Greetings,
Welcome to the first part of this massive list. I don't think I have to give much preface to these. You guys know what you're here for, so let's just get started. Numbers 100 through 91 of my Top 100 Law & Order episodes.
#100. "Stalker" (Season 8) - As much as I like to believe that the people who worked together in the Law & Order universe generally enjoyed each other's company, the occasional disagreement made me wonder. Take this episode where, after a woman claims to have been attacked by a stalker, she later ends up dead. Both Briscoe and Curtis doubted her, but afterward, Briscoe changed his mind. Or he said he did. Curtis, not so much. So what dd McCoy do? He used this difference of opinion to cause even more dissension in the hopes of a conviction. I guess whatever works.
#99. "Mad Dog" (Season 7) - A serial rapist is hoping for parole after believing he has reformed, but McCoy is very much opposed to this, as he tends to be. And guess, just guess, who plays the aforementioned serial rapist? Burt Young. That's right. Paulie, from the Rocky franchise is portraying...this. I suppose it's for all those people who watched him be abusive to his sister, Adrian, and thought, "Come on, man. You can do way worse than that". And he did! Still, a great actor, though.
#98. "Hot Pursuit" (Season 6) - We all know that this show is famous for their "ripped from the headlines" thing, but no one said those headlines had to come from any time in the previous twenty years. In this episode, Amanda Peet gets arrested whilst robbing a convenience store...and she's totally happy about it. Why? Well, apparently, she was kidnapped and forced to commit crimes. Maybe she was even brainwashed...and an heiress. Wouldn't that be zany? Yeah, go ask your parents, kids.
#97. "Vengeance" (Season 2) As entertaining as Law & Order has always been, it can also be quite educational. I personally already knew that not every state had the death penalty, but I learned here that, if a prosecutor and/or the victim's family wants more than life in prison for a perpetrator, they can just up and move the trial to another state. Okay, it's probably not that easy, and there most likely has to be a valid reason for it, but I certainly learned something new. Also, there is a reason why this episode is called "Vengeance" and not Justice.
#96. "Human Flesh Search Engine" (Season 20) - I drive a car. I have a cellphone. I work on the internet. These aren't bad things, necessarily. But they can be misused. A woman, who may be mentally imbalanced, kills a guy for driving and cellphoning at the same time. She finds him because there's a website that takes pictures of people doing not good things and proceeds to assume that maybe the world would be a better place without those people. Apparently, she took it literally. And I like you, Rob Cordry, but you were totes mean in this one. The good news is that I think this was the first episode where Ernie Hudson shows up as Van Buren's boyfriend. Or MANfriend. I don't know. Call him whatever you want; just don't call him not awesome.
#95. "The Serpent's Tooth" (Season 1) - A wealthy couple are...or is murdered and the main suspects are their two sons. This probably sounds familiar, but the show always starts like this. Sometimes, though, they get all twisty and make the story go in another direction. Wow, it's almost like the writers on Law & Order knew how to...write. What a novelty!
#94. "Skate or Die" (Season 19) It's hard enough for cops to get the criminals, and having unreliable witnesses is not a big help. But, sometimes those witness are that way because of things out of their control. Lupo and Bernard run into that here when they have to deal with a bipolar man...on roller skates. What can I say except - New York City! On a lighter note, hopefully, the guy who played him, Brian Gant, was quite entertaining in this episode.
#93. "Born Bad" (Season 4) - People have been arguing the nature versus nurture thing for a really long time. Each side thinks they're right, probably not realizing they're both right. But what happens when you have to use the notion that someone is just plain bad on a kid? Well, frankly, it's kind of heartbreaking, especially when the kid starts to believe it, whether it's true or not.
#92. "Teenage Wasteland" (Season 11) Call me controversial, but I think that everyone should know right from wrong by the age of about four. And even if we can't get the details of that so young, at least, we should all know that luring a delivery man to an abandoned building and killing him is wrong...by the time we're 18! But maybe that's just me. THAT is the controversy of this episode. Not exactly whether or not an 18-year-old should be punished for such a crime, but rather what is an appropriate punishment for this crime committed by someone so young. As this show often does, it makes you think, no matter what side you're on.
#91. "Skin Deep" (Season 3) - If you don't watch America's Next Top Model because you think it shows too much of the ugly side of the modeling industry, news flash, they don't. Nope, believe it or not, they're showing you the best of it. Apparently, there are some seriously sleazy, even dangerous, people in that business, like photographers who take advantages of young teenage girls. A pre-My So-Called Life Claire Danes to be specific. In this case, someone thought he deserved to die. No comment, but sadly, some of this behavior never gets old, does it?
Join me next time.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
