S21.E05: Free Speech

[WendyCR72]

Airing April 7, 2022:

Quote

Bernard and Cosgrove investigate the murder of a congressional candidate. ADAs Price and Maroun contend with an extremist plot hellbent on thwarting the candidate's agenda by any means necessary.

 

[scarynikki12]

Movies and TV often pretend that obviously photoshopped images are authentic so I'm thrilled that the pictures were fake within the show.

It was a nice touch that Reed dressed like a country boy in flannel and baseball cap on the air but wore business casual the rest of the time. Good visual cues that, no matter what he believes, he's just playing a role to make a lot of money.

The actor playing Lopez did a good job of showing how far gone he was. Many other actors would have gone with crazy eyes but he went with serious dead eyes which even creepier.

That guy who attended the rally with Lopez was so obviously lying as to what they spoke to Reed about that I was waiting for the Knicks comment to be how they figured it out. 

I'm surprised the episode didn't end with Reed getting killed by one of his followers. You'd think that video would convince their conspiracy laden minds that he'd been revealed as a spy sent to infiltrate their ranks or something. 

[Prevailing Wind]

It seemed to me that the episode didn't end; it just stopped.

[stonehaven]

Boring and predictable. Jack did not sound good.

I kept waiting for the twist to be that he knew the politician back in school and stole his girlfriend or something.

Writing just seemed unoriginal.

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

It seemed to me that the episode didn't end; it just stopped.

It felt to me like they ran out of time. 

 

4 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

I'm surprised the episode didn't end with Reed getting killed by one of his followers. You'd think that video would convince their conspiracy laden minds that he'd been revealed as a spy sent to infiltrate their ranks or something. 

Nah. Those with a vested financial interest in Reed's empire would convince his followers that the original PhotoShopped pictures were real, but that the audio on Reed's video used in court had been doctored. 
The guy who hanged himself could have either realized he'd been snookered by Reed, or, conversely, decided he'd fallen for the falsehoods of the liberal DA. 

Nolan seemed a little too blasé about his own death threat at the end.

 

3 hours ago, stonehaven said:

Jack did not sound good.

Yeah, and Dylan Baker looked seriously ill. 😟

Edited April 8, 2022 by shapeshifter

[Halting Hex]

Well, I'm out.  Quite probably for good.  (At least until Eid's gone, certainly.)  Byeeeee.

On a side note, Bernard and Cosgrove should turn in their badges for not thinking about the possibility of PhotoShop™ before that guy brought it up.  Nice of you to visit from 1988, I guess.

(Don't bet the A's in the World Series;  I know Kirk Gibson is hurt, but the Dodgers still pull it out.  Honestly.  Also, buy Apple stock.  Trust me.)

Edited April 8, 2022 by Halting Hex

[Madding crowd]

This episode relied on a lot on videos of every walk down the street, damning conversations etc. Are the detectives really needed if every square inch of Manhattan is on video? I’m being facetious but I would rather see some detective work. Not sure the jury would convict in this case but the guy deserved it.

Edited April 8, 2022 by Madding crowd

[Xeliou66]

I may be in the minority once again, but I liked the episode, and I’m happy to have L&O back.

I always get nervous when shows veer into politics, but this episode handled things pretty well - it was an interesting case and I liked both the investigation and seeing the DA’s try to prove Reed was responsible for inciting the murder.

I find myself enjoying the police investigation side more and more, Bernard and Cosgrove have settled into a nice rhythm together and I liked their investigation, I also liked the moment at the studio when Bernard got heated and Cosgrove calmed him down, it was a nice reversal of roles from how Cosgrove is usually more hot headed. I liked that there was no political debate in the investigation, just the detectives doing their jobs.

The legal stuff was good as well, I like Price as a lead prosecutor and I think he comes up with good ways to win cases, he’s somewhere in the middle of Stone/McCoy as far as stoic/passionate goes, and he doesn’t have the ego that Cutter and to a lesser extent Jack have. It was nice to see a familiar face at the defense table in Sanford Remz, and for once I thought the twist of the killer hanging himself forcing a change in the legal strategy worked.

