Xeliou66

I liked Jessica Sheets, the defense attorney from Shangri-La, as well, she appeared 3 times, the actress also was on an episode of L&O:CI playing an attorney whose husband tried to frame her for murder. I didn’t like Kay from Mother’s Day, she was very shady and self serving. I got why Serena didn’t like her. I like most of the defense attorneys, and most of them seemed like ethical lawyers overall even when they defended scum. As I’ve said before, Melnick is the one prominent L&O defense attorney I despise - she was unethical and self serving and egotistic and acted so damn self righteous and superior to everyone else. Her slimy ass should’ve been disbarred in Open Season, and it was awesome to Jack blow up on her a couple of years later when she was once again putting herself ahead of her client.

I figured it was based on a real cult, most of L&O’s cases are based on some kind of real life event, thanks for the info.

Yeah that juror in Dining Out was dumb as a rock, I loved when the judge told her she had no understanding of the law. I liked how Jack figured out she had contact with the chef and that the business partner had key motive evidence against the chef. It’s a good episode. Sects was good as well. It was interesting that the creepy cult leader was a woman, and yeah she was bonkers.

L&O has always had pretty good characters, Anita would’ve been very hard to replace - like you said, it’s hard to replace iconic characters - Fontana was a poor replacement for the iconic Lennie, he was just not likable whatsoever and way too abrasive, and they didn’t get a really good new detective until Lupo in season 18 - Falco was bad and so was Nina Cassady. And Nora, while not unlikable, just didn’t have enough personality to take over for the legendary Adam as DA - she came off as too indecisive and bland - I know Arthur is polarizing but I thought he brought a very commanding presence to the role of DA and did a solid job. But they’ve replaced every character at some point over the course of the show’s run, so I think they could’ve replaced Anita okay. But yeah season 20 was great overall.

The more I watch Fontana the less I like him - he was just such as ass most of the time, he was completely lacking in compassion and was very arrogant and rude, and he was disrespectful to Van Buren much of the time, not to mention he was fond of behaving like a bully and violating peoples rights and getting physical sometimes. There are plenty of good season 15 episodes - Dining Out is pretty good, jury tampering episodes are always interesting, and I loved the judge giving a verbal smackdown of the idiot juror, that was great. Solid case and investigation, I liked how Jack realized the juror had a deal with the perp and used that to their advantage and then realized the business partner had more info and was able to get the perp to plead guilty using that, it was good legal work. The detective stuff was pretty good as well but Fontana just reeks of being of being a prick much of the time, in this episode he got physical with the guy who insulted him and Green had to tell him to stop. Sects is a weird episode but pretty good, the cult was creepy, wild start to the episode with the guy shooting himself and then the discovery of the murder victim. The cult leader woman was off her rocker. Borgia was okay in these episodes, she was just kind of bland. I really only despise her in the In God We Trust episode, but she didn’t have much personality.

I agree that it was a bummer the show was canceled after season 20, and I think Dick Wolf regretted it ever since. It would be a challenge replacing Van Buren but the show replaced great characters before and so it could be done. Lupo/Bernard were a really good pairing. I don’t care for Cutter, but Jack and Connie were great of course. And most of the cases in season 20 were very strong

Intense episode, especially the chase at the start. The perps were just pure evil this week, nothing sympathetic about them and I loved Remy’s disgust with them. But I found it far fetched that there would be so many commenters online cheering the 2 perps on - I bought that the 2 perps would be sick enough to be obsessed with getting attention through violence but not that there would be so many people cheering them on. I don’t care about Barnes’ new love interest at all, and I found it a bit OOC that Barnes would jump in bed with her after just meeting her.

