ML89

Uh oh, is this the Ben Stone Exit?

Oh, now that would have been an interrogation scene for the ages...

It was quite amazing.

So the school chief goes into court and says half the parents are cheating for extra time. Was he quitting the next day? Excellent point. My thought exactly. Plus she really believed the “you get to go home”? I would dearly love one time for someone to say “i watch a lot of cop shows so yeah I know all your tricks.” I like shady Baxter but that was such a huge conflict. Excellent point too. I disliked her more as Abby on ER but Brady is coming up fast on the outside… Again with scholarship kid at elite prep school goes wild - that’s such a favorite L&O trope.

Something about Maroun here, I thought she was about a week away from turning herself into a vigilante. Of course, once again, the court side is a mess. Seeing Raphael Sbarge as another lawyer after his years on The Guardian was fun although with his hair that color, not his old brown, he looked like he should be playing the father of Progressive Insurance Jamie.

That I would watch - history of LA through houses would be very interesting. There's also reports of a lot of turmoil in the NY part of Douglas Eliman so maybe that's playing into that pause.

That's why I've given up. That and half the cast makes me crazy. I'd love to take Ford, Williams, McGinley, and Malick and put them in a different show, because Shrinking is exhausting. Only Murders can play everything at 11 because, underneath, I believe those characters care about each other and it's very close to a classic farce. This isn't.

I can't get it to post but Nick Verreos on his X feed has a poster and an announcement about Runway being back.

I read the long article about it and I have some familiarity with copyright and it still confused the hell out of me. So skating can't use songs but gymnastics can? Do these bands who sue realize that skaters skating to their music leads to more exposure? The band suing Knierem/Frasier was particularily hilarious because "House of the Rising Sun" was allegedly an old ballad/folk song/blues song when the Animals remade it and they were covering that version. So you got some damages, good job. Music copyright is so messed up anyway because its roots go back to sheet music then performance on top of that and it's all a confusing tangle of owners and copyright that still manages to shaft most artists. I love the idea of music with vocals but if I hear "Rain in Your Black Eyes" or that Muse song again? The problem is something gets popular (Moulin Rouge), then everyone does it. I will go on record as loving Donna Summer's version of "MacArthur Park" and I can't wait to see Liu's full program to it. I don't know if she had the song before it was used in Beetlejuice 2 and it's a happy coincidence.

I sort of agree on Halevi, but I know Dancy has done better work - I honestly think it’s because he’s having trouble with his accent (which is where Linus Roache has him beat). But honestly, the writing has been so bad on the legal side, I don’t think anyone could rescue it most of the time.

I was quoting Adam Schiff nonstop in the second half: “make a deal.” ‘I’m really beginning to like Baxter, surprisingly. Also, surprisingly, Lt Maura Tierney. Shaw and Riley continue to be a good team and the actors must have complained - their last two chases have been about twenty feet! Interesting that Maroun barely said a word this ep.

Maura Tierney on her new role AND her original L&O appearance: https://ew.com/maura-tierney-recalls-law-and-order-episode-33-years-ago-wild-plot-8727311

Co-signed. What set L&O apart was not having these gratuitous murder scenes. Also, poor Shaw and Riley are going to have another year of chasing people. The Olympics coverage missed a trick with not having them run alongside some track contenders. Maroun and Price win a motion and it's all for naught. Maroun needs to get out of the DA's office and get a nice boring law job before she has a breakdown. Maybe this is going to be the set up for her going out down the road. I'm beginning to really like Baxter as the boss. Glad he won his election and also glad we didn't have to see any of it other than that random reference to it. Jury is definitely out on Maura Tierney because I have so many bad memories of Abby on ER, and now that's twice we've met a new character waltzing their way into the crime scene. I have trouble with the quick way they wrote Dixon out and her in - wouldn't Dixon have told them she was thinking of moving to wherever her son is now teaching? Were Shaw and Riley on vacation or something and didn't know until then? Very weird. But at least we know what happened to her.

Maybe Maroun's "drastic action" means that's a way to send her out too!

Gainesville to Seville: This one was just odd. She looked online and picked Seville - which looks like parts of St Augustine, which is about 90 minutes from Gainesville (obv St Aug is the knockoff) - so it looked familiar? The house they picked seemed like a nightmare to me (I lived in a three story town house without bathrooms on every floor and I have the bad back to prove it). Plus there isn't even the obligatory "we're teaching English/running a podcast" to explain them selling that big house to move....I can't remember, was his name Tony Amato?