I had many problems with this episode, besides from being entertaining, there certain events that made me want to look at my satelite to make sure I was watching the same show.

I thought it was bit too much all at once. I mean they should have left the judge for a different type of case. The abusive murdering Senator, that terrorized his family till they just beat and killed each other, would have made a greate episode, by itself but, combining the two was too overwelming. They basaically threw in everything exept the kitchen sink. This is Law & Order they changed too much at one time.

First, if they are kicking Cassady off they should do it quick and painless. Don't remind us how bad of a police officer she is (along with actress). They should have Van Buren have a long speech about what she did wrong. Maybe just demote her in that moment. That would have been shocking enough.

The judge was just too much with that trial. I don't see why they could have just saved that one for later. The brutality of the murders were enough to create the air of suspence, why create a silly judge to make it go faster. No way in a court of law would he have continued in a trial of a Senator with the judge acting that way. There is a difference between a playmate's baby's custady trial than a Senator stabbing his own daughter thirteen times.

Arthur Branch doing to Jack what he did, especially infront of his second chair was horribly wrong. I was with Jack McCoy, he believes in fairnes. What they did at the end of that show was just as bad as the judge. They vilolated one of the fundamental law & order rules. Hardly ever do the emotions of yourself compromise the integrity of a trial. All of the lawyers found themselves emotionally repulsed by this man's brutality that they didn't allow him a fair trial by due process. Alana de la Garanza seemed to do well in her final sumation but she got way too emotional. Not a Jack McCoy emiotional, but in pasionate way. When Branch fired Southerlyn he made a comment about prosecutors should be zealous and not passionate.

I don't know if there is a foreshadowing of Jack McCoy running for election of D.A. I mean the man doensn't seem to have political connections, money, and most of all he doesn't act like he has the desire. It would be an extreme stretch for him to run. He would need a lot of help if he did and that could be interesting.

I agree with you. When Senator bailey called Cassady a pissy *****, he lashed out at her and threw the chair and it nearly hit Detective Green. The chair smacked thw indow and Van Buren ordered her out of the room. But she didn't really fire her. McCoy was kind of embarrassed to see the judge cry when he was assigned to be the judge presideing the case. I don't know if McCoy will resign or not. But I think he might still stay on law and Order.

They opened the door for McCoy to become the new DA..(Reports say that's what will happen next season)

I guess what drives me nuts (and I said this at the CI message board as well) is...Jeffrey Tambors character is a carbon copy of the judge in the Anna Nicole Smith hearing...CI took a huge beating for their episode 'Bombshell'. Yet, here is L&O using 'parts' of the same story line

And in case any of you missed it...Balcer has signed on to be the showrunner next season. Did he have anything to do with tonights episode? I heard he was brought back for the final 3 episodes this season.

I agree. Too much in one episode. The murder plot was plenty, even that was overkill. All these people did was break each others bones. That was pushing the envelope. A senator with a family as dysfunctional as that staying out of the papers?? Not likely in this country. With all of those trips to the hospital someone would have gotten wise and blown the whistle somewhere along the line. One thing about the pirahhna like press, they can smell a drop of blood in a river of water. The judge was just for show. It really added nothing to the basic plotline, but it gave Jeffory Tambor a chance to chew some scenery.

Why are they still focusing on Govich??? She still can't act. If anything it's worse. Jesse has been reduced to the "muscle" in the show. Mystifying. A note to the writers, we don't care about Cassady's evolution as a cop. This is L&O, a procedural police drama that is plot driven, not some soap opera about poor Nina trying to find her way in the big bad police department and her learning curve of trials and tribulations along the way. I want to see a murder mystery, not some hackneyed backstory on "Barbie". She a cop 8 months and still hasn't learned to keep her mouth shut in an interrogation but comes across like Clarence Darrow on the stand???? Either she's dumber than a box of rocks or she isn't. It's like they are writing two different characters. Her professioanl training my eye tooth. Where the heck was all that "professional training" during the interrogation? No consistency in the way the character is written and Govich is completely unbelievable anyway so who cares??? Completely mystifying. Talk about pounding a square peg into a round hole!!! Is she Dick Wolf's love child or something????

The end with Jack and Fred left alot of things open. The "everyone's a politician" was very tongue in cheek I'm sure. There did seem to be a huge ethical problem with not turning over the evidence to the defense, sloppy on the writers part, very contrived. Not the seemless plots we are used to getting from the writers to be sure. Not really L&O like. At least the L&O of a few years ago.

While I agree that Govich still isn't right for this role, I think that it is fair of them to try to develop her character a little and give Govicah a chance (hopefully a final chance) to prove herself. I'm not saying that it has worked, but every Law & Order cop seems to get their occasional episode in the spotlight, even if he or she may already have one foot out the door. I also think that they have consistently attempted to make her character "tough." Think of early on in the season when they had her give that guy the finger for example. She still hasn't been a convincing "tough," but all along they have been attempting to build her up so as to have the potential to be a loose cannon...I don't think they ever wanted her to be conceived as "dumber than a box of rocks." I believe that they were going for more of a Chris Noth (Mike Logan) vibe. Someone who is typically collected, but can occasionally lose his cool. Obviously, it hasn't worked. In the end, I'm really hoping that Govich will not return next season and thankfully I think that this episode left that as a strong possibility.

