Hey, It's That Guy Doing That Thing!: Quirky Tropes in Law & Order CI

[Eolivet]

A nine-year old show expects to see some recycling of themes, but there were some that the writers seemed particularly fond of -- even if they were just quirks having little to do with the cases. I've started the list from my early season rewatch, but I'm sure others will remember better than me (and can add their own topics!) These just stuck out:

 

I became a criminal because of a childhood toy

-"Chinoiserie"

-"Cherry Red"

-"Vacancy" (bonus points to the latter two for becoming a criminal due to a toy car!)

 

I'm a criminal/suspect with a highly attractive younger girlfriend who won't put out:

-"Crazy"

-"Shandeh"

-"D.A.W."

 

I killed because of a fake person/person who doesn't exist:

-"Faith"

-"In the Dark"

-"Legacy"

 

Bonus points to these tropes occurring in the same year (when the writers' room definitely needed more ideas):

 

My mommy got sick, so I became a serial killer!

-"A Murderer Among Us"

-"D.A.W."

 

I'm a pixie blonde, so naturally I'm also a killer!

-"Blind Spot"

-"Bedfellows"

[WendyCR72]

A nine-year old show expects to see some recycling of themes, but there were some that the writers seemed particularly fond of -- even if they were just quirks having little to do with the cases. I've started the list from my early season rewatch, but I'm sure others will remember better than me (and can add their own topics!) These just stuck out:

 

I became a criminal because of a childhood toy

-"Chinoiserie"

-"Cherry Red"

-"Vacancy" (bonus points to the latter two for becoming a criminal due to a toy car!)

 

I'm a criminal/suspect with a highly attractive younger girlfriend who won't put out:

-"Crazy"

-"Shandeh"

-"D.A.W."

 

I killed because of a fake person/person who doesn't exist:

-"Faith"

-"In the Dark"

-"Legacy"

 

Bonus points to these tropes occurring in the same year (when the writers' room definitely needed more ideas):

 

My mommy got sick, so I became a serial killer!

-"A Murderer Among Us"

-"D.A.W."

 

I'm a pixie blonde, so naturally I'm also a killer!

-"Blind Spot"

-"Bedfellows"

 

Wow. I'm impressed, Eolivet! And more than a bit chagrined to see how much these tropes were used. Granted, many of the episodes surrounding said tropes were engaging, but put it like this, and...well, the writers loved their themes, didn't they?

 

And CI also had religious themes more than once within its crimes: "Faithful" from S1, "Acts of Contrition" from S5, and "The Consoler" from S10. Those were outright, but even "Magnificat" in S4 had a religious theme as Doreen Whitlock talked of wanting her and her boys to make it to heaven and "Shandeh" from S2 with the whole Catholic/Jewish conflict.

 

Yep, CI loved its themes!

[Eolivet]

Ooh, great point about the religious themes, WendyCR72! Actually, that reminded me of an amendment I have to make to my pixie blonde list. It wasn't just pixies doing the killing, as the S3 finale and S4 premiere can attest. I call it...

 

Nicole Wallace and her Tow-Headed Terrors (a.k.a. blonde killer/criminals):

-"Ill-Bred"

-"Consumed"

-"Semi-Detached"

-"Blind Spot"

-"Bedfellows"

-"Faithfully" (which can also join the religious list! Janel Moloney as the minister's wife)

 

Also, the show went to this well a couple times:

 

Is the fetus an accessory after the fact? Pregnant killers

-"Undaunted Mettle"

-"Silver Lining"

Edited October 23, 2014 by Eolivet

[WendyCR72]

Ooh, great point about the religious themes, WendyCR72! Actually, that reminded me of an amendment I have to make to my pixie blonde list. It wasn't just pixies doing the killing, as the S3 finale and S4 premiere can attest. I call it...

 

Nicole Wallace and her Tow-Headed Terrors (a.k.a. blonde killer/criminals):

-"Ill-Bred"

-"Consumed"

-"Semi-Detached"

-"Blind Spot"

-"Bedfellows"

-"Faithfully" (which can also join the religious list! Janel Moloney as the minister's wife)

 

Also, the show went to this well a couple times:

 

Is the fetus an accessory after the fact? Pregnant killers

-"Undaunted Mettle"

-"Silver Lining"

 

Poor fetuses. Feti?  :-)

 

And Nicole...she was like an evil female Svengali of sorts with her recruit of all things murderous.

Makes me all the more sad Rene Balcer undid her death!

[Eolivet]

Can't decide if Colleen Dexler ("Beast") should join Nicole Wallace's brigade of Tow-Headed Terrors. She had blonde streaks, at least.

