.
But the ending is why we can't have nice things, and why Rick Eid is the worst thing to happen to the franchise since D.A. Branch on the old show. And frankly Eid is MUCH worse for the health of the show than Fred Thompson ever was. *1/2.
Law & Order "Fear And Loathing"
For once the case went all right but I can't help feeling like the outcome of Shaw's story is nothing but a defense of the Blue Wall. If the lesson is you can't fight it, that means the writers are defending it. There's no other way to read that.
The thing that pisses me off the most is both Cosgrove and Dixon tell Shaw that no matter what he decides, they have his back. And then... They don't. It's infuriating.
This show has problems. **1/2.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit "Blood Out"
They are NOT kidding about going there. That was the closest Stable and Benson EVER got.
Man, Valasco is slime. Really. But to be honest, Bruno bribing the victim for information is also problematic as hell.
Stabler and Benson COULD be a thing at some point. That actually blows my mind. SO close here. The show has taken over 20 years, but damn. ****.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit "Intersection"
While it is true that when talking to suspects Valasco is a notorious liar, after hearing that recording, that isn't something I'd simply take for granted. It's actually concerning. Considering Valasco gave the dude drugs in the previous episode, it probably means he IS dirty.
Do I want him to be? The show used to walk that stuff back. God knows they did with Rollins enough times. But I think it would be interesting to do that with Velasco especially considering he's trying to play "Good cop" with Muncie at the same time.
And I love the advice to the wife talking to the guy holding the lady hostage: "Lie". Really. Duh. Some lies are all right.
I'm glad the couple from the beginning made it through. They were really cute together.
Bruno spent the episode impressing me. He's still a little rough around the edges, but he had a better first day than either Muncie or Velasco did.
Solid week. ***1/2.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit "Dutch Tears"
I have mentioned before that Liv's gift with victims is empathy but I am struck again by the fact that Fin is able to get victims to problem-solve using reason and a bit of common sense. The guy Dutch HATES him and blames him for what happened to him, but very quickly Finn gets him to believe he's on his side. And the honesty of Fin not remembering the guy at first is also kind of impressive when there's a gun being waved in his face. If he WANTS Fin to remember him Dutch is going to have to give him a few more details.
And I like SVU because Dutch is given a tentative reunion with his daughter at the end. If Rick Eid had written the episode, he would have wound up dead.
Sort of an off-camera update for Munch in the episode. He moved back to Baltimore and bought the cop bar he used to own on Homicide: Life On The Street again. Feels appropriate.
Solid week and a nice contrast to the trainwreck of the mothershow. ****.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit "King Of The Moon"
Richard Belzer died? I had no idea. Well, they certainly picked the right episode to pay tribute to him. There aren't many Law & Order episodes I'd call beautiful, but this definitely qualified. I'm amazed at the timing that they were able to pay tribute to Richard with this.
As for Valasco, I like that unlike the Mothershow, there is accountability for cops' bad actions. But let me blunt. Him sitting on Chili's name is a luxury he should not be afforded at all. If I were Carisi, until he came clean, I'd charge him with the murder himself. Why? Because if you commit a crime with somebody else, and they murder somebody, you get charged with murder too. That's how the law works. And the show acting like him not pulling the trigger exonerates him, is another troubling recent example of the franchise's writers no longer understanding the law.
My favorite bit was him asking who they were interrogating and Fin's all, "You." Really, this specific revelation seems so huge it's kind of weird that the show has been sitting on it for a couple weeks.
Was this the first episode of Law & Order EVER to use heavy visual effects? Damn, it actually might have been. There might have been some CGI explosions here and there before this, but this was legit sci-fi effects, even if they weren't obviously big budgeted.
Another difference between this and the awful Mothershow. Carisi declining to charge Pence because he believed he was innocent is not something Price would ever do. Price has noted more than once that finding out how and why the crime occurred doesn't matter, which is the stupidest thing ever for a prosecutor to believe, and is totally on-brand what a turd of a person and writer Rick Eid is. Olivia says Carisi is using his cop instincts. But really, getting to the truth of the crime is what EVERY part of the law should actually be about.
