Law & Order Criminal Intent “Last Rites” Episode Information and Previews

Here is the episode information for Law & Order Criminal Intent “Last Rites”. It stars Chris Noth, Julianne Nicholson, and Eric Bogosian. There are no videos available as yet to embed here, but the link to the USA promo for the episode is below. I’ll add the preview clips if/when they become available.

This is Chris Noth’s final episode with Criminal Intent. Lets hope they give him an exit which allows for an opportunity to reappear on any of the franchise shows if/when he gets tired of being a big movie star. We will be glad to take him back!


“Last Rites” Air Date August 17, 2008
Logan questions the system after reopening a 16-year-old homicide case at the request of a priest (guest star, and Law & Order repeat offender Denis O'Hare).

The link to USA promo is here.

My recap and review of “Last Rites “ can be found here.



UPDATE August 13, 2008
Here’s an article from The Nashville Daily News that gives more information about the episode. Note: The episode time they mention is CENTRAL TIME.

TVISION: An era ends on ‘Law and Order’

Logan during the series first five years, and many fans still consider the pairing of Noth and the late Jerry Orbach one of the best (if not the best) investigative teams the show ever featured.

Over the past couple of years Noth has been appearing every other week on Law and Order: Criminal Intent. His final episode starts at 8 p.m., Sunday on USA Network.

In a sense history will repeat itself thematically. Logan’s first departure was triggered by a hot-tempered reaction to what he deemed a miscarriage of justice, and this time he’ll once again pick a fight he can’t win.

When Logan discovers a man is doing hard time in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, he decides to investigate. But that pits him against a District Attorney (Leslie Hope) determined that her high-profile conviction not be overturned. It’s an appropriate finale for Noth, whose character went from raging novice to seasoned veteran over the years.

A four-episode marathon of Logan’s toughest cases from this current season will be shown Saturday night on USA beginning at 6 p.m.




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Criminal Intent “Neighborhood Watch” Piqued My Interest

In this episode of Law & Order Criminal Intent, "Neighborhood Watch, " we saw a little bit of the old Mike Logan (Chris Noth), his dry humor, his sarcasm, his temper, and his plaid tie. It’s a shame that they took so long to bring some of his spark back, seeing that the next episode is his last with the series.

This episode opens with several people in a neighborhood posting photos of a sex offender that resides and works there. It seems everyone wants him out, and everyone seems quite verbal about it. Later, when a body turns up in the river, stabbed, missing his head, and with his fingerprints burned and almost melted off, Major Case detectives Logan and Wheeler (Julianne Nicholson) are called out because it’s initially believed to be a mob hit. Logan is skeptical, but says:

Logan: My interest is piqued.
Wheeler: Piqued?
Logan: It’s my new word for the week.

After Logan asks ME Rogers (Leslie Hendrix) to works some forensics slight of hand (so to speak) to help identify the body, they learn it’s none other than Kyle Jones (Darrin James Malone), the sex offender target by the Neighborhood Watch. Kyle had been found guilty of second-degree rape of a 15 year old girl, Nancy Williams (Halley Wegryn Gross). But is he really a sex offender? In going back and researching the rape charge in order to flush out a murder, Logan isn’t so sure and thinks that there was consent involved.

They also discover that Jones’ car appears to have been tampered with, and that he was possibly being harassed by Sergeant Whelan (Scott Sowers) in the form of repeated parking tickets. Jones’ employer, a video rental store owner and cousin of Kyle’s mother, says he was getting ready to let Kyle go because it was hurting his business. They talk with Bob Goodman (Victor Verhaeghe), store owner and driving force behind Neighborhood Watch, and he says he was working with Sgt. Whelan to help drive out Jones. When Sgt. Whelan I questioned, he said he saw Jones leave the video store early, and then he left as well.