The issues were minor but the most glaring was that Jack only had 1 scene, I really would’ve liked to see him discuss how to go about proving the depraved indifference case with Price, and possibly reference a prior case from when Jack was an ADA where he had a challenging case like that, I know we’ve seen some. And I agree with the poster stating that Jack didn’t sound good, this was the first time I thought he sounded frail, maybe Sam was sick while filming this episode and that’s why he was only in one scene or something, but it was concerning. I love Jack and it’s great to have him back, but each week I’m wanting more of him, particularly this week, and I really hope Sam stays with the show for another year if it gets renewed, I can’t imagine L&O without him and a different DA could really fuck things up.

I agree that it was odd Cosgrove/Bernard didn’t notice the pictures possibly being faked until the dad figured it out, as detectives it seems like they would notice the minor details.

Lt Dixon remains a blank slate, she’s fine but she doesn’t get anything to do, it appears from the preview maybe that will change next episode.

The police and DA’s rarely share any scenes together, I hope that changes, I like when it feels like a complete team effort.

Overall I thought this episode was good and dealt with controversial stuff pretty well, I liked how they avoided major political arguments between characters and instead focused on the case. I may be in the minority but I like season 21, it has flaws but it’s nice to see the show back. I was concerned about Jack/Sam this episode though and I hope he’s okay and we get more of him in the future.

[Broderbits]

30 minutes ago, Halting Hex said:

On a side note, Bernard and Cosgrove should turn in their badges for not thinking about the possibility of PhotoShop™ before that guy brought it up. 

The police tech person did all the heavy lifting in this episode! I liked how every time one of the senior officers made a suggestion, she had already done the work and had the answer ready.

[txhorns79]

18 minutes ago, Xeliou66 said:

 

I agree that it was odd Cosgrove/Bernard didn’t notice the pictures possibly being faked until the dad figured it out, as detectives it seems like they would notice the minor details.

I think it was one of those suspension of disbelief things where we are just supposed to go with the idea that even though to us it is obvious the pictures are faked, the characters on the show supposedly cannot tell. 

I thought the episode was okay.  Yes, it was quite lucky they found a secretly filmed video that made the perp look incredibly guilty, but I was fine with it.  Dylan Baker did not look good though.

[Clawdette]

I'm with you, Xeliou66.   I always look forward to Thursday nights and am glad new episodes have returned.  This "ripped from the headlines" episode harkens back to the Pizzagate conspiracy that claimed the business' basement was the site of Democratic sex trafficking, headed by Hillary Clinton.   A true believer from North Carolina traveled to D.C. intent on rectifying the situation, even firing a gun at a lock on a storage room to free the captives.  8Chan (remember it) was one of the promoters and QAnon took up the charge.  On the face of it, some people might think this episode was far-fetched but here you have its origin.

The things that bother other people don't bother me at all.  I recognize that it's not as it was but I enjoy it as it is.

Edited April 9, 2022 by Clawdette

[Prevailing Wind]

When Manny admitted to having coffee in a coffee shop and asked, "Is that a crime?" I love Cosgrove's answer of, "Not yet..."

[vb68]

It was just ok. It felt very standard. The energy from all the principals just feels off.  It's like everyone is going through the motions, but there's no spark.  It would definitely help if somebody had some personality. Poor Jack doesn't seem up to holding it up on his back anymore. And man, I really appreciate now more than ever how Briscoe and Van Buren could carry the first half. 

[wknt3]

I know we've talked a lot about which elements of classic Law & Order are back and which are underused, but I have to mention that I loved the winter hats on the detectives in the opening. With Bernards current beard he could totally pull of Ceretta's Cossack  hat. I wonder if they still have it in storage?

And speaking of classic tropes I also loved the ridiculously public arrest/questioning of a public figure. Between the 27 and SVU Deputy Commissioner of Public Information in the L&Overse must be like being the drummer in Spinal Tap.

[Route66]

It's awful how many facts they get wrong, especially when they're easy to fix.

The man who had the fight with the victim said he pledged a million dollars to his campaign for Congress. Federal election law limits contributions to $2900.

The arraignment judge said her clerk found a GoFundMe to raise bail money. GoFundMe wouldn't allow a fundraiser for bail money for a murderer.

Most glaringly, NY has one party consent laws regarding taping conversations. If a waiter taped Reed talking to his associate, that's illegal. Both attorneys would know this and Reed's would have demanded a mistrial.

And just a general annoyance, but it doesn't seem like they do any detective work anymore because everything is on video.

