User Reviews

I guess there are as many reasons for homicide as there those committed. I can almost sympathize with perpetrator Harley Venton who has invested a lot of hopes and dreams in his son Geoff Wigdor's budding hockey career.

The deceased is the son's hockey coach who benched him for bad behavior in a game where dad has brought in hockey scouts. Either a college scholarship or a shot at the pros is at stake. Ironically it's the kid's own bad behavior toward some of the lesser talents that got him benched. Sadly enough Wigdor knows this.

The defense used by attorney Dennis Boutsikaris is sports rage. It's a crock however, but there might be some on the jury who are also sports dads and might identify with him.

The tragedy here is that the father and son bond is real. Sam Waterston and Angie Harmon do what they have to for a conviction, but I don't think they have any joy in this one.

A woman was about to take her daughter ice skating when they bumped into a dead body. A middle aged man was beaten to death in a garage, with several bruises in the rib cage and fractures in the skull. It's early Saturday morning and nobody saw anything; the garage keeper (George T Odon) wasn't there at the time of murder (he took some time off to buy a lottery ticket) and in Briscoe's eyes he's not too sharp to set up an alibi that covers himself. The victim was a coach in the local hockey youth team and, as stated by his wife, they're unable to have child on their own that lead him to spend much time with his players as if they were his kids. Some players anyway had a bad temper as well as their parents: this is the right path to follow in order to solve the case.

The question advanced at trial by the defense attorney, the "rage", is something quite hilarious to be believed by the jury: rage in roads, rage in planes, rage in sports; we are adults, not children arguing in the playground.

The subject matter when reading the synopsis on the television guide on first watch did intrigue me, this is an issue that is not covered a lot but not unheard of and worth addressing. It's another one of those based on real life cases (a type of story that the original 'Law and Order' often did well in), in this case bearing some resemblance to the harrowing case of Thomas Junta from 2000. Or at least the details of the crime, so feelings would still be pretty raw at the time "Thin Ice" was aired.

As far as Season 11 goes, "Thin Ice" is for me down there among the weaker episodes. Not terrible by all means, but a long way from great as well and should have been a lot better considering how promising it sounded. There are examples of 'Law and Order' episodes that are brilliant consistently and also others where the second half is better than the first. But there are also episodes where the first half is better than the second, "Thin Ice" is one of those.

Despite not caring for it, "Thin Ice" does have things about it that are good. It looks professional and the camerawork is neither overblown or static. The music has a haunting and not too melodramatic presence. The episode starts off with good promise, where the policing is compelling and lifted by the chemistry between Briscoe and Green.

Moreover, the acting is also top notch from all the regulars in both halves. The supporting cast are fine too, with Harley Venton effectively portraying a character where one hates what he does but in a way understands why. The father and son bond is beautifully done and difficult to not relate to, despite the circumstances.

It is a shame though that the legal portion disappoints. Most of the time the legal portion is more interesting than the policing, but here in "Thin Ice" it's sloppy. We're not talking a little, we're talking very. 'Law and Order' had its fair share of ridiculous defense arguments, and the one here would be laughed out of court but this is one of very few times at this point of the show where the prosecution is so poorly handled to near-incompetence. It just doesn't come over as realistic in the choices taken to get to the truth, such as the cross examination and the testimony, and gets on the malicious side at points.

While loving McCoy as a character, he comes over as unprofessional and overly over-zealous here and some of the choices he makes are extreme. Although the policing is very intriguing and far from over-simple, the case comes over as pretty flimsy when it goes to court and the extreme measures taken by the prosecution succeeds in confusing it. The dialogue could have done with more tightening up, while the pacing isn't great with a rushed through and anaemic conclusion particularly.

Overall, watchable but disappointing. 5/10.

Raging hockey dad. DA's go after sports dad because said DA do not like daughter's soccer team parents.

Writers concoct a plot with so many holes, goofs. Terrible legal defense representation, malicious prosecution, son's testimony helps prosecution?? Dad takes the stand which would never happen. Cross examination with No objections. Prosecution summary presents facts/video not in prior evidence without objections.

Predictable and Unwatchable moralizing.