"Rumble:" New Season 19 episode

[annabelleleigh]

How can the U.S. point a finger at terrorism or street violence abroad when it harbors similar chaos within its own borders?

That's apparently part of the social commentary embedded in upcoming Season 19 episode "Rumble." In it, mothership writers toy with violent scenarios just waiting to burst from NYC's real-life Union Square Fight Club.

Videos of the extreme fighting taking place nightly without police interference can be found all over the Internet. This recent print piece illustrates the scene (boldfaces mine).

AL
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Spartan Warriors in the YouTube Age. Or, The Legend of Legend, Spider, and Science.

by Stephen Roderick
New York Magazine
July 20, 2008

Excerpt:

"In Union Square, a gang of enterprising, mostly homeless youths are pummeling each other for your amusement, a few bucks, and hopes of immortality.

It’s a summer Friday night in Union Square. A short-haired preacher shouts about the perils of using the Lord’s name in vain. A high-on-something teenager listens for a moment, then flips off the evangelist with both middle fingers. The kids standing around them laugh, but only for a second. There’s a commotion by the subway kiosk at the southeastern corner of the park. It appears to be a fight. Two young men are locked together, their arms on each other’s shoulders, muscles and tendons bulging. The man on the left is a twentyish white guy, about six foot two and maybe 220 pounds, with bushy brown hair. He wears camouflage shorts and a T-shirt that reads I’M THE GUY YOU SHOULDN’T GO HOME WITH BUT WILL, SO WHY NOT JUST GO HOME WITH ME NOW? He could be a surf punk, except that he’s too big for that. The other man—a slightly darker-skinned guy, maybe a little younger—is massive, too, but he’s got a smooth, red-cheeked face and a layer of baby fat that make him look vulnerable, if not a little scared.

The two men wrestle some more, then separate and start throwing punches. Surfer Guy throws a hard right that lands on the other man’s kidney with a sickening thwack. A crowd has gathered, but no one tries to stop the fighting. Instead, people snap pictures with camera phones..."

The full story at

nymag.com/news/features/48674/

[DonnaJo]

*Bleck*

I absolutely HATE the film "Fight Club." I hope this episode isn't too graphic when it comes to the beating & pummeling. I know in the film, that it was excess to the point of gross out.

Thanks for the inside info, AL. I had no idea this was going on. And the police do nothing? How sad & depressing.

[annabelleleigh]

As you know, DJ, the mothership characterizes most violence as senseless. This story comments on how rapidly violence can escalate in our so-called civilized society, from competitive street hockey to extreme fighting to murder and then to tribal warfare. The script mocks machismo.

What we'll see mostly is the aftermath of violence and the courtroom testimony about it.

AL

[annabelleleigh]

If you happen to be strolling by Union Square today (specifically the corner of 13th and 5th) you'll see the mothership cast and crew there, filming "Rumble." This per:

www.onlocationvacations.com/category/daily-filming-locations/

AL

[annabelleleigh]

Review of tomorrow night's (11/5/08 at 10 PM) Season 19 mothership premiere, the episode "Rumble."

Given four out of a possible five stars.

AL
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'Law & Order' season opener tackles anti-terror tactics

By David Hinckley
The New York Daily News
November 4th 2008

"Law & Order" launches its 19th season with a dark episode that asks whether the justice system can go after a perpetrator so hard that it ceases to be "just."

More specifically, it asks whether the anti-terror laws passed after Sept. 11 can be stretched beyond their original intent to ensnare people who may have done something wrong, but who are by no logical definition terrorists.

Critics who accuse "Law & Order" of left-wing navel-gazing will no doubt find that concern reinforced here.

The crimes in question occur during a couple of New York street fights, after which District Attorney Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) invokes a terror statute to prosecute the perps when a lack of willing witnesses makes any other gambit untenable.

The show begins with a Wall Street broker collapsing and dying at his office from massive internal bleeding.

It turns out he had foolishly entered one of the street fights held in Union Square before a group of bloodthirsty spectators. Unfortunately, he chose to challenge a guy with legitimate boxing skills and no qualms about continuing to pummel our man after he was beaten and trying to surrender.

Detectives Kevin Bernard (Anthony Anderson) and Cyrus Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) quickly figure out what happened, but can't find the evidence or willing witnesses to make a murder rap stick.

So friends of the victim take justice into their own hands, launching a street brawl with the perp and his friends.

Before the cops can break it up, three people are dead - including a guy taking a walk in the park with his wife and young son.

Once again, however, the cops can't get all the pieces for a murder rap, and this triggers citywide outrage - which is a problem for McCoy, since he's up for re-election and doesn't want voters to think he can't stop rumbles in public parks.

That's when he turns to the terrorism option, the discussions and execution of which form the dramatic heart and troubling darkness of this episode.

As you would expect from a show entering its 19th season, the acting and the pacing are strong and confident. "L&O" has always been smart enough to stick with what works.

Still, producer Dick Wolf has chosen to start the year with anything but a simple good-guy/bad-guy yarn.

Interestingly, the characters never allude to RICO law, which has also been used to nail a wide range of suspects who couldn't be touched by a more direct approach.

Instead, this episode seems to treat anti-terror laws as a case unto themselves, and it lets the prosecutor and defense lawyer debate their value and danger.

Whether or not it adds up to justice, Wolf wants viewers to at least find it troubling."

www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2008/11/04/2008-11-04_law__order_season_opener_tackles_antiter.html?print=1&page=all