Law & Order

A story that relies on possible repercussion from war. Specifically in this case the Iraqi war and events occuring around the torture of inmates in Abu Grab prison. So as you one would expect, this is an episode focus heavily on events around the Iraq war and would have touched a raw nerve when it was first shown. However, as mentioned in the NOTES section, the plot is far from perfect and thus the screenplay didnt work too fluidly, giving an overall sense that the plot was cobbled together to fit the events, rather than being written to stand on its own to feet. Despite this, the story is easy to follow and provide a platform for the real star of this episode, the new blood - Fontana.



RIP Jerry Orbach, aka Lennie Briscoe. You shall be missed.



Being always dubious of change, I must admit Faria is a class replacement. A favourite actor of mine, who I can remember from Miami Vice days. He fits in immediately like a well-worn glove. For me this is what this story is really about, introducing the wiley wise-guy-esque type character. In a number of key scenes it is Fontana who makes the breakthrough to the next lead, that keeps this plot moving forwards. The way in which he interprets a scene or clue or the way he manipulates a situation really adds to his reputation. Definitely made me feel at ease with the character. That was after a pretty frictional introduction between him and Green, where we immediately get a sense that these two cops don't have much in common and could have spelt trouble.



However, because of the obvious issues with the plot, the story only provides a decent return on the drama stakes. Perhaps this was because it was being shown for the 1st time on UK TV, years after the associated events. Maybe though because the relevence of this and the attempted connection to the articles of the Geneva Convention just werent followed through in enough detail. Which brings me to my next final point about the drama. This lacked the intensity, even for an average L&O show. The introduction of possible alternate suspects was very low, almost railroading the story towards the Muslim candidate. It did incidents that provoked strong emotional response to the plight of normal Iraqi's and the consequences of getting things very wrong. The conflicts, what there was of them, were cast between new partners Fontana and Green, the Iraqi woman and both, the war and the judicial process. To be fair, the script was littered with some conflict by it never reaches an intense level. Yet overall, the episode preached more than entertained.



For me this was really only one to watch for Farina's witty dialogue and to get to know his new character, which takes my score up to an eight.