Actually started watching 'Law and Order' from the later episodes of the Briscoe and Green period. Seeing the whole Briscoe and Green period overtime, it came to me that some of the earlier episodes were among the best from it. The previous episodes of Season 11, with this "Judge Dread" being the penultimate one, were a very mixed bag, with some big winners but also some disappointments but not bad enough to be misfires.
"Judge Dread" is a wonderful penultimate episode and one of the winners of the season. The best things being the meaty judge character and the final confrontation, which is a quite special scene by Season 11 standards. "Judge Dread" is an episode that is consistently attention grabbing and high quality throughout the entire duration but be even more special in the second half. Am saying that after seeing a lot of 'Law and Order' episodes where the second halves were better than the first, a few quite a bit so, and in other instances it's the other round. Though in Season 11's case, quite a few of episodes have had the first halves being better. Both halves are equally wonderful here, though with the second half getting the slight edge.
In every way "Judge Dread" is brilliant. The production values are still fully professional, the slickness and subtly gritty style still remaining. The music is sparingly used and is haunting and thankfully non-overwrought. The direction shows some nice tension in the legal scenes. The script is well balanced, taut and intelligent, and handles a not so novel story with enough freshness. The best written scene is the final scene, which has some of the most tension-filled and intelligent writing of Season 11.
Moreover, "Judge Dread" has a compelling and clever story that delivers on plenty of unexpected and plausible twists and turns as well as some dark suspense. Am once again going to rave about the final confrontation being the dramatic highlight, a masterclass of character interaction and one of the few times where the too often underwritten Lewin really shines. The judge character has a lot of meat to her and the way she is written in the story is quite formidable, it is scary that there are people in the legal system like this.
Expectedly, all the regulars are excellent and this is agreed Dianne Wiest's finest hour of the show. Stealing the acting honours is a formidable Roxanne Hart, pulling out all the stops without over-compensating.
Overall, brilliant penultimate episode to Season 11. 10/10.
"Judge Dread" is a wonderful penultimate episode and one of the winners of the season. The best things being the meaty judge character and the final confrontation, which is a quite special scene by Season 11 standards. "Judge Dread" is an episode that is consistently attention grabbing and high quality throughout the entire duration but be even more special in the second half. Am saying that after seeing a lot of 'Law and Order' episodes where the second halves were better than the first, a few quite a bit so, and in other instances it's the other round. Though in Season 11's case, quite a few of episodes have had the first halves being better. Both halves are equally wonderful here, though with the second half getting the slight edge.
In every way "Judge Dread" is brilliant. The production values are still fully professional, the slickness and subtly gritty style still remaining. The music is sparingly used and is haunting and thankfully non-overwrought. The direction shows some nice tension in the legal scenes. The script is well balanced, taut and intelligent, and handles a not so novel story with enough freshness. The best written scene is the final scene, which has some of the most tension-filled and intelligent writing of Season 11.
Moreover, "Judge Dread" has a compelling and clever story that delivers on plenty of unexpected and plausible twists and turns as well as some dark suspense. Am once again going to rave about the final confrontation being the dramatic highlight, a masterclass of character interaction and one of the few times where the too often underwritten Lewin really shines. The judge character has a lot of meat to her and the way she is written in the story is quite formidable, it is scary that there are people in the legal system like this.
Expectedly, all the regulars are excellent and this is agreed Dianne Wiest's finest hour of the show. Stealing the acting honours is a formidable Roxanne Hart, pulling out all the stops without over-compensating.
Overall, brilliant penultimate episode to Season 11. 10/10.