Season 3: Hello Lennie Briscoe!

[GHScorpiosRule]

And enter, stage left, Jerry Orbach, as Lennie Briscoe, with his snappy, sarcastic one liners at each cold opening!

 

Great to see Harry McGraw/Lumier on my small screen on a weekly basis!

[radishcake]

Season 3: Episode List

 

1 Skin Deep 1992-09-23
2 Conspiracy 1992-09-30
3 Forgiveness 1992-10-07
4 The Corporate Veil 1992-10-14
5 Wedded Bliss 1992-10-21
6 Helpless 1992-11-04
7 Self Defense 1992-11-11
8 Prince of Darkness 1992-11-18
9 Point of View 1992-11-25
10 Consultation 1992-12-09
11 Extended Family 1993-01-06
12 Right to Counsel 1993-01-13
13 Night and Fog 1993-02-03
14 Promises to Keep 1993-02-10
15 Mother Love 1993-02-24
16 Jurisdiction 1993-03-03
17 Conduct Unbecoming 1993-03-10
18 Animal Instinct 1993-03-17
19 Virus 1993-04-21
20 Securitate 1993-05-05
21 Manhood 1993-05-12
22 Benevolence 1993-05-19

[Princess Sparkle]

It's not on the same level as Indifference (nothing is), but Prince of Darkness has one of the most disturbing endings of any L&O episode for me.  "She doesn't have an Uncle!" just sends chills down my spine.

[radishcake]

OH MAN @Princess Sparkle the second I read that I got goosebumps! That was so so creepy. gah! 

[WendyCR72]

I was shocked once I realized that, this December, it will be 10 years - a whole decade - since the late great Jerry Orbach has passed! Where did the time go?

[radishcake]

I was going to "like" your post WendyCR72 but now I'm going to watch some season 4 instead. *cries

[mythoughtis]

Lenny Briscoe is my favorite character of this entire series, or any of the other Law and Order franchises.  I love his episodes.  

Max was a close second. 

[Spartan Girl]

Any thoughts on the "Virus" episode, where that teen tries to get back at the doctor that supposedly blinded his dad on purpose by sending a virus and killing a couple of diabetic patients.  That asshole deserved to be bitchslapped -- and his kook father!

[CoderLady]

The perp needed to roast in Hell for all eternity for not even caring that people he didn't even know would die. On the other hand, it was gutsy for Dana Elcar to play the father since he was losing his own eyesight to glaucoma in real life.

[WendyCR72]

Aww, Jerry Orbach is on a Murder, She Wrote marathon. His character on it, Harry McGraw, had a one-season spinoff, but looking back, I'm glad it failed since we later got Lennie Briscoe out of it.

[friendperidot]

just saw "Damaged" the episode where Lennie's daughter dies. Proves again what a fine actor Jerry Orbach was.

[katie9918]

"Damaged" was a downer episode all the way around.

 

Topic? I actually haven't seen a lot of season 3 and look forward to checking it out. The DVR's on the lookout for it.

[spaceytraci1208]

I just watched "Helpless," the episode where Dr. Olivett is raped. I don't remember the last time I cursed out fictional characters so much. I was hoping someone would stab the raping piece of shit prison-style outside the courthouse. Danielle Melnick has always been a scumbag, but I wanted to uppercut her through my TV today.

[WendyCR72]

Speaking of the thread title, WE is showing Lennie's debut episode as I type! I loved Briscoe and Logan together (my fave Mothership partner duo!), but (and, yeah, understandably, a bit) Logan acted like a petulant brat with him and the "temporary" schtick.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

As much as I adored Lennie, Mike had already had two partners. Greevey was murdered and Cerreta was shot with Mike right in the next room. He must have felt like he had the number 13 tattooed on his scalp and wasn't ready for the good karma Lennie would bring him. :-)

[WendyCR72]

1 minute ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

As much as I adored Lennie, Mike had already had two partners. Greevey was murdered and Cerreta was shot with Mike right in the next room. He must have felt like he had the number 13 tattooed on his scalp and wasn't ready for the good karma Lennie would bring him. :-)

Okay, that's a legitimate point. Poor Mike, though. I mean, between here and CI, he went through partners like people go through kleenex! :-)

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Extended Family is on Sundance right now, and Anna Holbrook is playing the mother of the little girl who was supposedly kidnapped, but the child may or may not have been molested by her father. Between this and Matrimony, Holbrook has more trouble with her fictional daughters. Also, the actor playing the pediatrician who examined the girl has the worst combover I've ever seen in my life.

