Season 20: Say It Ain’t The End! (Spoiler Alert! It's Not)

[Xeliou66]

4 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Yeah, it was a great finale. Great story, great investigation, and Van Buren was in remission.

Agreed - it was such a good way to end Van Buren’s story and end the first 20 seasons of L&O. I loved seeing everyone show up to support Anita at the end, she was such an awesome character, it was a nice gesture by Lupo to arrange the party for her, Lupo always had a really good relationship with Van Buren. Nice seeing ME Rodgers attend the party as well as all of the main characters. And it was great having Skoda in the episode assisting with building a profile. And it was a strong case, I usually like the occasional “ticking clock” episode and this was well done, and of course Jack going at the bureaucrat was classic. 

[andromeda331]

15 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Agreed - it was such a good way to end Van Buren’s story and end the first 20 seasons of L&O. I loved seeing everyone show up to support Anita at the end, she was such an awesome character, it was a nice gesture by Lupo to arrange the party for her, Lupo always had a really good relationship with Van Buren. Nice seeing ME Rodgers attend the party as well as all of the main characters. And it was great having Skoda in the episode assisting with building a profile. And it was a strong case, I usually like the occasional “ticking clock” episode and this was well done, and of course Jack going at the bureaucrat was classic. 

I liked the party and that Rodgers went too. It was always great to see her outside of the morgue. I'm glad we got one last Jack going at someone. It was great to see Skoda one last time. 

[Xeliou66]

8 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I liked the party and that Rodgers went too. It was always great to see her outside of the morgue. I'm glad we got one last Jack going at someone. It was great to see Skoda one last time. 

Yeah I love Rodgers, I wish the revival would bring her back or introduce a new recurring ME, they’ve visited the ME a few times but haven’t introduced a recurring character. Same with a psych expert - the recurring characters add so much to the show - that’s why it was awesome we got to see Skoda and Rodgers in this episode. I love seeing Jack’s passion in dealing with cases - he became more laid back when he became DA which is understandable, he’s taken on the Adam Schiff role of being a wise old lawyer who provides advice and sometimes orders to his prosecutors, but he definitely still has a passion, and it was awesome to see him tear into that bureaucrat. The party for Van Buren was a nice way to end the series and a nice gesture by Lupo - as I’ve said before I think Van Buren had the best relationship to Lupo out of any of her detectives.

[TakomaSnark]

Just watched 'Fed' again. A bit of a kitchen sink investigation but the episode is worth it for the closing scene with Van Buren finally letting go of her grief and fear at home.

[Xeliou66]

17 minutes ago, TakomaSnark said:

Just watched 'Fed' again. A bit of a kitchen sink investigation but the episode is worth it for the closing scene with Van Buren finally letting go of her grief and fear at home.

I think Fed is a great episode. I see what you are saying about the case having a lot thrown in it with multiple layers with corruption and an affair but I liked it, it had good detective stuff and legal stuff and had good twists. I would’ve liked to have known what sentences the perps got and how involved was the organization’s leader, the one who was having the affair with Courtney, the other higher up, I know Courtney ordered her assistant to get incriminating evidence from the victim’s house and that Arturo killed the victim on her instructions, and I know the head guy didn’t want the scandal becoming public, but which one gave the order to commit murder or did they come up with the plan together? I guess they were equally complicit and came up with the plan together, but the episode could’ve been a little clearer on that and I would’ve liked to know what sentence each of the 4 perps got. I enjoyed all of the interactions between the police and DAs, especially the ending scene between Jack and Anita. I also liked the meeting where all of the people started yelling at Jack and back at the office he said he felt like a corn cob in a pig sty, that line made me laugh. 
And while I never was a Rey Curtis fan, I did like that he made a cameo just to give closure to the character, it was nicely done and I liked that Rey mentioned he kept in touch with Lennie for the rest of Lennie’s life.