 

 

[txhorns79]

1 hour ago, Route66 said:

 

Most glaringly, NY has one party consent laws regarding taping conversations. If a waiter taped Reed talking to his associate, that's illegal. Both attorneys would know this and Reed's would have demanded a mistrial.

I think the way those laws work is that the person who secretly taped someone would get into trouble.  It doesn't prevent the tape from being used at trial unless the tape was made at the behest of law enforcement. 

[dubbel zout]

5 hours ago, vb68 said:

Poor Jack doesn't seem up to holding it up on his back anymore.

The DA usually doesn't carry the show. They just approve/disapprove/suggest ways of handling the case. 

The word "scrubbed" was misused last night. Nolan wanted to "scrub" the videos, which means to get rid of them. What he meant was to look at all of them and find the incriminating evidence. That was a really dumb mistake on Eid's part. Is there no one on staff to watch that stuff? And I'm tired of him overusing the word "prick." (It was only used once here, but he loves it on Chicago P.D.)

 

[scarynikki12]

In the movie Spotlight Robbie tells the team that new editor Barron wants them to “scrub the Geoghan case” and then we see them start their investigation. It may have been misused there too but I assumed Nolan meant in an investigative way like what Spotlight did.

[Prairie Rose]

Jeffrey Nordling, an actor I've always liked, really gave me chills as the defendant. The acting all around was spot on.

From the looks of next week's promo, Camryn Manheim as the LT will get a turn in the spotlight. I'm here for it.

[watcher1006]

I guess Reed or Reid or whatever could have been taken from the headlines' Alex Jones. I imagine there are people who would take offense at the portrayal.

Following the suicide I really did not think the D.A.'s office did not have a strong enough case for a conviction on murder, not even murder 2. I think it more likely this would have resulted a hung jury. Maybe a case could have been built for a charge like reckless endangerment.

Not to pretend I'm a legal expert, of course.

[vb68]

2 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

The DA usually doesn't carry the show. They just approve/disapprove/suggest ways of handling the case. 

Yeah, I know. But it's Jack. He did use to carry it. Even when he transitioned to being head DA, he was more involved. I still remember his line after Arthur left, half-jokingly that "this is a working office now".  I really just meant that Sam Waterson just doesn't seem up for very much. His voice seemed like he was really straining in his scene.

[milkyaqua]

I can't add anything else to this but yes, some things do seem lacking and the energy seems low.  I don't know what would fix it (better writers, editors, researchers, etc).  It was nice to see Keith Hamilton Cobb as I hadn't seen him in a bit.

[MountaineerBro10]

14 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

I may be in the minority once again, but I liked the episode, and I’m happy to have L&O back.

I always get nervous when shows veer into politics, but this episode handled things pretty well - it was an interesting case and I liked both the investigation and seeing the DA’s try to prove Reed was responsible for inciting the murder.

I find myself enjoying the police investigation side more and more, Bernard and Cosgrove have settled into a nice rhythm together and I liked their investigation, I also liked the moment at the studio when Bernard got heated and Cosgrove calmed him down, it was a nice reversal of roles from how Cosgrove is usually more hot headed. I liked that there was no political debate in the investigation, just the detectives doing their jobs.

The legal stuff was good as well, I like Price as a lead prosecutor and I think he comes up with good ways to win cases, he’s somewhere in the middle of Stone/McCoy as far as stoic/passionate goes, and he doesn’t have the ego that Cutter and to a lesser extent Jack have. It was nice to see a familiar face at the defense table in Sanford Remz, and for once I thought the twist of the killer hanging himself forcing a change in the legal strategy worked.

The issues were minor but the most glaring was that Jack only had 1 scene, I really would’ve liked to see him discuss how to go about proving the depraved indifference case with Price, and possibly reference a prior case from when Jack was an ADA where he had a challenging case like that, I know we’ve seen some. And I agree with the poster stating that Jack didn’t sound good, this was the first time I thought he sounded frail, maybe Sam was sick while filming this episode and that’s why he was only in one scene or something, but it was concerning. I love Jack and it’s great to have him back, but each week I’m wanting more of him, particularly this week, and I really hope Sam stays with the show for another year if it gets renewed, I can’t imagine L&O without him and a different DA could really fuck things up.

I agree that it was odd Cosgrove/Bernard didn’t notice the pictures possibly being faked until the dad figured it out, as detectives it seems like they would notice the minor details.