[GHScorpiosRule]

3 hours ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

Extended Family is on Sundance right now, and Anna Holbrook is playing the mother of the little girl who was supposedly kidnapped, but the child may or may not have been molested by her father. Between this and Matrimony, Holbrook has more trouble with her fictional daughters. Also, the actor playing the pediatrician who examined the girl has the worst combover I've ever seen in my life.

She also appeared in Season Five's "Family Values" where she played the lover/mistress of the killer; lied about his alibi, until she heard that Maggie (Sara Paulson) told her, in front of him, Jack, the lawyers, what he said when he took her to Bar Harbor...apparently he told Anna's character the same thing: he liked it when she was on top.

[Ailianna]

That was Sara Paulson?  OMG!  How did she get to be old enough to be Marcia Clark?

[GHScorpiosRule]

Just now, Ailianna said:

That was Sara Paulson?  OMG!  How did she get to be old enough to be Marcia Clark?

Yup. Well, it was 1994!

[Ailianna]

I know!  Right during OJ!

[Cobalt Stargazer]

4 hours ago, Ailianna said:

That was Sara Paulson?  OMG!  How did she get to be old enough to be Marcia Clark?

I'll go you one better than that. A year after her L & O appearance, which was her very first acting credit, Sarah Paulson played Merlyn Temple on American Gothic, and that's the role I always default to whenever I see her show up in anything else. "Someone's at the door..." indeed.

[topanga]

Last week I was half-asleep & watching an episode of Law & Order. I saw an episode (or dreamed about an episode) where Jerry Orbach played a defense attorney in a courtroom scene, so it obviously would have been before season 3. Was there such an episode, or are my Law & Order dreams just that vivid?

[GHScorpiosRule]

9 hours ago, topanga said:

Last week I was half-asleep & watching an episode of Law & Order. I saw an episode (or dreamed about an episode) where Jerry Orbach played a defense attorney in a courtroom scene, so it obviously would have been before season 3. Was there such an episode, or are my Law & Order dreams just that vivid?

There was such an episode-season two. Case was based on the real life Betty Broderick case.

Edited June 30, 2016 by GHScorpiosRule

[topanga]

4 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

There was such an episode-season two. Case was based on the real life Natalie Broderick case.

Thanks. I'll have to try to catch it again--when I'm awake. Do you know the name of the episode?

[GHScorpiosRule]

3 minutes ago, topanga said:

Thanks. I'll have to try to catch it again--when I'm awake. Do you know the name of the episode?

Episode 2: "The Wages of Love."

[WendyCR72]

4 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

There was such an episode-season two. Case was based on the real life Natalie Broderick case.

I think you mean Betty Broderick, but yeah. I think it was one of the better early-season episodes. Still trippy to watch not-Lennie go against Stone.

[GHScorpiosRule]

4 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

I think you mean Betty Broderick, but yeah. I think it was one of the better early-season episodes. Still trippy to watch not-Lennie go against Stone.

*MEEP!* You're right! All fixed!

[topanga]

On 6/29/2016 at 3:48 PM, WendyCR72 said:

I think you mean Betty Broderick, but yeah. I think it was one of the better early-season episodes. Still trippy to watch not-Lennie go against Stone.

I watched it last night. Yes, it was a great episode. And Jerry Orbach played it so straight. Even his occasional wise-crack was so understated that it made me ask, "Did he just make a joke here?" But the wife annoyed me. If she'd said one more time that she was married for 25 years, I was gonna scream. 

[Maherjunkie]

For some reason I see her giving birth to several Wahlbergs.

