S21.E03: Filtered Life

[Door County Cherry]

Quote

Bernard and Cosgrove investigate the disappearance of a social media star whose case takes the internet by storm; Price and Maroun must weigh their decisions regarding the case against the wishes of the missing woman's family.

 

[WendyCR72]

Well, certainly didn't take the franchise long to cover Gabby Petito, based on the opening. On another note (again), please bring back the classic opening. I hate the new one.

[WendyCR72]

And Milena Govich, ex-Det. Cassady, is the director.

[Clawdette]

His rap sheet is like a receipt from CVS.  That's the Law & Order I know and love.

[scarynikki12]

I don't remember if it came up in the previous episodes but I've decided that Frank only has daughters. Given how he was reacting to Amanda's disappearance the shocking thing would be if he didn't have at least one. Also, Frank? Your kids absolutely have social media one way or another. Maybe not their own accounts but they can read Twitter and Instagram without having accounts. 

They complained so much about armchair detectives on the internet that I was certain one of said sleuths would provide a critical piece of evidence. That's what happened when Twitter went Elle Woods and used real life cosmetic knowledge to help in the search for Gabby. 

They never explained the Bahamas picture right? In real life Brian was posting the pictures to make it seem like Gabby was still alive yet they didn't find out if the picture was a timed release or if someone had her login information. 

Also, why not do that thing where they get their conviction and then negotiate over the sentence? Then we could end the episode with Amanda's body found and on its way home to be buried. 

[Blakeston]

I thought this was a huge improvement over the previous two episodes.

[Ms Blue Jay]

That ending left me very confused.  Why was the mother so upset?  There's no way she'll know where the body is with a guilty verdict?

I don't know Law and Order well so I'm also really shocked that they only seem to do Ripped from the Headlines stories.  It will be interesting to see when they do their first story that somebody actually has to write.

Edited March 11, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[GHScorpiosRule]

Detective “Beauty Queen” directed tonight’s episode!😄

What the FUCK, Show? Only Two CHUNG-CHUNGS????🤬🤬🤬 And the stoopid “suspenseful” music in its place?? That’s right-this is the Hill I’m gonna die on! This show is NOT the Mothership without the CHUNG-CHUNG! and the natural sounds! 

The only thing that worked for me was Nolan’s closing. And his argument that the DA’s office wasn’t there to serve as the victims’ family’s personal attorneys.

That Jack negotiated with a serial killer to find out where the bodies were was a lesson hard learned. I’m glad Jack told Nolan to get the guilty verdict. So tell me again why Maroun works in the DA’s office?

And IMDb really fucked up. They’ve had Dylan Baker appearing in both the second and third episodes, but he hasn’t shown up.

I really want to like this, but ENOUGH with the social media cases and celebrity cases! Give me a good ole regular MURDER that’s mob related or without having anything to do with social media.

I mean, really, do people actually say “I don’t know her in IRL” or whatever she said instead of actually saying “In real life”??????

I’m going back to ORIGINAL ORIGINAL MOTHERSHIP, thankyouverymuch.

2 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I don't know Law and Order well so I'm also really shocked that they only seem to do Ripped from the Headlines stories.  It will be interesting to see when they do their first story that somebody actually has to write.

That was always the premise/hook of the original series: Ripped from the Headlines! But the original had its own twist and the time between the cases it ripped from were at least 5-10 years.

[Ms Blue Jay]

8 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

And IMDb really fucked up. They’ve had Dylan Baker appearing in both the second and third episodes, but he hasn’t shown up.

I was checking IMDb too and it was so unhelpful.  Who played the defense attorney?  I know her from SOMETHING and it's driving me nuts.

8 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I really want to like this, but ENOUGH with the social media cases and celebrity cases! Give me a good ole regular MURDER that’s mob related or without having anything to do with social media.

I mean, really, do people actually say “I don’t know her in IRL” or whatever she said instead of actually saying “In real life”??????

Yes, yes, yes thank you thank you thank you.  I felt so validated when they said people over 30 don't care about this.  Yes.  Correct.  We don't.

