Seaduse nimel Pledge (1990–2010) Online

A married couple's nanny and son are murdered by deep seated rage of a man with a brown briefcase and a grey fedora noted by a passerby. As the police force of New York City try to unravel a motive for this brutal murder takes Detectives Bernard and Lupo and A.D.As Cutter and Rubirosa down a dark and depressing path of sororities, popularity, and ultimately, a broken heart under the oppressing structure of social status.

This is an episode built on a classic word of wisdom: treat people the way oneself wants to be treated. Although the episode's plot spans over thirty years into the married couple's past, as well as for Ned Lasky's family, this episode works to focus on showing the burdens of prejudice structured by class hierarchy, and that people from various levels in social class still have feelings.

I recommend watching this episode to see a sociology through a theatrical view of one of the most hypnotizing dramas of law enforcement and the justice system.

The murder of a 12 year old boy and a housekeeper of a pair scientists is the case that Jeremy Sisto and Anthony Anderson catch in his Law And Order episode. The murderer in this case does return almost to the scene of the crime to gloat over his handiwork. He also snipped a lock of the victim's hair and sends it to the mother of the victim in a condolence card.

The sick puppy that did this is played by Martin Malloy who really dominates the episode. Convicting him will be a problem because the person who really gives them the evidence they needed is Malloy's daughter Brooke Bloom. She does it because L&O's mythical Hudson University offers a $100,000.00 reward. That certainly taints her testimony though without the reward Bloom has ample motive to rat her father out. He's that lovable a guy.

It all goes back to college days where the mother of the victim kicked him out of their snobbish sorority party. As one who was never part of the crowd that blue collar kid Malloy aspired to he's almost a sympathetic figure. I say almost because we never forget that he killed a child to hurt her. People get rejected, but we don't get so twisted as to do what this guy did. And there's hints out there Malloy might have done more. This guy could have been the protagonist for some slasher flick.

If he didn't have a client who couldn't control himself, Malloy's attorney Jefferson Mays might have gotten a dismissal. But Linus Roache really comes up with a legal strategy that presses Malloy's buttons in open court. The expression Mays's face in the end is priceless.

L&O had a proud history of casting solid character actors (often relative unknowns with theater backgrounds), but really went overboard this time.

The episode revolves around the brutal murder of a young boy and the taunting of his family. Well, we're introduced by the neurotic suspect (played by Matt Malloy), and eventually learn that he was spurned "30 years ago" by sorority girls, and has held a grudge ever since. Malloy's eccentric, even obsessed, performance works to an extent. But we're led to believe his grudge was so extreme that, even though he had a loving wife and daughter, he would butcher an innocent child. It's a reach.

The premise is interesting, and we certainly get a good taste of how the a tiny portion of female college students were women looking for "men (they) could marry," but there are two huge problems. For starters, the mother of the victim is played by Erin Dilly. She plays the part as well as she can--accomplished and smart, with an air of elitism--but is totally miscast when we realize the she supposedly trampled on the pride of Malloy's character THIRTY YEARS EARLIER in college. And his character is said to be "two years older" than hers! So Dilly, 36 at the time of filming, was supposedly at least a junior in college thirty years before the events of the episode.

I get that some people play older or younger. Malloy looks a bit older than his age. Maybe Dilly does, too. But casting an attractive 36- year-old as a character in their 50s?! I'm sure they could've found a more appropriate actress for the part. Or maybe they just thought some eye candy would distract us from the math.

This is one episode that needed a rewrite and some more thoughtful casting.

A housekeeper and a child is murdered and it traces back to a slight at a sorority party a generation before?

The trial seemed to put the sorority on trial as much as the defendant.

And then Cutter wins it using a trick that would have made Perry Mason blush.

At least like Perry, they did it all in a preliminary hearing. The Mason show rarely went to a jury trial so they didn't have to pay extras to sit in a jury box.

Frankly, I spent the evening watching Law and Order re-runs on TNT and those shows were a lot better than this one.