Greetings,
At long last, we have come to the end of Law & Order Month. And now for the final installment of my own personal Top 100 episodes if Law & Order. We have finally reached the Top 10. So, no hesitations. Let's get started...and finished.
#10. "By Perjury" (Season 19) - We have had a few screwed up criminals on this show and also some screwed up lawyers. Well, how about we combine the two. The story here is that an airline is being sued by several people. One of the plaintiffs ends up getting murdered. We learn that there is some dissention in the ranks, as some of the plaintiffs want to settle and some want to continue on. Of course, some of them become suspects, but it ends up leading to their attorney and another case he worked on. What he ends up getting charged with is rather interesting and the outcome, even more so. Although, there is one very memorable line in this. Just pay attention to Cutter when he goes to the guys office and tries to trick him by being friendly. Just listen to what he says concerning his "punishment" for acting up in court. I can't even repeat it, because I will start laughing and not be able to finish this list. Also, I will give a pat on the back to Dallas Roberts who played the attorney. You are good at playing obnoxious, my friend
#9. "Aftershock" (Season 6) - This was the final episode of Season 6, and the final episode for Claire Kincaid. Teardrop. It's also the only episode without a case. Several of the characters attend an execution (sounds like fun), and then they all go off and do their own thing. It's basically a chance for us to get more up close and personal than we ever have with them. Groundbreaking for the series. And, as someone who loves a good character study, this one was a standout.
#8. "Suicide Box" (Season 13) - A cop gets shot and a young black man is charged with the attempted murder. Sadly, we learn that he is motivated by the death of his older brother. The entire situation is terrible, especially when some shady police work comes to light. The good news is we get some Gregory Hines, acting as a defense attorney. No singing or dancing from him, of course, because they don't let you do that on this show. Yes, he is just another reminder that we never got our musical episode. This makes me turn to Broadway and say "Your move".
#7. "Myth of Fingerprints" (Season 12) - I am all for law enforcement doing whatever it takes to catch a bad guy. Unless, of course, what it takes is lying. Whilst investigating the opening scene murder, we end up in a case where a fingerprint technician, played wonderfully by Diana Scarwid, is called into question for testifying to evidence that was pretty much non-existent. The specific case that is being brought to light is the one that started Van Buren's road to her position of lieutenant. It's tough for her because, first of all, this woman was her friend, and second, she was always having to defend herself and her abilities when she got the job. This did not make things easier. And we do get another stellar performance from S. Epatha Merkerson. I know. Shocking.
#6. "Burn, Baby, Burn" (Season 11) - This episode features Mod Squad member himself, Clarence Williams III. I love this guy so much, mostly thanks to his subsequent work on Mystery Woman. But I digress. Here, he plays a guy who shoots a cop, and he also has a past that some consider questionable. It is part of his defense, though. Now, because the victim is a cop, there is a ton of tension in this episode. You can see the struggle between trying to get justice for one of their own and trying to do things the right way. It can't be easy.
#5. "Submission" (Season 18) - So what do we have here? Well, we've got some dogfighting, some winemaking, some betrayal, some crooked journalism, and, of course, some murder. Do you ever feel like ideas for episodes get added by way of Mad Libs? It's okay, though. It all worked out, because those are some interesting ingredients for a fantastic show. Sprinkle some David Harbour and Lara Flynn Boyle on top, and we are good to go.
#4. "True Crime" (Season 13) - So, a female rock singer is found dead with a ton of drugs in her system, though, it is not a suicide. She was, at one time, married to another rock singer, who also died years earlier. He was the leader of a band whose members were not fond of her. One of the former members of the band was actually an ex-boyfriend, who she talked her husband into firing. Got all that? Okay. Turns out, the cops get info from a former police officer who became a true crime author whose book was about the death of the victim's husband and whether it was suicide or murder. A lot of the episode focuses on his questionable tactics. He thinks that, now that he is no longer a cop, that pesky Constitution does apply to him when it comes to searching an apartment for evidence. I guess if you're a writer you can just straight up break the law and call it, I don't know, artistic license. Well, this is going to make my job as a writer so much more interesting.
