Law & Order (TV Series) Impossible Dream (2022) User Reviews

Lazy writing

[pjh-76786 · 5/10 · 5 March 2022]

Everything moves too fast and there is no plot development. The detectives talk to a few people, spend almost no time with victim's fiancé, quickly discover she is probably the killer. The prosecutors get the case, no one goes out and talks to the witnesses, they go straight to the trial. No scenes of the ADAs examining company records and having actual conversations. They send the cops to the hospital and they look at video footage, off-screen, so there is no little moment of "look who's with her" and the other guy saying "and look who's not". And then they exchange a "gotcha" look. See, even I can write that little scene.

I really want this show to succeed but so far it isn't very good. This show was always about the writing. These writers are just churning stuff out and the actors are left with very little to do. I didn't care about anyone in this episode. I didn't care if the killer was found guilty or not because she just wasn't interesting. The main characters don't interact with each other like regular people. Everyone is written like they are zombies just walking through the scene and saying their words on cue. Their lines could be said by anyone.

WE NEED BETTER WRITING!!!

We have great actors, give them something to do.

An improvement from last week

[joethephotog-15017 · 7/10 · 4 March 2022]

S21 E2 is in the books for us in the EST. It was better than last week. Better pacing. I don't want to punch Det. Cosgrove (Jeffery Donovan). Better writing. I felt like they fleshed out the new characters better this week than last week. I really liked Hugh Dancy's EADA Nolan Price this week as opposed to last. Camryn Manheim's Lieutenant Kate Dixon was more credible this week. I liked her scene with the DAs. Dylan Baker was listed in the credits as reprising his defense attorney role, Sanford Rems, from the original run, but was not actually in the show.

The writing still does not compare to the original run as the defendant is evident from the first five minutes. There was some question on whether that person would be found guilty or not. Still, after E1, it gives me hope going forward.

Writing is awful

[scottian-08204 · 5/10 · 5 March 2022]

There is so much unnecessary dialogue in this show. In this particular episode, they arrest the suspect, but not before they play some mind game with her instead of walking up to her and saying she's under arrest. The writing reminds me of a CW show.

Maybe the problem is the expectation is so high.

[curt-14 · 4 March 2022]

Biggest Law & Order fan here so I say this with fondness. I'm nervous about the return of this show. First, no social commentary. Second, I'm not invested in the characters yet so the plots really matter. If you're having trouble with plot lines don't look at the headlines but maybe get the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books and work in a murder or watch some Murder She Wrote episodes to get in the zone. Something.

Actually an interesting plot.

[amorehl-93-99338 · 7/10 · 11 March 2022]

This episode was interesting to me because I did not know about the Theranos scandal. It was also better than the first episode because, as expected, the actors are settling into their characters. Getting into the "battered woman" issue, albeit superficially, was good because -- while the issue is important -- it is equally important to address the fact that unfortunately unscrupulous people will take advantage of such things -- just as Jussie Smollett did, claiming to be a victim of a hate crime. But don't hold your breath waiting for THAT story to be addressed by Dick Wolf, or anyone else in Hollywood!

I'll watch anything with Rachel Lefevre!

[Racingphan2 · 7/10 · 6 March 2022]

Rachel from Under the Dome returns to the L & O universe. She's still gorgeous, but unfortunately saddled with a poorly written ripped from the headlines storyline.

As for the rebooted cast.. only Camryn Manheim is worth watching.

Lefevre returns?

[rossdanbruen · 8/10 · 4 March 2022]

I am loving the return of Law and Order and its handling of some of the actually most pressing issues of our time. We are in an era where people can weaponize victimhood to avoid scrutiny and prey on your empathy, and that's dangerous. I don't expect SVU to be able to address this, but this episode struck at the heart of how we want the world to be vs how we must accept the world to be.

Taken From the Elizabeth Holmes Case

[shelbythuylinh · 8/10 · 9 March 2022]

It would not be surprising if it is. And in that over in the woman that is like the Holmes but that she is also a murderer killing her fiance she says was abusing her or was he.

The victim was an only child and at first family of his do not want a plea deal and thinks she needs to pay for her crimes.

Do not like the Donovan character. Has the lack of charm and being liked there like he did on "Burn Notice" there.

At least McCoy has mellowed out though my mom can't stand him.