Decent episode, I liked the case fine though it was somewhat predictable, interesting to see Andre take the lead in the field. But Tyler’s whining to Smitty really got on my nerves and I’m glad he’s gone, won’t miss him, he was just too much of a rogue type for my taste. I liked the final scene between Wes and Smitty. Wes’ love of golf is a funny running joke. Nice to see Tank

Another strong episode, I liked the suspense and I couldn’t tell where the plot was going, I liked how they didn’t reveal what the opening murder had to do with the informant until halfway through. I always enjoy Jubal centric stories and I found him strong as usual and liked seeing him get out in the field. I couldn’t tell whether the informant was good or bad for much of the episode. I did predict that one of the US marshal’s would be involved with the terrorists, that was the part of the episode that was predictable. I wondered why they took the detour, was there no other way around, it seemed like a set up for an ambush? The plan was risky from the start but I guess there was no other way to nab the terrorists. I figured Jubal and his ex might rekindle their relationship. No Scola this week, just Maggie/OA/Jubal/Isobel and the analysts. Entertaining hour as usual

Compassion is a good episode, and it’s one of the only times I disagreed with Skoda’s analysis - I don’t believe the doctor was faking her insanity plea - I think she had genuinely cracked after years of being around dying children and feeling powerless to help them, and had escaped into a fantasy world because she couldn’t cope, I think she was completely detached from reality. I think Jack did the right thing by sending her to a psych facility at the end. I did like Arthur’s line about how “the good you do doesn’t always do you any good” but Jack made the right call in this case. I loved the investigation in this episode of Briscoe/Green discovering the real identity of the victim and zeroing in on the doctor. Ill-Conceived is a very strong episode as well - it was a good twist that the victim’s wife knew all along who did it and wanted the kid so she kept silent, although I’m not sure what made her think Miguel and Maria would give her the kid since they had proven to be manipulative by holding them up for more money and then Miguel killed her husband. Miguel and Maria were both rotten. I also wondered if the defense attorney Vanessa Galiano knew all along, it was clear Miguel could communicate in English much better than he claimed to, but maybe he hid the truth from his attorney, it would never be known due to attorney client privilege. Galiano was abrasive with Jack, it made me wonder if they had a prior romantic relationship. This is one of the few episodes where I liked Serena, she saw through Miguel and the wife. I love the investigation in this one as well, particularly Rodgers giving the detectives the baking flour lead and Lennie’s “I think that’s what they call a clue, Watson” line, and how they tracked down Miguel from that and Lennie realizing that Miguel’s girlfriend was the same woman who worked for the victim and was on maternity leave, great detective work. Arthur’s line about Judge Larkin having the right turn signal removed from her car was funny as well. Darwinian is another classic episode - interesting how there were basically two separate investigations and legal proceedings. It was infuriating that the nasty rich witch got off with probation even though she probably could’ve saved the victim, she could afford a good attorney and it seemed like the judge was biased towards her. I liked how disgusted Briscoe/Green were with her. The homeless guy who attacked the victim was somewhat sympathetic in that it was likely he never would’ve killed if he hadn’t fallen on very hard times, but the victim was sympathetic as well and had a hard life due to his schizophrenia and did nothing wrong, it was just a tragic case. Jack was right that the homeless victim shouldn’t be denied justice, but it was a tough case. Arthur calling Serena a “limousine liberal” was funny, there was frequent hostility between Arthur/Serena, that got tiresome at times, mainly on Serena’s part, I felt she never gave Arthur a chance and had her mind made up about him the instant he became DA.

Rubber Room was awesome - it was a good twist that the perp was a teacher and not a student, and it was very believable given the situation that the gun would go off the deep end. Jack telling the bureaucrat to “get out of my way!” was awesome. And yeah I loved everyone coming together to support Anita, it was a nice way to get all of the characters together at the end, I liked how Lupo wanted to help Anita, they always had a very good relationship with a lot of mutual respect, and Anita’s boyfriend/fiancé Frank convincing her to let Lupo help and go ahead with the fundraiser party was good. It was great seeing all 6 main characters together at the end - great conclusion to Anita’s story and to the show’s original run. It’s my favorite of the season. Season 20 was really strong overall, there are 2 poor episodes - Just a Girl In the World and Dignity, both of those were major clunkers, the rest of the season was great.

