# Law & Order - New episodes...anyone watch? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 3, 2008, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103 "2008-01-03T05:04:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/1 "2008-01-03T05:04:42Z")
The flagship was back tonight with back to back new episodes…did anyone else watch? I have seen so many reruns it was refreshing to see some new stories and characters. If there weren’t cast changes it wouldn’t be L&O…this year McCoy, Green and Lt. Van Buren seem to be the only returning regulars. Jeremy Sisto is the Green’s new partner and Linus Roache the new ADA. Roache’s character seems to be a mini-me version of McCoy. There is also a new female ADA, played by Alana DeGarza who previously was on CSI: Miami. It’s jarring to see so many new faces, but I think the actors did a great job, along with the guest stars. Very good story lines and acting in the 2 shows tonight, tastes of Enron corruption, desperate housewives in the dark, kidnapping, Kevorkian-like killings, end of show twists and BRAD DOURIF as a guest star! What could be better??!! Thoughts anyone…? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/2 "2008-01-03T07:12:18Z")
Who was the guy who played the journalist in the first hour? I know I’m gonna kick myself when I find out. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/3 "2008-01-03T07:20:48Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Borgia] Who was the guy who played the journalist in the first hour? I know I’m gonna kick myself when I find out. [/QUOTE] Get your kicking boots on. It was [David St. Hubbins.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_McKean) ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/4 "2008-01-03T07:23:44Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] Get your kicking boots on. It was [David St. Hubbins.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_McKean) [/QUOTE] Thanks! Like the pirate with the steering wheel in his pants said, that was driving me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/5 "2008-01-03T12:32:09Z")
[yea, I watched it](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=449958) ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/6 "2008-01-03T13:58:01Z")
I haven’t watched all of it, but I’ve taped it and plan to watch it tonight. My WTF moment was seeing Rodgers as a blonde. She’s much better as a redhead. And according to Cynopsis, a trade e-newsletter, L&O may be crossing the pond: > [@](#): > > Dick Wolf’s Law & Order has a loyal following in the UK, so it only makes sense Wolf and NBC Universal are in talks with ITV and Kudos Films to develop a Law & Order: London series. ITV has given the project a 13 episode order, representing the first format deal for the original L&O series. The show will work off of scripts from the original series, reformatted for the local audience. ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/7 "2008-01-03T15:39:14Z")
[QUOTE=HelloKitty] If there weren’t cast changes it wouldn’t be L&O…this year McCoy, Green and Lt. Van Buren seem to be the only returning regulars. Jeremy Sisto is the Green’s new partner and Linus Roache the new ADA. Roache’s character seems to be a mini-me version of McCoy. There is also a new female ADA, played by Alana DeGarza who previously was on CSI: Miami. It’s jarring to see so many new faces, but I think the actors did a great job, along with the guest stars. [/QUOTE] If I’m not mistaken, _De La Garza_ started last year. But there have been so many second chairs the past few years I can’t even remember the characters’ names. I’m not sure McCoy will “work” in his new position. They’ve done the “avuncular DA” schtick for so long that having a wired terrier in the job is rather jarring. For some reason the first story just didn’t work for me. Side note: from what I saw (I always kill the audio during commercial breaks) it looks like new episodes of L&O:CI will be airing on NBC starting next Wednesday. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/8 "2008-01-03T15:41:50Z")
This may be silly, but it bugged the hell out of me that a man on foot chased a man on a bicycle for a good thirty seconds and didn’t lose any ground. That’s just stoopid. ETA: Blowing a whistle the whole time. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/9 "2008-01-03T15:46:46Z")
I believe that the L&O:CI episodes were promoted as “new on NBC”. They’re the same episodes that have already aired on USA. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/10 "2008-01-03T17:45:33Z")
[QUOTE=BJMoose] If I’m not mistaken, _De La Garza_ started last year. But there have been so many second chairs the past few years I can’t even remember the characters’ names. [/QUOTE] You are not mistaken. This is her second season. [QUOTE=BJMoose] I’m not sure McCoy will “work” in his new position. They’ve done the “avuncular DA” schtick for so long that having a wired terrier in the job is rather jarring. [/QUOTE] I actually liked this dynamic a lot. McCoy always said he’d never want to be DA, and here he is appointed to the job, and he can’t help micromanaging the new guy in his old job. Very enjoyable, IMO - a fresh take on the DA/ADA relationship. I also liked how they went to pains to highlight Cutter’s work methodology (white board, PDA), where we never saw McCoy with anything but law books and a pad of paper. [QUOTE=BJMoose] For some reason the first story just didn’t work for me. [/QUOTE] The second episode was definitely superior, although I love Brad Dourif and thought he had a good turn in the first one. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/11 "2008-01-04T01:28:34Z")
Brad Dourif! I thought I recognized him. (From an episode of _Star Trek: Voyager_, how geeky am I?) Did they explain what happened to Beauty Salon Cop? She just went away, not that I miss her. I thought they’d say something about Arthur Branch leaving office to run a political campaign, but no such luck. 😉 It’s weird watching a new episode after the plethora on TNT. I agree the second episode was better than the first. I like Connie’s new hairstyle, softer, it suits her. Rodgers needs to go back to being a redhead. So, potassium chloride causes a painful death? But if you’re asleep and paralyzed (f that’s what the other two drugs do) you wouldn’t feel it, right? ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/12 "2008-01-04T01:40:52Z")