Lt Dixon remains a blank slate, she’s fine but she doesn’t get anything to do, it appears from the preview maybe that will change next episode.

The police and DA’s rarely share any scenes together, I hope that changes, I like when it feels like a complete team effort.

Overall I thought this episode was good and dealt with controversial stuff pretty well, I liked how they avoided major political arguments between characters and instead focused on the case. I may be in the minority but I like season 21, it has flaws but it’s nice to see the show back. I was concerned about Jack/Sam this episode though and I hope he’s okay and we get more of him in the future.

Phew. So glad I’m not the only one who actually liked the episode haha

[storyskip]

36 minutes ago, MountaineerBro10 said:

Phew. So glad I’m not the only one who actually liked the episode haha

Count me on the liked the episode as well train.  I felt like this was the show hitting its stride and the actors getting more comfortable in their characters.  Definitely one to re-watch and enjoy!

[shapeshifter]

6 hours ago, Route66 said:

Most glaringly, NY has one party consent laws regarding taping conversations. If a waiter taped Reed talking to his associate, that's illegal. Both attorneys would know this and Reed's would have demanded a mistrial

Based purely upon any fictional Honorary Law Degree bestowed upon me by fictional characters of past L&O episodes (and other crime shows):   
Since the conversation was recorded in a public place, it seems there would be “no expectation of privacy.”

 

1 hour ago, watcher1006 said:

guess Reed or Reid or whatever could have been taken from the headlines' Alex Jones

Yes I thought the disclaimer flashed across the screen at the beginning claiming that the episode was not based upon any real incidents or people was a bit of a stretch. I thought they should have used the qualifying disclaimer that says something about it being based upon reality, but also being different (don’t have the exact wording handy).

Regardless, Jeffrey Nordling did do a great job depicting the Alex-Jones-type character——going right up to the edge of Crafty Evil without going over the top.

Maybe they’ll recast Nordling as a different recurring character like they used to do with actors who meshed well?

Edited April 8, 2022 by shapeshifter

[blackwing]

I enjoyed this episode as well.  I know there have been a lot of complaints about this season and cast, but to me, this show is still better than a lot of the garbage that is currently available on network TV.

I was worried that things would get really political, and I'm glad the politics were touched on but didn't end up going out of control or the episode really being a commentary about the politics.  It was an episode about a murder, which is what L&O should be.

Manny Lopez hanging himself in prison... I would have thought they would have explored whether he was killed to prevent him from testifying, because that was my immediate thought.

17 hours ago, stonehaven said:

Jack did not sound good.

 

16 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Yeah, and Dylan Baker looked seriously ill. 😟

Jack didn't sound good, I get the nostalgia of having Sam Waterston back but I do think he should consider retiring.  I doubt Waterston needs the money.  His voice sounds very tremulous and his eyes have this vacant watery stare.

I've never been a fan of Dylan Baker.  Even when he was younger there's something about his voice and especially his lips that I didn't like.  I'm not sure what it is about his lips, it might be that to me it seems like he has no lips at all and what we see is just lipstick drawn on to give the appearance of lips?  His overall look was particularly bad here, like the Cryptkeeper.

[AD35]

7 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

And I'm tired of him overusing the word "prick." (It was only used once here, but he loves it on Chicago P.D.)

It could be worse.  Be thankful that "level up" hasn't made it to the show from The Flash.

[Peace 47]

7 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

The word "scrubbed" was misused last night. Nolan wanted to "scrub" the videos, which means to get rid of them. What he meant was to look at all of them and find the incriminating evidence.

“Scrub” can mean to get rid of something (like scrubbing a space launch), but Nolan also used it correctly with this alternate meaning.  He meant to (metaphorically) clean all the detritus from the video content (i.e., pour through the content and cast off the meaningless conversations) to ultimately get to an underlying piece of evidence that is useful (like cleaning dirt off a floor so you can see the tile).  I’ve heard it used that way.

4 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Yes I thought the disclaimer flashed across the screen at the beginning claiming that the episode was not based upon any real incidents or people was a bit of a stretch. I thought they should have used the qualifying disclaimer that says something about it being based upon reality, but also being different (don’t have the exact wording handy)  

But it’s the same disclaimer they’ve used since the beginning of time on this show, even back when the promos used to advertise that the case was “ripped from the headlines.”  That same disclaimer was used to say the case actually really wasn’t.  That is CYA language to avoid the show being sued for slander or for any kind of intellectual property claim by the inspiration(s) for the story.  L&O always takes a sharp detour from the original inspiration for the story, so they wanted to be clear that they are not trying to impugn the character of the real-life people or impinge on IP that the subjects may be shopping to other outlets.