And truly, the stuff with Bradley Whitford as Pence was by turns heartbreaking and wonderful. I don't how and why God decided to take Richard last week, so THIS perfect, tear-jerker of an episode carried his dedication card. But damn it, it nearly makes me sob even before finding out the guy who played Munch died. *****.
Law & Order: Organized Crime "Partners In Crime"
Not a very strong closing scene.
Jet is very good and I'm worried about her at the same time.
It's sort of fun to see the Task Force teaming up with Teddy Silas. It makes sense because of his deal, but he and his father were the Big Bads at the beginning of the season, and that sort of that petered out.
The good about Murphy: The scene in the confessional was chilling. The bad about him: I don't like the dog. As far as scary gimmicks and affectations go, it's kind of lame.
Decent week. ***1/2.
Law & Order: Organized Crime "Punch Drunk"
I didn't like it too much. That might surprise you. It seemed perfectly acceptable on the surface, didn't it? The reason I suspect most fans WILL accept and have no problems with it is that it is not outside of the way the rest of television treats drama. And regardless of whether viewers have been conditioned to accept the idea that people's careers are essentially ways for them to learned nursery-school level morality lessons about their interpersonal relationships with coworkers, that doesn't make it acceptable. It sucks when The Arrowverse does it. It sucks when THIS show does it.
Yes, it is very common to tie a character's emotional growth into really dumb mistakes on the job. It's also unprofessional. It also makes me think less of Jet. And her ending the episode in the trunk of a dude's car makes me think less of the show.
This is still the best Law & Order. But it's still JUST a TV show and episodes like this on THIS show (and pretty much every other show I watch and review) make me painfully aware of that fact. I never thank my TV for doing a TV thing. Because TV sucks. It always has. The best shows transcend the medium. The ones that fall into the common trappings of the medium really don't wind up impressing me that much. And the sad fact is I don't think there are too many TV shows that DON'T ever fall prey to that. What I won't do is praise episodes like this for it. **.
Law & Order: Organized Crime "All In The Game"
I'm having a hard time understanding how Murphy can be an FBI informant with all of the horrifying crimes he does. Yeah, that's part of the gag of Red Reddington on The Blacklist. But that works because the idea is portrayed as crazy and unprecedented. The guy goes around feeding live people to his dog and he's somehow untouchable. Not credible.
I'll tell you what I liked: Before they parted ways and he was killed, Seamus told Jet not to feel bad, and that she didn't do anything wrong, and that he did. He probably didn't know he was gonna die when he said it. But that has got to have been a posthumous load off of Jet's conscience anyways. It's probably why she's so upset.
I love the idea that he kept the pen gun in case he ever got into a jam. Stabler leans in close and tells him he's in a jam now.
I think the writers misread the audience in the scene where Stabler talks Bell into putting down the gun. I would not have faulted either her OR the show if she had actually just shot Murphy then and there and tried to cover it up. In fact, seeing that unraveling week by week could have been a cool arc. The writers believe I was relieved Bell didn't do an unforgivable thing. Not only do I think it would have been more dramatically interesting if she had done it, and something that could lead to a lot of great conflict down the road, but in that moment I wouldn't have found it remotely unforgivable. Part of me wanted her to simply because he deserved it. I don't think Bell pulling back is quite as righteous as the show is insisting it is. I would have been perfectly fine with the character had she pulled the trigger.
It was good, but unsatisfying. Of course, that was by design. But I don't have to like it. ***1/2.
Law & Order: Organized Crime "The Wild And The Innocent"
I thought that was great.
The thing I really responded to was how on the level both Stabler and Carver were with each other. Stabler lets him know after this is all over, he's going to jail. And Carver understands it and accepts his help to get his daughter back anyways.
But as much honor as Carver clearly has is as morally bankrupt as the other two gang factions seem. This is supposed to be organized crime? Pure chaos!
I love Stabler and Bell's scene at the end. What I hope Stabler can appreciate (and it is left unsaid) is that no matter how guilty he feels about the last time he saw him before this, because of what happened in this episode their relationship was STILL left off on a much healthier place, cop and criminal or not. That's not nothing.