[Spartan Girl]

Watched "Forgiveness" last night, and I really hate how the defense tries to paint the killer as a victim of his poor upbringing who wanted a better life for himself and was denied it because of prejudice.

This guy dated a girl because he saw her as a ticket to the sweet life, and when she tried to break it off, he MURDERED her.  That's the very definition of a GOLD DIGGER!  Racism or not, there's nothing remotely excusable about that.

[Maherjunkie]

Totally!  It was based on a real case.  I couldn't believe how even the priest soft pedaled him.  And how the lawyer kept referring to him as a beaner.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

13 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Watched "Forgiveness" last night, and I really hate how the defense tries to paint the killer as a victim of his poor upbringing who wanted a better life for himself and was denied it because of prejudice.

This guy dated a girl because he saw her as a ticket to the sweet life, and when she tried to break it off, he MURDERED her.  That's the very definition of a GOLD DIGGER!  Racism or not, there's nothing remotely excusable about that.

I also saw that episode, and generally speaking I find the show's episodes about race pretty heavy-handed. If the defendant is a minority, their lawyers use it as both an excuse for whatever they did and a stick to beat the jury into submission with. If the defendant is white, they're always the worst racist fuckers ever, like the cops much later in DWB. It's one of the few things the Mothership didn't always do well.

[Spartan Girl]

Watched "Promises to Keep". Another guy killing his girlfriend, this time because he was having an affair with his shrink. Again, did not feel sorry for him. Yes, the shrink brainwashed him, but still, he STRANGLED his own girlfriend! 

[WendyCR72]

Love the irony of Logan razzing Lennie about computer technology and its use in crimes when Logan ending up complaining about the same thing during his L&O: CI era.

Guess Logan let Lennie rub off on him.  :-)

[Cobalt Stargazer]

8 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Watched "Promises to Keep". Another guy killing his girlfriend, this time because he was having an affair with his shrink. Again, did not feel sorry for him. Yes, the shrink brainwashed him, but still, he STRANGLED his own girlfriend! 

And the shrink was played by Lindsay Crouse, otherwise known as Dr. Maggie Walsh. Typecasting, much?

[WendyCR72]

16 minutes ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

And the shrink was played by Lindsay Crouse, otherwise known as Dr. Maggie Walsh. Typecasting, much?

The guy/patient has been all over the franchise, too, even if I don't know his name. This episode has always creeped me out. And as much as I liked Liz Olivet, I was sort of repulsed that she felt some sympathy for the guy. Malleable or not under his shrink, as was said, he killed his fiancé. He deserved to go to prison.

[Maherjunkie]

Yeah but Frederick Weller plays those saps good.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

@WendyCR72, Dan Garret was played by Frederick Weller, who went on to play Marshal Marshall Mann on Plain Sight for four years. And yeah, I think that Liz's own assault affected her views on patients who were mistreated by their doctors. Because it happened in another episode, the one where this woman killed a guy she alleged was trying to rape her, and it turned out she'd done it for a mob guy or something.

[WendyCR72]

1 hour ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

@WendyCR72, Dan Garret was played by Frederick Weller, who went on to play Marshal Marshall Mann on Plain Sight for four years. And yeah, I think that Liz's own assault affected her views on patients who were mistreated by their doctors. Because it happened in another episode, the one where this woman killed a guy she alleged was trying to rape her, and it turned out she'd done it for a mob guy or something.

Thanks for the name, @Cobalt Stargazer! I never watched In Plain Sight (although I saw commercials for it on USA when it aired, so I know the female lead made a cameo in a Logan/Wheeler CI episode), but I see he was in the treasure-hunting CI episode, "Depths" in S7 (with pre-SVU Kelli Giddish) and was in another S3 episode, "Ill-Bred", and he made the obligatory SVU appearance, too, so I was right about him being throughout the franchise! Although he looked different to me in "Promises To Keep", maybe as he was a lot younger. But, obviously, I still placed him, sort of, so gold star for me. LOL!  :-)

[Spartan Girl]

4 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

The guy/patient has been all over the franchise, too, even if I don't know his name. This episode has always creeped me out. And as much as I liked Liz Olivet, I was sort of repulsed that she felt some sympathy for the guy. Malleable or not under his shrink, as was said, he killed his fiancé. He deserved to go to prison.

