When watching this episode I was reminded of the case it was taken from. I knew it was some rich political operative who drugged up young black male men that he exploited for sex. I didn't remember the name. It turns out that the episode was broadcast the very day that Ed Buck was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
12 Reviews
Based on the Ed Buck case
jbeene-1880615 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Most of the strongest episodes of L&O are from stories "Ripped from the headlines". This one is no exception. If you aren't familiar with the Ed Buck case, he was a wealthy, democratic, political activist that was found guilty of killing two black gay men by overdosing them with methamphetamine.
Definitely one of the stronger episodes of the season. Hopefully, the writers and the cast have found their groove, and will finish off this season on a high note.
Definitely one of the stronger episodes of the season. Hopefully, the writers and the cast have found their groove, and will finish off this season on a high note.
I think it's a great show
coreycoulson-3007728 October 2022
My family enjoys all Law & Order and spin-offs.
Great actresses and Actors The storylines follow the old law & orders you sure can tell how culture has changed by just watching these and the old ones It takes a few episodes to get to know the new characters of the franchise.
The world is tough and in the big cities whew it's Danger zone. No way would I care to live in a big city like New York and be part of the pool of predators that live there. Murders rapes thief's filth that's what those places are. I've been there seen it just not for me. But back to the fictional show I personally give it my stamp of approval!
Great actresses and Actors The storylines follow the old law & orders you sure can tell how culture has changed by just watching these and the old ones It takes a few episodes to get to know the new characters of the franchise.
The world is tough and in the big cities whew it's Danger zone. No way would I care to live in a big city like New York and be part of the pool of predators that live there. Murders rapes thief's filth that's what those places are. I've been there seen it just not for me. But back to the fictional show I personally give it my stamp of approval!
The Guest Stars Make The Show Work...Somewhat
elvimark0130 April 2022
Last episode, it was Jeff Nordling in the arrogant bastard role. This week, it's Currie Graham, who's also no stranger to those kind of roles. The casting department works harder at finding actors for prime guest roles than it does to fill the lead roles.
Not sure how much more I can take of Jeffrey Donovan's character. And they really need to give the female Assistant D. A. more to do.
Not sure how much more I can take of Jeffrey Donovan's character. And they really need to give the female Assistant D. A. more to do.
Sputtering
southgatekid17 April 2022
They are losing me and other, per reviews. It's not good. I was excited about cast, new snd old, but they are being wasted on pathetic scripts. The lines and characters, are strictly pitiful.. I'll stick with the reruns. Where it was crime and trials , not more agenda driven plots...buh bye.
About the Same as Last Week's Episode
bkkaz15 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING -- YET ANOTHER SVU EPISODE CONCEPT!
I mean, come on. Must every crime now in the Law and Order franchise feature a sex crimes angle??? Are the writers just recycling old SVU scripts?
The reboot limps along, starting with lumbering Camryn Manheim's lieutenant going steamroller over some punks for harassing a homeless guy. That scene alone would have worked except the rest of the episode follows suit by featuring an uber preachy detective squad out to cure society's ills rather than just investigate and arrest. Seriously - do the writers believe the police are now social workers?
What's especially funny is how in all this performative do-gooding, they seem to miss the message they're also sending - the police will treat some cases with far more energy and interest than others. Got something the cops don't feel personally motivated about? Guess you're out of luck. But, hey, isn't that the nature of performative do-gooding? I mean, this episode once again brings up homophobia and racism against African Americans but doesn't say a peep about anyone else. Guess they're selective about that, too. Performative.
Anthony Anderson continues to work harder to be palatable. He might actually make it by the end of the reboot's run. "Derp Derp" Donovan still looks both befuddled and like he's stifling a domestic beer belch, and Hugh Dancy seems to be starting to realize he's in the Law and Order franchise and not doing some show on SyFy. Manheim, whose gait is remarkably like Walter Brennan's, has a few subtle moments before going all woke on everybody. I still don't know the bug-eyed ADA's name, either the actress or the character, but she talks every so often.
What make the original run of the show great - even in some of the lesser episodes once Sam Waterston's Jack McCoy came aboard and by the time everyone else was gone - is how it tried on some level to stay within the real universe. This was a show that seemed real, in spite of the obvious dialogue that bordered on didactic speeches. The actors - even the minor ones - invested in their characters, bringing them to life in colorful little ways that seemed like real people. Now, they seem to be plucked from off-Broadway shows at the last minute, just parroting the script. Take the ME in this episode. She's nothing like any of the former MEs who sparked with character and individuality. She seems more like an intern paid $50 to put on a white coat and read the script out loud.