I think the deal is that the pain will wake you up, but you will be paralyzed and unable to scream, move, etc. Then you will die. I liked the new episodes. I liked the new cop, Lupo, but the new ADA Cutter got on my nerves with his pushing his luck from day one on the new job. That didn’t seem realistic to me. The female cop from last season went to K-ville as a prosecutor. It was strange to see her in lawyer garb when I watched a few episodes of that. ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/13 "2008-01-04T14:58:13Z")
[QUOTE=h.sapiens] I believe that the L&O:CI episodes were promoted as “new on NBC”. They’re the same episodes that have already aired on USA. [/QUOTE] I had a feeling . . . Television programming is sure getting weird. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/14 "2008-01-04T16:17:31Z")
I was SO glad to have two episodes of L&O to watch. I thought there were some weird plot holes in the two episodes, which of course I can’t think of now, and that worried me a little (after what, 18 years, it wouldn’t surprise me if new ideas were running thin…everything can’t be “ripped from the headlines.”) For now, I’m chalking it up to the difficulty of working in the new characters & their backstories. I am also really glad they moved it back to Wednesday night. I think Friday was a death sentence. Loved Jack McCoy’s dig at Arthur Branch…that his office is now a “working office.” Sounds like Branch had the same problem as DA as he does on the campaign trail…a questionable work ethic! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/15 "2008-01-04T16:22:33Z")
What’s the deal with the first scene in Episode 2 with the new guy’s niece & nephew hanging out in the office? Are they going to hit us over the head every so often with the idea that he was a bad brother and his brother died and now he’s gone from renegade smuggler chaser to domesticated uncledad? Is this going to be another “I am the product of rape” or “I am scared about my teenage daughter” a la SVU? I’m in the middle of watching Season 15, with Fontana, and before that it was all Briscoe. So far I am not a huge fan of the new fella. Very hard for me to go from happy-but-snarky Briscoe and cool-and-smooth Fontana to Broody McPoutsalot. I have no idea what my hangup is, because I’ve successfully gone through 15 seasons (in the last 6 months or so!) with all sorts of cast changes and took them gracefully. So far I don’t dig this new setup at all. No idea why. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/16 "2008-01-04T16:33:11Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] I have no idea what my hangup is, because I’ve successfully gone through 15 seasons (in the last 6 months or so!) with all sorts of cast changes and took them gracefully. So far I don’t dig this new setup at all. No idea why. [/QUOTE] My WAG is that it’s because there’s too many changes all at once. A new cop, a new ADA, a new DA, plus we haven’t had much time to get used to the old ADA (De La Garza)…it’s a lot of changes. I kind of felt the same way. Having to deal with all these new folks, it almost felt like a pilot episode, where they have to make a point of explaining who they all are. I’m a little worried, too, about having a cop with “issues.” One of the things I always liked about L&O is that they don’t get into a lot of that kind of stuff, and I think it just clogs up the works. I’ve never been able to get into SVU, what with Olivia’s child-of-rape issues and Eliot’s “oh-my-god-I-have-teenage-daughters-I-can’t-let-them-out-of-the-house” issues, and then his divorce and blah blah blah. I don’t care, man, just solve crimes! New York needs you to FOCUS! ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/17 "2008-01-04T16:38:35Z")
[QUOTE=Sarahfeena] I thought there were some weird plot holes in the two episodes [/QUOTE] It seemed pretty unlikely that Dourifs character could time his overdose so precisely that he would be on the stand and pontificating about the right to die when it kicked in. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/18 "2008-01-04T16:47:24Z")
Exactly! Excellent example. Plus, the whole thing with his daughter protesting lethal injection on the grounds that it’s cruel. I thought it was pretty farfetched that someone would promote the usage of it claiming that it’s painless and protest the usage of it claiming that it’s painful at the same time, and then act all like “wow…I never thought they would see my contradiction here!” on the stand. I think they could have thought of a better way to discredit her than that. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/19 "2008-01-04T16:59:25Z")
[QUOTE=Sarahfeena] Exactly! Excellent example. Plus, the whole thing with his daughter protesting lethal injection on the grounds that it’s cruel. I thought it was pretty farfetched that someone would promote the usage of it claiming that it’s painless and protest the usage of it claiming that it’s painful at the same time, and then act all like “wow…I never thought they would see my contradiction here!” on the stand. I think they could have thought of a better way to discredit her than that. [/QUOTE] Yup. ---
**Author:** ![jlsmith57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@jlsmith57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlsmith57)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-order-new-episodes-anyone-watch/432103/20 "2008-01-04T21:34:13Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] This may be silly, but it bugged the hell out of me that a man on foot chased a man on a bicycle for a good thirty seconds and didn’t lose any ground. That’s just stoopid. ETA: Blowing a whistle the whole time. [/QUOTE] This really bugged me too. I was yelling at the screen during this scene!