 

Another (disturbing) trope: borderline or inappropriate familial relationships.

-"Smothered"

-"Death Roe"

-"Family Values"

Edited November 2, 2014 by Eolivet

[WendyCR72]

Can't decide if Colleen Dexler ("Beast") should join Nicole Wallace's brigade of Tow-Headed Terrors. She had blonde streaks, at least.

 

Another (disturbing) trope: borderline or inappropriate familial relationships.

-"Smothered"

-"Death Roe"

-"Family Values"

 

Blonde streaks qualify her by default.  :-)  And eeewww to the bottom, but especially "Family Values". I was so repulsed (which, I guess, was the point?) when Dear Ol' (Psycho Religious Nut!) Daddy was staring at his own daughter's chest during her school play!

[Eolivet]

That episode is close to the most disturbing episode ever. It's one of the few Goren/Eames eps I would shut off if it was on -- I wouldn't even have it on as background noise. Kudos to David Harbour for effectively portraying such a repulsive human being -- after being pretty sympathetic as a conflicted thief in "Silver Lining," too.

 

As I mentioned before, it bothers me not just because of its content, but because it's constructed more like a thriller and less like an episode of Law & Order CI. It's all shock value and very little substance.

 

(Hee, maybe we need a "Most Disturbing Episode Ever" thread, like the Mothership has!)

[WendyCR72]

That episode is close to the most disturbing episode ever. It's one of the few Goren/Eames eps I would shut off if it was on -- I wouldn't even have it on as background noise. Kudos to David Harbour for effectively portraying such a repulsive human being -- after being pretty sympathetic as a conflicted thief in "Silver Lining," too.

 

As I mentioned before, it bothers me not just because of its content, but because it's constructed more like a thriller and less like an episode of Law & Order CI. It's all shock value and very little substance.

 

(Hee, maybe we need a "Most Disturbing Episode Ever" thread, like the Mothership has!)

 

I can watch it, but it creeps me out! But while not disturbing, I'm not fond of "Purgatory" or "Untethered", so I know what you mean.

[WendyCR72]

This has been mentioned in the Mothership thread, but I think it happened in all L&O shows: The cops come in to ask questions at a place of employment and one of two scenarios happen: The employee is either afraid to answer questions because of their boss or they stop and chat seemingly for eons. Pretty funny.

 

Although I like how it was treated in "Jones": Bobby interviewing that hostess while they danced...

[Maherjunkie]

I would be making shit up to keep that dance goin'.

[WendyCR72]

I would be making shit up to keep that dance goin'.

 

Hell, yeah. She was lucky. And Bobby looked so good on S1...

[Eolivet]

I know "On Fire" was a stepmother, but Justin was still pretty young at 14, so I'm adding it:

 

Borderline or inappropriate familial relationships:

Oedipal

-"Smothered"

-"On Fire"

 

Elektra

-"Death Roe"

-"Family Values"

 

Families who commit crimes together stay together: (multiple criminals in the same family)

-"Gemini"

-"In the Wee Small Hours"

-"On Fire"

[WendyCR72]

I know "On Fire" was a stepmother, but Justin was still pretty young at 14, so I'm adding it:

 

Borderline or inappropriate familial relationships:

Oedipal

-"Smothered"

-"On Fire"

 

Elektra

-"Death Roe"

-"Family Values"

 

Families who commit crimes together stay together: (multiple criminals in the same family)

-"Gemini"

-"In the Wee Small Hours"

-"On Fire"

 

Maybe it's because the holiday season is upon us, but it makes one wonder just what these families chat about over the turkey and pumpkin pie, you know? LOL! Comparing notes on the kill?

[Eolivet]

Heh, considering 2/3 of those killed to protect their own self-interest instead of their family members, I'd say hide the carving knife and watch for a wishbone used as a shiv. ;)

 

And wow, here's a list I never thought I'd make:

 

Evil Drugged Hand Lotion: Softens your hands while you attempt murder!

-"Grow"

-"Rocket Man"

Edited November 12, 2014 by Eolivet

[WendyCR72]

Heh, considering 2/3 of those killed to protect their own self-interest instead of their family members, I'd say hide the carving knife and watch for a wishbone used as a shiv. ;)

 

And wow, here's a list I never thought I'd make:

 

Evil Drugged Hand Lotion: Softens your hands while you attempt murder!

-"Grow"

-"Rocket Man"

 

OMG, I forgot about the lotion! For those who'd "kill" to have soft skin. Hee. "Rocket Man" and its steroid lotion was especially eyeroll-worthy, but yet it worked.