Season 20 was the best season since season 14 IMO - it had a strong cast and a lot of good cases. I’m not a Mike Cutter fan and he was the weak link in the cast, as I’ve said before I wish Connie had become the lead prosecutor when Jack became DA, she was such an awesome character and it would’ve been interesting to see a female lead prosecutor. I love the Lupo/Bernard pairing, they had a nice easy rapport between them. Of course Jack and Anita were great. It was also awesome to see Skoda again in 3 episodes, he hadn’t been on since season 15. What are your favorite episodes of season 20? Rubber Room is probably my favorite, it was such a perfect ending to the show’s original run and to Anita’s story, since it would’ve been Anita’s last episode anyway. It deviated from the formula a bit in that they were trying to stop a mass murder before it happened but it worked perfectly. I also love the episodes Immortal, Fed, Boy on Fire, Doped and several others.

I really like the episode Doped, really strong case with interesting twists - great investigation, it was interesting how Lupo believed something was off about the case from the start, I liked how they got to the bottom of the case with Rodgers coming to the station with the info about the spiked nasal spray, and then discovering the boss had ordered the smoothies and had called just before the crash. It was a great twist at the end that the boss did it out of greed of not wanting to split the whistleblower money, not because he wanted to protect the company. They kind of botched the ending though - first of all the perp deserved seven consecutive sentences, he should never have gotten a chance at parole after 20 years, 7 people died because of this scumbag’s greed, and I didn’t buy his acting like he had no idea people would get hurt - what did he think would happen when he drugged someone who was driving a car? And it didn’t make sense that the DAs seemed to make up their mind to accept the 20 to life sentence after only talking to the husband of the woman who was drugged - they even said they hadn’t talked to the others - the parents of the other kids in the car and the family of the victims in the car that was hit hadn’t been spoken to yet, but it seemed that Connie and Mike had made up their mind to accept the plea after only talking to the husband. That seemed off - I doubt all of the family members of the victims would be okay with a plea deal and it would’ve made more sense to have all of them consulted before reaching a decision, so that just seemed off. I hope this shithead perp never saw the light of day again. I did find it amusing when they were eating in Jack’s office and Connie swiped a couple of Jack’s fries. For the Defense is a good episode as well, Marcus Woll was such a scummy perp, I liked how they pieced it together that he was getting witnesses killed. Good investigation in figuring out the victim’s boss was involved in organized crime and was the perp, and it was wild seeing Bernard have to shoot the hitman sent to kill the witness at the hotel, and I liked how they figured out Woll got involved in the murder case the victim was testifying in to get info and reported back to the perp about it. I liked Connie stepping forward and risking her own reputation to get Woll convicted. Cutter had a couple of good moments, his cross of Woll was great with how he baited him into defending his credibility so he could get other cases admitted and then afterwards telling Woll he would rather make a deal with the stone cold killer - that was one of Cutter’s best moments. It didn’t make Connie look good that she slept with Woll once but she quickly realized it was a mistake and I liked how Connie handled the questions about it on the stand. I have to say I’m very glad that they never made things romantic between Cutter and Connie - it was obvious Cutter was attracted to Connie, and I think Jack could tell based on his ending line to them, but I’m glad they never went further with that, it would’ve made the show way too soapy, so I’m glad that wasn’t referenced again. I really like the Lupo/Bernard partnership, they had a nice rapport, both were very likable characters, Lupo was very laid back while Bernard had a bit more edge. Season 20 has a lot of really strong episodes, lots of good cases.

This was a boring drag of an episode - a ton of the typical Benson crap - Benson being the one to get through to everyone, Benson promising to save the day and doing so etc, plus it was dead obvious what happened from the start - there was no suspense and it was stuff we had seen over and over the last few seasons of SVU. Everything was spelled out in the overly long clunky opening and there were no twists along the way. Just a dull, boring episode. Only part I liked was Carisi in court, one of the best things SVU has done this season is use the courtroom more and give Carisi good material, that gave the episode a slight boost, otherwise it would’ve been dreadful. No Bruno sucked as well. This season has been better than I expected but this was a total dud.