And as with SVU, the villains are a foregone conclusion, oozing with arrogance and malevolence and practically twirling mustaches. In this one, the guy looks like the vampire in Count Yorga - look it up if you don't know what I'm talking about. In every episode, the courtroom portion has no suspense and no cleverness. They're entirely perfunctory, just like on SVU. There are even insert shots of characters shaking their heads. Just like on SVU. Nearly everything in this reboot has a cartoonish quality, as though the writers and directors have never lived outside some strange, antiseptic, unremarkable bubble where all they could do is watch soap operas and Lifetime Cable movies to learn about the world. I realize we live in the age of comic book movies and "reality TV," but have we forgotten so quickly what the world is like outside a TV studio? Are the creators of entertainment now just a bunch of connected rich kids with no life experience?
Well, at least someone finally combed Sam Waterson's hair, though they might want to trim those sideburns up. Waterston seems pretty tired, and that gives the reboot a kind of sad twinge, too. I never liked his McCoy as much as Michael Moriarty's Ben Stone, but at times, McCoy could be clever and passionate. They tried too hard to make him a player, and he obviously crossed many ethical boundaries the series both with the ADAs he slept with and his courtroom antics they never really made him own up to. But seeing Waterston now just reminds me they shouldn't have cancelled Law and Order in the first place, and once they did, should have done a reboot earlier, when maybe some of the glory of the old show was still in the heads of the people running the franchise.
I mean, come on. Must every crime now in the Law and Order franchise feature a sex crimes angle??? Are the writers just recycling old SVU scripts?
The reboot limps along, starting with lumbering Camryn Manheim's lieutenant going steamroller over some punks for harassing a homeless guy. That scene alone would have worked except the rest of the episode follows suit by featuring an uber preachy detective squad out to cure society's ills rather than just investigate and arrest. Seriously - do the writers believe the police are now social workers?
What's especially funny is how in all this performative do-gooding, they seem to miss the message they're also sending - the police will treat some cases with far more energy and interest than others. Got something the cops don't feel personally motivated about? Guess you're out of luck. But, hey, isn't that the nature of performative do-gooding? I mean, this episode once again brings up homophobia and racism against African Americans but doesn't say a peep about anyone else. Guess they're selective about that, too. Performative.
Anthony Anderson continues to work harder to be palatable. He might actually make it by the end of the reboot's run. "Derp Derp" Donovan still looks both befuddled and like he's stifling a domestic beer belch, and Hugh Dancy seems to be starting to realize he's in the Law and Order franchise and not doing some show on SyFy. Manheim, whose gait is remarkably like Walter Brennan's, has a few subtle moments before going all woke on everybody. I still don't know the bug-eyed ADA's name, either the actress or the character, but she talks every so often.
What make the original run of the show great - even in some of the lesser episodes once Sam Waterston's Jack McCoy came aboard and by the time everyone else was gone - is how it tried on some level to stay within the real universe. This was a show that seemed real, in spite of the obvious dialogue that bordered on didactic speeches. The actors - even the minor ones - invested in their characters, bringing them to life in colorful little ways that seemed like real people. Now, they seem to be plucked from off-Broadway shows at the last minute, just parroting the script. Take the ME in this episode. She's nothing like any of the former MEs who sparked with character and individuality. She seems more like an intern paid $50 to put on a white coat and read the script out loud.
And as with SVU, the villains are a foregone conclusion, oozing with arrogance and malevolence and practically twirling mustaches. In this one, the guy looks like the vampire in Count Yorga - look it up if you don't know what I'm talking about. In every episode, the courtroom portion has no suspense and no cleverness. They're entirely perfunctory, just like on SVU. There are even insert shots of characters shaking their heads. Just like on SVU. Nearly everything in this reboot has a cartoonish quality, as though the writers and directors have never lived outside some strange, antiseptic, unremarkable bubble where all they could do is watch soap operas and Lifetime Cable movies to learn about the world. I realize we live in the age of comic book movies and "reality TV," but have we forgotten so quickly what the world is like outside a TV studio? Are the creators of entertainment now just a bunch of connected rich kids with no life experience?