Ugh

[dimasi · 4/10 · 5 March 2022]

I have been so looking forward to the return of L&O and so far, the results are really disappointing. I agree with the reviewer who says there is too much superfluous dialogue: the scripts have been awful. Too melodramatic! The actors all seem like they're in a bad school play. I really hope the show returns to its gritty foundations and moves away from being a revamped version of SVU.

Nope....

[oleksy-18992 · 2/10 · 5 March 2022]

Was hoping this would be like the old days but clearly the writers have never watched the episodes from the past...the writing is choppy, has no flow...the acting is forced and uncomfortable. Was hoping that the first episode was an exception not the norm.

So disappointing

[holtdl · 2/10 · 4 March 2022]

I was so eager to hear this was coming back. It was one of my favorite series in the past when TV was worth watching. But after the first five minutes of the first episode last week I was disoriented. Where was the O. G. Law and Order? Where was the fast-paced edge? Where was the snappy dialogue? I did a check to be sure this was still a Dick Wolfe show. This is unwatchable if you're a long time L&O fan. And I'm talking about the original show. I've never watched any of the others. The acting is a joke. The writing just as bad. I'm very disappointed and I can't continue to watch this mess.

Was hoping for improvement...

[barbs-50700 · 2/10 · 4 March 2022]

...but didn't see any sign of it. Yes, last week was Cosby, this week was Holmes, torn from the headlines with enough twist that it had the potential to be good. None of the acting was good. Who is to blame? Director, writers, producers, Dick Wolf? Maybe the series is just rushed together too fast? Even if these two episodes so far were only half as good as the originals they would be passable but they were far from it.

Dumb Dumb

[wstevens-39209 · 2/10 · 4 March 2022]

Lost its way. Lost its zing.

The mediocre acting just could not save the poorly constructed script.

Where did you go Lenny.... The new SVU episode that followed was in the original mold. But, the 2022 incarnation of law and Order needs to be reworked.

Law & Order - Episode 2 misses the mark-hope the series get better

[barcar93 · 3/10 · 6 March 2022]

I wanted to like this new take on Law and Order, I really did. So far the series is not floating my boat.

Investigation-Lite So Bernard and Cosgrove have no leads until the incredibly inept murderer makes a clumsy attempt to frame the victim's best friend. This gives the detectives the murder weapon. Somehow the detectives get a search warrant for their new suspect and find a blood spattered coat, the same coat that she wore as caught on video on the night of the murder. The suspect has no alibi but had opportunity galore as she was out walking at the same time that the murder occurred. (Note: this episode is not encouraging to anyone who likes to walk in Central Park at night by the way. Creepy scene!).

Trial-a slam dunk The case goes to trial with the murder weapon, the blood stained coat and the motive that the defendant stands to gain 2 billion dollars from the sale of a medical app with only the victim who stood in her way. The defendant then makes two more blunders, one she gets on the witness stand where she risks incriminating herself-which she finally does-and then two, she claims self defense as a battered woman without any physical evidence that she was ever in harm's way from the victim. (There's not a mark on you-how exactly did you deliver three gunshots to the torso of the victim without any signs of struggle?).

But the ADA does not destroy the defendant's credibility with that question but with a rebuttal witness who contradicts the defendant's claim of an old physical injury by describing a fall from a horse. The ADA then makes a bland and esoteric closing argument which the jury probably didn't need to hear before rendering its guilty verdict.

In sum, this episode was like a lightning round game of Clue where the only suspect we know is Colonel Mustard, the only weapon we know is the candlestick and the only setting we know is the library. "We the jury find Colonel Mustard...guilty!" Well, no duh!

Not a fan!

[btrenzini · 5/10 · 5 March 2022]

Hugh Dancy is an awful ADA! Love Jeffrey Donovan, but not in this role. Love the franchise but shouldn't have been brought back. Wish they brought LA back instead.

Bad writing and wrong actors

[mandyethomas · 2/10 · 13 March 2022]

I have never seen the original Law & Order series, but I've come to enjoy some of the spinoffs so I was looking forward to watching the reboot. Unfortunately, it's not very good. For one, the writing is bad-- there's no meaningful dialogue, no character development and no backstory to make the plot more interesting. Also, the acting is not very good. I don't know if it's the writers' or the director's fault, or if these actors are not the right cast for these roles, but either way they come off as stiff and boring... especially Jeffrey Donovan and Anthony Anderson. And so far it's copying current news headlines in a lame way and it's trying way too hard to be woke, both of which are annoying. I'll be surprised if this stays on TV as it stands.

