This is one of my favorite episodes. And "Lemonhead" is my favorite guest actor EVER in this series. I especially love when he answers, "Come in!" when someone knocks on the door to the interrogation room. His scenes are wonderful.
6 Reviews
Truly stupid rulings
bkoganbing12 August 2017
A truly tragic event, a man stabbed to death while proposing to his fiancé and the diamond ring taken by a homeless man while his homeless friend watches.
But a couple of truly stupid rulings by the trial judge and the Court of Appeals threaten this verdict. Civil liberties attorney Michael Tolan takes up the cause of the murderer Stuart Rudin because Paul Sorvino and Chris Noth did not get a search warrant for the bushes in Central Park this man calls home.
This is the kind of case that would make cops and prosecutors just throw in the towel. The wonder is that Tolan really believes he's won a great victory for civil liberties. Rudin is one really evil dude as well.
Matthew Cowles is outstanding as the other homeless guy who is really non compas mentus. His scenes in and out of court with Michael Moriarty are outstanding.
One of the best early episodes.
But a couple of truly stupid rulings by the trial judge and the Court of Appeals threaten this verdict. Civil liberties attorney Michael Tolan takes up the cause of the murderer Stuart Rudin because Paul Sorvino and Chris Noth did not get a search warrant for the bushes in Central Park this man calls home.
This is the kind of case that would make cops and prosecutors just throw in the towel. The wonder is that Tolan really believes he's won a great victory for civil liberties. Rudin is one really evil dude as well.
Matthew Cowles is outstanding as the other homeless guy who is really non compas mentus. His scenes in and out of court with Michael Moriarty are outstanding.
One of the best early episodes.
A Man's Home Is His Castle.
rmax30482323 November 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I get a kick out of this episode, partly because it raises an interesting and contemporary social and legal issue, and partly because it has such a phenomenal performance by Matthew Cowles as "Lemonhead." A young man is stabbed to death on the street and his watch stolen. Witnesses offer conflicting descriptions of the killer. He might have been wearing overalls or he might have been wearing a red parka. He's been seen living in a cardboard box at the site of the crime.
Cerreta and Logan soon track down the homeless man in overalls. As a "lookout," he was complicit, but the problem is that he's half nuts, sometimes ALL nuts. This is "Lemonhead", named for his unruly blond hair. His performance only projects insanity in the most theatrical way but his performance is impish and appealingly fruity.
He reveals the identity and "home" of the killer and thief, but he's terrified of the guy, and it's not clear what he'll do on the stand. Ceretta and Logan go poking through the bushes in Central Park and uncover the improvised lair of Ron McLarty, whom they pin to the ground and put on trial. McLarty looks every inch the paranoid schizophrenic. His default expression is a menacing glower.
The question is whether the detectives violated McLarty's right to privacy in rummaging through the pile of junk he calls home. Interesting question, no? If the only home a man can afford is a shelter half propped up by a couple of sticks, can the police enter and search it without a warrant, even if it's on public property? Lemonhead gets his act together, despite his terror, just enough to nail McLarty, but he winds up in a straight jacket, mumbling and chatting with "friends from heaven and fiends from hell." It's not a realistic picture. Straight jackets are passe, though dramatic.
Still, this is one of the better episodes of a sometimes fine series.
Cerreta and Logan soon track down the homeless man in overalls. As a "lookout," he was complicit, but the problem is that he's half nuts, sometimes ALL nuts. This is "Lemonhead", named for his unruly blond hair. His performance only projects insanity in the most theatrical way but his performance is impish and appealingly fruity.
He reveals the identity and "home" of the killer and thief, but he's terrified of the guy, and it's not clear what he'll do on the stand. Ceretta and Logan go poking through the bushes in Central Park and uncover the improvised lair of Ron McLarty, whom they pin to the ground and put on trial. McLarty looks every inch the paranoid schizophrenic. His default expression is a menacing glower.
The question is whether the detectives violated McLarty's right to privacy in rummaging through the pile of junk he calls home. Interesting question, no? If the only home a man can afford is a shelter half propped up by a couple of sticks, can the police enter and search it without a warrant, even if it's on public property? Lemonhead gets his act together, despite his terror, just enough to nail McLarty, but he winds up in a straight jacket, mumbling and chatting with "friends from heaven and fiends from hell." It's not a realistic picture. Straight jackets are passe, though dramatic.
Still, this is one of the better episodes of a sometimes fine series.
One of the series' best episodes
susanhathaway13 July 2016
This is an outstanding episode, mainly because of Matthew Cowles's performance as "Lemonhead," a mentally ill homeless man involved in a murder. I especially liked a scene in which the cops interrogate Lemonhead, and Detective Logan fails to notice for several minutes that Lemonhead is imitating his every move.
To correct a few errors in the prior review: First, the killer was not named Ron McLarty or played by Ron McLarty. The character, James Polesky, was played by Stuart Rudin (who also played Multiple Miggs in "The Silence of the Lambs"). Ron McLarty played Polesky's lawyer at trial.
"Lemonhead" was nicknamed for his jaundice, not his yellow hair.
The victim's watch wasn't mentioned. He was robbed of a diamond ring that he had planned to give his girlfriend. The ring became a plot point when the trial judge erroneously excluded it from evidence.