I find the fact that Bruce is routinely mortified by his obvious crush on Jet all kinds of adorable. If he were a creep, the crush wouldn't be cute. Because every true feeling that spills out of him is accidental instead, it's a bit endearing instead. Think Felicity Smoak. Which is a tough dynamic to pull off with Bruce a dude and Jet a woman, but I buy it.
Great episode. ****1/2.
Pretty good week. Aside from the runner. That always pisses me off.
Price did two really great things. Telling the dude if he didn't take the deal he was going to do everything he could to make him spend the rest of his life in prison. What's great is the jerk believed him. The other great thing he did was saying he was gonna prosecute Max for manslaughter. I don't care how young he is or how dumb his parents are. He made a bad choice and has to live with it. Good for Price for knowing that even after hooking the Big Fish.
I thought the judge was absolutely terrible. She made so many bad calls in both the courtroom and chambers I thought it was going to turn out she was on the take. In reality the show is badly written. No judge in real life would have allowed that awful lawyer to accuse the guy on the stand of being pedophile simply to score points. It was reprehensible and every "I'll allow it" told me that judge deserves to be thrown off the bench. Similarly appalling was her excluding the video because the awful lawyer convinces her the kid is "acting as an agent of the government". Honestly, I think the real problem is bad writing, and the writers simply don't know how to write credible judges. And this has been a big problem on the relaunch so I can't even call this misstep an outlier.
The acting coach at the beginning was a perfect red herring in the sense that everything the viewer saw him do made us think he was abusing that kid. It's a pretty sweet trick the writers had an explanation for everything, even the child porn charge (done as a highschooler from a topless pic from his girlfriend). Even the outcry the officers heard from the hallway and the scenes he was practicing made him sound entirely guilty.
Something bothers me a little, and it's a problem for all television, and not just this show. But I didn't believe the idea that somebody is putting kids under contract to do Jackass stunts and nobody is doing anything about it. It seems like a problem that doesn't exist that fogey writers believe does. The show isn't just old-fashioned because of the quips the detective do bemoaning social media and how they want nothing to do with it. It's because they are making it sound worse than it probably is. These are old people fears. Maybe the showrunners need to shut off Fox News for a hot minute.
Decent week. Outside of the crappy judge (and maybe the actual unbelievable premise) I didn't have too many other complaints. Well, the runner. Always the runner. ***1/2.
Law & Order "Mammon"
The rest of the episode wasn't bad but the ending shows why I believe Rick Eid runs the show entirely without a conscience.
It wasn't entirely "Not bad" however. The chase scenes continue to annoy and confound me. Do the producers actually think we find them exciting? This iteration of the show strikes me as a bit pathetic for always going back to them.
But the episode wasn't terrible. ***.
Law & Order "Heroes"
Rick Eid wrote it and it was surprisingly decent so I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. And yeah, the ending hits and ruins the entire episode. On-brand for Eid.
I think Riley did great on the stand which is why I'm so pissed Eid did wrong by him. Just like Eid does wrong by every single person who helps either the police or the prosecution. It's pathological at this point.
Let me clarify something regarding officer cowardice. I find unwillingness to engage in a dangerous situation due to fear a lot more forgivable than cops spraying bullets everywhere due to fear. I think the reason people were so upset about the cops sitting on their hands during that Texas school shooting is because of how free with their guns cops usually are when confronted by people they perceive to be threats. But really, I think a cop being human is understandable.
But the ending is why we can't have nice things, and why Rick Eid is the worst thing to happen to the franchise since D.A. Branch on the old show. And frankly Eid is MUCH worse for the health of the show than Fred Thompson ever was. *1/2.
Law & Order "Fear And Loathing"
For once the case went all right but I can't help feeling like the outcome of Shaw's story is nothing but a defense of the Blue Wall. If the lesson is you can't fight it, that means the writers are defending it. There's no other way to read that.