[andromeda331]

13 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

I think Fed is a great episode. I see what you are saying about the case having a lot thrown in it with multiple layers with corruption and an affair but I liked it, it had good detective stuff and legal stuff and had good twists. I would’ve liked to have known what sentences the perps got and how involved was the organization’s leader, the one who was having the affair with Courtney, the other higher up, I know Courtney ordered her assistant to get incriminating evidence from the victim’s house and that Arturo killed the victim on her instructions, and I know the head guy didn’t want the scandal becoming public, but which one gave the order to commit murder or did they come up with the plan together? I guess they were equally complicit and came up with the plan together, but the episode could’ve been a little clearer on that and I would’ve liked to know what sentence each of the 4 perps got. I enjoyed all of the interactions between the police and DAs, especially the ending scene between Jack and Anita. I also liked the meeting where all of the people started yelling at Jack and back at the office he said he felt like a corn cob in a pig sty, that line made me laugh. 
And while I never was a Rey Curtis fan, I did like that he made a cameo just to give closure to the character, it was nicely done and I liked that Rey mentioned he kept in touch with Lennie for the rest of Lennie’s life.

It's a good episode. I would have like to know what the sentences were too.

[Xeliou66]

7 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

It's a good episode. I would have like to know what the sentences were too.

Yeah, Jack said at the end all of them were pleading guilty but I would’ve liked to know the sentences for each of the 4. It was a really nice scene between Jack and Anita at the end where Jack came to her office to clear the air between them, I always liked their scenes. Anita was also good when she told the people about to riot to get out of their way when they were arresting the anti government guy. It was nice that they used Anita more in season 20, I guess because the actress was planning to leave at the end of the season. I liked the case a lot in this one and how it had a lot of twists and several layers, somewhat complex but overall a good plot. I loved the scene at the start when ME Rodgers swatted Lupo’s hand away when Lupo wanted to take a sample of the stuff in the victim’s hair that turned out to come from the abandoned factory where he was killed, with Rodgers telling Lupo “if you want to switch jobs let me know” - Rodgers had some funny scenes with the detectives. Fed is one of my favorites from season 20 actually.

[andromeda331]

On 9/21/2023 at 9:49 AM, Xeliou66 said:

Yeah, Jack said at the end all of them were pleading guilty but I would’ve liked to know the sentences for each of the 4. It was a really nice scene between Jack and Anita at the end where Jack came to her office to clear the air between them, I always liked their scenes. Anita was also good when she told the people about to riot to get out of their way when they were arresting the anti government guy. It was nice that they used Anita more in season 20, I guess because the actress was planning to leave at the end of the season. I liked the case a lot in this one and how it had a lot of twists and several layers, somewhat complex but overall a good plot. I loved the scene at the start when ME Rodgers swatted Lupo’s hand away when Lupo wanted to take a sample of the stuff in the victim’s hair that turned out to come from the abandoned factory where he was killed, with Rodgers telling Lupo “if you want to switch jobs let me know” - Rodgers had some funny scenes with the detectives. Fed is one of my favorites from season 20 actually.

Yeah it is one of the best from the season. I remember hearing that the actress who played Anita was leaving the show. It's the only thing that made me happy the series ended then. I really didn't want another new face. No matter how great it maybe. I didn't want anyone but Anita in charge. She was just so great. I like how she never never backed down when anyone tried to intimidate her or like with the possible riot. She was going to arrest the man and that was that. 

[Xeliou66]

3 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Yeah it is one of the best from the season. I remember hearing that the actress who played Anita was leaving the show. It's the only thing that made me happy the series ended then. I really didn't want another new face. No matter how great it maybe. I didn't want anyone but Anita in charge. She was just so great. I like how she never never backed down when anyone tried to intimidate her or like with the possible riot. She was going to arrest the man and that was that. 

I really liked how they utilized Anita more in season 20. She is such an awesome character. 
Fed is a really good episode, it had a good investigation with some interesting twists. Like I said I would’ve liked to have known the sentences for each of the people involved, but overall it’s an excellent episode. I really liked all of the interactions between the detectives and DAs. There was some funny stuff as well, ME Rodgers swatting Lupo’s hand away cracked me up. And the ending scene between Jack/Anita was great. 