This could’ve been a great episode if not for the personal Price melodrama detracting from it - and frankly Nolan came off as unsympathetic until the end, he was being selfish trying to keep his dad alive even though he was in pain and had no quality of life. And it seemed to be affecting his judgment on the case, to the point where I thought that if he didn’t agree to a deal, Baxter should have him removed as lead prosecutor. Fortunately he came to his senses at the end and it was 100% right to offer a manslaughter plea - the daughter deserved a lighter sentence as it was clear her story was the truth and it wasn’t a cold blooded murder but what she thought was an act of mercy - a plea was the right thing and I don’t think any jury would’ve convicted. I liked the scene where Price told Baxter he wanted to make a deal, Baxter knew Price had a lot of emotions but he didn’t pry and the scene didn’t become melodramatic. But the Price personal melodrama detracted from the episode and it’s another example of L&O adding in too much personal soapiness which has been the main weakness of the season. I agree it was odd that the new wife wasn’t talked about or called to testify (that we saw) I know they hadn’t been married long and she was out of town a lot but she would likely have known about her husband’s condition - unless he somehow kept it hidden from her and she wasn’t around enough to notice. That part was overlooked. The investigation was great and I enjoyed Shaw/Riley as usual, it had a lot of twists and I wasn’t sure where it was going, very compelling investigation, and Brady has grown on me. A couple of real good lines - Brady telling the son that if he knew who killed his dad he should’ve run towards the police not away, and Riley’s line about the bar owner cosplaying Goodfellas. Baxter’s scenes were good as well, I like him as DA and how he approaches cases. Nice to see the guy playing the defense attorney even if he didn’t get a large role - I’ll always know him as Baltimore prosecutor Danvers on Homicide, and as Ben Stone’s nemesis in season 4’s American Dream, this is his second appearance on the revival as that defense attorney, Mr Banks the judge called him, hope we see him some more. So this was overall a compelling case, lots of good twists in it, and if it hadn’t been for the Price melodrama getting in the way of things it would’ve been really good, they still could’ve done the assisted suicide angle without Nolan’s personal drama, but the personal drama detracted from the episode as it frequently does when they include it. Still I enjoyed the episode overall.

Episode description A young boy seeks help when his sister doesn’t come home from work. Benson and Carisi suspect a woman’s assault was prearranged by a third party.

Episode description When a wealthy man is executed in his home, Shaw and Riley aim to determine who was greedy enough to want him dead; Price must try a difficult case amidst his father’s failing health.

I didn’t think they wanted us to feel sorry for the perp anymore than other perps with a tragic past. This show has frequently had perps who’ve done evil things but who have a past that makes them kind of tragic figures. I like the complex nature of the cases on this show and the more psychological development of the perps, this is my favorite FBI show

I love season 2, great cast lineup and mostly great cases. I think Phil is sometimes overlooked because he preceded the iconic Lennie, but Phil was a strong character in his own right and I liked his partnership with Logan. Aria is kind of a confusing episode and one of the weaker season 2 episodes, the DAs changing theories was weird and I wasn’t sure the mom was legally responsible either. My favorite season 2 episodes are the back to back episodes Severance and Blood Is Thicker - both of those episodes have fantastic plots. Plenty of other great season 2 episodes as well

Another good episode, very interesting how they incorporated the real life MOVE bombing in Philly into the episode. Good investigation and hunt for the fugitive and an intense ending with the bomb going off while they were in the house. Good role for each character and a solid case. Don’t care about Nina’s family drama but at least it didn’t affect the case at all. I can’t figure out her dad though, he seemed okay enough tonight after coming off as a pure psycho in his first appearance.

