Season 18: Jack McCoy, D.A.

[Xeliou66]

I watched Strike last night - this is a really good episode overall and very interesting watching Cutter and Rubirosa be pitted against each other in court. Rubirosa did a great job as a defense attorney - she is one of my favorites. I love Jack chewing out the ADA who was giving Connie grief about representing the defendant - Jack was right that Connie was just doing her job and it’s just as important to have good defense attorneys as good prosecutors, it’s what makes the system work, and I loved him threatening to put people on traffic court if they gave Connie crap. It was a good twist that Sanderson masterminded his wife’s murder and was a cold blooded sociopath.

I have to say though, the police didn’t look good in this episode, especially Bernard. Bernard’s stunt planting the nail to get Sanderson to admit he was at the scene was sort of OOC for Bernard, as was his outburst on the witness stand, Bernard looked borderline incompetent, not to mention he seemed to have it in for Sanderson despite the forensic evidence proving he didn’t murder his wife. Not to mention they were way off base with motive, first they thought Sanderson was going to shoot up the courthouse, even though there was absolutely no evidence of it, then after figuring out their victim killed Sanderson’s wife they assumed it was for revenge, and at the end no one besides Connie knew the true motive behind the murder, although I think Jack suspected something. I like the episode and particularly the legal stuff but Bernard looked like a dumbass in it - I don’t know if they just didn’t know how to write Bernard yet since it was only his third episode or what but he came off as an ass. 

[andromeda331]

9 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

I watched Strike last night - this is a really good episode overall and very interesting watching Cutter and Rubirosa be pitted against each other in court. Rubirosa did a great job as a defense attorney - she is one of my favorites. I love Jack chewing out the ADA who was giving Connie grief about representing the defendant - Jack was right that Connie was just doing her job and it’s just as important to have good defense attorneys as good prosecutors, it’s what makes the system work, and I loved him threatening to put people on traffic court if they gave Connie crap. It was a good twist that Sanderson masterminded his wife’s murder and was a cold blooded sociopath.

I really liked Connie having to represent the defendent. That made things really interesting. I like that she took her job seriously. The other lawyers shouldn't have given her any grief. It's would be weird but yeah she's just doing her job. The judge is the one that had her do that. It's not like she volunteered. Sanderson was a pretty smart murderer. I agree about Bernard. He shouldn't have done that.

[Xeliou66]

18 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I really liked Connie having to represent the defendent. That made things really interesting. I like that she took her job seriously. The other lawyers shouldn't have given her any grief. It's would be weird but yeah she's just doing her job. The judge is the one that had her do that. It's not like she volunteered. Sanderson was a pretty smart murderer. I agree about Bernard. He shouldn't have done that.

Yeah it was a good premise for the episode to have Connie and Mike pitted against each other in court. Connie did a really good job, she’s probably my favorite of the second chair ADAs. I liked Jack in this one a lot and he was right to chew out the lawyers who were giving Connie grief. 
Something just seemed off with Bernard in the episode, it was weird how he was so certain Sanderson did it and thought he was getting away with murder even though forensics proved he didn’t kill his wife, and it seemed like the police would’ve been able to uncover a connection between Sanderson and the victim once they figured out the victim killed Sanderson’s wife. It was interesting in that even when the episode was finished the police and DA’s still didn’t know the real motive behind the murder, only Connie knew, Jack suspected I believe but he obviously couldn’t ask Connie about it. But Bernard just seemed unlike himself and was unlikable in this episode.

[Xeliou66]

I love the episode Illegal from this season, it’s my favorite from season 18, such a great feature for Jack. Jack taking the stand as a rebuttal witness after that turd Latham threw him under the bus was great, I loved his testimony “where there’s a law I’ll enforce it, where there’s a crime I’ll prosecute it, and where there’s a victim I’ll speak for that victim” - awesome statement from Jack. I also loved when Jack chewed Latham out for tanking the case at the grand jury and fired him when Latham gave him attitude and told him he couldn’t be trusted - very satisfying to see. 
Very compelling case with the reckless auxiliary cop, and I liked how Cutter and Lupo got the new evidence against the officer after Latham tanked the grand jury. I also liked the scene between Lupo and Van Buren where Lupo talked about how his past would get brought up and Van Buren assured him she had confidence in him - Lupo’s past struggles with PTSD/alcohol were explored in more detail in season 20’s Steel Eyed Death. I liked the mutual trust and respect Van Buren and Lupo had. I wish there were more episodes with the Green/Lupo detective pairing, they were really good together.

It’s my favorite episode from season 18, and it’s an awesome one for Jack.

Edited January 10 by Xeliou66

[andromeda331]

On 1/9/2024 at 5:17 PM, Xeliou66 said:

I love the episode Illegal from this season, it’s my favorite from season 18, such a great feature for Jack. Jack taking the stand as a rebuttal witness after that turd Latham threw him under the bus was great, I loved his testimony “where there’s a law I’ll enforce it, where there’s a crime I’ll prosecute it, and where there’s a victim I’ll speak for that victim” - awesome statement from Jack. I also loved when Jack chewed Latham out for tanking the case at the grand jury and fired him when Latham gave him attitude and told him he couldn’t be trusted - very satisfying to see. 
Very compelling case with the reckless auxiliary cop, and I liked how Cutter and Lupo got the new evidence against the officer after Latham tanked the grand jury. I also liked the scene between Lupo and Van Buren where Lupo talked about how his past would get brought up and Van Buren assured him she had confidence in him - Lupo’s past struggles with PTSD/alcohol were explored in more detail in season 20’s Steel Eyed Death. I liked the mutual trust and respect Van Buren and Lupo had. I wish there were more episodes with the Green/Lupo detective pairing, they were really good together.

It’s my favorite episode from season 18, and it’s an awesome one for Jack.

I love Jack testifying and Latham calling him backfired. Ah, he's a very good lawyer with a very good success rate. I love Jack firing him. That was a great scene. What did Latham think was goinhg to happen? Jack has proved that he goes after anyone who commits a crime no matter their wealth, politics or religion. I like Van Buren and Lupo talking and her helping him with his concern. She's not wrong Lennie overcame his drinking problem.

[Xeliou66]

20 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I love Jack testifying and Latham calling him backfired. Ah, he's a very good lawyer with a very good success rate. I love Jack firing him. That was a great scene. What did Latham think was goinhg to happen? Jack has proved that he goes after anyone who commits a crime no matter their wealth, politics or religion. I like Van Buren and Lupo talking and her helping him with his concern. She's not wrong Lennie overcame his drinking problem.

Yeah Jack’s testimony was awesome, one of his best moments really and he’s had a lot of great ones. 
I wonder why Jack put Latham in charge of the riot case? Did Jack not know about Latham’s extreme bias towards cops, or was Jack seeing if Latham would be able to do his job without bias? 
It’s a great episode for Jack, and it’s my personal favorite episode of season 18.

I always liked the relationship between Van Buren and Lupo, they had a lot of mutual respect, it was nice to see a detective who had a strong relationship with Van Buren again given that Cassady didn’t have a strong relationship with her and her and Fontana were kind of shaky at times as well. Lupo is an underrated character IMO, I really like him, I thought he was a very good addition to the show and I liked his partnerships with both Green and Bernard.