[Xeliou66]

Just watched 2 really good season 20 episodes, Four Cops Shot and Brazil

Four Cops Shot in an intense episode, with the manhunt for the suspect. Anita was awesome in this episode, she was great in dealing with the upset captain and with the widow of one of the officers, and I loved her speech to Lupo and Bernard when they were hesitant to turn over the evidence of 2 of the officers using the killer as an informant because they had crossed some lines - Anita asking them that if she were to die would they turn her into a retroactive saint and tell everyone how sweet she was and telling them to get over the officers making mistakes was great. Anita was such a great squad leader and this was a good episode for her. 
I also liked the exchange between Connie and Bernard when Bernard seemed to want the case to become federal so the death penalty could be sought and Connie asked Bernard why he saved Stokes’ life if he wanted him dead and Bernard said he was a cop not an executioner and Connie replied she wasn’t an executioner either.     
It was kind of ironic that the evidence Lupo/Bernard were reluctant to turn over turned out to be the piece of evidence the DA’s needed to nail Stokes, proving his motive was over a money dispute and not keeping his mother out of jail. 
Jack was great as usual in this episode, I liked his meeting with the prosecutor who commuted Stokes’ sentence and how he dealt with the tension between the cops and his office. 

Brazil is a really good episode as well, intriguing plot about the attempted murder via poisoning of the scientist leading to the custody dispute. I liked the investigation and how they found out the ex husband got the poison and the father in law was involved as well. The twist about the grandparents faking the little girl getting lost to make the mom look irresponsible was good as well. It was an intriguing plot. Cutter did a good job in getting the ex husband/father to admit to his involvement in the attempted murder in court, it was a clever way to ensure both parties plead guilty to their role in the crime and preventing the grandpa from taking all of the blame. I liked the ending - it wasn’t a happy case and I liked how Jack told Mike and Connie that they got the right result and it was a good day’s work and Mike replied “Yeah but not a good day”. It’s a very good plot.

[Spartan Girl]

19 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

I liked how Jack told Mike and Connie that they got the right result and it was a good day’s work and Mike replied “Yeah but not a good day”. It’s a very good plot.

I hated that the mother basically won when it was her selfishness that set the whole thing in motion. When your own parents are willing to frame you for being irresponsible because you hogged custody of your daughter without letting them or your ex get to see her for stupid and petty reasons, then maybe it’s time to reevaluate your life choices.

Edited November 30, 2023 by Spartan Girl

[Xeliou66]

2 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

I hated that the mother basically won when it was her selfishness that set the whole thing in motion. When your own parents are willing to frame you for being irresponsible because you hogged custody of your daughter without letting them or your ex get to see her for stupid and petty reasons, then maybe it’s time to reevaluate your life choices.

I agree with what you are saying, the mom did violate the court order and as Mike pointed out at the end it was her selfishness that set the whole plot in motion. I really felt for the little girl, she had lousy family all around. 

[Xeliou66]

Since I have Peacock right now, I’ve been jumping around and watching the best episodes of each season, and I watched Doped from this season recently - I like this episode a lot - the investigation was great with how Lupo and Bernard got to the bottom of the crash, Lupo’s intuition was right that something was off. I also love the twist that the perp didn’t do it out of company loyalty, but out of greed because he wanted all of the reward money. I really hate the perp though, he was selfish scum and him acting like he just thought she would have a minor fender-bender was stupid, he should know drugging someone with propofol and spiking their drink before they got in their car could have disastrous consequences and that’s what happened, he just didn’t care what the consequences were, he wanted the victim out of the way so he could get the money and he didn’t care how. Fuck him, and the ending left something to be desired - Cutter said the deal of 20 to life would be subject to approval of the victim’s families, but we only saw the woman’s husband agree to it, nothing from his in laws who lost their kids or the guy who lost his family in the car that was crashed into. I think the perp deserved 7 consecutive life sentences for each person he killed, he should never have even had a chance at parole, and I kind of doubt all of the families affected by the crash would be satisfied. I think the DA’s should’ve left sentencing up to a judge and pushed for the maximum. The perp didn’t deserve to ever have a chance at seeing the light of day again - his greed, selfishness and callous acts killed 7 people. Fuck him. I hope the other family members showed up at every one of his parole hearings and he never got out. Or maybe he would get killed in prison. He was scum and I would’ve liked the input of everyone affected at the end before the DA’s agreed to the deal. That was the only flaw of the episode. Other than that it was great - from the investigation and Rodgers coming to Van Buren’s office with the info, to Jack forcing the big Pharma company to hand over the laptop, and Mike and Connie figuring out the actual motive.

