February 27, 2007: 30
This was definitely a highlight of the season, but one that required you to pay
very close attention. All the
Law & Orders, of course, are known for their twisty-turny plots, but this episode had so many balls in the air, it was tough to keep an eye on each of them.
Interesting? Absolutely. But simply a lot of international intrigue and espionage to cram into one hour of TV, minus commercial breaks. If they ever made another
Law & Order movie, this story might have been a good fit, but it was all a little much for 40-odd minutes of TV.
That said, it kept me guessing as to who was behind what, what their agendas were, who the real targets were - even who the good guys and bad guys were ('cause it's hardly ever that simple, is it?).
With so much happening on a global scale - from Palestinian terrorists to Israeli nationalists to (fake) ex-KGB agents - it was a good idea to give Logan a personal connection to Radioactive Man. Their history provided a nice entry point into a complex story, and kept it anchored in the
Criminal Intent universe. Plus, watching RM rapidly decline over the course of an hour was appropriately difficult (and a little disgusting) to watch, even if he wasn't the most sympathetic murder victim. I mean, can we have just one episode where a murder witness, perpetrator or victim isn't cheating on his/her wife/husband? Is the adultery rate really that high?
Also of note: We finally got some real insight into Captain Danny - those scenes with his "Israeli connection" featured some real acting from
Bogosian, and gave the character a depth that was decidedly lacking before - as did his tense and passionate exchange with the semi-racist Logan about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Once again, those two seemed just on the verge of coming to blows before Wheeler intervened, but at least this time it was fueled by more than ego and testosterone.
So overall, a good episode - sidestepping the usual formula and breaking up the procedural monotony with a more cinematic, less single-focused approach worked quite well for me. But next week, I'll be ready for a simple open-and-shut case.
Next Week: It's back to repeats again, with a short trip down memory lane that flashes all the way back to the first episode of Season 6. Of course, I missed this one the first time around, so it will be "new to me" - whatever happened to that NBC slogan, anyway? Didn't catch on like that whole "pre-owned" thing, did it? Hmmm.
