Season 7: Jamie Ross, Former Bond Girl

[Xeliou66]

Season 7 has started today on Sundance, it’s my pick for the season with the best cases

Causa Mortis is a great start to the season, strong case. Fernando was evil and his fiancé was almost as bad, she knew her boyfriend bashed a woman’s head in for her car and didn’t care, and then she whined about losing the car when Lennie and Rey found it. She was so whiny and pathetic. The ending of the recording the victim made before she was killed being played, pleading for her life, while the husband and daughter cry in court was very memorable and chilling. I liked Jack’s insistence on how prosecuting the case was his responsibility and that he didn’t want to hand the case off to the feds. It was a good intro to Jamie as well and showed that she was an effective lawyer. I also liked how it handled the aftermath of Claire’s death, while I loathe Aftershock and how they killed off Claire, they did a good job here - they didn’t dwell on it but didn’t totally ignore it, and the ending scene between Jack and Lennie was nice, I liked how instead of having beef and hard feelings, each wanted the other not to feel guilt over Claire’s death as shown by their final lines.

ID is awesome, one of my all time favorites. Great case with a lot of colorful characters. The scene where Adam visits Jack in his jail cell is downright hilarious - Adam telling the murderer “young man, sit down” was great and then Jack telling Adam to wear silk when meeting with Marks and the look Adam gives him is priceless!! Adam confronting Marks was great as well, Marks was a creep on a power trip, he just let it all go to his head as Jack said at the end, he thought no one could hold him accountable. I liked the chief judge who told Marks to take sick leave or face the disciplinary board at the end. The case itself was awesome, I liked how Lennie and Rey went over the elevator records to figure out which floor the victim was on, and the twist that the killer stole her sister’s identity was great. She was so cold - “my sister didn’t have a life”. The Jersey cop enjoying a fancy meal at the steakhouse was funny, as was the rambling receptionist.

Season 7 really has almost entirely strong episodes - just about every episode is memorable and excellent. 

[andromeda331]

Causa Mortis-Yeah the girlfriend was as bad as the boyfriend. Instead of being horrified that her boyfriend killed a woman for her car. She doesn't care and just whines. 

ID-I liked Marks getting dressed down by and later by the chief judge. Too bad he wasn't fired. Who knows how many times he's done that before especially since Jamie was used to it. He favored the proscution until he got called on it and was for the defense when he was mad at Jack. I like they started it out with him just coming off as different but slowly become worse.

[Xeliou66]

5 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Causa Mortis-Yeah the girlfriend was as bad as the boyfriend. Instead of being horrified that her boyfriend killed a woman for her car. She doesn't care and just whines. 

ID-I liked Marks getting dressed down by and later by the chief judge. Too bad he wasn't fired. Who knows how many times he's done that before especially since Jamie was used to it. He favored the proscution until he got called on it and was for the defense when he was mad at Jack. I like they started it out with him just coming off as different but slowly become worse.

Yeah Fernando’s fiancé was just as rotten as he was, she didn’t care at all that he bashed a woman’s head in for her car, she cared more about losing the car when Lennie and Rey found it. And then whining that she didn’t want Fernando going away forever because of her baby, not caring at all that there were young children without a mother because of Fernando. He deserved to rot and never get out. It was interesting how the DAs got played by the 2 attorneys who knew the statement about the gun would be suppressed. The guy playing Fernando’s attorney played several memorable roles in the franchise.

In ID, I have a feeling Marks stepped down from the bench soon after the episode’s events, it wasn’t explicitly stated but the final lines between Jack and Adam kind of implied Marks wasn’t going to be on the bench anymore, with Jack saying he brought himself down and Adam saying he wasn’t going to celebrate. It would now be public record how Marks acted during that trial and his reputation would likely be toast - he just let the power of his position go to his head and thought he was above the rules. It was interesting how Marks just kind of appeared weird at first and then he slowly got worse with his comments to Jamie and then showing his bias. I liked when Adam told him the rules didn’t allow the judge to act like the defense attorney or put words in witnesses mouths, which is what Marks started doing once his ruling got overturned because he was upset about it. The twist of the killer impersonating her sister was good and made sense, given that they found the picture of the killer with her husband but they assumed it was an affair between the sister and the husband. Marks’ ruling was absurd that the defendant should benefit from her deceiving everyone and impersonating her sister and I’m glad the appeals court reversed him. The scene between Adam and Jack in the holding cell makes me laugh every time, Adam growling at the other guy to sit down and then the look he gives Jack after Jack tells him to wear silk is awesome, vintage Adam. ID is an all time favorite of mine. 

[Xeliou66]

Season 7 is on today, so many excellent episodes this season, just one classic case after another 

Matrimony is a great episode, strong case with colorful suspects, it was a good twist that the mom of the wife was the one who killed the rich old guy and the wife wasn’t in on it. I liked the courtroom stuff with Arthur Gold defending the wife, he was always a great adversary and in this case his client actually was innocent and was rightfully acquitted, it was a bit different from the norm in that the DAs jumped the gun and believed the wrong suspect was guilty before figuring out the mother did it. It was a really well done plot. The killer mom’s rant about going back to Arkansas and being the “dancing naked idiot family” at the end was pretty funny. Also funny was the wife casually calling the detectives by their first names when they went to talk to her the second time. I did wonder if the lawyer would go to jail at the end or not. Good case with lots of interesting characters.