[andromeda331]

6 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Since I have Peacock right now, I’ve been jumping around and watching the best episodes of each season, and I watched Doped from this season recently - I like this episode a lot - the investigation was great with how Lupo and Bernard got to the bottom of the crash, Lupo’s intuition was right that something was off. I also love the twist that the perp didn’t do it out of company loyalty, but out of greed because he wanted all of the reward money. I really hate the perp though, he was selfish scum and him acting like he just thought she would have a minor fender-bender was stupid, he should know drugging someone with propofol and spiking their drink before they got in their car could have disastrous consequences and that’s what happened, he just didn’t care what the consequences were, he wanted the victim out of the way so he could get the money and he didn’t care how. Fuck him, and the ending left something to be desired - Cutter said the deal of 20 to life would be subject to approval of the victim’s families, but we only saw the woman’s husband agree to it, nothing from his in laws who lost their kids or the guy who lost his family in the car that was crashed into. I think the perp deserved 7 consecutive life sentences for each person he killed, he should never have even had a chance at parole, and I kind of doubt all of the families affected by the crash would be satisfied. I think the DA’s should’ve left sentencing up to a judge and pushed for the maximum. The perp didn’t deserve to ever have a chance at seeing the light of day again - his greed, selfishness and callous acts killed 7 people. Fuck him. I hope the other family members showed up at every one of his parole hearings and he never got out. Or maybe he would get killed in prison. He was scum and I would’ve liked the input of everyone affected at the end before the DA’s agreed to the deal. That was the only flaw of the episode. Other than that it was great - from the investigation and Rodgers coming to Van Buren’s office with the info, to Jack forcing the big Pharma company to hand over the laptop, and Mike and Connie figuring out the actual motive.

That was a good episode but yeah he should have gotten seven life sentence.

[Xeliou66]

3 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

That was a good episode but yeah he should have gotten seven life sentence.

Absolutely. I opposed making a deal that would ever allow him a shot at parole, and I thought the ending was weirdly done with them only talking to the woman’s husband and not to anyone else. I highly doubt everyone else would be happy with the deal. I think they should’ve made no sentencing agreement and pushed for a judge to sentence him to the maximum. 
Other than that, it’s a great episode, I love the detective work of how they zeroed in on the culprit and figured out what happened. 

[andromeda331]

5 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Absolutely. I opposed making a deal that would ever allow him a shot at parole, and I thought the ending was weirdly done with them only talking to the woman’s husband and not to anyone else. I highly doubt everyone else would be happy with the deal. I think they should’ve made no sentencing agreement and pushed for a judge to sentence him to the maximum. 
Other than that, it’s a great episode, I love the detective work of how they zeroed in on the culprit and figured out what happened. 

They really should have. I don't know why Jack didn't insist on it. It's unlike him not to given his crime.

[Xeliou66]

3 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

They really should have. I don't know why Jack didn't insist on it. It's unlike him not to given his crime.

Jack wasn’t shown at the end either, it was just Mike and Connie who made the deal. It was kind of sloppy that they didn’t have all of the families there at the end, the way it was done just felt a bit off. Like I say I hope some of the families showed up for every one of that turd’s parole hearings and reminded them that his selfish and cold blooded acts cost 7 people including 3 children their lives.