The murder of a private investigator leads back to basketball and the cutthroat competition for court time.The murder of a private investigator leads back to basketball and the cutthroat competition for court time.The murder of a private investigator leads back to basketball and the cutthroat competition for court time.
Kathryn Erbe
- Detective Alexandra 'Alex' Eames
- (credit only)
José Ramón Rosario
- Diego Bracho
- (as Jose Ramon Rosario)
Malcolm Goodwin
- Elvin Fergin
- (as Malcolm J. Goodwin)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe basketball players in this episode attend a fictional "Moses Caro High School." The school name appears to be a tongue-in-cheek conflation of two very different New Yorkers: Robert Moses and Robert Caro. Moses (1888-1981) was a once-lauded "urban planning" bureaucrat today often remembered for destroying established, traditional neighborhoods to make room for expressways; while Caro (born 1935) wrote a massive, highly critical biography of the former, titled "The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York" (1974), which won the Pulitzer Prize.
- GoofsThe age of consent in New York state is 17, so Detectives Goren and Bishop actually did not need the permission of Ben Watkins' mother to talk to him as it is stated that he is 17 years old.
- Quotes
Detective Robert Goren: [pulling a new iPod from a teen athlete's pocket] You pay for that out of your paper route?
- ConnectionsReferences Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
Featured review
Basketball's dark side
Like with the previous episode "F.P.S", "Mad Hops" has a subject that is not an area of expertise of mine and not something that fascinates me on a daily basis. Am not sporty in general even, while hardly inactive. So there was the risk of it going over my head. There wasn't so much of a risk of "Mad Hops" leaving me as cold though, as basketball has been portrayed a good deal in film and television and often entertainingly and interestingly on either side of good and bad.
"Mad Hops" is no exception. By all means though, it is nowhere near one of the best episodes of 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and is not one of the best of the mostly solid Season 3. To me, it was a lesser episode of the season (though actually not the worst) but namely because the season's quality was generally at a high standard and brilliant at its best in primarily the second half. If to sum "Mad Hops" up in short terms, it would be decent but not great.
Am admittedly still not the biggest fan of the chemistry/relationship between Goren and Bishop. Excepting moments in "Sound Bodies" and "F.P.S" it never completely gelled enough, the tension between them could have been sharper and wasn't as appealing as well contrasted as the chemistry between Goren and Eames and the spark that was there with him and Eames is somewhat missing. If Bishop was a more interesting character in general, it may have helped.
The ending also did feel a bit too rushed and on the too neat side. The conflict between the coach and the mother could have been delved into somewhat more and had more tension.
On the other hand, the production values continue to be slick and intimate without being too much so. The music is not overdone in tone, placement or orchestration, even in places where there was the danger of doing so (i.e. final revelation). The direction is not dull while still letting the drama breathe. The script mixes entertainment value and tautness very well and handled with tact and intelligence. Enjoyed the amusing jokes. The story is mostly very well executed with an intriguing case. What lifted "Mad Hops" and the story above the ordinary is some nice revealing character development for Goren.
Primarily in his history with basketball, with the conflict between him and the coach revealing a lot and having the tension slightly missing in the one between the latter and the mother. It helps too that the coach himself is a sinister opponent that makes one uneasy for a while about basketball. Goren's attitude towards authority also fascinates. Vincent D'Onofrio can't be faulted and it was interesting for another character to do the dressing down to him and do what Goren does himself when interrogating. Jude Ciccolella is also splendid and relishes making Powell as contemptible as possible.
In conclusion, decent but not great. 7/10
"Mad Hops" is no exception. By all means though, it is nowhere near one of the best episodes of 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' and is not one of the best of the mostly solid Season 3. To me, it was a lesser episode of the season (though actually not the worst) but namely because the season's quality was generally at a high standard and brilliant at its best in primarily the second half. If to sum "Mad Hops" up in short terms, it would be decent but not great.
Am admittedly still not the biggest fan of the chemistry/relationship between Goren and Bishop. Excepting moments in "Sound Bodies" and "F.P.S" it never completely gelled enough, the tension between them could have been sharper and wasn't as appealing as well contrasted as the chemistry between Goren and Eames and the spark that was there with him and Eames is somewhat missing. If Bishop was a more interesting character in general, it may have helped.
The ending also did feel a bit too rushed and on the too neat side. The conflict between the coach and the mother could have been delved into somewhat more and had more tension.
On the other hand, the production values continue to be slick and intimate without being too much so. The music is not overdone in tone, placement or orchestration, even in places where there was the danger of doing so (i.e. final revelation). The direction is not dull while still letting the drama breathe. The script mixes entertainment value and tautness very well and handled with tact and intelligence. Enjoyed the amusing jokes. The story is mostly very well executed with an intriguing case. What lifted "Mad Hops" and the story above the ordinary is some nice revealing character development for Goren.
Primarily in his history with basketball, with the conflict between him and the coach revealing a lot and having the tension slightly missing in the one between the latter and the mother. It helps too that the coach himself is a sinister opponent that makes one uneasy for a while about basketball. Goren's attitude towards authority also fascinates. Vincent D'Onofrio can't be faulted and it was interesting for another character to do the dressing down to him and do what Goren does himself when interrogating. Jude Ciccolella is also splendid and relishes making Powell as contemptible as possible.
In conclusion, decent but not great. 7/10
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- TheLittleSongbird
- Aug 3, 2020
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