Punk

Two black boys were playing american football in a playground, when one of them noticed a white middle aged man on the ground, shot dead. He begged before being killed on his knees. The victim, a correction officer, lived Upstate and he came to the Big Apple to pay a visit to his child, a football player. Detectives tried to collect information about the inmates who got parole in the last few months. Anyway the officer was not so clean: working in a women's prison, he used to blackmail prisoners (raping them from time to time); the only chance prosecutors had to reach the truth was to persuade a single mother (Cara Buono), currently in the prison hole, to speak. The gun used in the murder belonged to a scarred portorican, connected to her thanks to prison brotherhood. When prosecutors realized she had a miscarriage because of the rape, things got worse....

It's hard to have sympathy for the murdered guy as the episode moves on. Who is the real victim after all? Other guards are involved in the case, so all become very difficult, because they considered inmates like "cage animals". Eventually we learn some "shocking" personal information about Carmichael.

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.

At first, in this episode the story seems contrived. A corrections officer is murdered in the community and a female inmate is accused of arranging the murder from inside a prison. The inmate claims that the corrections officer was raping her But the murder is not the main element that drives the story. The assistant DA, Harmon, who is female, is hostile toward the defendant and does not conceal her hostility. The question is: why is this assistant DA so hostile toward this one defendant? No one understands it. Out of all the cases this assistant DA has handled, why is the so focused on this one defendant? This mystery transform a rather unoriginal plot into something that creates interest. Soon, attention shifts away from the defendant to the assistant DA as she continues to fume over what she claims is one of the lowest human beings on the planet. Although the defendant has a checkered past, her rap sheet does not seem to suggest a record that is especially egregious. That means nothing to the assistant DA who is absolutely determined to get a murder conviction, even though the defendant was allegedly being raped. To find out why the assistant DA was so hostile, watch the episode. It contains one of Angie Harmpn's stronger performances.

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.

Law & Order S9,E8 'Punk' : a 1998 episode I'm viewing again on Prime. I probably saw the first presentation 25 years ago without noticing anything wrong. Now a senior, I realize I've become more attentive to details, more observant of mistakes, and less forgiving.

'Candy' is a young female inmate testifying in criminal court. Her acting is fine but something struck me as bizarre : her eyebrows are perfect, her eyelashes also perfect, her lipstick just perfect. Since when do inmates get to benefit from a professional makeup artist before going to court ?

Obviously a blunder by the support staff. They got the principal inmate character right (no makeup at all), but goofed for the other.

As I said, I notice more with time passing. Pros must act like Pros, and supervisors must supervise...