The thing that pisses me off the most is both Cosgrove and Dixon tell Shaw that no matter what he decides, they have his back. And then... They don't. It's infuriating.
This show has problems. **1/2.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit "Blood Out"
They are NOT kidding about going there. That was the closest Stable and Benson EVER got.
Man, Valasco is slime. Really. But to be honest, Bruno bribing the victim for information is also problematic as hell.
Stabler and Benson COULD be a thing at some point. That actually blows my mind. SO close here. The show has taken over 20 years, but damn. ****.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit "Intersection"
While it is true that when talking to suspects Valasco is a notorious liar, after hearing that recording, that isn't something I'd simply take for granted. It's actually concerning. Considering Valasco gave the dude drugs in the previous episode, it probably means he IS dirty.
Do I want him to be? The show used to walk that stuff back. God knows they did with Rollins enough times. But I think it would be interesting to do that with Velasco especially considering he's trying to play "Good cop" with Muncie at the same time.
And I love the advice to the wife talking to the guy holding the lady hostage: "Lie". Really. Duh. Some lies are all right.
I'm glad the couple from the beginning made it through. They were really cute together.
Bruno spent the episode impressing me. He's still a little rough around the edges, but he had a better first day than either Muncie or Velasco did.
Solid week. ***1/2.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit "Dutch Tears"
I have mentioned before that Liv's gift with victims is empathy but I am struck again by the fact that Fin is able to get victims to problem-solve using reason and a bit of common sense. The guy Dutch HATES him and blames him for what happened to him, but very quickly Finn gets him to believe he's on his side. And the honesty of Fin not remembering the guy at first is also kind of impressive when there's a gun being waved in his face. If he WANTS Fin to remember him Dutch is going to have to give him a few more details.
And I like SVU because Dutch is given a tentative reunion with his daughter at the end. If Rick Eid had written the episode, he would have wound up dead.
Sort of an off-camera update for Munch in the episode. He moved back to Baltimore and bought the cop bar he used to own on Homicide: Life On The Street again. Feels appropriate.
Solid week and a nice contrast to the trainwreck of the mothershow. ****.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit "King Of The Moon"
Richard Belzer died? I had no idea. Well, they certainly picked the right episode to pay tribute to him. There aren't many Law & Order episodes I'd call beautiful, but this definitely qualified. I'm amazed at the timing that they were able to pay tribute to Richard with this.
As for Valasco, I like that unlike the Mothershow, there is accountability for cops' bad actions. But let me blunt. Him sitting on Chili's name is a luxury he should not be afforded at all. If I were Carisi, until he came clean, I'd charge him with the murder himself. Why? Because if you commit a crime with somebody else, and they murder somebody, you get charged with murder too. That's how the law works. And the show acting like him not pulling the trigger exonerates him, is another troubling recent example of the franchise's writers no longer understanding the law.
My favorite bit was him asking who they were interrogating and Fin's all, "You." Really, this specific revelation seems so huge it's kind of weird that the show has been sitting on it for a couple weeks.
Was this the first episode of Law & Order EVER to use heavy visual effects? Damn, it actually might have been. There might have been some CGI explosions here and there before this, but this was legit sci-fi effects, even if they weren't obviously big budgeted.
Another difference between this and the awful Mothershow. Carisi declining to charge Pence because he believed he was innocent is not something Price would ever do. Price has noted more than once that finding out how and why the crime occurred doesn't matter, which is the stupidest thing ever for a prosecutor to believe, and is totally on-brand what a turd of a person and writer Rick Eid is. Olivia says Carisi is using his cop instincts. But really, getting to the truth of the crime is what EVERY part of the law should actually be about.
And truly, the stuff with Bradley Whitford as Pence was by turns heartbreaking and wonderful. I don't how and why God decided to take Richard last week, so THIS perfect, tear-jerker of an episode carried his dedication card. But damn it, it nearly makes me sob even before finding out the guy who played Munch died. *****.
Law & Order: Organized Crime "Partners In Crime"
Not a very strong closing scene.
Jet is very good and I'm worried about her at the same time.