9 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

That was always the premise/hook of the original series: Ripped from the Headlines! But the original had its own twist and the time between the cases it ripped from were at least 5-10 years.

Yeah, this season, it's more like 5-10 minutes!

[Broderbits]

1 hour ago, WendyCR72 said:

And Milena Govich, ex-Det. Cassady, is the director.

She's directed a lot of tv, and not just for Dick Wolf. She's a much better director than actress (although that's kind of damning with faint praise).

[TakomaSnark]

25 minutes ago, Broderbits said:

She's directed a lot of tv, and not just for Dick Wolf. She's a much better director than actress (although that's kind of damning with faint praise).

Milica Govich, who played the judge in this episode, is Milena's aunt.

[Johnny Dollar]

So was the mother upset because a guilty verdict meant that the killer would never take them to the body? Wouldn’t a not guilty verdict have the same result? BTW - you negotiate with the killer at sentencing to reveal where he buried the body in exchange for some chance of getting parole.

Frank still acts like he’s a no-nonsense cop from the 70s who found a time machine. Again with threatening a suspect knowing that all interviews are recorded. It’s getting a little old and makes him seem incompetent. 

[TakomaSnark]

44 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I’m going back to ORIGINAL ORIGINAL MOTHERSHIP, thankyouverymuch.

Right there with you, @GHScorpiosRule. They've SVU-ified the mothership and it's a dumpster fire. If I wanted to watch 'ripped from last week's headlines,' I'd tune into the Olivia Benson Hour. The original series was so much better at taking a majority of its stories from lesser known - and older - real-life crimes, and putting its own spin on them.

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 3/10/2022 at 10:07 PM, Johnny Dollar said:

 

So was the mother upset because a guilty verdict meant that the killer would never take them to the body? Wouldn’t a not guilty verdict have the same result? 

 

Yes and Yes. That’s why the parents wanted Nolan to agree to the plea deal-killer said he would reveal where the body was if he got it. But there was no guarantee he would tell the truth.

Edited March 12, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule

[Door County Cherry]

38 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

That ending left me very confused.  Why was the mother so upset?  There's no way she'll know where the body is with a guilty verdict?

I don't know Law and Order well so I'm also really shocked that they only seem to do Ripped from the Headlines stories.  It will be interesting to see when they do their first story that somebody actually has to write.

The mother was upset because there's no motivation for the defendant to admit where he buried the body.  I guess they could negotiate with jail time but it probably won't be enough time off for him to admit where he buried her. Although, I do think it's strange that she did it then.  A not guilty verdict wouldn't have been any better for them.

And L&O did sort of develop a reputation as "ripped from the headlines" but that was only after they got sensationalistic about it---kind of like this episode. I like the show less when they rely so heavily on it that you instantly know what case they're copying.  There were also a lot of  cases that were not ripped from the headlines or barely recognizable as ripped from the headlines.  Or they'd do what they did last week and take a non-murder story and turn it into one.  That's why I preferred last week's version better than this week's version.  This week was almost too similar to the actual case. 

There was a lot that frustrated me about this episode.  I really wish they had chosen someone from a different era to run the show because Eid just asks me to overlook too much.  All of the arguments that she'd profit off of social media by being dead lead nowhere because if she's playing dead, there's no way for her to leverage that increased visibility of being dead.  And this trial likely would have come months after she disappeared.  That's a long time to fake being dead.

Also, because there was absolutely no evidence, NY would have likely sat on this case for years before pressing charges in the hopes the body would be discovered.

And the defense attorney would have been objecting fast and furious when the mother starting rambling about how he was guilty. 

 

1 hour ago, scarynikki12 said:

I don't remember if it came up in the previous episodes but I've decided that Frank only has daughters.

I think this is the first episode in which we find out he has kids. 