I also agree that there was too much in this episode. I think that the judge is really what put it a little too over the top. That said, I still enjoyed the episode quite a bit. I thought that De La Garza had a good performance, and I have come to enjoy her character over time. I also think that her closing argument fit her character who has come across as inexperienced and passionate all season. I hope that if she stays on the show next year and McCoy moves to DA that they will cast someone at least slightly more collected to balance her zeal.

<channeling Adam Schiff>
...lousy writing...lousy casting...lousy season. Put it behind you and move on

lol - well said!

Truer words have never been spoken.

Good points. She has certainly had her chances this year to get her footing with this character. It just never materialized. While I do agree they were going for the tough loose cannon thing with her, she just could not come close to pulling it off. You never got the passion that Chris Noth had or the fire Jesse Martin had the first year or two when he was the loose cannon on the show. She just comes across as someone who has no clue what she is doing and is getting frustrated with her job rather than the cop who is so passionate about his job he looses control on accasion with the scum of the earth. Maybe she is trying too hard or not hard enough. I don't know. I know they didn't want her coming across as dumber than a box of rocks but that is closer to the description of how she came across rather then the tough chick loose cannon thing I believe they were going for. The only reason I got they were going for the loose cannon thing from the show last night was the script and Epatha's performance. (she is really good!) Govich's performance didn't give me a clue. To be honest I though she was acting like a teenager who is angry she didn't get her way rather than a cop who is so passionate about her job. Drama queen like teenager. All of you that have teenage daughters know what I mean. More petulant than passionate.

This whole season with Jesse Martin, other than the first episode was there anything his character said or did about being saddled with the less than able partner? A few looks between him and Epatha I caught last night but at some point you think they would talk about it. His character was shot once on the show. You would think Green would be a little nervous about her noted lack of progress. You would think there would be a sitdown or two on how she was doing, things she needs to work on, concerns about lack of progess etc. I don't think Green wants to die as lesson 22 in her learning curve as a detective.

I like the open ended way the DA/ADA thing ended. It certainly leaves alot of room for possibilities.

First off I see you guys complaining about what Branch did to jack but come on was Jack getting soft on us I've seen tons of shows where McCoy bends thew rules to see jutice served. After all "doing the right thing may not always be doing the right thing."
Also I agree with many that it looks like Jack may be the new DA with Branch (Fred Thompson) possibly leaving to run for president. Then ADA Connie will probably become Executive ADA after that closing argument she put on. If Jack doesn't move up to DA I like to see then bring back Nora who play the DA breifly between Shift and Branch I really liked her hands on approach to the job, she would run down anyone that threated or stood in her way. Unlike Shift who was famous for saying "make a deal" or Branch who just says, "I don't see what your problem is Jack", don't get me wrong liked both of them but personally unlike like most I thought Nora was the best DA. Even TNT advertises the seasons durning 2001 when Nora was on the show the best of the best. As far as Green's partern, I think they should bring back Ray Curtis, they both work with Lennie (Orback) who is undoutably the most memorable character of Law and Order along with McCoy.
I was really hoping they would play out in the finally what was going to happen to Jack rememeber last week he was being chargedby the feds for revealing information at a trial. In the past they always played then out over a few shows like when VanBurnen was fighting for the position as caption that wasn't in all one show. Look forward to season 18 and hope to see it reach season 21!

ROLF LMAO

We have a winner!!! You hit the nail right on the head!!!

The worst season in L&O's 17 seasons is now over. Hopefully the writers and Govich are updating their resumes as we speak. If I were them I would skip/downplay my involvement in their tenure here at L&O land.

This last episode was good and bad. Govich if possible was worse than the 1st episode of the year but as previously pointed out if there was any discussion at Wolf & Co as to whether or not to keep her, this should have made it crystal clear she does not work in this cast. She has had one full season and still can't get this character to be believable on any level. They may have been going for Chris Noth passion but got more Paris Hilton pouting. At some point I expected her to stomp her foot.

The leaving Jack as DA/EADA open ended was a nice touch. I love him as EADA but will take Jack however I can get him as long as he stays with the show. DeLaGarza is not a good idea for the EADA if Jack goes to DA. She does not have the maturity or backbone required to be believable as a tough broad like Bebe Neuwirth on Trial By Jury.

The family on this epeisode was a little over the top. They just sat at home and beat the crap out of each other. Amazing no one died before this. The judge was just window dressing. I don't think he really needed to be in this episode. Not really central for the plot of the show what with the bizarre family and the conflict with Jack and Fred. Too much going on. Alot of ideas by the writers, they could have parred down the episode and focused more on the murder story. It could have been more plausible and seamless instead of trying to cram too much flash into one episode.

Is it January yet???

Disagree with those who didn't like last season. Thought it was quite good. I also think Nora was AWFUL..those are the only episodes I really hate to watch on TNT. Dianne West was a disaster in the role. I'm either a fan of the Schiff episodes or the branch episodes -- I've only watched a couple of the new ones, and though I like McCoy as DH, Cutter is a disaster. I hope the writers realize this and write back in Branch into the series as either DA or Mayor and somehow put McCoy back in the courtroom.