Well, at least someone finally combed Sam Waterson's hair, though they might want to trim those sideburns up. Waterston seems pretty tired, and that gives the reboot a kind of sad twinge, too. I never liked his McCoy as much as Michael Moriarty's Ben Stone, but at times, McCoy could be clever and passionate. They tried too hard to make him a player, and he obviously crossed many ethical boundaries the series both with the ADAs he slept with and his courtroom antics they never really made him own up to. But seeing Waterston now just reminds me they shouldn't have cancelled Law and Order in the first place, and once they did, should have done a reboot earlier, when maybe some of the glory of the old show was still in the heads of the people running the franchise.
Stick to Story Telling Not Politics
lovemusic-3738530 April 2022
I am one of the top fans of this franchise and am weeping to see what they did with it. Does every opening scene or first part of the show have to be liberal positions making fun of conservative positions? Bragging that you don't go to church et all. I am done with this; I gave it a chance with 4 episodes, but it turns my stomach. It too has become infected with modern orthodoxy and is no longer a pleasure to watch. Goodbye Law & Order.
Something is really off about this show?
BirdmanT716 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Ever since this new reboot of Law & Order started it just feels something is off and not the same quality when it comes to the casting and writing. I never liked that "Anthony Anderson" Det Bernard even in the seasons of the show. Anderson takes himself very seriously, now look, lost some weight and new hairdo and a beard he thinks he is Mr. GQ NYPD. Why they even brought him back again tells you where Anderson's career is; after a decade of the show was over.
The biggest joke is casting "Camryn Manheim" as the new Lieutenant, her acting is even worse than when she was in "The Practice", she can never ever fill the shoes of "S. Epatha Merkerson" who played Anita Van Buren, because Van Buren didn't need to act tough to be tough; she could do that with just a look. Take the intro scene with the two thugs hassling the homeless, Van Buren would probably just de-escalated by speaking to the thugs instead that lame tough act Camryn Manheim. " Merkerson" who played Van Buran was one of the pillars of Law & Order as "Sam Waterston" is . To me there is no Law&Order without Van Buren, I loved her, yes maybe bias, but she had a sense of objectivity about her, she was willing to see when she was wrong; but Dixon seems like she wants to prove something, in this very episode she was telling Det Cosgro that she is making law personal? "Jeffrey Donovan" is another pathetic actor, that his best work only comes as a supporting role in maybe some big budget film. He has managed to built a career on TV from "Burn Notice", but he is nothing even close to any of the previous actors who were NYPD detective like Jerry Orbach, Dennis Farina, and Jesse L. Martin, they kept it real, they set the bar for that show.
This new reboot is like a replica or a parody of L&O with actors like "Hugh Dancy" who with his robot style of acting, there is nothing remotely interesting about his character compare to "Linus Roach" as Cutter , who was constantly in some conflict his boss McCoy. The dynamic of McCoy and Cutter in itself in the last few seasons of the show was amazing; their discussions about the cases were insightful, but none of that even exists in this reboot. It's like these actors show up, read their lines, hit the their marks and that's it. I have always liked Sam Waterston" but even he seems like he is just walking through the scenes, given his age, but age has never been factor when it comes to his work, its just the material he is given in this new reboot is so lame and light weight, its nothing compare to what it was before.
I have tried to give this new reboot a chance and watched 6 episodes, that I felt was a waste of time, none of them were engaging as the old show use to be. I don't know why Dick Wolf even ended the show before? Why he waited over a decade to bring it back?.. Law & Order could have gone on without any interruptions, its one of those shows that's endless in topics of crime will go on for generations. This new show is really an insult and embarrassment to what took over 20 years to create, they should either hire new actors and writers or just call it a day?
The biggest joke is casting "Camryn Manheim" as the new Lieutenant, her acting is even worse than when she was in "The Practice", she can never ever fill the shoes of "S. Epatha Merkerson" who played Anita Van Buren, because Van Buren didn't need to act tough to be tough; she could do that with just a look. Take the intro scene with the two thugs hassling the homeless, Van Buren would probably just de-escalated by speaking to the thugs instead that lame tough act Camryn Manheim. " Merkerson" who played Van Buran was one of the pillars of Law & Order as "Sam Waterston" is . To me there is no Law&Order without Van Buren, I loved her, yes maybe bias, but she had a sense of objectivity about her, she was willing to see when she was wrong; but Dixon seems like she wants to prove something, in this very episode she was telling Det Cosgro that she is making law personal? "Jeffrey Donovan" is another pathetic actor, that his best work only comes as a supporting role in maybe some big budget film. He has managed to built a career on TV from "Burn Notice", but he is nothing even close to any of the previous actors who were NYPD detective like Jerry Orbach, Dennis Farina, and Jesse L. Martin, they kept it real, they set the bar for that show.
