Couples

Season 13's penultimate episode "Couples" left a major impression on me on my first watch of it. Just loved its complex case, its uniqueness (in that it is police procedural heavy rather than one half investigating and the other legal) and its surprisingly twisted atmosphere. Reading the basic plot summary here, it does sound like a strange episode but it didn't feel like a strange episode to me on first watch. Have seen some strange episodes of other shows recently, and "Couples" is a long way from that.

On re-watch, "Couples" was every bit as brilliant as remembered and actually even better. It is without question one of the best episodes of Season 13, in fact if there is a contender for the best of the season "Couples" would be an extremely worthy winner. Everything that was so good about it on first watch still came over as more than good and even brilliantly, more so this time in my view.

As usual for 'Law and Order', the production values are solid and the intimacy of the photography doesn't get static or too filmed play-like. The music when used is not too over-emphatic and has a melancholic edge that is quite haunting. The direction is sympathetic enough without being leaden.

The script in "Couples" is gritty and tight, as well as entertaining. Anybody that loves Briscoe's one liners and Jerry Orbach's sassy delivery of them will be in absolute heaven, this episode is a real showcase for them. Loved the story, it is very different in structure to the usual 'Law and Order' structure and it was great to see the police shine the most they did all season. Don't get me wrong, the policing always intrigued while also not being as inspired, but here the teamwork and how they go about getting the truth engrossed from the get go and never stopped. Briscoe and Green's interactions are a joy.

It has also got a good deal of suspense and the case is complex and has a lot going on without being crowded or incoherent. The murders are also surprisingly twisted, especially the brutal one with the car. The performances are very good to brilliant all round, Orbach and a chillingly unhinged Judith Blazer coming off best. Orbach's chemistry with the also great Jesse L Martin does not disappoint.

Concluding, brilliant penultimate instalment. 10/10.

This is one of the best L&O episodes in the entire series!!! It deviates from the usual format and focuses on several cases at once. We can easily be lulled into thinking the police and attorneys work on only one case at a time, because every television show works that way. But in reality, they have several open cases at a time. L&O decides to show how cops work multiple cases, but in this case they do so all in one day. It is both serious and humorous, everyone gives A+ performances, and brilliantly execute a wonderfully written episode. If you havent seen it before, put it on your watchlist. It will become an instant favorite, I guarantee it. And by the end you'll be just as exhausted as the police, and nodding your head in total agreement with Briscoe's one-liner that ends the episode.

I, like many, have watched numerous Law and Order episodes, but this is truly a standout. The writing and the actors excelled in this particular show due to the numerous odd, and at times, the humorous cases in this one. It was definitely a showcase for Briscoe's timing at one liners, but the Judge stole the show with her line, "You make me proud to be American." Watch it and see.

This is an atypical day for Jerry Orbach and Messe Martin. Usually episodes concentrate on only one homicide for the cast. Orbach and Martin solve four homicides and a kidnapping.

And the solutions for the most part seem to fall in their lap. One homicide has a talkative perpetrator talk himself into a confession before any investigation is done. Another just rambles on and on in an alcoholic stupor, bit there's just enough information to lead to the right conclusions.

The kidnapping they are alerted to while one of their other perpetrators is using a filling station bathroom to relieve himself and Martin finds a note written in lipstick on the mirror.

But my favorite is the one committed by Judith Blazer on her husband. In broad daylight in front of numerous witnesses, Briscoe and Green catch her running over her husband multiple times with her car. Blazer gets the acting award her, she's truly one whack job.

All in a day's work.

This is the Best episode of Law and Order ever. I've seen it at least five times and I still love it. Great stories and Briscoe and Green make it my favorite!