But when they find that the ADA classed Jones’ crime as rape, Wheeler and Logan split up to talk to Nancy Williams and her father. The father is still angry over the rape but says he wouldn’t murder anyone, and the daughter admits a secret relationship with Jones. But, her parents were angry when they were told by Nancy’s doctor that she was not a virgin, and they moved ahead with the rape charge. Nancy also implies that from the questioning by the ADA, that it sounded like rape, and she agreed it must be.

Complicating matters is an appearance at One PP of Clete Dixon (Skip Sudduth), an old colleague of Captain Ross (Eric Bogosian), who seems to think that Kyle Jones’ murder is part of a suspected serial killer he’d been trailing as part of some cold cases. When ME Rogers examines Dixon’s files, she finds no evidence of a serial killer, and Logan and Wheeler deliver the news to Dixon. While he seems to accept their conclusions, Dixon is later seen on a TV talk show spouting that he was told by Major Case that it IS a serial killer. Ross fumes over it, and later is also seen talking on camera to a reporter debunking Dixon’s report. This doesn’t help much, as Dixon appears again on the Faith Yancy’s (Geneva Carr) talk show, this time with ADA Driver (Leslie Hope), who worked Nancy Williams’ case. ADA Driver appears to be only inflaming the situation by her comments. Ross asks the detectives to talk to her, be diplomatic, but get her to “dial it down.”

When Logan and Wheeler tell ADA Driver this was not the work of a serial killer, she says she is relieved. But when asked to issue a statement to deplore vigilante justice, she thinks that’s what she’s been doing, and refuses to minimize Jones’ crime. Logan, however, shows his annoyance with Driver by bluntly telling her that Jones got involved with the wrong girl, served his time in prison, and when he gets out he’s labeled as a sex offender, hounded, harassed, and murdered. Driver says he’s so angry, she’ll take his comments with a grain of salt.

Logan admits to Wheeler that he is frustrated, and decides that while they are in the neighborhood, they will investigate outstanding petty warrants to see what they can flush out. The find that a group of kids were talking big about the murder, as if they knew who did it, and a bar owner says one of them came in trying to use someone else’s ID. It point them back to Jake Lally, who finds that his ID was taken while these kids were in his house for a party his sister Brenda (Dreama Walker) had while his parents were out of town. Brenda says it was “Jamie, Ricky, and Lew” but it was Jamie (Michael Drayer) that she saw coming out of Jake’s room. They question Jamie, who insists he refused to help them disable Jones’ car, but was just supposed to be a lookout. He says Ricky and Lew bragged that “the deed is done” and that they’d be heroes.

In questioning Ricky (David Call), his mother says he was home with him all night – and Ricky emphasizes: every night. But when they look at Ricky’s and Lew’s (Lucas Papaelias) records, and find Ricky has a 1998 minivan, they decide to find a reason to get the van on a traffic violation so they can search it. They do so, and find that the van has luminol present, Logan giving them the bad news that the luminol can even show that bleach was used. They find luminol on Ricky and Lew’s shoes as well, with what looks like traces of stains. They take the two in for questioning, and search the garage at Ricky’s mother’s home. They decide to check the garage drain for blood, and suspect a hacksaw is missing, but a locked freezer turns up nothing but a large pot roast.

At One PP, Lew buckles under questioning, and says that it was Ricky’s idea because he wanted to impress Brenda Lally. Brenda, now also at One PP, says that Ricky and Lew hinted that they had killed Kyle, and had been talking about killing someone since junior high school, and that Ricky would even show her the head.

Wheeler puts the pressure on Ricky, getting him to admit that they brought Kyle to his house, gave him some beer (Kyle cut his hand on the bottle) and they smoked dope and popped some pills. She also tells him they checked his computer and found he’d looked up driving directions to where the body was dumped. Logan enters, and tells Ricky that Lew said Ricky did it, and told him where the hacksaw was put, but not the head. Wheeler continues to taunt Ricky, by saying the Brenda didn’t believe him, that he was a loser, and "all talk". But after Logan hits him with one final insult, Ricky folds and says he’d already murdered before Kyle, that he’d done the other sex offenders in the reports. Logan and Wheeler appear stunned, but they question Ricky further to flush out that Ricky is only talking big, and that he only killed Kyle. Ricky admits it, and after his bluff that he did it in self defense fails, he seems disappointed that the one murder won’t make him famous. But Logan still has some doubts about parts of the crime when Logan asks Ricky if he knows where the fuse box is on a Civic, and Ricky shrugs as if he doesn’t know or care. Logan goes back and questions Sgt. Whelan, who, after some cop-to-cop banter, seems to admit he took out the fuse, but didn’t know that Kyle’s time was up.