Moreover, he killed his fiancée so he could keep boinking the shrink. And he acted like the fiancée didn't have the right to be upset that he was cheating on her; there was no real remorse for the murder. He was more upset about testifying against her than anything else. Let him rot, I say.

[GHScorpiosRule]

"Promises to Keep": At the end:

Dan: (after the judge rejects the plea agreement and sends him to jail): "Diaaaaannnne??????"

Diane: looks at Dan with the expression: You're on your own, fool.

[Spartan Girl]

10 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

"Promises to Keep": At the end:

Dan: (after the judge rejects the plea agreement and sends him to jail): "Diaaaaannnne??????"

Diane: looks at Dan with the expression: You're on your own, fool.

Nelson Muntz: Ha-Ha!

LOL, that didn't happen of course, but it would have been perfect if it did.

[ChlcGirl]

My husband and I were watching Law & Order last week.  Episode 11, Season 2 comes on.  The opening is Paul and Mike landing a body that has been frozen for over 5 years.  I look at my husband and say "Talk about a cold case!"  

I LENNIE WISECRACKED BEFORE LENNIE WAS A GLEAM IN DICK WOLFE'S EYE.  It was one of my proudest moments.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I’m just loving the early seasons and just got to this season. “Forgiveness” is one of my favorites, and I HATE that WE cut out not only the scene where Olivet is questioning Beltran so that we can see his memememememememeeeeepityparty, but they cut out Stone’s cross examination!🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

And oh, look! “Beaner”, “Wetback” aren’t bleeped. I guess those slurs are acceptable?😒😒

[Xeliou66]

I love Forgiveness, terrific episode, classic L&O, good investigation and good legal stuff. Stone’s closing argument was really strong, and the defendant pissed me off, he was a crybaby who bashed his girlfriends skull in because she was dumping him, it didn’t matter that he came from a rough background and he climbed out of it, he still committed murder and I totally think he knew what he was doing, I liked Olivet’s evaluation of him and her testimony, while overall I liked Skoda better, Olivet had good moments as well. 

[Spartan Girl]

10 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Stone’s closing argument was really strong, and the defendant pissed me off, he was a crybaby who bashed his girlfriends skull in because she was dumping him, it didn’t matter that he came from a rough background and he climbed out of it, he still committed murder and I totally think he knew what he was doing

Not to mention he was basically a gold digger.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Oh LOOK! “Mick” isn’t bleeped out in “Point of View” Lennie’s first episode! But “Spic”is. Or at least that’s what it looked like based on the way the gun shop owner’s lips moved in “Wedded Bliss.”😒😒😒

And this is the same network, mind you!

UGH. And heeere’s Melnick, in all her misogynistic glory in “Helpless”. Ironic that her first episode was in season two’s “Aria” where she was actually decent. Probably because she barely had any lines.

And don’t get me started on the Judge, another misogynistic ASSHOLE. Actually saying he thought Liz “seduced” the raping doctor.🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

 

[GHScorpiosRule]

“Diane? DIAAAAAAAAAANE!!!!”

I love Judge Quinn. But I think Judge Schrieber is my favorite recurring judge!

And I don’t care how good he was as the last DA, but for me? Adam Schiff was the BEST District Attorney on this show, and that’s because of the late Wonderful Steven Hill.

[Xeliou66]

6 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

“Diane? DIAAAAAAAAAANE!!!!”

I love Judge Quinn. But I think Judge Schrieber is my favorite recurring judge!

And I don’t care how good he was as the last DA, but for me? Adam Schiff was the BEST District Attorney on this show, and that’s because of the late Wonderful Steven Hill.

Schiff is an AWESOME character!! Great DA with some terrific one liners and some terrific serious moments as well. 

Edited November 25, 2021 by Xeliou66