Well it seems only appropriate that with all the crime drama series I review, I might as well jump back to where it all began. Ok, so maybe it began earlier with In the Heat of the Night and other such shows, but let’s look at one of the longest running series on television in Law & Order. Things have changed a great bit since it all started, but the premise is still the same and it didn’t need the unique gimmick most other shows need to get going today. Here is the series that started it all and paved the way for the crime drama to get rolling and spawn dozens of copycats, and even a few that have the general idea down but still know how to make it exciting. Question is…will the original even be fun anymore?
The premise is extremely simple and is the basis for tons of other crime drama television shows to come along after it. At the beginning of each episode, a crime occurs. It could be a murder or robbery or rape or something else, but they are always pretty severe. Then the cops are called to the scene and collect whatever evidence and information they can. We then watch as they interview people, do stakeouts, check out certain locales, and round up some suspects. The DAs try to sort out the evidence at hand and determine if a case can be made for any suspects currently in custody. Back and forth stuff goes down with evidence becoming inadmissible, suspects being proven innocent, and even more crimes happening in the meantime. Once all is said and done, the case is solved, but everything isn’t always puppies and sunshine.
“In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups, the police who investigate crime, and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.”
That is the prologue that begins each and every episode of Law & Order and it pretty much describes it accurately. All crimes are separate and play out in the course of a single episode, but every now and then you’ll get one that may spread out over two. It’s actually quite rare if a storyline will continue over throughout a season or from one to the next. Perhaps a running story with a detective or captain will show from time to time, but that doesn’t usually happen with victims, suspects, or cases as a whole. That is good for the casual fan because they won’t have to try and catch up on eighteen seasons if they just begin watching today.
I state that fact because the original Law & Order is not a series that I have ever kept up with. I caught an episode here and another one there and it was easy to know what was going on because of the “one and done” formula. Season six has a lot of good episodes, but none that were really earth-shattering or any that truly made me feel like it was a serious issue. Maybe I am a bit spoiled by some of the edgier and more taboo storylines shown in today’s television series, but even taking that aspect out of it all this season just seems so calm. One of the better episodes is “Jeopardy” which brings about multiple sides of a case that has a lot more in it then first expected. My second favorite episode would have to be the finale, “Aftershock.” The different views given by all those involved really makes it an episode that covers every base imaginable. There are a few other good episodes spread throughout season six, but it’s not one of the better releases as a whole.
Episodes
Disc One:
Bitter Fruit: Detective Briscoe and his new partner, Detective Reynaldo Curtis, investigate the death of a young girl who was abducted on her way to piano lessons.
Rebels: The detectives investigate the homicide of a rich NYU student who frequented biker bars and learn that the victim’s father had offered him $10,000 to drop his biker hobby – and his biker girlfriend.
Savages: The homicide of an undercover narcotics agent splits Kincaid and McCoy over whether or not to ask for the newly reinstated death penalty.
Jeopardy: When forensics evidence is ruled inadmissible in a case involving a dispute over a family business, McCoy and Kincaid must refocus their investigation in a hurry.
Hot Pursuit: A young woman, kidnapped and sexually abused by a street thug, is forced to join her captor in a robbery, but when the thug is killed, the woman’s true motives are questioned.
Disc Two:
Paranoia: The stabbing of a college student in her dorm room seems to be the result of another student’s obsession, but an even darker secret is revealed when the victim’s roommate attempts suicide.
Humiliation: When a street hooker known to hustle blackmail out of her clients is murdered, a prominent doctor’s wife is suspected of doing the crime as a way to evade payment.
Angel: A mother confesses to killing her baby, claiming God told her to do it, and ADAs McCoy and Kincaid are left in the impossible position of prosecuting against divine intervention.
Blood Libel: When a Jewish art teacher dies in her classroom, Briscoe and Curtis’s investigation reveals a lethal undercurrent of anti-Semitic hate among the student body.
Remand: Time doesn’t heal all wounds, especially when a 30-year old stabbing case is re-tried after new evidence implies the wrong man is sitting in jail.