[TakomaSnark]

Just now, Door County Cherry said:

And L&O did sort of develop a reputation as "ripped from the headlines" but that was only after they got sensationalistic about it---kind of like this episode. I like the show less when they rely so heavily on it that you instantly know what case they're copying.  There were also a lot of  cases that were not ripped from the headlines or barely recognizable as ripped from the headlines.  Or they'd do what they did last week and take a non-murder story and turn it into one.  That's why I preferred last week's version better than this week's version.  This week was almost too similar to the actual case. 

 

One thing I love about the These Are Their Stories pod is when they get to the segment where they explain the real life case that inspired the episode. 90% of the time, it's not something I've heard of before. 

I don't understand why the showrunner doesn't trust the audience to be interested in the episode without having to be hooked by, 'Oh yeah, Cosby. Oh yeah, Elizabeth Holmes. Oh yeah, Gabby Petito.'

I want interesting criminal investigations that don't hit me over the head with, 'And this is where we got the idea from1!!'

[Ms Blue Jay]

9 minutes ago, TakomaSnark said:

I don't understand why the showrunner doesn't trust the audience to be interested in the episode without having to be hooked by, 'Oh yeah, Cosby. Oh yeah, Elizabeth Holmes. Oh yeah, Gabby Petito.'

Well, the show was cancelled right?  Attempting to do the exact same thing but 12 years later when people care even LESS about cable TV wouldn't make much sense.  But I agree, it's too ridiculous as it is now and I don't think anyone wants to see fictionalized cases of news events that just happened every week.

Quote

On May 14, 2010, NBC announced that it had canceled Law & Order and would air its final episode on May 24, 2010.[1][2][3] Immediately following the show's cancellation, Wolf attempted to find a new home for the series.[4] Those attempts failed, and in July 2010, Wolf declared that the series had now "moved to the history books".[5]

 

13 minutes ago, Door County Cherry said:

The mother was upset because there's no motivation for the defendant to admit where he buried the body.  I guess they could negotiate with jail time but it probably won't be enough time off for him to admit where he buried her. Although, I do think it's strange that she did it then.  A not guilty verdict wouldn't have been any better for them.

Right, that's why it felt so clunky.  If he was found not guilty, he walks away, and there is also no motivation.  At least with a guilty verdict he's trapped in one place!  Also, it's a damn guilty verdict! 

Edited March 11, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[TakomaSnark]

1 minute ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Well, the show was cancelled right?  Attempting to do the exact same thing but 12 years later when people care even LESS about cable TV wouldn't make much sense.  But I agree, it's too ridiculous as it is now and I don't think anyone wants to see fictionalized cases of news events that just happened every week.

NBC was willing to give Dick Wolf a 21st season in 2010 but with major budget cuts. He balked, so NBC cancelled.

The ratings for the reboot are in the toilet. People aren't tuning in to see a spinoff of SVU disguised as the Mothership.

[scarynikki12]

20 minutes ago, Door County Cherry said:

And L&O did sort of develop a reputation as "ripped from the headlines" but that was only after they got sensationalistic about it---kind of like this episode. I like the show less when they rely so heavily on it that you instantly know what case they're copying.  There were also a lot of  cases that were not ripped from the headlines or barely recognizable as ripped from the headlines.  Or they'd do what they did last week and take a non-murder story and turn it into one.  That's why I preferred last week's version better than this week's version.  This week was almost too similar to the actual case. 

When the episode started I was hoping it would turn out to be that they quickly catch the killer and when they go to dig up Amanda's remains they stumble upon dozens of other remains that turn out to be missing persons cold cases. Maybe they turn out to be at the hand of a serial killer, or maybe they zero in on a single one to bring to trial, but that would be a decent swerve. In real life Gabby's family asked that people not forget the women who go missing and aren't super cute blondes so its would have been nice to bring some attention to that. 

The Bahamas picture detail is one of those that will fester when I think about this episode. 

[Xeliou66]

This was a great episode - definitely the best so far, and most of it truly felt like classic L&O.