[WendyCR72]

I don't know if this is a trope as much as just something most shows use, but there is always the episode where a "friend" is accused and, despite ll the evidence pointing to that person, the cops (who shouldn't even be on that case!) always try to reason or deny the whole thing when they wouldn't otherwise - until they are forced to come to terms later. It happened with Deakins and Frank Adair AND Ross and his cop/author/killer friend, Kathy. But at least Deakins, for all of his denials, even if he snapped, didn't seem to attack G/E as Ross seemed to want to. Well, mainly Goren, in Ross' case.

 

I liked when Goren brought up another issue with Kathy and then said to Ross, "Or am I out of line?"

[WendyCR72]

Well, as Buffalo Bill said, "It puts the looooooootion on its skin." GAG

 

LOL!

 

CI also seemed to like to make otherwise unassuming folks snap. Like the guy in "Scared Crazy" who was basically mind fucked and psychologically toyed with until he killed a guy over...his choice of music. And, naturally, Sandy the Steroid Lotion astronaut.

[Eolivet]

This one's sort of obvious and I'm pretty sure other cop shows have used the trope, but it stood out to me today:

 

Welcome to Prison, Where the Guards are Killer(s):

-"Stress Position"

-"Untethered"

[WendyCR72]

This one's sort of obvious and I'm pretty sure other cop shows have used the trope, but it stood out to me today:

 

Welcome to Prison, Where the Guards are Killer(s):

-"Stress Position"

-"Untethered"

 

Yeah, crooked prison officials on cop shows is as old as the genre, but a good theme I missed on CI, Eolivet.

[Eolivet]

One theme from "Purgatory" was fairly unusual...

 

Female cop turns to life of crime when she can't get promoted:

-"Badge"

-"Purgatory"

 

...And one fairly standard.

 

Good law enforcement officer goes bad when he gets a taste of the high-life:

-"The Insider"

-"Purgatory"

[WendyCR72]

Good law enforcement officer goes bad when he gets a taste of the high-life

 

Yeah, I think this theme is a prerequisite for at least one episode of any and every cop show ever made.  :-)

[WendyCR72]

And this is maybe more theme than trope, but I'd file this under "cases involving mental illness that mirror Goren's life with his mother":

 

"See Me"

"Identity Crisis"

[Eolivet]

And this is maybe more theme than trope, but I'd file this under "cases involving mental illness that mirror Goren's life with his mother":

 

"See Me"

"Identity Crisis"

 

I love it! You could add a corollary of "times criminals set Goren up with cases meant to mirror his father."

 

-"A Person of Interest"

-"FPS"

Edited November 18, 2014 by Eolivet

[WendyCR72]

I love it! You could add a corollary of "times criminals set Goren up with cases meant to mirror his father."

 

-"A Person of Interest"

-"FPS"

 

Wow, I forgot about FPS, Eolivet. Good one! And about "Identity Crisis", Goren seemed so...muted at the end. No doubt, looking at the picture of the two tragic brothers reminded him of himself and Frank. Had to be a bit tough on his psyche.

[Maherjunkie]

One theme from "Purgatory" was fairly unusual...

 

Female cop turns to life of crime when she can't get promoted:

-"Badge"

-"Purgatory"

 

...And one fairly standard.

 

Good law enforcement officer goes bad when he gets a taste of the high-life:

-"The Insider"

-"Purgatory"

I don't know if this counts but the one with Sophia Coppola with late hitman and some loser cop named Earl.

[WendyCR72]

I don't know if this counts but the one with Sophia Coppola with late hitman and some loser cop named Earl.

 

I think you mean Alicia Coppola. As for Earl...he was corrupt to be sure, but I don't see where he had the "high life", but that whole episode was just messed up altogether!

[Eolivet]

I guess Marla from "Please Note..." can join Nicole Wallace's Brigade of Tow-Headed Terrors:

-"Ill-Bred"

-"Consumed"

-"Semi-Detached"

-"Blind Spot"

-"Bedfellows"

-"Beast"

-"Please Note..."

-"Faithfully"

 

Just realized that's the second "Crazy parent kills to protect their child's education" episode:

-"Bright Boy"

-"Please Note..."

Edited November 19, 2014 by Eolivet

[WendyCR72]

And, of course, there's the "crazy woman who is the perp yet still fascinates Goren" angle:

 

Nicole Wallace, naturally, from "Anti-Thesis", "A Person of Interest", "Great Barrier", etc.

Nelda Carlson (thank you, IMDB!) from "Semi-Detached".

Leslie LeZard from "Smile"

Even Jo Gage from "Blind Spot".

 

No wonder Bobby needed therapy.

[Maherjunkie]

Those bitches were just puzzles.  I assumed Earl made a good living from the mob.