Back at One PP, Logan asks Wheeler to join him for a drink, but she begs off and introduces Logan to her fiancé, Colin (Nicholson’s real-life spouse, Jonathan Cake). So Logan joins Ross in his office, watching ADA Driver seemingly taking credit for cracking the case, while they sip drinks. Logan commiserates over his first case, and Ross over the current crime. As Logan reflects that Ricky “didn’t even enjoy it,” the episode closes.

I really enjoyed this episode primarily because it appeared that we got to see more of the “old” Mike Logan persona than we saw all season. He seemed brighter and more energetic, yet he also seemed to be less resistant to showing his annoyance when needed. Mike Logan finally seems to have come back, but I’m sad that they finally have gotten it right with him right, before his final episode.

The case also had the right amount of red herrings that actually added to the drama. The most interesting was when Ross’s colleague Dixon decides to make a name for himself and go on a talk show with his version of the case, and later Kyle’s killer Ricky uses that information in his attempt for serial killer fame. For a minute, he almost had me going, especially with the look of surprise on Logan and Wheeler’s faces. But their surprise was probably more indicative of how stupid they thought that Ricky was when they tore apart his claim.

I also thought that we saw some glimpses into Mike with his reaction to the rape accusation. This seemed like the Mike we knew from his early seasons on Law & Order, where he expressed his concern that if what Kyle did was really a crime, or it was just a case of a kid meeting up with the wrong girl with the wrong parents.

It was also amusing when Wheeler introduces her fiancé, and it’s none other than her real life husband. It was a funny touch that may have been missed by the casual Criminal Intent viewer. I also liked that they seemed to give Bogosian some better dialog which allowed him to emote more. This is the second week in a row that I actually enjoyed Bogosian - a world record for me.

The case itself was interesting, showing very well how sometimes labeling someone as a sex offender can have on a neighborhood. Personally, I always think it’s good to know when someone who is a registered sex offender moves in to my area, but I don’t always agree that zealous persecution of them by a neighborhood is the right answer.

This episode left me wanting to see much more of the Mike Logan that worked this case, sadly, it won’t be happening.



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Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

SVU’s Chris Meloni in "Gym Teacher The Movie"

In a break from my normal Law & Order content, I thought I show the trailer for Law & Order SVU’s Chris Meloni and his new Nickelodeon movie, “Gym Teacher The Movie.” In one part of the clip, Chris is sporting an Afro. It must be seen to be believed.

The show is set to air on September 12, on Nickelodeon.







Link to Nickelodeon web site trailer here. Much better quality, but you have to sit through a commercial.



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here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order: And Now For Something Completely Different

Viewers in the US are well accustomed to the themes and opening credits for the various shows in the Law & Order franchise. But, just to stir things up here, I’ve collected some of the themes and title credits for some of the Law & Order, Criminal Intent, and SVU shows as they appear in the United Kingdom. (I had already posted the SVU UK version back in April, here, but I also included it below just to have all of them in one place.)

No offense to Mike Post and his U.S. theme versions…but I really like the choices made for the UK themes, and the manner that the characters - such as Sam Waterston, Vincent D'Onofrio, Chris Noth, and the others - are presented in the opening credits.


