The Fertile Fields

Two patrol officers come across the body of an orthodox Jewish man that had been set on fire. They spotted some black kids running from the scene.

The first thought was that this had been some kind of bias attack and these three black kids are brought before a Grand Jury.

The problem is with David Spielberg the brother of the deceased who did say that the brother was known to carry around a lot of precious stones from their diamond business. It provides an alternative theory of the crime.

Michael Moriarty has an insufferable burden placed on him when the real killer is caught and brought to trial. Spielberg has changed his story so many times that the defense can shout 'reasonable doubt' to the world of potential jurors.

Spielberg really drives this episode. Hard not to feel some sympathy for him and his plight which he alone is responsible for though.

You have to watch the story to see what I mean.

"The Fertile Fields" is a good example, though not one of the best ones, of what 'Law and Order' (as well as 'Special Victims Unit' and 'Criminal Intent') particularly did well in its early seasons and in its prime. The stories that are based, whether completely or partially, on real-life cases often intrigue. And have always liked it when the show (and the other two) tackled challenging themes and subject matters and often admire how it did so.

After such a powerful previous episode in "Cradle to Grave", part of me was a little disappointed in "The Fertile Fields". Just didn't find it quite as much of a hard-hitting watch, despite having a subject that could easily have been executed in a more hard-hitting way, or find it as emotionally impactful. Not giving me the chills or feels as much. It is still a very good episode that does so much (nearly everything) right and tackles its theme well, but it could have done even more with the subject. Nothing is badly done at all, it just felt like the extra something was missing.

Maybe "The Fertile Fields" could have done with a little more tension in the earlier portions of the episode.

Did think too that the very end was slightly too hastily wrapped up, and didn't quite give the same amount of the "wide range of emotions" feeling that other 'Law and Order' did so well.

However, "The Fertile Fields" is typically slick-looking, the photography never too claustrophobic, while being intimate, or trying to do too much or resort to gimmicks. The music is not used all the time wisely, letting the dialogue do all the talking, and when it is present it has the right tone and doesn't feel misplaced. The direction shines in the character interaction, especially between Stone, Robinette and Schiff, and the direction of the legal scenes, the pace doesn't drag while allowing the drama and what's revealed to breathe and sink in.

It's a very well written episode too, the legal scenes having edge and tautness as well as provoking thought on the issues raised. The story doesn't have the same amount of intensity and emotion of other episodes, but always compels and has turns that one doesn't expect with things not being as they seem (that aspect was done believably and not too abruptly introduced). It will still resonate now and is still relevant in a way. All the acting is very good, with the episode dominated powerfully by David Spielberg as a character that one is both shocked by and finds difficult to not feel some sympathy for him.

On the whole, very well done episode even if something is a little missing. 8/10

Put race and ethnicity aside. Here the bad guys are just bad guys, looking for more money. This is a long, rather convoluted presentation, which goes back and forth, where people lie to juries and to families and to the police.

Stone has an impossible task because once the trial of the four boys is thrown out, things snowball. We are dealing with intractable beings who have ulterior motives.

Stone did the best he could.