I never watched Hannibal because, while I know it received rapturous professional  reviews and had a hardcore fanbase, the content of that show could not have been less appealing to me.  So I have no frame of reference for appreciating Hugh Dancy.  But I really do not like him as the EADA in this role, and I can’t pinpoint exactly why.  I watched a couple of Linus Roach-as-ADA L&O eps on Sundance last night after watching this one on NBC, and I enjoyed watching Cutter 10,000 times more.  Maybe it is that Cutter was a shockingly flawed guy in unexpected ways, so it was interesting to see how things played out as he worked his way through a problem. 

With Price, I’m getting nothing.  I thought he was supposed to be Mr. Ethical in episode 1, but then last night, Maroun had to be the one to persuade Price that the interview evidence was exculpatory.  It’s fine if he does not retain his pilot-episode characteristics (we all know that L&O goes over the top introducing at least one extreme element in a character, then typically dials it down to a “1” within 5 episodes), but start giving me something with this guy.  Is he a family man?  I don’t know if that is an interesting angle since they did it with Jamie Ross, but maybe it’s something?  I know people love the actor, so maybe I just need to give it more of a chance.  They definitely seem to be giving him more lines and screen time than everyone else, so he needs to be the lynchpin of the enterprise.

 

[shapeshifter]

20 minutes ago, Peace 47 said:

But it’s the same disclaimer they’ve used since the beginning of time on this show, even back when the promos used to advertise that the case was “ripped from the headlines.” That same disclaimer was used to say the case actually really wasn’t. That is CYA language to avoid the show being sued for slander or for any kind of intellectual property claim by the inspiration(s) for the story. L&O always takes a sharp detour from the original inspiration for the story, so they wanted to be clear that they are not trying to impugn the character of the real-life people or impinge on IP that the subjects may be shopping to other outlets.

Here are 2 of the alternate L&O disclaimers I was trying to recall, which I thought would have been more appropriate for this episode:

• https://lizknox.ca/artwork/4339273-All-Persons-Fictitious.html
  https://www.instagram.com/p/B82oozcBnhX/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading
   
• https://www.freejinger.org/uploads/monthly_2015_11/Disclaimer_Indifference.thumb.jpg.59ff146c13ad3e64a856082aef65cbda.jpg

🤷‍♀️

Edited April 8, 2022 by shapeshifter

[wknt3]

13 hours ago, Route66 said:

It's awful how many facts they get wrong, especially when they're easy to fix.

The man who had the fight with the victim said he pledged a million dollars to his campaign for Congress. Federal election law limits contributions to $2900.

Federal election law also has numerous loopholes. And a lot of loudmouth contributors "overestimate" their contributions. As this isn't The West Wing I don't think we need a need to get  into how he donated the money to a nonprofit organization which then wrote a check to another technically independent advocacy effort which just so happens to have a message that coordinates perfectly with the campaign. Or how it was "only" $450,000 in cash which purchased ads worth almost a million according to creative accounting. I am all for nitpicking, but in this case I have seen enough examples of people saying similar things when they are not under oath or on camera that I don't see it as a major flub. Or even a flub at all without knowing the writers' intent.

[853fisher]

I have generally been enjoying this new season very much, but this one missed the mark for me.  I feel like many of the shows I watch have already done a QAnon story, and Lord knows every commentator or website I follow has done two.  This episode didn't seem to add anything new to the discourse, just more preaching to the choir, and I didn't think the questions raised about potential third party responsibility were fresh and exciting.  Maybe the bottom line for me is that the news raises my blood pressure enough that I'd like entertainment shows not to bring up these subjects without a very good reason and something novel to offer.  So this one gets a "meh" but I missed this show while it was off for a few weeks, so I hope the next one is great.