Bring in Sherlock (not Elizabeth) Holmes

[safenoe · 4/10 · 29 November 2023]

I've started watching season 21 of Law and Order and I'm a bit somewhat disappointed by Impossible Dream, and yes it appears to be ripped from the headlines about Elizabeth Holmes. I'm fine with that, but it appeared to be a bit too soon, and also the showrunner needs to step up and shake up the story please because even a by-the-numbers script would have been an improvement. I'm not Sherlock (Holmes) but please you don't have to be Sherlock to get Law and Order back on track please.

I don't know what can be done, but please someone rescue Law and Order or else it itself will be arrested for the crime of bad episodes.

Wretched!

[revolution-96403 · 1/10 · 29 August 2022]

OMG! This is not your father's Law & Order. Both Steven Hill and Jerry Orbach are rolling over in their graves. The acting and the dialogue are insipid. When they explicitly brought up the Me Too Movement I wanted to vomit. The fact the police was going to arrest the female suspect without the blessing of the DA is totally unrealistic.

The cops can question a billionaire so quickly without her attorney. I don't think so.

The male seemed overly concerned about the me too Movement.

So preachy!

I don't have 600 words to say about this episode.

The Nina actress was really bad.

There would be no IPO after the murder accusation.

Theranos - Ripped From the Headlines

[kdspringer-72759 · 5/10 · 7 March 2022]

Like in the old days, this plot is ripped from the headlines, and revolves around a fraudulent IPO for a fraudulent start-up company pushing a fraudulent medical diagnostics test - lust like Theranos. For the CEO, they even cast an actress (Rachelle Lefevre) who bears a resemblance to Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of Theranos (right down to the same shade of lipstick!).

Also like in the old days, they added some twists that veer far away from the facts behind the headlines - like the murder itself, and the CEO's ultimate battered woman defense.

As for the show . . .

The acting was uneven. The detectives are good. The attorneys not so much - especially the junior ADA who looks like a deer in the headlights too often. I am surprised that Hugh Dancy is not very good here, but he just isn't. There is also a guy playing a mechanic whose acting was . . . Terrible.

The dialog left something to be desired, too. The opening scenes before the credits were good, but things deteriorated from there. The editing also needs improvement.

The story was OK , , , except the plot element which cinched the case was preposterous (having the defendant exposed by telling a gratuitous and easily disprovable lie on the witness stand).

The overall effect is quite choppy. Not at all smooth like seasons 1-20. Needs some work. I hope episode three is better.

Double UGH

[inmemoryofpatty · 2/10 · 5 March 2022]

2 is actually being generous. Law and Order circa 1990-2004 was my all time favorite tv show. I was sad that it met it's demise in 2010 but if the rest of the revival is like the first 2 episodes they should have left it dead and buried. The cast is AWFUL especially old man Sam and the new detective. I know there can be only one Jerry Orbach and S. Epatha Merkerson but please give me a break they could have done better. The two biggest flaws are the dialogue and the scripts, LOL. Also I agree with the other reviewer that there really isn't any investigation. The first guy they interview did it!

Whose side is she on?

[spikeluvr · 2/10 · 5 March 2022]

After the first episode I wanted the two detectives replaced. Now I also want that moronic ADA Maroun replaced, too. Absolutely NO evidence of abuse but our woke ADA wants to give a cold killer the benefit of the doubt. That's the jury's job, not hers. Where's Abby Carmichael when you want her? You can tell by the IMDb ratings that this show is in trouble. They usually manage to get lots of 7s for even the less popular programs.

What a shame. I miss Briscoe, Green and Abby.

Swing and a miss - strike two!

[codefool · 1/10 · 4 March 2022]

Last week we had Bill Cosby on the nose. This week we get Elizabeth Holmes on the nose. I understand they're attempting "ripped from the headlines" but - c'mon man! - in the past they'd at least decorate the underlying conflict by changing some of the core elements to at least give the appearance of an original story.

And that's what missing from this L&W - conflict. Drama. Anything that makes people feel. The original formula went like this:

1. Someone discovers a body.

2. Detectives make quips.

3. Detectives visit the medical examiner and discover some strange aspect to the cause of death.

4. Detectives interview three or four suspects, family members, etc. While discussing the nature of the case and saying things that are INTERESTING.

5. They finally settle on "who done it" and make an arrest.

6. ADA's get the case and discuss why it's a problem to prosecute.

7. The ADA's interview suspects and other people involved in the case, discussing the nature of the case, and saying things that are INTERESTING.

