Fallout

It is difficult to single out a particular episode of this superb series for acclaim but this one was truly magnificent in every respect. The writing, as usual, is excellent, with a intricately conceived plot, characters that are beautifully presented, and crisp dialog. The direction is also incredible, with each scene stunningly presented. The acting is uniformly perfect, with each member of the cast bring their character skillfully to life. It is, however, Billie Jean King who stands out in the role of a judge. She gives what is undoubtedly the performance of a lifetime in this production and no one who sees it will ever forget her work. It is a shame she never seriously pursued an acting career because she is obviously a very talented, gifted actor.

An ambulance was called for a stomach flu. Actually the sick man start vomiting blood and he died before reaching the hospital. He was poisoned by a chemical weapon (ricin) used only by the Army. He recently had a trip in Russia, where he had business with military contractor. His wife wasn't of much help for detectives, but they figured out he flew together with a russian girl (Jennifer Missoni) and he spent some time with her in his brother's apartment. The woman said she was raped and he took her passport in order to blackmail her, forcing her to turn tricks: the two brothers ran a trafficking ring. Later on, detectives identified the killer in a CCTV footage: he was a former member of KGB and he managed to reach russian consolate for protection. But McCoy dealed with russian properly and they swapped defendants. But the killer made a mistake, there was no need of a payback because his daughter was still alive....Was he really a good father?

Cold war came back in New York soil in this episode. Anyway thanks to McCoy the russian consulate decided to cooperate, by giving him even some proofs. Completely out of the plot, at the very end, we make acquaintance of McCoy's daughter.

If the defendant in this Law And Order episode had just done something like shoot or stab his victim, the circumstances might have elicited sympathy. Mark Ivanir was a Moscow policeman in New York to confront the captor of his daughter who brought her to the USA and turned her out as a prostitute. But he killed him with Ricin which as we know is a deadly chemical agent, a possible weapon of mass destruction. That didn't help his case at all.

That's the circumstances that Sam Waterston and Alana DeLa Garza have to deal with in their prosecution. Some more information is gathered and it makes Ivanir look less sympathetic but also Ivanir was left with really no good options.

A little diplomatic jousting is done with the Russian Embassy to get a key witness, also someone not terribly sympathetic. An interesting story of the post Communist Russia.

"Fallout" was one of those 'Law and Order' episodes on first watch that had a number of good things but did feel on the ordinary side and didn't stick in the mind long after. There are episodes of the show and the 'Law and Order' franchise in general that felt like this, but there are many on both counts where that type of episode on first watch fared better on rewatch and were better than remembered seeing it through older eyes.

On rewatch, "Fallout" was actually one of the 'Law and Order' episodes that fared quite a bit better. Instead of the good episode that it was on first watch, it fared as very, very good on rewatch and the good things were even greater rewatching as well. What starts off as what seems a standard 'Law and Order' episodes turns out to be one of the most tense outings of Season 17 due to its uncompromising approach to a subject matter that makes the blood boil. One of the better episodes of the season for sure for me.

It is at its weakest in the somewhat standard first quarter and maybe the ending is on the slightly rushed side.

Not to mention that Cassady and Milena Govich's acting don't register that much.

Any reservations aside, "Fallout" is still great. Production values are slick and have a subtle grit, with an intimacy to the photography without being too claustrophobic. The music isn't used too much and doesn't get too melodramatic. The direction is taut and also accomodating.

The dialogue is smart and always intriguing and on the whole the story is very compelling and wrenches the gut to intense and heart-wrenching effect. The horrific events are truly unspeakable. The acting is near-uniformly good, especially from Sam Waterston and Alana De La Garza.

Very, very good episode overall. 9/10.