[WendyCR72]

Those bitches were just puzzles.  I assumed Earl made a good living from the mob.

 

They were puzzles, but Bobby did seem...fascinated, yet repelled, by all of them, too. Especially Nicole, but I think the others qualified, too. And they all seemed to have a degree of mental illness, just like his own mother.

[Eolivet]

And, of course, there's the "crazy woman who is the perp yet still fascinates Goren" angle:

 

Nicole Wallace, naturally, from "Anti-Thesis", "A Person of Interest", "Great Barrier", etc.

Nelda Carlson (thank you, IMDB!) from "Semi-Detached".

Leslie LeZard from "Smile"

Even Jo Gage from "Blind Spot".

 

No wonder Bobby needed therapy.

 

Good one, WendyCR72. Bobby did like the tow-headed terrors (except Leslie LeZard, blah). Interesting, as his mother was a brunette. Hmmm...

 

[WendyCR72]

Good one, WendyCR72. Bobby did like the tow-headed terrors (except Leslie LeZard, blah). Interesting, as his mother was a brunette. Hmmm...

 

 

I think the blonde thing (minus Leslie) was mere coincidence. But I think he was drawn to and simultaneously repelled by all of them because they were all mentally off kilter like his mom was. Maybe there was a semi "Sir Galahad" complex, wanting to save them from themselves since he couldn't help his own mother.

 

Honestly, I think Eames was the only sane woman he could relax and be himself with and that's because she learned to "read" Bobby and wasn't run off by his issues and quirks.

[WendyCR72]

Ah, another CI trope:

 

The morally bankrupt or ambiguous priests and those they kill or abuse! theme:

 

"The Faithful" (S1)

"The Consoler" (S10)

[Eolivet]

"Playing Dead" can join one list, and its airing prompts the creation of another one! I'm removing the Oedipus and Elektra distinctions, because nearly all these people were children at the time of the adult's attention, and I wouldn't want to imply they were at all complicit.

 

Borderline or inappropriate familial relationships:

-"Smothered"

-"On Fire"

-"Death Roe"

-"Family Values"

-"Playing Dead"

 

Mommy cleans up my messes!

-"Shandeh"

-"Playing Dead"

[WendyCR72]

Not so much a trope than a theme of sorts:

 

Episodes that Goren and Eames should not have been within a 50-mile radius in terms of investigating but did, anyway:

 

"Endgame"

"Amends"

"Frame"

 

And this one may be iffy as there was no true personal involvement like the three above, but this may qualify for Bobby as it still hit very close to home: "Identity Crisis".

[WendyCR72]

Also not a trope, and maybe not even a theme. But I notice, no matter who(m) the captain is, and no matter what case it is, one phrase comes out of all of their mouths at some point:

 

"Step into him."

 

Deakins said it a lot and Hannah liked it, too. But I'm sure Ross and Callas uttered it at least once.

[Eolivet]

I can't believe someone did this more than once, because: eww. But...

 

Handling someone else's bodily fluids to frame/help them:

-"Enemy Within"

-"Collective"

[WendyCR72]

Finally thought of another one, @Eolivet! This is more a franchise trope than just for CI, but it loved to put its men in charge in bad situations which often leads to their exits via retiring:

 

Deakins in "My Good Name"/"On Fire"

And Cragen with the hooker frame up/scandal on SVU. (He may have been around for a time later, I see SVU sporadically...but he left not long after, I think!)

 

Why can't retiring captains just get a nice cake and gold watch on these shows?  :-P

[WendyCR72]

Not a "quirky" trope, but it hit me, as I was discussing this. CI loved to equal the playing field, having the women murderers be a twisted as their male counterparts.

 

Terry Randolph in "Badge".

Chesley Watkins in "To The Bone".

Jo Gage in "Blind Spot".

 

As warped as it is, I like that CI showed this, seeing as the men are usually thought of as the scary psychos and whatnot.

[WendyCR72]

In watching some of Friday's marathon (too many depressing episodes, so I was in and out), S6 really upped the musical montage type of openings. Don't know why Warren Leight seemed to have a music fixation, but yeah, a good chunk started opening with music. One tune, "Pride" (used in "Privilege", the episode where the Harrington heiress was murdered), was also used in Bones in its first season (around this season of CI, I believe, so it made sense time wise), so I did recognize it.

 

But it did feel...really too slick, sometimes. It didn't feel very L&O-ish.

 

So it was more of a theme than a trope, but S6 swore by it.

[WendyCR72]

This isn't exactly a trope, so I apologize to @Eolivet, wherever you are, but more of an odd coincidental pattern for Logan. Granted, the second time was temporary, and we didn't witness the first, but Logan had two partners leave him during (or after - off screen) the season's final episodes.

