Greetings,
Welcome back. And now for Numbers 30 through 21 of my Top 100 Law & Order episodes.
#30. "Helpless" (Season 3) - I mentioned this episode when talking about the character of Dr. Elizabeth Olivet. I said she should have been a full-on, picture in the opening, main character. This episode is one of the reasons why. It is centered around her and her, let's say, ordeal whilst visiting her gynecologist. Yeah, you can guess what happened. Carolyn McCormack is fantastic in this, and she deserves more props than she gets.
#29. "Family Hour" (Season 17) - In this episode, Harry Hamlin plays this politician with a seriously messed up family. We're talking drugs, abuse, murder, the whole nine. And Jeffrey Tambor plays this judge who is kind of insane in this emotionally unstable way. I can't even describe it. But the strangest casting in this is that of Jeremy Sisto. He's playing the defense. Okay, what's wrong? Well, this is the final episode of Season 17. He is introduced as Detective Lupo in the Season 18 premiere. Maybe you can get away with that when there are several months in between, but this is an age of marathons and binge watching. People will be confused. Still entertaining though.
#28. "Innocence" (Season 20) - It's not good when your past catches up with you, and that is exactly what happens to the lovely Michael Cutter in this episode. He has to go up against a former law professor of his, played deliciously vicious by Amy Madigan, who works for an organization that helps get innocent people out of jail. I know that makes her sound not vicious, but her tactics are questionable and she drags in her students. Well, when threatened, she attacks back...intensely. Even career ruiningly. Yeah, new word there.
#27. "Sweetie" (Season 19) - The author of a very successful and provocative autobiography is murdered, and this leads to an investigation where his validity as a writer is called into question. Keep an eye on Vivica Fox in this one. She's pretty stellar, especially in the last few moments. Here's something weird, though. This story is based on an actual author whose book became a movie featuring Jeremy Sisto. Whoa, that's quite a paradox.
#26. "Thin Ice" (Season 11) - Did I mention that I hate sports? Because I do, and I do for a lot of reasons. One reason is that some people are insane where sports are concerned, even violent, even deadly. Of course, I understand that the latter of those things are the exception. They are good decent people who like and are involved in sports. But they don't make for good episodes of Law & Order. No, we need to focus on the folks who kill coaches for whatever reason. Funny thing, this is hockey we're talking about, hence the "ice" in the title, because sometimes we must be obvious. But isn't hockey from Canada and aren't all Canadians super nice? What is wrong with the world?
#25. "Bad Faith" (Season 5) - On several occasions, religion is the topic of choice for an episode. Here, it is Catholicism, and yes, they will dealing with exactly what you think. The reason this one stands out, though, is because it centers around Mike Logan, who was raised in the Catholic church. One of his friends dies of an apparent suicide, and all of this leads back to a priest who abused a bunch of boys that Logan knew, as well as Logan himself. We often get reasons as to why people are how they are. I think this may have had a serious affect on Mike Logan.
#24. "Persona Non Gratae" (Season 18) - Some people may refer to Law & Order as being cutting edge in some areas. For example, the plot is about people lying about who they are on the internet. That's right. They were dealing with people "catfishing" before "catfishing" was even a thing. Okay, to be fair, this was based on an actual case but with the standard twist we usually get. Although, the reason this episode stands out for me because of one thing - Melissa Leo. She is so good in this. She does straight-up crazy very well.
#23. "Homesick" (Season 6) - I'm all for women being able to do whatever they want in life. I think they can have a family or a career or both, if that's what they want. Of course, if you want both, you might need a little help. Enter a nanny, or, in this case, an au pair. Just make sure that she is...Okay, I'm going to stop dancing around this. We have a baby dying in this one again. That part, I hate, but the rest is good. So, baby passes on and top suspect is the nany. Oh, sorry. I mean, the British au pair. I never would have guessed. Pretty good twist in this one, though. Also, we get the magnificence of Patti LuPone. I wish she was playing a singing defense attorney, but I'll take it either way.
#22. "Life Choice" (Season 1) - Well, that's an interesting combination of words for the title of this episode, considering it's subject. Here, we are dealing with the very controversial subject of abortion. In fact, this is considered the first, and perhaps the most, controversial episode of the entire series. I consider myself pro-life, but when people decide to bomb clinics and kill doctors, it disgusts me. Needless to say, this causes much tension on the show, which is what makes it all so gripping. It's just a very, very well done episode.
#21. "Vendetta" (Season 14) - Remember back in 2003, when that guy tried to catch a foul ball at a Cubs game, and he immediately became a pariah, even though he wasn't the only one who reached for the flippin' ball? Remember that?! Well, here, a guy is killed in a bar fight, and he turns out to be someone who tried to catch a foul ball at a Mets game, which caused them to lose a very important game. As Lennie said, the suspect list was "the greater New York phone book". Funny, because he appears to be a New Yorker still upset the whole thing. Anyway, this dead guy had been harassed big time, but, as per usual, the plot twists us to a completely different motive for the killing. Still, there's another reason to hate the sports.
Join me next time.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