To correct a few errors in the prior review: First, the killer was not named Ron McLarty or played by Ron McLarty. The character, James Polesky, was played by Stuart Rudin (who also played Multiple Miggs in "The Silence of the Lambs"). Ron McLarty played Polesky's lawyer at trial.
"Lemonhead" was nicknamed for his jaundice, not his yellow hair.
The victim's watch wasn't mentioned. He was robbed of a diamond ring that he had planned to give his girlfriend. The ring became a plot point when the trial judge erroneously excluded it from evidence.
Powerful asylum
TheLittleSongbird11 February 2020
The previous three episodes of 'Law and Order's' Season 2 set a very promising and just as good as before standard, even if not everything gelled understandably so. More evident in the still solid if uneven "The Wages of Love" and "Aria" (the latter being the slightly better of the two) than the great and powerful season opener "Confession" (which saw a fair few changes and coped surprisingly very well with most of them).
From personal opinion, "Asylum" is an outstanding episode and despite "Confession" being rated higher there is a marginal preference for this. One of the standouts of Season 2 easily, showing signs of the season starting to settle, and of the early seasons. As good as the best of Season 1 and perhaps even better. Like much of 'Law and Order' in its prime, it fascinates from a moral perspective and benefits too from a great story and two of the season's, and show's even, guest stars.
"Asylum's" case is always absorbing with enough turns in the plot to stop it from being too simple or obvious. Turns that also avoid being convoluted, so one is kept on their toes and guessing while not having an issue following what goes on. The writing is concise and thought-provoking, leaving one likely to think long and hard on the issues raised. The moral dilemmas when the case goes to trial intrigue too without being confusing or simplistic.
Cerreta and Logan's chemistry gels more here and has more oomph that understandably wasn't quite there in the previous three episodes. Particularly in the truly attention grabbing interrogating of Lemonhead. Paul Sorvino had a lot of pressure replacing George Dzundza and did so admirably throughout the season, he fares well here as does Chris Noth (though not as good as he was in "Confession"). Michael Moriarty is the regular cast standout, he has juicy material as usual when playing Stone and he gets a lot of mileage out of it.
Where the acting shines even more though is with two of the season's, and early seasons in general, guest star turns. One is Stuart Rudin, his glaring alone (though the whole performance is chilling) is enough to make one feel genuinely uneasy. Even better is an astonishing Matthew Cowles as has been said already, shining especially in his rapport with Moriarty.
It is a slick looking episode and is scored with just about the right moodiness without being overused or over-the-top. The main theme is one of the franchise's better ones.
Summing up, outstanding. 10/10
From personal opinion, "Asylum" is an outstanding episode and despite "Confession" being rated higher there is a marginal preference for this. One of the standouts of Season 2 easily, showing signs of the season starting to settle, and of the early seasons. As good as the best of Season 1 and perhaps even better. Like much of 'Law and Order' in its prime, it fascinates from a moral perspective and benefits too from a great story and two of the season's, and show's even, guest stars.
"Asylum's" case is always absorbing with enough turns in the plot to stop it from being too simple or obvious. Turns that also avoid being convoluted, so one is kept on their toes and guessing while not having an issue following what goes on. The writing is concise and thought-provoking, leaving one likely to think long and hard on the issues raised. The moral dilemmas when the case goes to trial intrigue too without being confusing or simplistic.
Cerreta and Logan's chemistry gels more here and has more oomph that understandably wasn't quite there in the previous three episodes. Particularly in the truly attention grabbing interrogating of Lemonhead. Paul Sorvino had a lot of pressure replacing George Dzundza and did so admirably throughout the season, he fares well here as does Chris Noth (though not as good as he was in "Confession"). Michael Moriarty is the regular cast standout, he has juicy material as usual when playing Stone and he gets a lot of mileage out of it.
Where the acting shines even more though is with two of the season's, and early seasons in general, guest star turns. One is Stuart Rudin, his glaring alone (though the whole performance is chilling) is enough to make one feel genuinely uneasy. Even better is an astonishing Matthew Cowles as has been said already, shining especially in his rapport with Moriarty.
It is a slick looking episode and is scored with just about the right moodiness without being overused or over-the-top. The main theme is one of the franchise's better ones.
Summing up, outstanding. 10/10
Matthew Cowles
safenoe11 July 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Matthew Cowles, who was married to Christine Baranski, guest stars as Lemonhead, in a bravura of a role. He should have won a swag of awards for this episode which deals with the homeless, Central Park, the CIA and murder and cardboard boxes and LGBTI issues and police lineups.
Kristoffer Tabori directed Asylum, a worthy entry in the Law and Order canon. For some reason I'm fascinated by the opening credits, as I wonder where the black and white photos came from. I also wonder about the cars crossing the bridge at night, knowing they are a part of Law and Order history.
Hopefully Law and Order will bring back Chris Noth please by ignoring the mob.
Kristoffer Tabori directed Asylum, a worthy entry in the Law and Order canon. For some reason I'm fascinated by the opening credits, as I wonder where the black and white photos came from. I also wonder about the cars crossing the bridge at night, knowing they are a part of Law and Order history.
Hopefully Law and Order will bring back Chris Noth please by ignoring the mob.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
