Silence

The plot here is pretty simple. A councilman is found dead on a street. As the investigation moves forward, it is discovered he is gay and that is the complicating factor.

The bad guys, a couple extortionists, go to the victim demanding large sums of money.

The blackmail then goes to the guy's father, who is embarrassed that his son is, in fact, gay. There are serious threat made and to get these guys the father has to come forward. He will not testify to the threats that came to the son. He wanted the son closeted so as not to be singled out.

A very effective portrayal of a problem in the gay community.

This episode has its roots in films like Victim with Dirk Bogarde and as far back as the trial of Oscar Wilde. The closet even today is a horrible place to live in with the constant fear of exposure that you might like to kanoodle with the same gender.

A young city councilman is murdered on the street and what superficially looks like a robbery seems more like a contract hit. The victim, son of one of the city's movers and shakers George Martin was being blackmailed and refused to pay any more.

The blackmailers are a lawyer James Sutorius and a convict Joe Aufiery. The problems for this case for Michael Moriarty and Richard Brooks are witnesses who won't come forward and a publisher in the gay press Reed Birney who is in the business of outing.

There's also Martin who is an old fashioned sort and not happy to have had a gay son. His attitude is the biggest stumbling block the DA's office has.

A great story about the terrible demoralizing effects of the closet.

This has to be one of the more difficult subjects of 'Law and Order's' Season 2 and of the early seasons, and during this period the show had its fair share of difficult subject matters. The subject of coming out is a topic that has always evoked strong opinions on both sides and not easy to explore without falling into bias or passing judgement, "Silence" could easily have done that. It is also a very relevant subject, still dominant today, and resonates with me.

One that is very hard to open up about considering the amount of prejudice there is and have admiration for anyone who does. "Silence" handles its subject extremely well, and is a great and powerful episode. Despite what one will think about the father character, who one does feel understandable anger towards, it is a far more tactful and balanced episode than what one might think if reading any synopsis which don't do it justice. Also very brave.

Maybe it does start off a little on the slow side, but once there are more characters are introduced and the legal scenes and tensions between characters kick in it really picks up.

"Silence" is slickly shot with a more refined visual style than with the first season. The music didn't feel to me too much, used sparingly and only properly dramatic, without being overly so, when all is revealed. The direction is accomodating but also alert.

It is a very intelligently written episode and never feels over-simplified or muddled. The writing could easily have been one-sided and judgmental, but actually didn't seem taxed at all in making its subject balanced and relatable which is especially apparent in the interesting questions raised in the legal scenes. The episode's approach to this difficult subject matter does well in not taking sides or vilifying anybody on either side of for or against, while showing not too heavy-handedly or too extremely the negative effects that it could bring (as painful as it is to say, this has always happened and most likely will never stop).

Episode has also aged quite well, as the subject is still relevant and the attitudes shown by the suspects here do match those of some today. If to be honest too "Silence" resonates with me, being someone who has friends and family in civil relationships and marriages and remember all too well the painful conflicts that emerged for some of them after coming out. Cerreta and Logan gel well together and nicely drawn characters. Have always found Robinette and especially Stone and their chemistry more interesting and meatier though and that is apparent in "Silence". All the regulars are strong, especially Michael Moriarty, and George Martin is formidable in a not easy role to pull off.

Summing up, great. 9/10