Edited April 9, 2022 by 853fisher
mark, not boat

[LuDu]

On 3/21/2022 at 3:10 AM, WendyCR72 said:

Airing April 7, 2022:

 

First, I LOVE having L&O back! ❤️

Jack is back - even if for just the shortest bits! Bernard and Cosgrove ain't Lennie but I'm warming up to them.  I don't think Camryn's character has been given enough air time to impact the investigation the way Van Buren did. Now the DAs are the weakest link, IMHO. Am I the only one who thinks they always seem at a loss as to how to go about a case. They seem to rely on too many 'eureka moments' - or maybe it's overacting? The scene where they 'explained' the plot (to viewers?) was so lame.  Anyway, eps seem to be improving and looking more like the L&O eps I know!

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, 853fisher said:

I have generally been enjoying this new season very much, but this one missed the boat for me.  I feel like many of the shows I watch have already done a QAnon story, and Lord knows every commentator or website I follow has done two.  This episode didn't seem to add anything new to the discourse, just more preaching to the choir, and I didn't think the questions raised about potential third party responsibility were fresh and exciting.  Maybe the bottom line for me is that the news raises my blood pressure enough that I'd like entertainment shows not to bring up these subjects without a very good reason and something novel to offer.  So this one gets a "meh" but I missed this show while it was off for a few weeks, so I hope the next one is great.

Yes to all of this. 👆
Nevertheless, I think this episode might hold up over time since it touches on all of the key points of the QAnon-type story without delving too deep into specifics that might not age well. 
Still, it was very lackluster because of that generic writing, and also because I think they did try to not "raise the blood pressure" of the current viewers, many (if not most) of whom are tired of these stories in real life. 
I'm pretty sure that previous L&O ripped-from-the-headlines stories were more one-of-a-kind, so the viewers were hungry for more.
But in the case of this episode, the challenge was to make the viewers not turn off the TV out of boredom with the story, which I think the writers did manage to accomplish by leaving out details and compressing the story. 
Still, nothing new here either.

Edited April 9, 2022 by shapeshifter

[Attatude]

Political stories done badly reflect on the writer and the show. Their ratings aren’t very good and this episode didn’t help.  Q stories are already dated and silly.  Is anyone even interested in another one? This was so over the top I fast forwarded the last part of the episode until the last scene.  I wanted to support the series but unless they stop doing tired political hysteria, I’m done. I also noted some very badly researched fake facts. Either do it right or don’t even try.

[Door County Cherry]

I thought the pacing was decent on this episode so I liked it more than others.  I also appreciate they didn't use the case to have the police duo give their opinions on the politics of it and focused on solving the case.

This episode was done better in earlier seasons of the mothership.  Or maybe it was SVU--basically having people with extreme political opinions encouraging violence.

[Xantar]

I liked the episode fine. To me, this show is executed competently and is never going to be more than that. And while there aren’t a lot of fireworks and hysterics in the trial portion, I find that I’m enjoying that too. It’s a relief to have this after all the shenanigans that SVU has pulled. 
 

That being said, I also totally understand why some people don’t like it and don’t want to continue watching. Honestly, if Mothership is cancelled at the end of this season, I won’t mourn. They had their shot. We will always have the reruns.

[J0nas3]

They showed the opening arguments of each side, which they don’t always do and seemed to take up a lot of time that could have been used later.

[Cotypubby]

I’m really sick of shows giving airtime to these Q idiots. I don’t want to see them in any form!

I think it was SVU that already did the “pizzagate” plot line many years back. 

On 4/8/2022 at 10:02 AM, dubbel zout said:

The word "scrubbed" was misused last night. Nolan wanted to "scrub" the videos, which means to get rid of them. What he meant was to look at all of them and find the incriminating evidence. That was a really dumb mistake on Eid's part. Is there no one on staff to watch that stuff?

“Scrubbing” a video means to play through it frame by frame to look for and highlight important information. The word was used exactly as it should have been.

Edited April 10, 2022 by Cotypubby

[Joimiaroxeu]

Calling it 15 minutes in: deep fake.(Yep, sorta.)

I thought guys like Reed were pro-cop? Unless the cops were trying to qestion or arrest them, I guess.

Interesting that Reed got lower bail than the guy he manipulated into committing murderer.

Calling it 40 minutes in: Lopez, the killer who turned state's witness, will be found dead before he can testify. (Yep.)

Reed caught on hidden camera talking the critical inflammatory shit the prosecution needed. How convenient.

Quote

The word "scrubbed" was misused last night. Nolan wanted to "scrub" the videos, which means to get rid of them. What he meant was to look at all of them and find the incriminating evidence. That was a really dumb mistake on Eid's part.

