Law & Order (TV Series) Oxymoron (2002) User Reviews

Technicalities

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 25 September 2020]

The body of one very upscale woman is found strangled to death on the streets of Manhattan, Despite being dressed for a night of clubbing the victim is a doctor who writes a bit too many prescription for oxycotin a pain killer that can be most addictive. As investigation reveals she was the supplier for an organized crime figure who strangled her when she tried to get out of the racket.

The main body of the episode concerns the legal maneuvering a father and son team of Armenian gangsters use to avoid prosecution which also involves the US Attorney.

I think this story got a bit too wrapped up with legal technicalities. Lawyers and law students who plan to go into criminal law will like it.

Contradiction

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 27 May 2022]

"Oxymoron" signals the penultimate episode of the generally solid if never mind-blowing Season 12. On first watch, it was one of the few Season 12 episodes to not do very much for me. Found it uninvolving, over-complicated and thought that there could have been a good deal more subtlety in the supporting character writing, in spite of the good efforts of the regular cast. 'Law and Order' in its prime is my personal favourite of the franchise, with the best episodes being brilliant.

Brilliant "Oxymoron" is not. My fairly indifferent initial opinion of it still stands, for pretty much the same reasons, and it is a contender for the weakest of the season (between this and "The Fire this Time"). Am not saying this with pleasure, mixed feeling or negative ratings and reviews are never handed out maliciously being someone who aims to be encouraging and is generally quite generous. But "Oxymoron" could have been a good deal better.

It certainly isn't all bad. The vast majority of the regular cast do valiant work, particularly Sam Waterston. Briscoe and Green are such a great teaming, with witty banter and hard boiled edge. Jerry Orbach always delivered when it came to the one liners, not just as Briscoe but actually in all his roles. The episode starts off quite well, certainly compared to the rest of the episode when the legalities come in.

The production values are slick and have a subtle grit, with an intimacy to the photography without being too claustrophobic. The music isn't used too much and doesn't get too melodramatic. The direction is quite taut to begin with.

A lot doesn't work unfortunately. The story never properly grabbed me, dully paced with too little tension and the case itself felt on the flimsy side. Before becoming convoluted and too heavy in confusing legal technicalities. 'Law and Order's' legal scenes were usually intriguing and accessible, but neither can be said here.

Dialogue can sound quite awkward and is too talk heavy, and not in a way that's easy to follow. The supporting characters lack subtlety and come over as too stereotyped. Of Season 12, "Oxymoron" has the worst supporting cast, with none of the supporting cast members looking comfortable or engaged. The same can be said for Elisabeth Rohm, there is a reason as to why Southerlyn is one of the franchise's most disliked regular characters.

Overall, underwhelming. 5/10.

If it was me, I would probably do the same thing.

[Mrpalli77 · 5/10 · 18 November 2017]

Two girls were talking about the need of a contract behind every marriage when between two cars they noticed a classy girl lying on the ground with severe bruises on her thigh. She was strangled to death but the road was not the crime scene, the murder took place somewhere else. She was high the night she was murdered, according to the taxi driver and to a local bodega clerk, and she had a sex & drug party together with other peers (she was called the princess Xena by the party goers, none of them knew her real name). The victim was actually a doctor who set up a scam with a local dealer (David Deblinger) and a pharmacist: she prescribed a lot of pills called oxycodone, used for back pain but with the same effect of cocaine together with booze. After the local dealer was locked up, he began to cut deals with prosecutors involving his father. Then the "Order" part takes over with several plea bargains...

An episode I find pretty boring. Slow pace, all the actors don't seem to be comfortable. Maybe the worst episode in the twelfth series, but real lawyers might like it.