Punk

Last night I watched a season 24 episode of L&O featuring Cara Buono and I found her performance so good that when a reviewer here mentioned that she'd been on the show previously I decided to go back and rewatch her other episodes. Good decision. Very good decision.

In her first episode, Buono played an absolute b**** of a spoiled student who ran a prostitution ring at her college and had no problem accusing her own father of the murder that she'd committed. Here, she's a far more complex character who you end up feeling very sorry for. She portrays the contrasting mixture of little-girl innocence, world weariness, fear and defiance brilliantly. If she'd won an Emmy for this role, I wouldn't have any objections.

Angie Harmon also does a great job here, even though it portrays her character in a very negative light. Abbie really does seem to have a personal grudge against Alice and doesn't hide it, to such an extent that Jack and Adam are shocked when she eventually softens a little. I'm not sure that the reveal of a trauma from her past at the end of the episode really explains or justifies her extreme hostility against Alice, but the antagonism between the two women is what makes this episode special. A special mention for the always excellent Tovah Feldshuh as Jack's perpetual antagonist, Danielle Melnick. And I have to admit that the team of Orbach, Bratt, Merkerson, Waterston, Harmon and Hill was always my favourite of all the numerous combinations over the show's run. It would have been hard for this episode to let me down. And it didn't.

Okay, that does it! After I watch Buono's next episode, in season 17, I'm going to have to go back and watch the entire series from the beginning. I did it in 2011, so it's been long enough that I won't remember all the plots beforehand. Special thanks to two gorgeous ladies, Angie and Cara.

I remember seeing her in a Law & Order Criminal Intent episode and Vincent D'Nofrio and Katherine Erbe were heading the cast. I didn't catch her name then, but when I saw this Law & Order episode I recognized her, even though it was a totally different type of role. I think her acting in this episode was very convincing and moving. This was an episode that caused me to think and care about this character. When an actor or actress makes me want to care about them, no matter how flawed the character is, that, to me, is one of the main ingredients I look for in considering great acting! Cara Buono's portrayal in this role was,for me great acting! I'd go so far as to say she should have at least won an Emmy nomination for her role in this.

This is a gripping story, but Cara Buono made this episode. Her performance is a standout! Why is she listed below the men? I had a difficult time finding out who she is. I just rewatched the episode for about the 4th time, always taken by her portrayal.

Cara Buono's performance here as the working class girl who makes some bad choices and winds up in the state prison system dominates this particular Law And Order story. What also drives this story is the history between her and Angie Harmon.

Back in the day when Abbie Carmichael was working in the Narcotics Bureau Buono was one of hundreds of people she prosecuted. Buono made a really bad choice in that one, she was left holding the bag with her boyfriend's drugs. So instead of turning him in, she took the rap for him out of some misplaced sense of street loyalty. It wound her up in a women's prison where she joins the ladies' auxiliary of a gang called the Paganos and uses those connections to get a certain correction officer killed because he was harassing her.

The portrait of this victim is one of a true sleaze-bag, but one who would probably never be caught because of the code of silence among prison guards. After all they're the ones you have to rely on to get yourself out of tight spot if you find yourself in one with all those prisoners.

Tovah Feldshuh makes one of her guest appearances as Sam Waterston's favorite defense lawyer Danielle Melnick. The jury hears all about the victim and has a real problem here. I love Feldshuh's character she's such a passionate advocate in all her appearances.

I've known people like Buono in my life. They make bad choices and continue to make them. You love them, but you want to strangle them at times. I also have to say there's an element of narcissism in Buono's character the way she personalizes what Angie Harmon did back in the day. It's called doing your job.

I've never warmed to Abby Carmichael as assistant DA, but she's utterly unbearable here. Her smug self-certainty and complete lack of empathy come to a head in this story of a woman, previously convicted by Carmichael of drug offenses, who has been a victim of repeated rape by prison guards. There's a revelation at the end of the episode that is supposed to put a new spin on Carmichael's attitude, but it's too brief and superficial. The overall feeling is one of frustration and anger, despite the terrific performance by Cara Buono.