The Ring

The story for "The Ring" doesn't sound that much new, with a kind of perpetrator that was very familiar territory for not just the original 'Law and Order' but also the entire franchise. That didn't bother me too massively though, as 'Law and Order' did continually prove that they could do similar themes more than once and do it with enough variation and also have premises that sound basic but the execution turns out to be anything but.

On the whole, "The Ring" was very good. Not one of my favourite episodes of 'Law and Order', but as far as Season 13 goes it is somewhere in the better half. Not as good as the first two episodes of the season, but an improvement over the still solid previous two. Perfect it isn't quite, but the good, even great, things are a great many and far outweigh the not so good. To the point that the not so great things are almost nit-picks.

Maybe it is a bit on the ordinary side to begin with other than the chemistry between Briscoe and Green, which is always a pleasure.

Elisabeth Rohm shows once again why Southerlyn deserves her reputation of the most maligned 'Law and Order' regular character, despite being the longest serving prosecuting assistant. The character has very little personality and Rohm is just so robotic, Southerlyn also comes over as inept.

However, so much is good. It is as ever shot with the right amount of intimacy without feeling too up close, even with a reliance of close up camerawork. That the editing has become increasingly tighter over-time is great too. The music isn't over-scored, manipulative or used too much. There is intimacy and tautness in the direction. The rest of the regulars are all fine, particularly Sam Waterston who dominates the legal scenes with great authority, while Briscoe and Green are such a great pairing.

Stevie Ray Dallimore chills as a type of character that scares and shocks one knowing that there are authority figures that think they are invincible out there. Script is intelligent and lean with no signs of fat. It also has intensity, emotional impact and even the odd sprinkle of humour with Briscoe's one liners. The debating intrigues and provokes thought. The story on the whole is securely paced and has some nice edge and grit. The legal scenes are riveting and have tension, where it was easy to care for what the verdict would be.

Overall, very good. 8/10.

Two boys had an argument in a grocery store: they wanted a pack of cigarettes even if they were underage. They stole a cake and run away, hiding under a car wreckage, where a skeleton was stashed. The victim was a bank assistant, believed to be dead after the Twin Towers collapsing. An expensive ring worth 40 grand was found in her finger, an item neither her nor her fiancèe (Tom McCarthy) could have afforded to buy. Even if she was described as a principled girl by coworkers and relatives, she had an affair with a married man involved in political activities who gave her the ring; he also had dinner with the victim the night before 9/11, but she wanted to dump him after realizing he already had a family. He doesn't seem to be the kind of man who accepts NO as an answer. Anyway at trial the proofs are not so convincing: the pursue contents, the e-mail sent that morning...be ready for the twist ending.

An interesting episode, under the shadow of Twin Towers accident. Even this time, district attorney chef is afraid of political consequences over the verdict.

Some references to the new District Attorney and his quest for re- election are more than present when the son of a powerful family whose father and brothers have run and won political office is arrested for a murder that was covered up by the World Trade Center attack. Stevie Ray Dallimore is the man charged and he can bring a lot of bad things down on Fred Dalton Thompson.

Two kids who lift some smokes out of a convenience store and then discover a skeleton in a vacant lot start the whole thing off. It's a woman with all the bones present except for one hand severed off. That hand was found in the rubble of the Trade Center and used to identify the victim as someone killed in the attack. Looks like it was conveniently left there to cover up a different crime.

Dallimore and the deceased were having an affair as well and that's beyond doubt.

Elizabeth Rohm is the one who discovers the real truth. And it all has to do with the handbag that had the deceased's ID in it which was discovered with said hand.

She really embarrasses both cops and DA's office with this one.