#3. "Endurance" (Season 11) - After a suspicious fire breaks out in an apartment building claims the life of a disabled boy, his estranged parents are looked at as suspects. It is his mother, however, who turns out being guilty of a mercy killing. This whole episode is so incredibly heartbreaking, and even though it would be no matter what, I give a ton of credit to the performance of Meghan Follows. She does an amazing job of portraying this mother who loves her child so much but who is frustrated to the point of near insanity because she had no idea how to make his life better. She knows she can't, so she chooses to end his suffering. I can sit here and say I don't approve, but I don't know what it's like to be in that situation and what it can drive a person to do. And, if that's not bad enough, we get a reveal near the end, which might make you cry, if you weren't already.
#2. "Competence" (Season 5) - If I had to pick the best performance by S. Epatha Merkeson as Lt. Van Buren, it would be this one. Of course, I loved her work in Season 20 as a whole, but it was this one episode that gave us everything she had to offer. She was straight up amazing. The plot is that she gets held up at an ATM and must defend herself, which results in the death of a young kid. She gets put through the ringer, as it happens, but I was constantly wanting to come to her defense and shout "LEAVE VAN BUREN ALONE!: Yes, I did. But she had to go through it to come out stronger on the other side.
#1. "Smoke" (Season 13) - A famous person holds his baby out of a window and then we find out he is a child molester. I'll give you a minute to figure out what inspired this one. This episode is my favorite for so many reasons. Let's get the shallow thing out of the way first. The way that the detectives get info on this celebrity is through a website kind of like the Smoking Gun, but it's called - wait for it - Up Your Butt.net. I just... I can't even...who thought of that?! And everyone had to say it, except I think for Orbach, who I guess won the raffle that week. But, yeah, everyone else had to say it. And you sort of say to yourself as this episode goes on, "Wow, did I just hear a former U.S. Senator and the guy from The Killing Fields say 'Up Your Butt'? Mind blown!" That aside, there was some great guest acting in this episode as well. We get Adam Ferrara, Larry Miller, Lisa Valez a.k.a Lisa Lisa, a very good performance by a young actor named Jon Budinoff who plays the victim, and also David Zayas who has shown up a lot in the Law & Order universe and is one of the best character actors I've ever seen. Yeah, there are so many reasons why this is my favorite, and in a sea of about a millions or so episodes, I'd say that is an honor.
And there you have it. My Top Ten favorite episodes of Law & Order, preceded by the rest of the Top 100. Wow.
So, as this month draws to a close, a month I have worked on very hard but have also enjoyed immensely, I though I should take a moment to discuss one more thing. I can't let this time pass without mentioning the genius behind it all, Dick Wolf. I mean, I have such a major amount of respect for this guy. He has, essentially, created something of an empire, and it is his masterpiece. It is something so well put together that I doubt it will ever be matched. He made such a complex universe, full of every kind of character you can imagine, getting every kind of actor you can imagine to portray them. It was all inclusive, and, as I've said several times, it had the perfect balance so that everyone could enjoy it. All of these unique characters, who were so different from one another, all had their moments to shine. Everyone had an opportunity to be right and an opportunity to be wrong. No person, or group, or political party was seen as all right or all wrong. Looking back, you can see how difficult that was to do, especially in the entertainment industry. But Dick Wolf did it. I know I said it already, and I really don't use this word lightly, but the man is a genius.
When I decided to do this, I didn't realize how much thought I would be putting into this. I already knew a ton of stuff about the show, but really making myself think about the little things that build this huge thing made me realize what a legacy there is in this series. This is truly the perfect example of what a show should be. Build on a foundation of good writing, good acting, good stories and a good team behind it all, and there's no telling what may come of it. What came of this was my favorite show of all time.
So, I will finish this long, work filled but also joy filled month by simply saying thank you. Thank you to Dick Wolf and all the amazing people who worked so hard to give us twenty years of Law & Order. I will always be grateful.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