The investigation was the best investigation yet - it was in depth with Bernard and Cosgrove tracking down a variety of leads and it kept me guessing as to who the culprit was and what happened. Cosgrove is a bit of a loose cannon but him and Bernard have settled in to a solid partnership, and I liked Cosgrove’s point about how social media is a stalker’s dream, that’s why I keep a fairly low profile on those sites. I liked how many leads they tracked down and how they zeroed in on their suspect.

The legal stuff was equally good - it was a good trial with good debates about what to do and the courtroom scenes were very good, I liked the trial and how the lawyers went about their case. I loved seeing Jack get meatier material and exercise his authority as DA instead of just being on the sidelines, I liked him telling Price “bury this son of a bitch!”, nice to see some fire in Jack, he hasn’t had enough stuff to do. I understood where the parents were coming from but the DA’s office had to consider that this was a dangerous predator who kidnapped and murdered a girl in cold blood and deserved to be put away for life, not just 12-15 years. I think they made the right call.

I would’ve liked a few more lines about the new picture from Amanda’s account, surely they would try to track down who hacked it but I didn’t catch much about that, it was glossed over. That’s my only complaint about the episode.

Overall everything gelled perfectly in this one - the investigation was good, the legal stuff was strong, each character had a good role, it was suspenseful, the debates were interesting - great episode that felt a lot like the classic L&O of the first 20 seasons.

[WendyCR72]

10 minutes ago, TakomaSnark said:

The ratings for the reboot are in the toilet. People aren't tuning in to see a spinoff of SVU disguised as the Mothership

Yeah, SVU is on fumes. Why TPTB want to copy that with the Mothership mystifies me. To be fair, though, even a decade ago, the entertainment choices weren't as varied. Ratings were probably always going to be lower. But the shallow story telling surely doesn't help.

Beginning to think this is a case of "be careful what you wiah for" in bringing original-recipe Law & Order back.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I'm an SVU fan and I love it as much as ever.  If you put the latest SVU episode next to this one the SVU episode was far superior, in my opinion.

[Door County Cherry]

2 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

Beginning to think this is a case of "be careful what you wiah for" in bringing original-recipe Law & Order back.

It could be better but I'm still enjoying it.  

As for ratings, the first week was strong.  Last week less so.  And we don't have a lot of the factors NBC considers. But I am jealous the OC is getting a new showrunner.

31 minutes ago, TakomaSnark said:

One thing I love about the These Are Their Stories pod is when they get to the segment where they explain the real life case that inspired the episode. 90% of the time, it's not something I've heard of before. 

How much of that is because of when you watched the episodes?  In 30 years, there will be more distance.  

[TakomaSnark]

4 minutes ago, Door County Cherry said:

How much of that is because of when you watched the episodes?  In 30 years, there will be more distance.  

I watched the series in real time and thanks to syndication, almost continually since then (YTTV makes it easy to keep a full library of all twenty seasons to play in the background or at bedtime). There are cases that I remember living through (D.C. sniper, Lorena Bobbitt) but for the most part, the mothership put some distance between a recent crime and an episode. 'Fools For Love,' for instance, was seven years after the arrests of Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo.

Edited March 11, 2022 by TakomaSnark
Duplicate phrasing

[WendyCR72]

5 minutes ago, TakomaSnark said:

I watched the series in real time and thanks to syndication, almost continually since then (YTTV makes it easy to keep a full library of all twenty seasons to play in the background or at bedtime). There are cases that I remember living through but for the most part (D.C. sniper, Lorena Bobbitt) but for the most part, the mothership put some distance between a recent crime and an episode. 'Fools For Love,' for instance, was seven years after the arrests of Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo.

A really old one - one we refer to/mock with love in this forum a lot - "Wages of Love" from Season 2, with Shirley Knight as the franchise's answer to Betty Broderick - took place two years after the actual crime (the crime happened in 1989; the show depicting it happened in 1991).

Not a lot of time lapse there, but still over a year out. The crimes used now have barely grown cold themselves before the show is putting its spin on them.

Surely there were many crimes that happened in the decade-plus the show was off the air that could be explored?