 

Carolyn Barek last aired during the S5 finale.

And Megan Wheeler left for an assignment at the end of S6 (and I wonder if Logan being so worried about her coming back had to do with Barek? Maybe she said she was coming back and didn't?).

 

But the timing is a weird coincidence and sort of a parallel.

[WendyCR72]

Here is a trope found not only on CI or even the entire franchise...but any cop show from whenever: When higher-ups are shown to be mustache-twirling douchebags to the leads. Goren dealt with it with Moran (and, at times, Ross), Wheeler got her share from the investigators involved in her ex-fiancé's case in "The Glory That Was" (a.k.a. the rarely-shown lost episode), and Logan on the Mothership and later on CI with the chief.

 

As I said, this trope was on any conceivable cop show. I guess fighting authority never goes out of style, maybe? Either way, it has stuck.

[Eolivet]

Dusting off this thread, because I noticed something from the past two days' marathons. Lazy writing or easy trope -- you be the judge! This might've happened in other eps too, but I could only remember these two:

 

My "offspring" will take the fall for me:

-"Proud Flesh"

-"To the Bone"

 

(and even weirder that they're "flesh" and "bone"...heh.)

[WendyCR72]

The offspring taking the fall also happened in Masquerade.

 

I guess CI liked that trope as much as it liked using churches as the foundation of a few of their cases. (The Faithful, Acts of Contrition, On Fire, and The Consoler all coming to mind here!)

[Maherjunkie]

I think Logan just wanted stability at that point.

[Eolivet]

"Siren Call" is on (AGAIN) and I noticed that when Jason Raines drunkenly hit on Eames, he first addressed Goren, and then told her "why don't you find yourself a real man." The implication was that Goren and Eames were together.

 

I feel like it's happened in other eps, but can anyone think of other instances of Oops, We're Not Those Kind of Partners. For Logan and his few partners, as well. (If anyone thought Jeff Goldblum and Saffron Burrows were a couple, they needed glasses. ;)

Edited September 18, 2015 by Eolivet

[Maherjunkie]

To the Bone!

[WendyCR72]

"Siren Call" is on (AGAIN) and I noticed that when Jason Raines drunkenly hit on Eames, he first addressed Goren, and then told her "why don't you find yourself a real man." The implication was that Goren and Eames were together.

 

I feel like it's happened in other eps, but can anyone think of other instances of Oops, We're Not Those Kind of Partners. For Logan and his few partners, as well. (If anyone thought Jeff Goldblum and Saffron Burrows were a couple, they needed glasses. ;)

 

First, a hearty "Ha!" to the Stevens/Nichols as a couple observation.

 

I recall someone else said to Eames, something along the lines of, "What's the matter? You've been with meatloaf for so long you don't know prime rib when you see it?" I forget the episode, though. Moran himself even mentioned Eames' "close personal feelings" to Eames regarding Goren before telling her to fire him, and Declan Gage also talked of it in "Frame". And the perp in "Vanishing Act", he may not have known about the dynamic, but he read both G/E pretty well at the end as far as they went, at least at that point in time.

 

Which is why, over the years, I do think TPTB were aware of shippers and tried to straddle the line with S10 almost a dose of fan service.

 

But Logan and Barek? I truly honestly cannot recall a single incident, maybe because they only had a single season together. And, not to be snarky or mean, but then Chris Noth was paired with Julianne Nicholson's Megan Wheeler who clearly was a lot younger hence the freckles and kiddie jokes at the beginning of their partnership. (Funny how that reversed from Logan being the young hothead on the Mothership with the older partner.)

 

I think, had Barek remained, the same sort of "couple like" comments would have started at some point! But - and this is just my take - I don't think Logan and Wheeler had that "vibe". Theirs to me was more mentor/mentee. Except, perhaps, when Wheeler was headed off to Europe. Logan seemed very worried that she wasn't coming back. So maybe that was a single instance there. But that wasn't really an observation by outsiders.

 

But it seemed much fewer and far between - if at all, and if someone thinks of an example, great! - Logan and his permanent partners or Falacci, the temp, at all.

[Maherjunkie]

Logan and Barek just seemed right together.  Can't put an absolute finger on it.

[WendyCR72]

Logan and Barek just seemed right together.  Can't put an absolute finger on it.

 

Maybe because Barek was closer to Logan's age range (assuming the characters are close to the actors in age; Noth was born in '54, Sciorra was born in '60, and Nicholson was born in '71. Alicia Witt, Falacci, comes in at the youngest, born in '75!).