This new reboot is like a replica or a parody of L&O with actors like "Hugh Dancy" who with his robot style of acting, there is nothing remotely interesting about his character compare to "Linus Roach" as Cutter , who was constantly in some conflict his boss McCoy. The dynamic of McCoy and Cutter in itself in the last few seasons of the show was amazing; their discussions about the cases were insightful, but none of that even exists in this reboot. It's like these actors show up, read their lines, hit the their marks and that's it. I have always liked Sam Waterston" but even he seems like he is just walking through the scenes, given his age, but age has never been factor when it comes to his work, its just the material he is given in this new reboot is so lame and light weight, its nothing compare to what it was before.
I have tried to give this new reboot a chance and watched 6 episodes, that I felt was a waste of time, none of them were engaging as the old show use to be. I don't know why Dick Wolf even ended the show before? Why he waited over a decade to bring it back?.. Law & Order could have gone on without any interruptions, its one of those shows that's endless in topics of crime will go on for generations. This new show is really an insult and embarrassment to what took over 20 years to create, they should either hire new actors and writers or just call it a day?
Done with this show for good
CrimeDrama116 April 2022
The story was OK but I can't take it anymore. It is not just that it feels nothing like the early years of "Law & Order", it is not believable. Before deleting this episode, I deleted the series recording. The biggest problem is Hugh Dancy. I don't know if he has to work extra hard to drop his British accent but he is awkward. Fans of "Burn Notice" (like me) may be struggling with seeing Jeffrey Donovan as a police detective. Cameron Manheim as a police lieutenant doesn't work for me either. I keep thinking her character works in the D. A.'s office. Not much the writers can do when the characters aren't believable to begin with. I don't see them recasting roles soon so I am done.
I would have preferred a different ending, like the killer gets off via a hung jury or acquittal and the next scene is finding him dead but no evidence is left behind, not even a bullet.
I would have preferred a different ending, like the killer gets off via a hung jury or acquittal and the next scene is finding him dead but no evidence is left behind, not even a bullet.
I tried hard.... but no.... this is bs.
joetwa19 April 2022
All this show and svu does is try to divide and spread literally lies about the real world...we all know that "the story's here have no relation to the real world" is a lie. All they do is attack and divide us. Giving into the radical left jerks that exist in this world. I knew it wouldn't get better after the last episode's garbage. Law and order was good before cause it attacked all the wrong on both sides. But dick wolf is obviously a moron or a money greedy no moral in his body, type of old sad pathetic "man". Don't waste your time watching this "show".
Tip mr wolf, most of us just want a show that can tame both sides...but this incites a war.... so since you belive that someone who incites violence to others like that guy in your last episode should be guilty to murder..... you should expect murder charges, when your war you try to incite so badly comes true.
Tip mr wolf, most of us just want a show that can tame both sides...but this incites a war.... so since you belive that someone who incites violence to others like that guy in your last episode should be guilty to murder..... you should expect murder charges, when your war you try to incite so badly comes true.
At least they didn't take the real story of a progressive killer & make him conservative
CKM224 May 2022
I wish shows would realize that we have politics shoved in our face all day long and when we sit down to be entertained for an hour at night we just want to get away from politics.
If you insist on tackling politics how about you take real issues that really matter instead of issues that divide Americans.
How about you tackle the insane policies in New York that result in killers be let out on minuscule bail the same day? I never seem to see that on L&O.
How about you tackle out of control anti-semitism violence in NY?
How about you tackle increases in NY of random crimes at the hands of mentally unstable people because homeless policies in NY are horrible and the mentally unstable are left to rot on the streets.
If you insist on injecting politics into everything why don't you try making a difference instead of dividing left from right?
If you insist on tackling politics how about you take real issues that really matter instead of issues that divide Americans.
How about you tackle the insane policies in New York that result in killers be let out on minuscule bail the same day? I never seem to see that on L&O.
How about you tackle out of control anti-semitism violence in NY?
How about you tackle increases in NY of random crimes at the hands of mentally unstable people because homeless policies in NY are horrible and the mentally unstable are left to rot on the streets.
If you insist on injecting politics into everything why don't you try making a difference instead of dividing left from right?
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