8. The ADA - more often than not - figures out how to convince the jury that the defense's case is crap and gets a conviction.

9. The ADA's make poignant quips as we fade to black.

This L&W is nothing like that. First, the perp has been the first person they interviewed. They make an immediate arrest, and it goes to the ADA. Then the perky diverse female ADA makes some statement about how the executive ADA is going to set back feminism by 100 years, but is ignored (mostly.) The court trial consists of about 10 minutes of screen time.

This L&W is more about setting up situations and making SJW points - last week it was women getting revenge on rapists and this week it was abused women and the me-too movement.

SUCH STUFF DOES NOT MAKE INTERESTING TELEVISION.

For God's sake - fire these SJW idiots and hire some WRITERS!

One more strike left - then I'm taking my eyeballs somewhere else.

Predictable, Formulaic, Fake-Looking Sets

[Bonz99 · 5/10 · 27 August 2022]

Other reviewers captured most of what is wrong with this show's revival. The writing could be a lot better; the writers and the set designers should be required to watch the first two seasons of the original show.

In the original seasons, the courts were always busy, with real-appearing people wandering around on their own business and DA offices were usually piled high with paper. The sets in the revived show look like they were designed by L. A. people who never came within 3,000 miles of a New York precinct station or courtroom.

Sam Waterston as DA is a bad mistake. At 82 (and looking it), he is way overdue for retirement. His primary function seems to be to listen to his ADA, tell him a conviction will be difficult, then go ahead. Period. Steven Hill in the first few seasons was far more involved and far more realistic.

One egregious moment is purely due to poor writers, where Detective Cosgrove (Donovan) expresses surprise that his partner Detective Bernard (Anderson) would know anything about tennis. When Bernard asks why Cosgrove is surprised, Cosgrove says "Because you're..." and seemingly bites his tongue before adding the word "black". Why would script writers even let us think that is what Cosgrove was thinking? Has he never heard of Venus & Serena Williams, two of the best tennis players who ever lived? (And who, if memory serves, happen to be black?) How could one possibly believe black people would not be aware of the Williams sisters?

On the plus side, Odelya Halevi is delicious, somewhat exotic eye-candy. But the show needs more than eye-candy to remain watchable.

The acting

[cchappe · 4/10 · 27 March 2022]

I really want to like the new Law and Order however, the acting by the DA (Hugh Dancy), ADA (Odelya Halevi), Lieutenant (Camryn Manheim) and Detective (Jeffrey Donovan) is mediocre at best.

There are few well written/acted/produced and directed crime shows available on NBC anymore, L&O SVU and L&O Organized Crime being the exceptions. I was hoping the new L&O would live up to that standard.

Fingers crossed.

So far it hasn't.

Another SVU Script Hastily Reworked

[bkkaz · 3/10 · 4 March 2022]

So, you'll recognize this episode as a thinly reworked SVU one. You can tell the reboot of Law and Order is being run and influenced by so many of the people running SVU into the ground now -- the shows have similar pacing, heavy-handed dialogue, wooden or melodramatic (it's always one or the other) acting, and a preachiness that borders on pathological.

Like last week's episode, this one has to work in a sex crimes angle, and like that episode, once again a man is accused of heinous crimes against women. This one at least has the sense to question whether an accusation alone should constitute an open and shut case against someone (no, I'm not talking about the woman on trail for murder here who admits she did it, but the dead victim who can't defend himself she accuses of raping her). But it tries hard to err on the side of offending no one.

A big part of the reason this reboot isn't working well is the pacing. For starters, there are just too many commercial interruptions. Unlike the older version of the show, which could take time to build up a scene and follow through, this one is determined to offer everything in little meatless bites so we can get to the more important things, like ads for car insurance, cell phones, beauty products, and electric cars. (Notice I remember the product categories but not the actual product companies -- guess they spent millions for nothing.)

Anyway, this new cast is slightly more cohesive than last week's version, though Jeffrey Donovan still looks dopey, Anthony Anderson is still cocky for no good reason, Sam Waterston seems like he's kept going by some kind of gravelly special effect, Camryn Manheim is still wookie-like, and Hugh Dancy and his George Clooney wife-like co-counsel are still underwhelming. I notice, though, they don't show Donovan in as many derp-derp moments or the female ADA showing bug eyes and horse teeth as much.

Still no Asians in Dick Wolf's Law and Order NYC world of police and prosecutors.