[auntiemel]

Maybe this is a small point, but it bugged me. The Captain said that Gabby Amanda had been traveling for 10 weeks. But the fellow vanlife girl they talked to at the beginning said that Amanda "made vanlife a thing."

Vanlife has been "a thing" for longer than two and half months. 🙄 Annoying.

Edited March 11, 2022 by auntiemel

[wknt3]

14 hours ago, auntiemel said:

Maybe this is a small point, but it bugged me. The Captain said that Gabby Amanda had been traveling for 10 weeks. But the fellow vanlife girl they talked to at the beginning said that Amanda "made vanlife a thing."

Vanlife has been "a thing" for longer than two and half months. 🙄 Annoying.

Yeah but social media "influencers" getting credit for trends despite all evidence to the contrary has been "a thing" for even longer than that so I don't mind it at all. I mean it's not like she was presented as someone with a lot of depth and knowledge. I'll allow it but they need to watch themselves!

Edited March 12, 2022 by wknt3

[Johnny Dollar]

I just finished listening to The Dropout podcast. In the Holmes trial, some witnesses were on the stand for days and the prosecution’s closing was three days. The trial itself was over three years after the indictment. It’s comical seeing the trial begin practically the week after the arrest and the three minutes courtroom scenes on this show. 

[TakomaSnark]

10 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

A really old one - one we refer to/mock with love in this forum a lot - "Wages of Love" from Season 2, with Shirley Knight as the franchise's answer to Betty Broderick - took place two years after the actual crime (the crime happened in 1989; the show depicting it happened in 1991).

Not a lot of time lapse there, but still over a year out. The crimes used now have barely grown cold themselves before the show is putting its spin on them.

Surely there were many crimes that happened in the decade-plus the show was off the air that could be explored?

Exactly. There's something to be said for choosing real-life launching points that didn't *just* happen and taking your time to transform them into interesting on-screen stories. 'Ripped from the headlines' doesn't have to be 'ripped from hot off the press.' 

[dubbel zout]

12 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

Also, Frank? Your kids absolutely have social media one way or another. Maybe not their own accounts but they can read Twitter and Instagram without having accounts. 

Seriously. Thinking his kids don't is gravely naive. I hate how he whistles to get someone's attention. People have names, Frank. Use them.

This case was a dud for me. Scummy killer of course is going to be scummy. I kind of liked that they didn't have him tell where he buried the body. But they've done this before and better.

[txhorns79]

5 hours ago, Johnny Dollar said:

I just finished listening to The Dropout podcast. In the Holmes trial, some witnesses were on the stand for days and the prosecution’s closing was three days. The trial itself was over three years after the indictment. It’s comical seeing the trial begin practically the week after the arrest and the three minutes courtroom scenes on this show. 

I think it you look at the black title cards, they generally show that more time is passing between the arrest and trial than the show suggests.  Also, in fairness, Holmes' fraud case was substantially more complicated than a typical homicide and required more prep time.  I believe the trial was also delayed due to Covid.   

 

14 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

 

Not a lot of time lapse there, but still over a year out. The crimes used now have barely grown cold themselves before the show is putting its spin on them.

I don't know.  I thinking of Amends (which has a favorite scene of mine where Abbie walks into Jack's office saying that the really obnoxious defense attorney is right behind her) (it's all in her delivery of the line).  That was the Martha Moxley episode.  Skakel was arrested in January 2000, and the episode aired in November 2000.  

[Arcadiasw]

I don't mind Ripped from the Headlines but this one was too soon. It's barely six months old and aren't they still investigating the guy's parents?

[Blakeston]

25 minutes ago, Arcadiasw said:

I don't mind Ripped from the Headlines but this one was too soon. It's barely six months old and aren't they still investigating the guy's parents?

Once it was clear that this was a Gabby Petito episode, I thought the episode might go in the direction of prosecuting the killer's parents. It would have been more interesting if it did.

[Miss Bones]

17 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I was checking IMDb too and it was so unhelpful.  Who played the defense attorney?  I know her from SOMETHING and it's driving me nuts.