Disc Three:
Corpus Delicti: The death of a show horse seems a more likely case for the ASPCA then Briscoe and Curtis, until a shady dealer is accused of selling sick animals to unsuspecting, older investors.
Trophy: When a thirteen-year-old boy is murdered and evidence points to an imprisoned serial killer, Briscoe and Curtis are forced to re-open a five-year-old case and question whether the wrong man has been in jail all this time.
Charm City: Detectives Briscoe and Curtis team up with Baltimore detectives Pembleton and Bayliss to help catch a man accused of setting gas bombs in New York and Baltimore.
Homicide: Life On The Street ‘For God And Country’: The case takes an explosive turn as the detectives track their suspect from New York to Baltimore. After a gripping arrest aboard a seaplane, Kincaid arrives to extradite the man back to New York, but none of them are prepared for his final exit.
Custody: When a social worker is killed, his past gambling habits and scams within the foster-care system lead the detectives to suspect a drug-addicted mother desperate to reclaim her baby.
Disc Four:
Encore: It’s a case of unholy matrimony when the death of a jogger points to her husband – previously a prime suspect in his first wife’s murder.
Savior: During an apparent jewelry theft, a woman and her ten-year-old son are killed, and the detectives follow the evidence to the remaining members of the family.
Deceit: An affluent, gay lawyer dies while leading detectives to his lover, who works as a female impersonator. A blackmail plot is revealed and the lover is accused – but is he just protecting his embittered wife?
Atonement: Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate the disappearance of a model, who they suspect was murdered even though her body hasn’t been recovered.
Slave: Desperate times call for desperate measures, but even the detectives are shocked when the homicide of an older woman is linked to a local drug dealer and the boy who was sold to him as payment for narcotics.
Disc Five:
Girlfriends: When a college coed is murdered, Briscoe and Curtis soon learn that the student was part of a campus call-girl ring and go to arrest the “madam” who has fled the country.
Prose: After being accused of brutally killing three people, a schizophrenic homeless man decides to represent himself in court, and Kincaid recognizes him from a harassment charge over a year ago.
Homesick: A baby boy’s poisoning leads detectives to a food manufacturer, but the real culprit might be in the family.
Aftershock: After witnessing the lethal injection of Mickey Scott, Briscoe, Curtis, McCoy, and Kincaid react in four very different ways.
The episodes are shown in 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen format and most everything looks pretty good, but it is evident at times that the transfer to DVD was not totally clean. Some small amounts of grain and faded colors show up momentarily from time to time, but nothing too bad and I’m willing to bet that is simply from being about twelve years old.
The episodes are heard in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Sound and each episode sounds like it does when watching it air on television. All dialogue can be heard clearly and that is most important here because that’s about all you’re going to hear in this series except for the occasional gunshot or banging of a judge’s gavel.
Bonus Episode – The episode on disc 3 that is entitled “For god And Country” is actually from the television series Homicide: Life On The Street and continues over from the Law & Order episode “Charm City.”
I like Law & Order a lot and it always will be good and stand up to the test of time no matter what season you go back to. The problem here is that season six just doesn’t have the best episodes out there and really are quite lackluster to other seasons or series. What series isn’t allowed to have some mediocre episodes from time to time though? I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt because it’s not like this season saw the decline of the series because it’s still on the air going strong and will for a long time. I’ve caught a few recent episodes, though, and when Jerry Orbach passed away the show lost a little of its luster. Nonetheless, this set is kind of bare bones when it comes to special features because the only one included is the episode of Homicide which fits right in as if it belongs anyway. If you’re going to start watching this series now then start early and not here because if you do then you just may not want to watch any more.
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Universal presents Law & Order: The Sixth Year. Created by: Dick Wolf. Starring: Jerry Orbach, Benjamin Bratt, S. Epatha Merkerson, Sam Waterston, Jill Hennessey, Steven Hill. Running time: 1080 minutes on 5 discs. Rating: Not Rated. Released on DVD: December 2, 2008. Available at Amazon.com
