“L&O” “d’oh, d’oh!
(This is full of spoilers. Don’t read it until you watch the episode.)
I’ve become a Law & Order-O’phile since the show came out in 1990. Before streaming came along I watched all the marathons and still watch it on networks that show nothing but reruns. The show has been consistent in its stories, casting, and twists. When it went off the air I mourned. “There goes one of the greats”, I lamented. And when I learned of its return it was like the best Christmas gift ever be it actually on Christmas or in February.
After the episode ended, I thought if this was the first “L&O” I’d have seen, it would have been the last.
Director Jean de Segonzac directed 12 “L&O” episodes going back to 2007. “L&O: Organized Crime” three episodes, 48 episodes of “L&O: SVU: going back to 1999, 32 episodes of “L&O: Criminal Intent” dating back to 2001, as well as Wolf’s hit shows “Chicago P.D.,” “Chicago Fire” and “Chicago Med.” In other words, show creator Dick Wolf likes the guy — a lot.
Now I’m not saying that directing essentially a bunch of people walking around offices and sitting at desks is easy to direct. However, I’ve got a feeling his Director of Photography or Cinematographer had called a lot of the shots for his successful ventures and was not available for this iPhone-looking and edited student project. None is listed in the credits. Perhaps there was a DP but he/she decided not to have their name in the final cut.
The whole production looked rushed. Just hurry up and shoot. Considering this was a monumental return to one of the most successful franchises in TV history, one would think time would be taken, as in a feature film, for reaction shots, close-ups, skillful editing, and the like. Instead, it looked like a perpetual two or medium shot in washed-out skin tones and universal lighting. The usual warmth of the DA’s offices sets with maybe two light sources, casting shadows on an actor’s face, anything that could add some sort of depth bringing alive a room was gone.
Having contrasting detective styles is something you found on “NYPD Blue,” but not on “L&O.” And if there was any, it was handled mildly. There just isn’t time to properly develop characterizations. There is no more of a plot-driven series other than “Dragnet.” Not this time around. Detectives Bernard and Cosgrove, (played by Anthony Anderson and Jeffrey Donovan, respectively,) verbally duke it out after a contrived moment just so we can see them have a difference of opinion on old school cops versus modern cops and race. If the show has a historian, writer/creator Dick Wolf, (who probably is the recipient of more money minted for him by NBC than Johnny Carson,) and perennial Wolf producer Rick Eid who has produced four Wolf productions, didn’t listen. The tired “old cop vs. new cop” discussion goes as far back as 2004 when Det. Lennie Briscoe was on the scene. This time it’s flat in your face. The scene was supposed to show us our detective’s differences since it didn’t add anything to the actual plot.
In fact, there were scenes not adding anything to the plot. This can only be attributed to lazy writing and a gutless showrunner who didn’t have the balls to point this out to Dick Wolf. Worse yet, Wolf himself should’ve re-written most of this. Someone should have!
Case in point, we see at the beginning of the show the “ripped from the headlines” topic of the week: Bill Cosby gets out of jail for his rapes. He’s on a talk show saying he’s innocent, etc. Then he gets shot in front of his house. Our Detectives show up and we cut to commercial. The whole open scene of the bastard on the talk show, in old “L&O,” wouldn’t be taking up valuable pages and a location. The way it’s supposed to work is our cops show up, say to someone, “what have we got?” And then a cop says “You’re not going to believe this.” The Detectives see it’s the dead comic and it would go like this: “That’s Bob Bobby, the famous comedian!” “Didn’t he just get kicked out of prison for raping 40 women?” “Yeah — I guess he got heckled to death.” What would even be better is for the Detectives to meet for the first time at the crime scene. (This way we get to see them learn about each other through the episode.)
The other scenes that make no sense involve returning A.D.A. Jamie Ross, still played by Carey Lowell. It was her screw-up that got the comic released from prison, and it’s information that doesn’t mean a damned thing. It’s a big nothing. The story isn’t about how people in the court system can screw up, it’s about a homicide and do you prosecute a rape victim. It has no place in the script at all and makes me think it had a greater bearing on the story early on but then got edged out by other things and should have been removed.
The new Assistant District Attorney, Nolan Price played by Hugh Dancy, is a eunuch. Price has no charisma, no air of leadership, certainly no gravitas, and has no place being there. He’s p**** whipped by Cosgrove and there’s no follow-up scene of him berating the 27th Precinct’s, (I’m presuming it’s still the 27th Precinct,) Lt. Kate Dixon played by Camryn Manheim. Lt. Van Buren of old would have been lambasted by McCoy or Cutter, and it would have been interesting to see how she handled it. As it is, her character is lighter than helium, and Price’s assistant, Samantha Maroun’s character played by Odelya Halevi, is paper-thin. And as much as I love Sam Waterston, he can barely talk.
I suppose there have been other episodes of “L&O” where the murderer confessed after being found guilty. In any case, it happened here. A shoddy “I shot him FIVES TIMES in self-defense as I lay in wait for him,” including easily impeachable false testimony from the victim’s wife, is proven true after being found guilty as she screams to the other rape victims, “I did it for you!” Well, there’s jury validation like I’ve never heard before. Not to mention tossing an appeal right out the window.
“L&O” was always famous for its twist endings. The twist here is there was none and there were plenty of missed opportunities. The whole thing could have been a set-up between the shooter and the wife. Maybe instead of one, 10 of the 40 rape victims shot and knifed him — who do you prosecute without reasonable doubt for any of them? The wife killed him and framed one of the rape victims. Perhaps he was killed by Jamie Ross ending her career! (That would have been gutsy, no one would see it coming, and would be worthy of “L&O”. Then her scenes would have made sense.) Or better yet! Ross and the killer work something out where the killer would get off! And then you have a scene with McCoy and Ross instead of McCoy just glaring at her from the back of the courtroom.
The episode ends with our DAs walking down the steps in front of the courthouse baring their souls, ending with Price looking at the words on top of the building. Why is this ending memorable? It’s memorable to me because, at the end of one of the biggest murder trials of the decade, there isn’t one reporter or camera truck. None. Just a couple of stragglers walking around. No cameras in the DA’s faces or a press conference on one part of the steps where McCoy can make a statement or the defense attorney saying they will appeal. I just think they ran out of money — somehow.
What’s happened is after 20 years as a first-run show and over a decade of bingeable streaming, the fans know this show better than Dick Wolf. Wolf has spent the last decade with his Chicago and FBI shows. “SVU” is in Mariska Harigtay’s capable hands and “Organized Crime” is a new focus. He doesn’t have time to ensure the original “L&O”’s legacy is secure in 2022 and handed it off to Eid. Instead of “L&O” “dun, dun” we’ve got “L&O” “d’oh, d’oh!
