The Garden Gnome is on his way to meet a friend for dinner or something, and for some reason, they decide to meet at night in a deserted park. Golly, nothing bad ever happens there in NYC. When he finds her dead - GASP! - Derp and Lurch arrive on the scene to derp and lurch.
It turns out she's a public defender, so any number of people could have done it, but guess who is soon up to his neck in it? Maybe they're really after his pot o' gold.
There's a great bit of comedy early on. Owing to the fact the writers don't really know the characters and treat and Derp and Lurch interchangeably, as two generic lunkheads, Lurch is now the one with the temper. Remember when he was supposed to be Mr. Smooth to Derp's mouthy bigot?
We saw it last week, when he more than once got in someone's face, but this week, he's offended when the head of the Public Defender's Office points out the cops treat a crime against a cop or DA differently than a lowly public defender - and here's the funny part: DERP TELLS HIM THEY TREAT ALL CASES THE SAME! I mean, entire episodes of Law and Order have been built around how relentless the police and DA's Office are when it's one their own who's a victim whereas if you're just an ordinary citizen, they'll get to it when they can.
But in this age of not wanting to offend anyone, instead of the guy in the Defender's Office rolling his eyes and saying something justifiably smart-alecky back like a real human being, he just has a slightly doubtful look on his face and moves on. Because, you know, drama is all about theatrics but never taking any risks.
There's the requisite nonsense with Manhands back at HQ, who shows she can multitask by filing while listening to Derp and Lurch rattle off some banal dialogue.
Sam Waterston gets another one of his hallway dialogue scenes. They seem to write his scenes now so he can just walk in or walk away rather than, you know, actually be in the office.
Then there's another one of those moments that show the writers have no real world experience: When the case points to a judge as the culprit, he's like a soap opera caricature. Angry, defiant, one dimensional. Because, you know, in real life, people get all the way through law school and then are either appointed or elected to the bench in a major city to only turn out to be one-dimensional mustache twirlers whose only response to a legal accusation is to lash out and make threats. You know, that's what all that law school taught them. Oh, and to leave incriminating evidence in - get this - their house!
And it turns out - get this - he's a garden variety stalker, too! Way to push it into SVU territory as usual.
And equally one dimensional is his buddy, the judge who will preside over the trial. He has all of the subtlety of an ax murderer in where his loyalties lie. Seriously, does anyone think the real power brokers in the world behave this obviously?
Law and Order used to be treated with a lot more respect than that. This episode is so lacking in anything that remotely resembles that respect, the people involved should be ashamed. Perhaps younger audiences don't know any better or expect much, but anyone who's been out of their house or away from a phone screen for more than five minutes knows this is all grotesquely unbelievable.
There is a big twist in the trial though - and not the one you'd expect. No, it's not that the pontificating, self-righteous Millennial Garden Gnome -- so offended that two judges know each other and this obviously compromises their suitability for a fair trial -- not only discovered the victim but also used to date her. It's that the Garden Gnome is actually into women. Go figure. Didn't see that one coming.
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