Law & Order Criminal Intent Theme
Season Five, UK Edition
Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, Chris Noth, Annabella Sciorra, Cortney Vance, Jamey Sheridan



Law & Order Criminal Intent Theme
Season Six, UK Edition
Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, Chris Noth, Julianne Nicholson, Eric Bogosian




Law & Order
Season 13 UK Edition
Sam Waterston, Elisabeth Rohm, S. Epatha Merkerson, Fred Dalton Thompson, Jerry Orbach, Jesse Martin


Law & Order
Season 16 UK Edition
Sam Waterston, S. Epatha Merkerson, Jesse Martin, Dennis Farina, Fred Dalton Thompson, Annie Parisse


Law & Order
Season 17 UK Edition
Sam Waterston, S. Epatha Merkerson, Fred Dalton Thompson, Jesse Martin, Milena Govich, Alana De La Garza




Law & Order SVU
UK Edition
Chris Meloni, Markisa Hargitay, Richard Belzer, Ice-T, Dann Florek, Diane Neal



Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information,
here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order SVU Filming in the Meat Packing District

Several bloggers and web sites caught Law & Order SVU stars Chris Meloni, Mariska Hargitay, and guest star Luke Perry filming the season premier in the Meat Packing District in New York City. Here are some of the pictures. Check out the sleeveless shirts Meloni must wear under those hot suits.

Above photos from Tressed Out Celebs

Luke Perry and Chris Meloni (Splash News)

Splash News

Below, from Starpulse

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Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order Criminal Intent “Neighborhood Watch” Episode Information and Previews

Here’s the episode information and previews of Law & Order Criminal Intent episode “Neighborhood Watch”, starring Chris Noth and Julianne Nicholson. This week, USA seems to have released the video clips quickly, much to my delight.

“Neighborhood Watch” Air Date August 10, 2008
The case of a mutilated body found in a creek produces a whole neighborhood of suspects when the investigation reveals the man was not welcome in the community.

USA Promo

Law and Order: Criminal Intent – “Neighbor Watch” ...
Uploaded by USANetwork

USA Preview Clips

Law and Order: Criminal Intent – “Neighbor Watch” ...
Uploaded by USANetwork

Law and Order: Criminal Intent – “Neighbor Watch” ...
Uploaded by USANetwork

Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Criminal Intent “Legacy”: Pranks Gone Wild

While Law & Order Criminal Intent “Legacy” opens with a long set up to the crime, it makes for a beginning to an interesting story about entitled kids, not so entitled kids, and the harm a hatred that gets passed from parent to child can do in the long run.
When the episode opens, we find that one student, Tessa Nobile (Sarah Steele), seems to be excited about going to the prom with someone she’s talking to on-line, "LUV40" AKA Joe. We also see a few boys making bets on whether Joe will get Tessa to strip for the web cam. But when Joe messages Tessa and tells her “prom’s off, freak” and accuses her of being a lesbian, Tessa is crushed and doesn’t go to the prom. This is to the dismay of fellow student Paul Phillips, who seems anxious to see Tessa at the prom. Paul is in for some trouble, as the girls on the lacrosse team – Tessa is a member – decide to exact revenge on him for spreading rumors of Tessa being a lesbian. The girls, with their heads covered by their hooded sweats, ambush Paul and beat him up. Paul decides to exact his own revenge by creating a photoshopped cartoon video using Tessa and Keana Richmond’s (Sonequa Martin) faces, showing them stripping and implying a lesbian act. He emails it to all the students in Tessa’s mother’s class, who happens to be one of the teachers at Manor Hill High. Tessa sees the video, runs out of the class in embarrassment, and her mother runs after her. But, her mother finds a door open to a restricted area, and, following the corridor; find the body of Paul Phillips hanging in the boiler room.

Detectives Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Eames (Kathryn Erbe) are called to Manor Hill High School to investigate the hanging; apparently they are called in because the schoolmaster doesn’t think the local police like his son. While talking to Mrs. Nobile (Joanna Adler), Goren’s eagle eyes notice she has paint chips on her clothing, which she explains is from the boiler room when she tried to help Paul. Goren and Eames also question Paul’s parents, and his father Bill seems to have control and anger issues. Paul’s mother, however, takes Goren aside and tells him that her son was being treated for depression, but they were also on the lookout for schizophrenia, since that runs in Bill’s family. Goren seems to indicate understanding and empathy.

