Am I the only who's really enjoying this year's resurgence of "Law & Order"? Not only is the new cast top notch, especially Jeremy Sisto as the cop and Linus Roache as the DA. The show had been treading water the last two or three years, but after flirting with cancellation and delaying its premiere until January, the show has been reborn, in its 18th season.
Also, the writing has been top-notch, and actually daring- especially in last week's totally bonkers, yet strangely affecting episode, called "Quit Calm." Not a "ripped from the headlines" episode at all, the show featured January Jones, from "Mad Men," as a murder defendent, and tied in plots involving the Mafia, the subprime mortgage crisis, the Patriot Act, and 8 murders, allegedly committed by a beautiful blond woman, that somehow did NOT become the most sensational case ever. The episode had so much on its mind that it threw in a terrorism subplot, and then abandoned it right away without much explanation. I can tell the writers had a whole lot of fun with this one, as they prepared to go out on strike.
Even better- the third episode in a row with "Wire" cast member guest-starring! This time it was Jim True-Frost (Prez) as a shady loan originator; the last two featured John Doman (Rawls) as a Larry Craig-like politico, and the week before had Tristan Wilds (Michael) as a murder witness. If Isiah Whitlock (Clay Davis) appears on the show, in what would be as sixth appearance, I'll officially be a happy man.
Posted by Stephen Silver at February 11, 2008 10:23 PM