Yes, yes, yes thank you thank you thank you.  I felt so validated when they said people over 30 don't care about this.  Yes.  Correct.  We don't.

Yeah, this season, it's more like 5-10 minutes!

I see her on the IMDb page for the episode.  Her name is Marsha Stephanie Blake.

[stonehaven]

This was better than others but I still want to know why they didn't bring up the guy's appearance in some of her videos. He made it seem like "it didn't work out, oh well". I would have challenged that with his appearance in the videos to prove stalknig and intent. I feel like that was left by the wayside.

CM is still the best part of the show...

[Ms Blue Jay]

30 minutes ago, Miss Bones said:

I see her on the IMDb page for the episode.  Her name is Marsha Stephanie Blake.

Thanks, they added it after I checked it.  When I checked it, she was not there.

 

Edited March 11, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Arcadiasw]

1 hour ago, Blakeston said:

Once it was clear that this was a Gabby Petito episode, I thought the episode might go in the direction of prosecuting the killer's parents. It would have been more interesting if it did.

Especially now the victim's parents are suing the killer's parents. 

[TakomaSnark]

2 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

I think it you look at the black title cards, they generally show that more time is passing between the arrest and trial than the show suggests.  Also, in fairness, Holmes' fraud case was substantially more complicated than a typical homicide and required more prep time.  I believe the trial was also delayed due to Covid.   

 

I don't know.  I thinking of Amends (which has a favorite scene of mine where Abbie walks into Jack's office saying that the really obnoxious defense attorney is right behind her) (it's all in her delivery of the line).  That was the Martha Moxley episode.  Skakel was arrested in January 2000, and the episode aired in November 2000.  

The arrest may have happened in 2000 but Dominique Dunne's A Season In Purgatory - inspired by the crime - came out in 1993 and Dunne leaked information about Skakel's possible involvement in the case to Mark Fuhrman, who in turn published Murder In Greenwich: Who Killed Martha Moxley? in 1998. The case and information about Michael Skakel's connection to it was out there for a long time before L&O got around to it.

[txhorns79]

10 minutes ago, TakomaSnark said:

The arrest may have happened in 2000 but Dominique Dunne's A Season In Purgatory - inspired by the crime - came out in 1993 and Dunne leaked information about Skakel's possible involvement in the case to Mark Fuhrman, who in turn published Murder In Greenwich: Who Killed Martha Moxley? in 1998. The case and information about Michael Skakel's connection to it was out there for a long time before L&O got around to it.

My point was more that the ripped from the headlines episode occurred months after the arrest.  The original comment was about how it felt like the new series was rushing ripped from the headlines episodes, whereas the earlier incarnation let them percolate a bit before jumping on them. 

[Diana Berry]

Good episode.  Question. I thought they were going to pull the street cams and the business cams. Wouldn’t that have brought up the suspect earlier? It seems like they found the suspect on the social media cam not the street or store cams. Or did I miss something?

The ratings last night were steady and adjusted up. The show starring the genius kid  is first in the ratings

Edited March 11, 2022 by Diana Berry

[GiandujaPie]

50 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

My point was more that the ripped from the headlines episode occurred months after the arrest.  The original comment was about how it felt like the new series was rushing ripped from the headlines episodes, whereas the earlier incarnation let them percolate a bit before jumping on them. 

IRL, it always takes longer for cases to get to trial as there are multiple delays due to motions being filed among other reasons. Even on original L&O the trials always seemed to happen very quickly after the arrests and indictments. 

I thought they should have taken the plea to get the location of the body. I didn't think it was a gimme that they would get the conviction given that there was no body and it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that the whole thing was a publicity stunt. 

[dubbel zout]

2 minutes ago, GiandujaPie said:

it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that the whole thing was a publicity stunt.

At the beginning, no, but once they found the guy in the park with those supplies, I think it became much more likely the girl was dead.

[853fisher]

I was glad to see Marsha Stephanie Blake as the defense attorney.  I remember her as Berdie, the prison counselor in "Orange is the New Black."  I think she has great range.