ME Rogers (Leslie Hendrix) finds that Paul was hung, but after he was killed by a blow to the head, and he was also heavily bruised from an apparent beating. In the meantime, the lacrosse girls are trying to delete files off their computer hard drives.

When Goren and Eames question one student, Jack (Anthony Carrigan). whom they were told was a friend of Paul’s, he is clearly uncomfortable being questioned under the watchful eye of his classmates, and so they decide to talk to him at his home. Jack’s father (Law & Order repeat offender John Shea) is present. When the detectives tell Jack that Paul was beaten, Jack decides to show them the video that Paul had made. This is enough for the detectives to open the lockers of Tess and Keana, who were the subject of the video.

It appears that the girls’ efforts to delete a file off their hard drive fails because the program only moved the file to another area of the hard drive. They are perplexed as to why the girls would delete the photoshopped file that Paul made, until they are shown the video of Paul being beaten. Even though the people have their heads covered with their hoods, they are wearing sports glasses and Eames identifies their posture as being typical for lacrosse players.

They bring in Keana for questioning, with her father (Peter Francis James) who is also a lawyer. Keana is mouthy to the detectives, and her father is being the typical lawyer. Keana denies knowing the subject of the beating video, and they show her father the photoshopped video. Her father implies that Keana is beyond this behavior because she grew up on Park Avenue. When Eames indicates that Keana just plays the ghetto act for school, Keana dismisses it, telling the detectives she knows more about the projects than they think.

Goren and Eames determine that Tessa is the weak link because her mother probably can’t afford a lawyer. They get a warrant for her laptop, and when they say they are going to look at emails and instant messages, Tessa admits that she didn't participate in the beating, but that it took place as revenge for Paul spreading rumors. She was supposed to go to the prom with Luv40 (Joe), but that Paul spread rumors she was a lesbian and Joe ditched her. She asked Paul why he hated her, but he said he didn’t, he loved her more than Joe. When she told Paul he was the last person she’d ever love, he ran off into the tunnels. She admits she told Keana about what Paul said before lacrosse practice. Keana told her not to worry, she’d put an end to it.

Now being questioned at One PP, Keana tells them that she was at lacrosse practice when Paul was killed. Eames said they did verify that, but the coach said she was one half hour late. But Keana said that she never had anything against Paul until he started dissing her and Tessa. But Goren thinks it’s because Paul dissed Keana, and her father says his daughter isn’t a murder OR a lesbian. Eames retorts, “Which of those scares you more, Mr. Richmond?” Keana said she only intended to jam his bike lock and make him walk home, and they’d strip him, stuff him in a car trunk and dump him in the south Bronx. But, Mrs. Nobile caught her, which gets the attention of Goren. Keana says Mrs. Nobile saw the video and said she’d talk to Paul.

We then see Jack coming in to talk with Mrs. Nobile, and she says he was a good friend to Paul. He says, though, he hopes Tessa wasn’t involved in this, because of she was, “she’s gonna pay.”

Back at One PP, Goren and Eames discuss the case with Capt. Ross (Eric Bogosian), who wonders how they missed checking closer on Anna Nobile. With her credentials, she didn’t appear to be questionable, but they also realize that she must have decided to teach at the high school in order for Tessa to get a full scholarship. Ross gives them the excuse to threaten the schoolmaster with all kinds of press coverage to allow them access to Anna’s office. They find Paul’s backpack there, and while they are leading her away, someone is seen filming her exit, clearly congratulating themselves.

Anna Nobile insists that she had nothing to do with the murder, and says she’s really upset with Joe, the boy who dumped her. But, she admits she’d never met Joe, and that Tessa only met him once. She only saw his web page and read his emails (with Tessa’s approval), which seemed to have “such poetry.” She said that Joe left pictures of Paul’s beating under her office door, also saying Tessa was a part of it, and that he’d post the video on line unless she resigned. Goren questioned if she told anyone at Manor Hill, but Anna scoffs, saying Tessa’s be kicked out of school.

