Law & Order (TV Series) Snatched (1994) User Reviews

"Lets just hope that justice is blind"

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 24 September 2020]

The type of story here might be old and one that one sees many times in shows of this genre, but it is the kind of story that has often been done incredibly well with a lot of intrigue and tension. Am a fan of 'Law and Order', especially the early seasons (on the most part too Season 4 was a very good representation of how great the show was), and Theodore Bikel was always watchable. Seeing more of a focus on Schiff was welcome.

"Snatched" may not be an exceptional episode or one of the best episodes of Season 4, not like "Profile" or "American Dream", or of 'Law and Order'. It is very good though, improving upon the previous two episodes "The Pursuit of Happiness" and "Golden Years", with one brilliantly written character relationship and one performance in particular that save the episode from being standard and making it a very good one instead.

Perhaps the case isn't anything extraordinary, was not that surprised by the truth with it being a fairly familiar trope.

It was also for me a little on the rushed side at the end.

What elevated "Snatched" to a better level were a few things. Bikel gives a very strong performance and dominates the screen whenever he's present, could understand his character's dilemma as a father. Absolutely loved his chemistry with Steven Hill, here giving for me one of his best performances of the show with his conflict in one of his most personal cases being acted in a very subtle yet authoritative way. The relationship between the two characters was what gave the episode its heart and seeing them together was both tense and moving.

Michael Moriarty is typically strong as Stone and Jerry Orbach (showing why Briscoe deserves his high critical reputation) and Chris Noth's rapport has both entertainment value and edge. The writing is taut and thought-provoking, shining particularly with Stone and the dialogue between Sol and Schiff. The story absorbs on the whole regardless of it not being mind-blowing case-wise.

As ever, the photography and such are fully professional, the slickness still remaining. The music is used sparingly and is haunting and non-overwrought when it is used, and it's mainly used when a crucial revelation or plot development is revealed. The direction has some nice tension while keeping things steady, without going too far the other way.

On the whole, very well done with Bikel, Hill and their character relationship raising the episode from being potentially standard to something better. 8/10

A Kidnapping Plot and a Personal Conflict for Schiff

[Better_TV · 8/10 · 30 April 2018]

This one involves an old friend of Schiff's, as did season 2's finale "The Working Stiff." Here, Theodore Bikel plays Sol Bregman, a rich gentleman whose son appears to have been kidnapped by mysterious forces. When it becomes apparent that the kidnapper may be a little closer to home, Stone, Claire and Schiff must grapple with a father-son relationship that isn't exactly reciprocal.

I like L&O episodes where ghosts and figures from the characters' pasts make up the plot; you definitely get that here, as Schiff must balance his loyalty to Sol with his duty to pursue the leads wherever they go. Let's just say this is one friendship that probably isn't bound to last past the end credits...

Nice casting in this one, with Bikel as the concerned dad, Vyto Ruginis as one of the kidnappers (he's always got a chilly look about him, like he's planning on gouging someone's eyes out) and Leo Burmester as a quirky defense attorney with a taste for Chinese food who hails from Dade County.

It's Good To Be The Victim.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 30 November 2010]

All of the episodes from the first years of this series projected an air of reality. The bums looked like bums, not like Hollywood extras wearing clean rags and a few smudges on their faces. The cops sounded cynical, as cops sometimes do. And although there were "bad guys" and "good guys," the bad guys often had complex motives which couldn't be dismissed out of hand. (The good guys were on the side of law enforcement. I imagine they had to be, otherwise you could kiss the cooperation of the NYPD good-bye.) Theodore Bikel, a friend of District Attorney Adam Schiff, is an extremely wealthy entrepreneur who is found face down in his limousine with four million bucks in the back seat. The cops first suspect a drug deal but it soon emerges that Bikel was trying to pay off a ransom to get his grown son back.

There are two problems. One is that Bikel will do literally anything for his son, including trying to talk Schiff out of pursuing the case. The second problem is that the son is complicit in the crime. The kidnapping was staged with his help in an attempt to bilk the money out of his own father. The arrangement went wrong and the son winds up with a bullet wound, sealed in the basement of an old building, and discovered just in time to save his life.

It puts the viewer in an ambivalent position. The kid is rotten, yes, but would the viewer -- as the boy's parent -- want him prosecuted and sent to the slams? When does a child's misbehavior cross the line that takes responsibility out of the hands of the primary institution (the family) and put it into the hands of the impersonal secondary institution (the justice system).

It's a series made for grown ups, rather than children. I recall one episode of a contemporary crime series, "Pepper Martin," in which poor Angie Dickenson is given a line like, "The crooks must have gone out that way." Straight out of a comic book. There are occasional "perps" in this series but outright "crooks" are hard to find.

Raising a worthless piece of trash

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 2 September 2017]

The performance of Theodore Bikel in this show as the father of a kidnapping victim really dominates this one. As it turns out he's a close friend of Adam Schiff and the scenes between Bikel and Steven Hill are really special.

2 uniform officers in a patrol car find Bikel with a trunk full of cash and that certainly is suspicious. It's only then that Bikel admits to Jerry Orbach and Chris Noth that the money is a ransom for his son.

The whole thing is a concocted plot by the son played by Reg Rogers to extort money from Bikel. Ironically Bikel probably indulges him a little too much. As Carolyn McCormick says this is something that does happen in rich families where the kids are indulged too much. Rogers is even wounded by one of his equally spoiled friends just to make the story look good when he's returned. That one was a bit too close.

No matter how much Steven Hill talks to Bikel he can't comprehend what a worthless spoiled piece of trash he's raised. So as Michael Moriarty prosecutes, Bikel won't cooperate.

In the end Bikel really goes off the deep end out of love.

Cat's in the cradle

[safenoe · 6/10 · 1 November 2023]

Snatched debuted in 1994, nearly 30 years ago, and you have a father who will do anything to get his kidnapped sun released. This episode kind of reminds me of Ruthless People, the comedy movie that was released eight years before Snatched, but here Snatched is far darker and meaner and nastier than a Bette Midler-Danny De Vito comedy that Ruthless people was.

We see the Bronx side of New York City here, and it's interesting if the production crew needed special permission from the locals and beefed up security to do the filming but it's worth pondering. Anyway, I'm enjoying watching the early seasons of Law and Order.