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

To the slaughter

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 26 May 2022]

"Slaughter" was one of those 'Law and Order' episodes on first watch that had a number of good things but did feel on the ordinary side and didn't stick in the mind long after. There are episodes of the show and the 'Law and Order' franchise in general that felt like this, but there are many on both counts where that type of episode on first watch fared better on rewatch and were better than remembered seeing it through older eyes.

While there is still a good deal to like, my good but not great feelings on "Slaughter" have not changed all that much. As said more than once, there are 'Law and Order' episodes that sound quite basic on paper but don't feel ordinary in execution so there is no close-mindedness intended here. "Slaughter" has everything present and most of it is done absolutely correct, but not everything comes off and the episode is on the ordinary side.

A lot is great here. It is very well acted by most of the regulars, particularly Sam Waterston, showing off his authority, resourceful and ruthlessness expertly. In support, an unnerving Phillip Casnoff as a particularly loathsome character stands out. The character interaction once again delivers wonderfully, how most of the characters communicate with each other in the legal scenes truly absorbs. The legal scenes are engrossing and tense, helped by that the subject has real urgency and tension which the episode delivers on.

The script is taut and intelligent. The story is a bit routine to begin with but really delivers in the legal scenes and becomes more interesting when things become not what they seem. The production values as ever have slickness and grit, with an intimacy without being claustrophobic. The music has presence when it's used but does so without being intrusive, some of it is quite haunting too. The direction is also understated but the tension never slips, the second half being full of it.

Did think though that the final third was on the over-crowded and rushed side, with a lot of information in too short a time meaning that some of it feels under-explored. Other than the chemistry between Briscoe and Green, which is very well written and acted as always, the policing doesn't quite match the quality of the legal scenes and has a seen it all before feel.

Furthermore, Elisabeth Rohm is lifeless and adds little again which has always been true for the character of Southerlyn herself. She and Waterston are quite disconnected in chemistry.

Concluding, not great but good. 7/10.

Upton Sinclair would be proud

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 22 November 2014]

Jerry Orbach and Jesse Martin catch a case where a young student activist is found stabbed to death in the meat market section of the West Village. No, meat market is not a euphemism. On 14th Street between 10th and 11th Avenue there are several wholesale meat packing plants. The young man worked for New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) and he's investigating complaints there.

Very serious complaints about Ecoli bacteria found in the meat. The owner of the stabbed this kid with a butcher's knife used in the trade. But Jesse Doran who plays the butcher and boss of the plant says he did it for a couple of corporate bigwigs Stephen Bogardus and Phillip Casnoff who have a lawsuit settled out of court they want very much to keep under the radar.

Over a century ago Upton Sinclair wrote his famous novel expose of the meat industry The Jungle. He would be very proud of the victim's activities and dismayed that we haven't learned anything in a century.

Casnoff is one evil corporate piece of animal byproduct. You have to see him, the ultimate spin doctor.

Upton Sinclair would recommend this episode, so do I.

There's no cost-benefit analysis that justifies children dying.

[Mrpalli77 · 8/10 · 16 November 2017]

Father and son were about to open their pizza parlor when they noticed a boy next to their shatter, stabbed several times to death. The victim had no wallet with him so he's classified as a John Doe. The place is frequented till late night by drunk young guys so it's not easy to identify who the murdered really is. Anyway a call made by his mobile phone the next morning lead the detectives to a local drug dealer (and fence): he's just a thief and not a murder, but he allowed detectives to locate the victim's clothes, stained with cow blood. The owner of a local slaughterhouse had knives the same size of the murder weapon and he used to be harassed by the victim, an activist against animal butchering. What seemed to be an argument went bad actually hide something more important related to meat market and the corporation in charge of trading the meat. An agreement settled in the past and end up under the rug could be called into question.

It's essential to guarantee food quality, but it's not easy for common people to deal with powerful corporation. When it all become of public domain, like in a trial, people affected are willing to come up and testify.