Eames tells Ross that Anna’s story checks out when they see the pictures and a letter from Joe Cardinal. They are still trying to find Joe Cardinal at Bristol Academy, but they are not being cooperative. The computer techie finds Joe’s old web page before it was taken down. Only two friends of his go to Manor, one was Tessa and one was Paul.

Goren and Eames discover that there is no student at Bristol Academy at that school, but they find Joe’s picture on the cover of a course catalog. They are told those are models, not students, used for the pictures. Joe Cardinal does not exist.

While the detectives review the case with Capt. Ross, they don’t think Tessa created Joe, and wonder about the IM Tessa received asking her to strip. Was humiliating Tess a means to an end? Why did they want Anna Nobile out of the school? When Ross indicates that this whole thing seems to have started with a hoax, escalated to a beating, and ends with a murder, all just to take down a teacher, he finished with a wry, disgusted quip, “Lord of the Flies up there”

Back to questioning Tessa and Anna Nobile, they find that Tessa met Joe – or at least she thinks she must have, she’d had a lot of “punch” – at Eric Nessing's party. She was contacted the next day by Joe, who said he liked her dress and how she danced. She says she still emails him but he does not write back. Talking to Mrs. Nobile alone, Eames tells her that Joe is fictional, and when asked if Paul could have written the poetry, she said it’s not possible, Paul just didn’t have the skills. She also indicates that she is a tough grader and made the students do community service as a requisite to graduation.

While Goren, Eames, and Ross are back at One PP looking at photos of the party on-line, they find several students from Manor High, including Paul, but since they aren’t sure it’s him who's behind the murder, they decide to look at other students. When Ross thinks casting a wide net of the kids at school would upset the parents, they decide to “line catch” a suspect, by faking a promotion for Mrs. Nobile to see if that would flush out the person who seems to have something against her.

A notice is posted that Mrs. Nobile is promoted to the chair of the Ethics Department, and an arm is spotted ripping it off the bulletin board. Someone then slips a manila envelop under a Mrs. Nobile’s door, and Goren opens the door immediately to find a young boy there. When they read a threatening letter out loud and begin to question him the kid raises he hands and says, “Lawyer?” But, in front of the schoolmaster, the kid balks at making a call, and when Eames threatens him with “juvie” rather than Ivy League, he admits that someone from Scouts and Scholars asked him to drop off the envelope. He also says everyone knows “The Jack Pack” runs Scouts and Scholars, and Eames tells him to write down all the names. They hone in on three of the names, Eric Nessing, Jack Walker, and Brad Williams. While questioning Brad and Eric, none of them seem to have a problem with the prank against Tessa or getting back at Mrs. Nobile for the community service, but none admit to murder. But all fingers seem to point to Jack, since Brad said Eric is the “Picador” and Jack is the “Matador”, in bullfighting terms.

Goren and Eames make a trip back to Jack’s home, with Jack, his father, and lawyer present. When the detectives state all they really want is to go after Joe, Jack’s father tells him to answer the questions, but Jack refuses to be a rat. His dad tell him not to be an idiot and run his future protecting a “sociopath” and the lawyer says Jack has bright future. Jack still refuses, and his father gets angry, reminding Jack they donated money for a computer room in the school just to keep him enrolled, and to Cambridge for the last five years. The detectives prey on Jack’s insecurity about his father needing to help Jack stay in school.

