Fred Thompson in Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005)

Bebe Neuwirth

Amy Carlson

Kirk Acevedo

David Wilcox

Kibre and Gaffney prosecute a man suspected of murdering a recently paroled pedophile.

Dwight H. Little

Vigilante

Heartland

&apos;Law and Order: Trial by Jury&apos; &quot;Vigilante&quot;

Opening thoughts: Absolutely loved the premise for &quot;Vigilante&quot; and the conflict on paper sounded really fascinating. My feelings on my first watch of the episode, when first coming across &apos;Law and Order: Trial by Jury&apos; just under a decade ago, were that of appreciation but also frustration. Really appreciated that the show tried to tackle the subject of vigilantism and its moral conflicts, a difficult topic and not easy to get right, but what was frustrating was that it turned out to not be anywhere near as interesting or as subtle as it sounded.

Rewatching &quot;Vigilante&quot;, my feelings are very similar regrettably. That it went near the subject is laudable and it did start off very well indeed, but this is the sort of episode that contributed towards &apos;Trial by Jury&apos; not clicking with people or them going off it. A shame actually because the show did get a lot better and never really got a chance. While not a terrible episode, &quot;Vigilante&quot; could have been so much better and it is a case of one of the show&apos;s best concepts being in one of the lesser episodes in execution.

Good things: &quot;Vigilante&quot; does have good things. The production values are slick and sharp, without being too dark or overly-bright. The music is not over-emphasised or overused. The theme tune is one of the most memorable ones of the franchise. The episode does start off very well with the set up having a good deal of tension.

It is very well acted on the whole with a few exceptions. Aidan Gillen gives a great performance and it is an example of one that deserved a better episode, one hates what his character does while not being dismissive of where he&apos;s coming from. His character is the most interesting one and the only one that is given much complexity. The regulars are all fine for the same reasons as with the previous two episodes.

Bad things: However, so much could have been better. Absolutely do have to agree that &quot;Vigilante&quot; is far too heavy handed, especially when coming towards the too prematurely telegraphed ending and with the over the top character played by Lorraine Bracco. Instead of exploring the conflict from both sides, it did feel like that the writers had made up their minds on what side they were on. The more over the top the characters became and more ambiguous and throwaway feeling the conflict (a severely underdeveloped one with too little time devoted to it) became the more obvious the argument was.

There is no suspense, due to one point of view being emphasised so much and the other being explored pretty vaguely at best so one pretty much has a strong inkling how it&apos;s all going to map out. And also because almost all of the second half is incredibly predictable and increasingly so, thanks to the less than taut or subtle dialogue and the increasingly one sided character writing (especially Bracco&apos;s). Scott Cohen doesn&apos;t have much presence as a flat character and Fred Dalton Thompson is one note. Bracco tries very hard but there is no nuance to her performance.

Closing thoughts: Overall, a disappointment. Great premise but too heavy handed and predictable to work.

5/10.

'Law and Order: Trial by Jury' "Vigilante"

Opening thoughts: Absolutely loved the premise for "Vigilante" and the conflict on paper sounded really fascinating. My feelings on my first watch of the episode, when first coming across 'Law and Order: Trial by Jury' just under a decade ago, were that of appreciation but also frustration. Really appreciated that the show tried to tackle the subject of vigilantism and its moral conflicts, a difficult topic and not easy to get right, but what was frustrating was that it turned out to not be anywhere near as interesting or as subtle as it sounded.

Rewatching "Vigilante", my feelings are very similar regrettably. That it went near the subject is laudable and it did start off very well indeed, but this is the sort of episode that contributed towards 'Trial by Jury' not clicking with people or them going off it. A shame actually because the show did get a lot better and never really got a chance. While not a terrible episode, "Vigilante" could have been so much better and it is a case of one of the show's best concepts being in one of the lesser episodes in execution.

Good things: "Vigilante" does have good things. The production values are slick and sharp, without being too dark or overly-bright. The music is not over-emphasised or overused. The theme tune is one of the most memorable ones of the franchise. The episode does start off very well with the set up having a good deal of tension.

It is very well acted on the whole with a few exceptions. Aidan Gillen gives a great performance and it is an example of one that deserved a better episode, one hates what his character does while not being dismissive of where he's coming from. His character is the most interesting one and the only one that is given much complexity. The regulars are all fine for the same reasons as with the previous two episodes.

Bad things: However, so much could have been better. Absolutely do have to agree that "Vigilante" is far too heavy handed, especially when coming towards the too prematurely telegraphed ending and with the over the top character played by Lorraine Bracco. Instead of exploring the conflict from both sides, it did feel like that the writers had made up their minds on what side they were on. The more over the top the characters became and more ambiguous and throwaway feeling the conflict (a severely underdeveloped one with too little time devoted to it) became the more obvious the argument was.

There is no suspense, due to one point of view being emphasised so much and the other being explored pretty vaguely at best so one pretty much has a strong inkling how it's all going to map out. And also because almost all of the second half is incredibly predictable and increasingly so, thanks to the less than taut or subtle dialogue and the increasingly one sided character writing (especially Bracco's). Scott Cohen doesn't have much presence as a flat character and Fred Dalton Thompson is one note. Bracco tries very hard but there is no nuance to her performance.

Closing thoughts: Overall, a disappointment. Great premise but too heavy handed and predictable to work.

5/10.

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