This one starts out more promising than it ends. After being shown the murder scene - a demolition explosion at a building under construction that leaves a young boy dead - we're quickly whisked past a variety of suspects, from the building's owner to a two-faced community organizer played with arrogant aplomb by L&O alum Steve Harris, to a union guy, to the contractor himself. It feels like a classic whodunnit, with any one of these people being guilty of the crime.
But the episode's story eventually points to the crime being committed as part of a lovers' pact, and that's when, for me, it lost its intrigue.
I give it points for trying to mix things up in a few ways, though: the DA's office may have prosecuted the wrong guy about 3/4 of the way through, and now they need to use some interesting tricks to exonerate an innocent man and nail the real baddies; and Briscoe takes the stand, where McCoy tears into him pretty hard. ("It wasn't personal," he says later.)
Despite those wrinkles, I never felt that this one added up to more than the sum of its parts. It's solid but it's not that unique; there have been other episodes in previous seasons of L&O where the prosecutors similarly attempt to turn lovers against each other to secure a conviction.
Watch if you're interested in seeing the prosecutors get it wrong and then try to rectify their mistakes.
But the episode's story eventually points to the crime being committed as part of a lovers' pact, and that's when, for me, it lost its intrigue.
I give it points for trying to mix things up in a few ways, though: the DA's office may have prosecuted the wrong guy about 3/4 of the way through, and now they need to use some interesting tricks to exonerate an innocent man and nail the real baddies; and Briscoe takes the stand, where McCoy tears into him pretty hard. ("It wasn't personal," he says later.)
Despite those wrinkles, I never felt that this one added up to more than the sum of its parts. It's solid but it's not that unique; there have been other episodes in previous seasons of L&O where the prosecutors similarly attempt to turn lovers against each other to secure a conviction.
Watch if you're interested in seeing the prosecutors get it wrong and then try to rectify their mistakes.