Floater

A man was fishing in the river and talking to a bystander when he thought to catch a big fish: they were both stunned when a dead body came to surface. Forensics identified the victim as a thirty years old girl with a broken nose. A necklace led the detectives to a married woman with a teenage daughter; she had been missing for over a month. the daughter attended an expensive private school, well above their parents' means (the victim worked as a courtroom clerk). Briscoe and Green dug inside the family, because the husband had an affair with the secretary and she was the only one who covered him up the day of the murder; they supposed the couple had a fight in their car (where traces of blood came to light thanks to luminol) and then he dumped her in the river. Anyway he proved a fender bender occurred days before, so police cut him loose. The right pattern is related to a corrupted judge who used to take bribes: was the victim involved in the scam?

This episode seems a little unrealistic: how can a renowned judge (Jan Maxwell) sell his own reputation for few dimes? Anyway money isn't the sole reason for her behavior.

"Floater's" story sounded very intriguing, though it also wasn't a massively unique premise. Corruption in the legal system has been done more than once in the franchise prior. 'Law and Order' for a while did a very good job making ordinary concepts more interesting than they sound and continued to do so even when the show was past its best. Did not mind though that the subject was familiar, as it is a relevant one, has been known to happen and is worthy of addressing.

Season 14's "Floater" is a good episode, but not a great one. Did find it a letdown after being so blown away by the previous episode "Identity" (seen immediately before this hence the comparison). There are a lot of great things here and "Floater" did have the makings of something great. But part of me felt that more could have been done with the subject, it is handled admirably here but could have gone into more depth. So liked the episode but didn't love it.

There are things that could have been better. 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. Also thought that the whole risking ruining a reputation for money could have gone into more detail, so that the why aspect was clearer.

On the other hand, "Floater" does a lot extremely well. 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.

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. Briscoe's cynicism here is also very understandable. The story is an interesting and well paced one that is a lot less ordinary than it sounds.

Good but not great all in all. 7/10.

When the decomposed corpse of a woman is found floating in Hudson River, Detectives Briscoe and Green are assigned to investigate the case. They learn that the woman is Mrs. Marchetti that was divorcing her husband Gene Marchetti with the notorious lawyer Ravi Patel. When Gene intends to travel abroad with his daughter Lena, he becomes their prime suspect. But soon District Attorneys Jack McCoy and Serena Southerly believe there is a judge taking bribes from a ring of divorce lawyers, including Ravi Patel, and the investigation proceeds.

"Floater" is another great episode of "Law & Order", disclosing corruption in the NY Justice System. Unfortunately, the justice system is corrupted in many countries where judges are not subject to laws and treated like gods. In Brazil, corrupt judges, when proved, are usually sentenced to compulsory retirement with all salaries and benefits. Seems to be unbelievable, but it is true. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Floater"

....about greed and corruption in the NY judiciary system.