I'd like to learn more about Maroun's character.  Her reaction to the guilty verdict ("I don't know if her parents agree this was a good outcome!" or whatever it was) seemed a bit much.  I can understand why the parents would feel that way, but not what seemed like echoing their feelings herself.  I know they can't all think alike or it'd be boring viewing, but at times I've wondered why she's an ADA and not something else in the justice system.

Edited March 12, 2022 by 853fisher

[auntiemel]

12 hours ago, wknt3 said:

Yeah but social media "influencers" getting credit for trends despite all evidence to the contrary gas been "a thing" for even longer than that so I don't mind it at all. I mean it's not like she was presented as someone with a lot of depth and knowledge. I'll allow it but they need to watch themselves!

True, I should have specified that I meant it's been a thing on social media, and with influencers, for years now. Not just a thing in real life. :)

[Xeliou66]

I guess I’m the only one who thought this was a really strong episode - to me it felt like a classic L&O case that was really good, it gives me hope that the show will continue to improve going forward as there were no major flaws in this episode and everything progressed very naturally it felt like from start to finish. Both the investigation and legal proceedings were strong, and I think everything really gelled in this one to make for a strong episode. And I’m not sure why the ripped from the headlines thing is an issue, L&O has always done ripped from the headlines cases, frequently right after they happen.

Overall I’m liking the show and I think it’s good, maybe I’m just used so used to the shitshow that is modern day SVU that I’m thrilled to see an L&O show that isn’t soapy dreck, but I’m thrilled to have L&O back and I think it will continue to get better.

[Morrigan2575]

22 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

series: Ripped from the Headlines! But the original had its own twist and the time between the cases it ripped from were at least 5-10 years

Oh I don't know about 5-10 years I swear most of them were fairly currently. 

I love the ripped from the headlines episodes 😂

I'm really digging the new season. I also enjoyed the talk amongst lawyers as well as with the parents. 

[wknt3]

11 minutes ago, Xeliou66 said:

I guess I’m the only one who thought this was a really strong episode - to me it felt like a classic L&O case that was really good, it gives me hope that the show will continue to improve going forward as there were no major flaws in this episode and everything progressed very naturally it felt like from start to finish. Both the investigation and legal proceedings were strong, and I think everything really gelled in this one to make for a strong episode. And I’m not sure why the ripped from the headlines thing is an issue, L&O has always done ripped from the headlines cases, frequently right after they happen.

Overall I’m liking the show and I think it’s good, maybe I’m just used so used to the shitshow that is modern day SVU that I’m thrilled to see an L&O show that isn’t soapy dreck, but I’m thrilled to have L&O back and I think it will continue to get better.

Not the only one who liked it. I think it was a solid outing that feels like what I was hoping for - something that feels like what would happen if the series had never been cancelled and was still airing today. It was a good episode and not just in comparison to the average SVU episode. I think a lot of the complaints I've seen here are things that were always there, but have faded in the mists of time and faded memory, like an episode based on a recent case or revisiting something they have done before. Or the show's look evolving - personally I think the stylistic difference between S1 and S20 is a lot more than the difference between S20 and S21.

[Door County Cherry]

4 hours ago, Miss Bones said:

I see her on the IMDb page for the episode.  Her name is Marsha Stephanie Blake.

Oooh this is her second L&O appearance.  She played a clinic doctor in 2005.

[GHScorpiosRule]

19 minutes ago, wknt3 said:

I think a lot of the complaints I've seen here are things that were always there, but have faded in the mists of time and faded memory, like an episode based on a recent case or revisiting something they have done before.

I’ll give you the ripped from the headlines timing. But not about the CHUNG-CHING!! This season has some ‘splainin’ to do about the LACK of them. The show, in the last few seasons, did use the Criminal Intent formula of the dirge-like musical score instead of the natural outside and inside sounds. And I’m sorry, but I’m not a fan of the double cameras and screens stuck outside the interrogation rooms. 

[ROEHUNTER]

Frank's New York accent was gone and it was fabulous!