Pretty good episode, but I’m glad the storyline with the big bad Csonka is over, he was too much of a supervillain for my taste. I liked how Andre was able to break free of his captors by himself and wound Csonka. I’m liking Wes as team leader more and more, but I’m not sold on the new agent yet.

One of FBIs most intense episodes, ever. Gripping from start to finish. I’m not sure how realistic it was that the one terrorist could be in charge of controlling the plane by himself, it would seem like more people would be in the terror cell - I know there were more people at first who helped stage the kidnapping and they were killed in the shootout at the warehouse where they found the woman but it seemed like it would take a lot more than just them to carry out such a large operation. I also wondered why the NYPD was so quick to rule the lawyer’s death a suicide, I guess the perps covered their tracks really well but it seems like they would’ve taken a deeper look into it, and how did they get access to his apartment in the first place, some kind of ruse? It seems like it would’ve worked better if the FBI team had taken the lead from the start. Good twist that the kidnapping was staged, although they were lucky the fiancé didn’t get the cops involved afterwards. Bold move by Jubal to knock out the power grid, it was a desperate effort but it worked and I liked how they were able to identify the guy based on Ian’s info that he was likely in a car. Nina crossing over was a nice touch, and I honestly think there was so much packed into this episode that it would’ve worked better as a 3 way crossover between the 3 FBI shows than just a one hour show, then they could’ve really delved into the plot and fleshed things out more. So long to Scola’s new partner, very weird how she just left after a few episodes, she made zero impact on me whatsoever, hopefully the new agent will be a better addition whenever she comes on. A lot jammed into this hour but it was very gripping and more intense than normal given the magnitude of the case, and I thought each character had a nice role. Nice to have the show back.

Bailout is a decent episode, I like the investigation and case pretty good. I think the defendant deserved to go to prison and it was likely the defense was a lie but I understand why the jury acquitted, the Wall St dirtbag boyfriend of the victim was so unlikable and the jury was fed up with elites like him getting off scot-free after hurting many people with their greed, so they decided to acquit, it wasn’t the correct verdict and I would’ve voted to convict but I understand why the jury reached the decision they did, and Jack was right at the end with his line that the defense attorney didn’t nullify the jury, Dow Jones did, and I have to say I liked the defense attorney’s disgust with Gardner. I also liked Jack saying he wouldn’t do anything for Gardner and that he would have to testify with nothing to personally gain. Take-Out is a strong episode, about the murdered writer who was jailed in China and working on the piece about the imprisoned alleged spy. It was a great twist that the guy wasn’t a spy and his wife was, and the daughter hired the hitman to protect the mom’s reputation. I didn’t feel any sympathy for the daughter, she had a guy killed just because she didn’t want the truth about her mom coming to light. This was one of the episodes where Cutter was likable and him and Connie did a good job getting to the truth, although I liked Jack reminding Cutter the office had other cases on its plate when telling him to work out a deal with the feds. I liked that Jack was going to try to get the feds to release the wrongfully convicted guy at the end. It was interesting seeing Lupo/Bernard gun down the hitman when he pulled a gun on them, one of the rare shootings by the main characters in L&O.

Yeah the cases are the best on MW, a wide variety of stuff with some good twists and memorable villains. International feels like a spy show at times, and while I like original FBI’s cases pretty good they do go to the terrorism stuff a lot. Which is another reason why it would be epically stupid to cancel MW, the show with the most unique cases, in favor of a CIA spinoff that would be entirely about spies and terrorism. I will be livid if that’s what happens.

Agreed about the unnecessary action scenes and foot chases - L&O seems to have borrowed those from another Dick Wolf show, FBI, and I’m not a fan of them - L&O has never been an action type show so it’s totally unnecessary to have them chasing someone so often - FBI is more action centric and fast paced so it fits in better on that show, but yeah I hear everyone’s annoyance with the foot chases, I wish L&O would cut them out. I usually don’t comment on them given that they are a very minor part of the show but they certainly don’t add anything.