Dazzled

Meet the Snyder Family which is what Jerry Orbach and Jesse Martin have to do in investigating the death of the second Mrs. Snyder. The deceased was thrown off a roof of a studio apartment building where she kept her old pad for possibly trysting purposes with her old boyfriend Joseph Murphy.

The husband was William Atherton who broke his old marriage up to Jayne Atkinson, left her and their two children to marry this 20 something trophy wife. It pretty much ruined Atkinson who started abusing substances including some narcotics she could easily obtain at the hospital she works at as an anesthesiologist. It's one of those components for anesthesia that's found in the dead woman's toxicology screen that zooms Atkinson to the top of the list.

Sam Waterston knows he has a weak case as no one saw Atkinson anywhere near the premises, but the presence of the drug makes the first Mrs. Snyder top of the list even though you could construct good motives for both Atherton and Murphy.

Best scene in the story is when Briscoe and Green interview Jane Houdyshell who has worked for Atherton for many years and tells them in no uncertain terms how the victim who also worked for him just set her cap to trap him. No one thinks this was love, but Houdyshell makes it plain as day that this woman not Madonna was the original material girl.

Interesting how this one comes out, definitely see it.

A man was about to show to her new fiancèe the weed plants located in the backyard when they noticed the girl living upstairs dead on the ground. Detectives soon realized she was pushed after a fight, due to skin tissues found on her fingernails. The victim spent time painting in her penthouse studio and she had just married to a sugar daddy (William Atherton) thirty years older than her after having changed many partners before him (she used to have drug parties on the roof, as stated by the super). Besides, she was six weeks pregnant. The problem is that he left his family behind made up of wife (a doctor in the local hospital) and two kids; none of them took the breakup well (the wife became a heavy drinker as a result) mainly after he decided to change his will. There is also another suspect, the victim's former boyfriend (a contractor of the same age), who was still in touch with the girl and they used to make out before her husband's kids. Prosecutors need much time to figure out who the perp is.

Nice episode, in which it's clearly explained the issues related to a marriage ending. The innocent casualties are always the kids, because parents tend to neglect them over their own problems.

"Dazzled's" story sounded very intriguing, though it also wasn't a massively unique premise. 'Law and Order' for a while did a very good job making ordinary concepts more interesting than they sound. Will admit though to preferring stories that have a wider range of emotional impact and that tackle more controversial and tougher subjects that isn't sugar-coated in execution. Season 12 nears its end here with four more episodes to go, and generally the standard was not at all bad.

Bad is not an adjective to describe Season 12's twentieth episode "Dazzled". Actually think it is very good and closer to being in the better end, certainly a long way from being amongst the worst. It doesn't quite dazzle, but very little here falls flat. And even with the prosecution case not being a complex one and with not much to it for a while, "Dazzled" still doesn't feel too thin or over-obvious, both of which have been the cases with some episodes with weaker prosecution arguments.

It's not perfect. It does try to cram in too much in too short a space of time, not an uncommon problem in 'Law and Order' episodes.

Really don't want to sound like a broken record, but Elisabeth Rohm really fails to inject any life to Southerlyn and comes over as stiff and cold with one-note line delivery.

A lot is great though. The photography and such as usual 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. Other than Rohm, the acting is very good. Jerry Orbach and Jesse L Martin are such a great pairing and they are great individually. Sam Waterston really commands the screen and part of the tension is down to how McCoy's mind works. William Atherton does very well at making one unsure as to whether his character is guilty or not.

Moreover, the script is thought provoking and smart, thankfully not rambling or too complicated that it makes things confused. A lot of the legal scenes' dialogue really probes thought and pulls no punches, which prime-'Law and Order' often excelled at brilliantly. It's not just non stop seriousness though, there are also humorous moments here and there such as Briscoe's one-liners. The story is an interesting and well paced one that is a lot less ordinary than it sounds. The prosecution argument is flimsy to begin with but it is well worth sticking with to see how it resolves, how the truth is gotten to and the turns in the story.

Overall, very good. 8/10.