It's sort of fun to see the Task Force teaming up with Teddy Silas. It makes sense because of his deal, but he and his father were the Big Bads at the beginning of the season, and that sort of that petered out.
The good about Murphy: The scene in the confessional was chilling. The bad about him: I don't like the dog. As far as scary gimmicks and affectations go, it's kind of lame.
Decent week. ***1/2.
Law & Order: Organized Crime "Punch Drunk"
I didn't like it too much. That might surprise you. It seemed perfectly acceptable on the surface, didn't it? The reason I suspect most fans WILL accept and have no problems with it is that it is not outside of the way the rest of television treats drama. And regardless of whether viewers have been conditioned to accept the idea that people's careers are essentially ways for them to learned nursery-school level morality lessons about their interpersonal relationships with coworkers, that doesn't make it acceptable. It sucks when The Arrowverse does it. It sucks when THIS show does it.
Yes, it is very common to tie a character's emotional growth into really dumb mistakes on the job. It's also unprofessional. It also makes me think less of Jet. And her ending the episode in the trunk of a dude's car makes me think less of the show.
This is still the best Law & Order. But it's still JUST a TV show and episodes like this on THIS show (and pretty much every other show I watch and review) make me painfully aware of that fact. I never thank my TV for doing a TV thing. Because TV sucks. It always has. The best shows transcend the medium. The ones that fall into the common trappings of the medium really don't wind up impressing me that much. And the sad fact is I don't think there are too many TV shows that DON'T ever fall prey to that. What I won't do is praise episodes like this for it. **.
Law & Order: Organized Crime "All In The Game"
I'm having a hard time understanding how Murphy can be an FBI informant with all of the horrifying crimes he does. Yeah, that's part of the gag of Red Reddington on The Blacklist. But that works because the idea is portrayed as crazy and unprecedented. The guy goes around feeding live people to his dog and he's somehow untouchable. Not credible.
I'll tell you what I liked: Before they parted ways and he was killed, Seamus told Jet not to feel bad, and that she didn't do anything wrong, and that he did. He probably didn't know he was gonna die when he said it. But that has got to have been a posthumous load off of Jet's conscience anyways. It's probably why she's so upset.
I love the idea that he kept the pen gun in case he ever got into a jam. Stabler leans in close and tells him he's in a jam now.
I think the writers misread the audience in the scene where Stabler talks Bell into putting down the gun. I would not have faulted either her OR the show if she had actually just shot Murphy then and there and tried to cover it up. In fact, seeing that unraveling week by week could have been a cool arc. The writers believe I was relieved Bell didn't do an unforgivable thing. Not only do I think it would have been more dramatically interesting if she had done it, and something that could lead to a lot of great conflict down the road, but in that moment I wouldn't have found it remotely unforgivable. Part of me wanted her to simply because he deserved it. I don't think Bell pulling back is quite as righteous as the show is insisting it is. I would have been perfectly fine with the character had she pulled the trigger.
It was good, but unsatisfying. Of course, that was by design. But I don't have to like it. ***1/2.
Law & Order: Organized Crime "The Wild And The Innocent"
I thought that was great.
The thing I really responded to was how on the level both Stabler and Carver were with each other. Stabler lets him know after this is all over, he's going to jail. And Carver understands it and accepts his help to get his daughter back anyways.
But as much honor as Carver clearly has is as morally bankrupt as the other two gang factions seem. This is supposed to be organized crime? Pure chaos!
I love Stabler and Bell's scene at the end. What I hope Stabler can appreciate (and it is left unsaid) is that no matter how guilty he feels about the last time he saw him before this, because of what happened in this episode their relationship was STILL left off on a much healthier place, cop and criminal or not. That's not nothing.
I find the fact that Bruce is routinely mortified by his obvious crush on Jet all kinds of adorable. If he were a creep, the crush wouldn't be cute. Because every true feeling that spills out of him is accidental instead, it's a bit endearing instead. Think Felicity Smoak. Which is a tough dynamic to pull off with Bruce a dude and Jet a woman, but I buy it.
Great episode. ****1/2.