Working Mom is another great episode, with the middle class women from Westchester moonlighting as hookers. I thought Jack’s closing was great and spot on, this was a case of a woman executing her blackmailer to keep her secret life hidden, not a case of self defense, Jack did a great job of laying out the real reason the murder occurred and how there was no evidence of self defense, and how the deceased was a blackmailer not a rapist. The victim was certainly sleazy but he never raped anyone or was violent against anyone, he was a blackmailer. I didn’t feel much sympathy for him but he didn’t deserve to be killed, blackmail doesn’t justify murder. I thought the husband was clearly lying when he said the wife told him about the shooting. The investigation was great as well, I liked how Briscoe/Curtis traced the credit card charges and money orders to get to the bottom of the case. 

The 3 part episode is on now, I know some people can’t stand it but I like it overall, it was nice to be able to go deeper into a case and see a longer investigation and trial, kind of wish L&O had done it again. The personal stuff with Rey was kind of irritating, it got so old seeing all women find Rey so attractive, but it didn’t ruin the episode. Lennie in LA was amusing, he was ready to play golf with the shrink until they had a lead on the case. I liked the trial scenes in part 3 and Adam’s giddy “makes them look weak” line after Jamie got the media to throw the defense off their game was funny, and of course the ending lines were great. It was also interesting seeing Olivet clash with the sleazy shrink, especially since he was played by the same actor who played the doc who assaulted Olivet in season 3 - I wonder if that was a hint to continuity when he asked Olivet where all the hostility was coming from. It was a pretty good case with the Hollywood suspects and the legal proceedings in LA and the intense media scrutiny. It’s not in my top 5 of season 7, there are so many good episodes from this season, but I do like it.

[andromeda331]

Those are good episodes. Except for the three part one I didn't like at all. I like that the young bride actually liked her husband and wasn't the killer. Too bad she had a shitty mother. I agree with Working Mom too. She killed him to keep her prostitution secret and not rape. 

My favorite is Survivor. When Judith realizes she killed the guy for nothing. Her mother was right about the coins. It was an interesting case starting with a murder, then the coins, and Adam finally asking when was the last time anyone saw the coins. Jack realizing from the flyer that Judith's mother gave him that they made the whole thing up. I used to collect coins. I disagree with the judge about Jamie, Lennie, and Rey were in the wrong. While they were using her issues against her Jamie did tell her they could get a warrent. That's when Judith gave in.

[Xeliou66]

12 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Those are good episodes. Except for the three part one I didn't like at all. I like that the young bride actually liked her husband and wasn't the killer. Too bad she had a shitty mother. I agree with Working Mom too. She killed him to keep her prostitution secret and not rape. 

My favorite is Survivor. When Judith realizes she killed the guy for nothing. Her mother was right about the coins. It was an interesting case starting with a murder, then the coins, and Adam finally asking when was the last time anyone saw the coins. Jack realizing from the flyer that Judith's mother gave him that they made the whole thing up. I used to collect coins. I disagree with the judge about Jamie, Lennie, and Rey were in the wrong. While they were using her issues against her Jamie did tell her they could get a warrent. That's when Judith gave in.

Matrimony had an interesting cast of suspects and I really liked the twist that the wife was innocent and her mom did it without her knowledge, it was a good episode, I liked seeing Arthur Gold defend the wife and his client actually being innocent for once was good. The slimy lawyer and the butler were good suspects as well. 
Working Mom was a strong case from start to finish, I liked the detectives investigation tracing the credit card bills and discovering the 2 women were moonlighting as hookers, and I thought Jack’s closing argument did a great job of showing how this was a case of a woman murdering her blackmailer, not defending herself from an attacker, the victim was sleazy but he wasn’t violent.

The 3 parter had some stuff that I like a lot, particularly Lennie enjoying being in California and a lot of the court scenes were good, and there were some good one liners - “ a daring neorealist foray into Jellystone Park” is one of my favorite McCoy lines for some reason. But the stuff with Rey was irritating, it got tiresome how every woman seemed to find Rey oh so attractive.

Survivor is a great episode as well, with the hunt for the coins that turned out to not exist, some really good twists. I agree Jamie was in the wrong for using what she knew about Judith’s phobia of being crowded to try to force their way in, it was underhanded, one of the few times I disliked Jamie. I liked Adam’s scenes and how he realized the coins weren’t around, and the millionaire businessman who was involved in the fraud was another memorable suspect. 

If I had to pick a favorite from season 7, it would be ID, that is an awesome episode with great twists, memorable suspects and good character moments. We Like Mike is a close second for me, that’s another awesome episode. I think season 7 has the best run of cases in L&O history - I like every episode except for Mad Dog which I don’t care for.