NBC’s venerable crime procedural, “Law & Order,” has endured a fair amount of deserved criticism around here lately. Big Hollywood’s thoughtful critiques of the show’s leftward slide and irksome predictability are, sadly, valid. Like many L&O fans, I’ve been forced to admit that recent seasons have been quite disappointing. The word “cancellation” has cropped up in my mind more than once.
That being said, this season has been refreshingly solid. Aside from the atrocious “Let’s prosecute Cheney!” season premiere, each successive episode has been vintage “Law & Order.” The most recent episode (”Dignity,” October 23) bordered on spectacular.
When I saw what the episode was about, I almost cringed. I was waiting for a liberal preachfest, something Law & Order has been very guilty of from time to time the last few seasons. Instead, what we got, was a brilliantly written episode that represented the best of what a television drama can offer. They didn’t treat the issue as black and white, and it was moving and thought-provoking all at the same time.
In the end, it was probably one of the best episodes of Law & Order ever.