A synonym for scrub is "scour." One of its definitions is "to do a thorough search in order to locate something." Therefore, it would be appropriate to say Nolan wanted the videos scoured for incriminating evidence.

Quote

It was nice to see Keith Hamilton Cobb as I hadn't seen him in a bit.

Oh, I didn't notice him! Was he the IT guy rattling off IP numbers and stuff on the witness stand?

Quote

Manny Lopez hanging himself in prison... I would have thought they would have explored whether he was killed to prevent him from testifying, because that was my immediate thought.

I thought it was to be presumed he was deliberately killed. For "ripped from the headlines" reasons.

Quote

I think it was SVU that already did the “pizzagate” plot line many years back. 

Not everyone watches SVU though. I stopped watching it several seasons ago after it turned, IMO, into the Olivia Bensen Hour.

[WendyCR72]

Just now, Joimiaroxeu said:

Oh, I didn't notice him! Was he the IT guy rattling off IP numbers and stuff on the witness stand?

Actually, I think he was the judge.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

I thought guys like Reed were pro-cop? Unless the cops were trying to qestion or arrest them, I guess.

Yes, and also Reed was only about making money rather than believing in a particular flavor of Kool-Aid.

[Wizardpatch]

Ok I guess I am too naive to get it but what did the evil CEO guy hope to accomplish? Who in the year 2022 thinks that they will get good publicity for their news channel by being accused of inciting their viewers to hurt or kill the other political side? If this guy was a radical fanatic, I would get it, but he was just a businessman who wanted to make money.

[Samsnee]

I liked this ep but the ending was too convenient for me. Basically they find the perfect video of him clearly saying what the DA needs him to say to prove their case. I’m surprised he didn’t turn to the camera and wink. 
 

Nolan is still growing on me. He’s too preachy, even compared to Jack in his heyday. 
 

On the plus side, my dogwalker had a minor role in the episode. Very cool to see him. 

[KeithJ]

I liked this episode up until the end and the verdict.  The convenient video was too much. They tracked down a waiter (that they didn’t even know about) at the event that just happened to have taken the video in what, 12 hours?  Then, even with the video, I don’t see how 12 people voted to convict on the evidence they had.  It most likely would have been a hung jury or a vote to acquit.

[Xeliou66]

16 minutes ago, KeithJ said:

I liked this episode up until the end and the verdict.  The convenient video was too much. They tracked down a waiter (that they didn’t even know about) at the event that just happened to have taken the video in what, 12 hours?  Then, even with the video, I don’t see how 12 people voted to convict on the evidence they had.  It most likely would have been a hung jury or a vote to acquit.

I agree about how incredibly convenient it was that they found the video, that was my main issue with this episode. I think this one might’ve been better if it ended in a hung jury/acquittal, might’ve been more interesting that way. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 4/10/2022 at 6:21 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Interesting that Reed got lower bail than the guy he manipulated into committing murderer.

The evidence in is case was scant.  The actual murderer was caught on tape and confessed.

I guess the Go Fund Me didn't raise enough to bail him out?

Edited April 14, 2022 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

I guess the Go Fund Me didn't raise enough to bail him out?

I'm not sure GoFundMe allows raising bail money for people arrested for murder, do they? Either way, $1M bail was probably pocket change to Reed. It seemed to me the judge was a Reed supporter and was deliberately letting him off easy.

[shapeshifter]

34 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

It seemed to me the judge was a Reed supporter and was deliberately letting him off easy.

I didn't see the judge as being favorable to Reed when he allowed the video. 

[MerBearHou]

I’m really really trying to give this L&O a chance given my love of the OG from day one.  But it’s getting tough to hang in there.  I think Hugh Dancy and Odelya Halevi are very weak.  The verdict in this one was ridiculous.  

[GHScorpiosRule]

11 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I’m really really trying to give this L&O a chance given my love of the OG from day one.  But it’s getting tough to hang in there.  I think Hugh Dancy and Odelya Halevi are very weak.  The verdict in this one was ridiculous.  

Sadly, I checked out after the last episode before this. Call me an anal purist, but this revival isn’t anywhere close to the original and having Sam as Jack isn’t enough. Because the writing sucks and NONE of the original writers are also on board.

At least I’ve got the original I can continue to watch.

Edited April 16, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule