A corpse of a badly burned Jewish jeweler is found in an alley. Initial evidence suggests that it could be a hate crime performed by a group of black youths, but a business motive is later u... Read allA corpse of a badly burned Jewish jeweler is found in an alley. Initial evidence suggests that it could be a hate crime performed by a group of black youths, but a business motive is later uncovered.A corpse of a badly burned Jewish jeweler is found in an alley. Initial evidence suggests that it could be a hate crime performed by a group of black youths, but a business motive is later uncovered.
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- Reginald Beggs
- (as Daryl 'Chill' Mitchell)
- Caleb Shore
- (as Josh Weinstein)
- Langstrom
- (as Kecia Lewis-Evans)
- Andonian
- (as Raymond Genadry)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFirst episode to feature Leslie Hendrix as Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers.
- GoofsThroughout episode there is occasional beeping. Sometimes once, sometimes 3 at once. It doesn't matter the scene or who is in it.
- Quotes
A.D.A. Paul Robinette: We gave him immunity as quid pro quo for his testimony. He lied. That's got to break the deal, common sense!
D.A. Adam Schiff: Common sense has nothing to do with it. A man waives his Fifth Amendment rights by testifying.
Executive A.D.A. Ben Stone: Whether he tells the truth or not!
D.A. Adam Schiff: It doesn't matter, he's entitled to immunity. Do you think he killed his brother?
Executive A.D.A. Ben Stone: No, I think he's protecting someone.
D.A. Adam Schiff: Uh huh. Alright, then we threaten him with perjury. The idea of four years in Attica should scare the hell out of him. He'll talk.
A.D.A. Paul Robinette: The alternative might scare him a lot more. I don't think he's protecting a friend. The man's scared.
Executive A.D.A. Ben Stone: Well I can't say that I blame him. He saw what happened to his brother.
D.A. Adam Schiff: A man is desperate enough to steal from his own family? Subpoena his personal records and find out who he owes money to.
Executive A.D.A. Ben Stone: Adam, banks kill with a thousand cuts, not with a whack on the head.
D.A. Adam Schiff: Some lenders are in a bigger hurry. Ezra dies, Isaac gets the business. It's a very good way to ensure prompt payment.
After such a powerful previous episode in "Cradle to Grave", part of me was a little disappointed in "The Fertile Fields". Just didn't find it quite as much of a hard-hitting watch, despite having a subject that could easily have been executed in a more hard-hitting way, or find it as emotionally impactful. Not giving me the chills or feels as much. It is still a very good episode that does so much (nearly everything) right and tackles its theme well, but it could have done even more with the subject. Nothing is badly done at all, it just felt like the extra something was missing.
Maybe "The Fertile Fields" could have done with a little more tension in the earlier portions of the episode.
Did think too that the very end was slightly too hastily wrapped up, and didn't quite give the same amount of the "wide range of emotions" feeling that other 'Law and Order' did so well.
However, "The Fertile Fields" is typically slick-looking, the photography never too claustrophobic, while being intimate, or trying to do too much or resort to gimmicks. The music is not used all the time wisely, letting the dialogue do all the talking, and when it is present it has the right tone and doesn't feel misplaced. The direction shines in the character interaction, especially between Stone, Robinette and Schiff, and the direction of the legal scenes, the pace doesn't drag while allowing the drama and what's revealed to breathe and sink in.
It's a very well written episode too, the legal scenes having edge and tautness as well as provoking thought on the issues raised. The story doesn't have the same amount of intensity and emotion of other episodes, but always compels and has turns that one doesn't expect with things not being as they seem (that aspect was done believably and not too abruptly introduced). It will still resonate now and is still relevant in a way. All the acting is very good, with the episode dominated powerfully by David Spielberg as a character that one is both shocked by and finds difficult to not feel some sympathy for him.
On the whole, very well done episode even if something is a little missing. 8/10
- TheLittleSongbird
- Apr 21, 2020