S19 Premier Episode "Rumble" 2008-Nov-05

[DonnaJo]

WOW!! ;D

I don't have much time right now to post how engaged, intrigued & fascinated I was watching this episode, but I just wanted to start a discussion. I'll post more specifics later.

Anyone who watched this notice at the very end, one of the reporters asked McCoy after the press conference if he would consider being a part of the Obama administration? It was only an audio insert, but I thought it was very clever & timely. Nice touch, Mr. Balcer.

[NikkiGreen]

WOW is right!

Bernard was certainly good on the witness stand.

[DonnaJo]

I thought this episode was an excellent season opener. One that would draw new fans to the show, and re-invigorate old fans. The writing was really top-notch.

I thought that the whole patriot act/terror laws debate was extremely well handled. Both sides got their points across clearly and laid out to us, the viewers, the real moral ambiguity here. As a viewer, I was truly torn between Cutter's point of view (not terrorism) as well as Bernard's (yes terrorism).

Also, I liked how the writers sort of mixed up the "law" with the "order" during the episode, instead of the usual first half cops, second half DA's office. Detective Lupo's refusal to act embarrassed or back down when McCoy overheard his negative comment was awesome. And yes Nikki, Bernard was righteous on that witness stand. His character is growing in a positive way.

Of course, when I saw that heartwarming scene of Connie, Lupo & Bernard all drinking beer & commiserating at the local pub, all I could think was "why can't they show that type of off-hours camaraderie on LOCI?"

[Sirenna]

It was a good episode - The Obama administration reference was not in the Tuesday night CTV episode as far as I can remember.

I liked Bernard in this episode a lot. His character seemed more layered; a bit more reflective and a bit more subtle in presentation. He also seemed, for the first time, to be the detective showing leadership in their partnership - usually it's sisto who leads. Anthony Anderson did a very good job. I like Bernard played this way.

I used to think Sisto wanted to join McCoy's team once he was done law school. Now I think he wants to start his own DA office in rebellion.

It was a good episode.

[annabelleleigh]

As a TV viewer, there's nothing more satisfying than a "Law & Order" episode that explores legal and moral issues by pushing the envelope.

When Jack McCoy fixed his shaggy eyebrows on Michael Cutter and said that he wasn't going to indict just three of the rabble-rousers for terrorism "I'm going to charge them all" I felt a thrill. Hang 'Em High McCoy lives another day; Cutter is left pale and stunned. Once again, the passion, commitment, and audacity of Sam Waterston as McCoy keeps the heart of this (now longest-running) crime drama beating.

Overall, I enjoyed the ripped-headline story and the sharp dialogue from mothership veteran Richard Sweren and Christopher Ambrose (late of "Bones"). Director Constantine Makris again demonstrated his big-screen cinematic flair. (Kudos to the stunt men in this one too.) However, I'm still looking for some chemistry between Jeremy Sisto and Anthony Anderson. Even in the same scene Lupo and Bernard appear to exist in two separate places.

I continue to find Anderson an interesting choice for his role but -- compared to some of his other work -- he seems abnormally restrained, like he's trying politely to fit into some long-established family. Someone at Wolf Films, please let him loose. The Kevin Bernard character has so much potential.

And a small note to Lynn Kressel: Is Pablo Schreiber permanently stocked as the franchise's angry, defiant, working class fill-in-the-blank? When you use him again maybe you can do this actor a favor by casting him against type. I (for one) would like to see whether he's capable of surprising an audience. Schreiber's been drawing from the same bag of schtick in his last half-dozen L&O universe roles.

As for that delicious "easter egg" at the tail end of "Rumble": I'm told it was a last-minute gift from showrunner (and Obama supporter) Rene Balcer. Yummy, eh? I'm so glad it did not go unnoticed by the next morning's cable news shows.

AL

P.S. Nielsen overnight ratings for "Rumble:" 7.8 million. Though NBC was fourth among broadcast networks for the night, L&O was by far its best showing.

Note that these numbers may change when the Nielsen SD+Live weekly ratings are calculated. They will be available next Wednesday.

Source: Nielsen Media Research

[DonnaJo]

Nov 7, 2008 19:15:54 GMT -5 annabelleleigh said:

However, I'm still looking for some chemistry between Jeremy Sisto and Anthony Anderson. Even in the same scene Lupo and Bernard appear to exist in two separate places.

I agree that we haven't really seen much in terms of their partnership.I would have liked a scene between Bernard & Lupo after the the McCoy confrontation. One where Bernard tries to talk Lupo into his viewpoint.

[nick5oh]

Greetings,

Since there's been some speculation and some questions sneaked to me about the Obama reference in the opening episode, I thought I'd explain how it came about.

"Rumble" was the third episode we shot, back in late August. At that time we weren't scheduled to go on until January, so this episode would not have been aired until then. There was no thought given at the time of shooting about making any reference to the Presidential election. Then, a couple of weeks ago, we got word we'd be premiering the day after the election -- which seemed like an dicey proposition at best. In any event, once we'd decided to go with "Rumble" as our premiere episode, I thought about making lemonade out of lemons -- if we're going to be on the day after the elections, why not make something of it? We were at that point a week away from the elections, it was obvious to everyone (except Sarah Palin and Sean Hannity) who was going to win, and so I looked for a spot to slip in a reference to an Obama victory. Then I wrote the line. This was no one else's decision but mine. For those who might speculate whose politics this reflected, since it was my decision, it reflected my politics. Period. Our only contingency plan in the event of a McCain-Palin victory would've been to run a version with no reference at all to the elections (except maybe CGI'ng black armbands on our characters).

Thanks for watching,

Rene Balcer

[DonnaJo]

Thank you for stopping in and explaining how the reference came to be, Mr. Balcer. Personally, I loved it. It gave the episode a very real, present day feel.

Keep up the good work.

[dragonsback]

I liked the episode so much I watched it twice in succession. Came rushing over here to say so. Sadly, I now discover, reading here, apparently the disk kindly sent me cuts out before the Obama line :sob:

Still, great to know how and why it was included.

[Sirenna]

lol. i wish i'd seen it too.

Thanks, Mr. Balcer.