When Jack’s father refers to Joe as a moron, Jack seems to be offended, saying his dad would like Joe, and mentions how often his father has bitched about the school and Mrs. Nobile, and Joe would stop it. Goren says it was a plan to make the “less desirable suffer” and Jack acknowledges that. He says Paul was a suicide waiting to happen, and called Tessa “a loser on scholarship” freeloading off tuition. He also made references to Keana’s race as his reason to target her. When Goren says that “Joe’ could have orchestrated things better Jack’s father’s friends, Jack says he should have been thanking Joe. Eames says “He should be thanking YOU. There is no Joe. Your son created him.” His father asks Jack to deny it, and Goren pounces that Jack’s dad won’t even give him credit for creating Joe. Jack’s dad agrees, saying Jack isn’t creative enough and doesn’t finish what he starts. Of course, Jack admits he did it all for his dad, and tells the lawyer his dad thinks he is a tool too. Jack also says he knew Keana had a crush on Tessa, and played her against Paul, and that it worked when the girls beat up Paul. When Paul came back with his own video, Jack said he told Paul not to do it. He said Paul came at him, and with one little shove, he went down. While Goren cuffs Jack, his father says he will bail him out, but Jack says his dad just doesn’t get it, he can't fix this one.


I liked this episode on many levels. Despite the fact that it was somewhat ripped from the headlines of the real life story of a girl who killed herself over a fictional Internet acquaintance, “Legacy” seemed to allow for a more complex set of twists and turns that didn’t make the outcome so obvious. There were a lot of students involved in the case, yet really only one had involvement in the actual crime of murder. And all the pranks and antics leading up to the murder left so many students with ruined lives or ruined chances at a better education, a lesson that hopefully would be picked up by anyone of high school age watching the episode. Sometimes people – even adults – don’t think about what goes out on the Internet and the long term effects it can have, and the problem may be even worse these days with teens who think that there isn’t anything they can do on the Internet that can harm them. (They’re wrong, of course.) So in a strange way I think this episode may have done better in getting a message across than most, because it wasn’t as heavy handed or preachy in its method of delivery.

The only real flaw is that it seemed to take the detectives forever to even suspect "Joe", even though he did turn out to be fictional.

Goren and Eames seem to be back to normal: Goren with his eye for observation and Eames for her cool, dry wit. Goren also seemed to bring out his empathetic look when Paul’s money talked about schizophrenia, but also had a genuine smile when the young kid near the end knows he just blew his chances with the Scouts and Scholars. I also really enjoyed Eric Bogosian in this episode; he seemed to be very comfortable and actually delivered some decent lines very well. This is the Captain Ross that I would like to see going forward.

It was a little obvious once John Shea appeared in the show, that since they didn’t give him much air time that he, and his son, would somehow figure into the murder later on. But this wasn’t too horrible, seeing that the detectives had plenty of suspects from which to choose.

It also is becoming more obvious that the Goren and Eames episodes seem to be more carefully thought out and developed as it relates to the two detectives. It may be a moot point at this time that the episodes with Logan and Wheeler just don’t seem to carry the same interest, seeing that Chris Noth will be off the show at the end of this season’s run. But it makes me very happy to see that they seem to have Goren in a more “happy” place with his job and his co-workers. He may not be happy inside, but at least he doesn’t seem to be in such mental agony as he had been in earlier this season.

So all in all, “Legacy” left me with a good feeling about Goren and Eames going forward, and hoping that the show continues the trend as this finish this season and start working on the new one.


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Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

SVU Gets More Guest Stars

OK Magazine has provided some more information about more guest stars that will be appearing on Law & Order SVU in this upcoming season. Let’s hope the focus on all these guest stars won’t be at the expense of interesting story lines. Here’s their scoop:


SVU books three more guest stars

Wow, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is really stacking up their guest star roster.

After previously announcing that Luke Perry, Sarah Gilbert and Julie Bowen will appear in guest roles in the show’s season premiere, the TV Fanatic has learned they booked three more!

Meet the Fockers' Teri Polo, Prison Break cutie Marshall Allman and character actor Tom Noonan will all appear in the second episode, titled “Confession.”

And I’m sure it’s going to be a good one!

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit returns Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 10 p.m. on NBC.

Tom Noonan seriously creeps me out, but that’s just me.



Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.