It’s the thirteenth season of my favorite show. Anybody would be an improvement over Dianne Wiest but I thought Fred Thompson was particularly good. I smell trouble ahead since Serena was up Jack’s ass all episode long so they’ll be standing strong against Branch’s right wing bias for the whole season.
Speaking of Serena, she has improved since last season. I was nervous when Jack suggested she cross the defendant but she was effective in that scene.
The episode was kind of blah. I’m sick of the red herrings that occupy the whole first half hour. Just find the guy already. They made the American Taliban guy too outrageous so there was never a doubt what would happen in the end. I thought his defense attorney was really good.
Is it me or do they keep adding more funny quips (especially by Lenny) every season?
Good show tonight! I like the way the Muslim lawyer was portrayed. Lots of times when they have case-specific defense attys (like a women’s rights atty or an african-american atty) they are so over the top and hard headed with a political agenda. This lawyer was good and wasn’t blinded by the politics and stayed true to his job and religion at the same time.
I liked how they potrayed the Muslim Lawyer. He would help his client while obviously disaggreeing with the kids take on their religon.
What I found wrong with the show was the idea that the defendant turned to his religon because he was scared of women. He went to a religon that glorified men over women and that was his one point. Most people have more than one pint when choosing a religon. Not this guy.
I’ve always liked Fred Thompson as an actor. He doesn’t do much acting though, and where has he been for the past few years?
I hated Diane Weist’s character, I’m glad to see her go. I agree about the defense attorney. It was a well-written part, they should have more roles like it. Less over-the-top caricatures to make things “interesting”.
I am tiring a little of the weekly attempts to get a gasp at the “surprise” ending. There’s always a twist, but sometimes it seems to come from nowhere. What’s that called, “deus ex machina” or something?
This episode of Law & Order is among my least favorite. I felt the Muslim attorney was way too apologetic. I did not like how NBC (or it may have been Comcast) called the Muslim teenager the ‘American Taliban’. Muslim (even when coupled with misplaced anger) does not equal Taliban. Unless I missed a part somewhere (which isn’t entirely impossible), no where was it mentioned that this teen was a member of the Taliban.
I’m looking forward to seeing Fred Thompson’s Distric Attorney role. When, by the way, are they getting rid of Serena?
I like the show usually but I thought yesterday’s episode was pretty weak. Too much simplistic pop-pshychology about how his teenage insecurities lead him to become an extremist. In general what I like about the show is its lack of sentimentality and its focus on story-telling. This episode seemed more interested in sending a “message” and not a particularly interesting one at that.
But, to the point, what exactly is the deal with Dianne Wiest’s character - she was (it seemed to me) the DA on the season premiere of SVU, why isn’t she still the DA on L&O? are they now in different timelines/universes? I’m more than a bit confused as to what is supposed to be happening there.
I was completely whooshed. Why did the kid kill Louise Murdoch, and what does it have to do with a)his claim that she got an abortion and b)what the girl Jennifer might have said on the stand?
Ivylad says the kid couldn’t have an erection, but I still don’t know what that has to do with Murdoch’s death or the claim of abortion. If anything it would be motive to kill Jennifer.
I was reeeeally confused about what the hell happened between him and that girl they brought in at the end. She said something along the lines of “Tell me you didn’t do this because of what happened with me.” So, what happened? Could he not get it up? Or was this b/c the woman he killed gave her an abortion? Or did she just break up with him? I think I missed something along the way.
As for Serena, I also thought she did a less wooden job of it. Did anyone else pick up on a little more of a flirty vibe towards Jack?
[spoiler]My sense is that the girlfriend laughed at him when he couldn’t get it up (“yes, we were intimate, if you can call it that” from her, “you shouldn’t have laughed at me” from him).
Because of this, it finally drove him to a religion (or, rather, an interpretation) that oppresses women. I wasn’t entirely sure on whether they were a thing before or after his conversion to Islam.
In the end he chose to blame the professor for the girlfriends “uppitiness.” The girlfriend has shared the empowering ideas of the professor and given many personal details.
Combined with the fact that the professor got him fired when he confronted her, that was enough to kill her.[/spoiler]
What a convuluted story. I could see motive to kill the girlfriend, but to blame her professor for clueing her into gender apartheid, and then blaming the professor because his girlfriend laughed at his impotence? Not a good first start, I’m afraid. Let’s see what happens next week.
