Law & Order (TV Series) The Fire This Time (2001) User Reviews

People who incite

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 10 April 2016]

This is but one of many shows dealing with when and where advocacy spills over into action in the Law And Order franchise. All of them usually involve the internet in one way or another. Our law and judicial opinions still haven't caught up. And the District Attorney of New York County is forever trying to convince juries to hold responsible people who incite.

Case in point is Erin Gann who runs an environmental website. The case that Sam Waterston brings in this episode is to convict him of inciting the destruction of various properties he says is damaging the environment. In this story a new apartment project in Manhattan that had not yet been opened. A young woman who had used the unfinished building as a trysting place is burned to death.

Dianne Weist puts it so well with "we're we all that stupid when we're 20". The four young people Andrea Anders, Evan Neumann, and John Sutherland who do the actual deed and Jeff Edgerton who is a kind of middle man are all these fresh faced idealistic kids. Like Bernie Sanders supporters now.

There is something truly loathsome about Gann who exhorts this stuff, but stays far enough away to not get burned (pun intended).

The New York County DA wins some and loses some in these kinds of cases. Tune in to find out.

She would have been cooking to death.

[Mrpalli77 · 8/10 · 13 November 2017]

Two bystanders noticed a newly built apartment building had just been set on fire. After the firemen got in, they took out of flames a disfigured body of a girl burnt to death. The victim was a school teacher who had an affair with a married construction laborer; the man (Michael Leydon Campbell) works at the construction site and that make the detectives suspicious because proofs lead the two lovers in the crime scene shortly before the arson took place. But the victim was actually in the wrong place at the wrong time: that building was the target of young kids brainwashed by a guru who ran a website called "Coyote" where he incites people to protect the environment (the building stand where once there was a community garden). Detectives connected the dots, catching the perps at a bus station. Are they willing to take their responsibilities?

Usually young and rich brats performs this kind of action only to realize, when the boyhood is over, they don't give a damn about environment. But when justice lock them up, their life would be ruined forever no matter what.

Spark-less fire

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 24 May 2022]

"The Fire this Time" was one of those 'Law and Order' episodes that could have been much more. 'Law and Order' in its prime is my personal favourite of the 'Law and Order' franchise, that 'Special Victims Unit' has gone on for longer may indicate otherwise but that show has not been the same for a long time. Seasons 1-10 had a small group of disappointments but the best episodes in each season were absolutely brilliant. While the show became less consistent post-Season 10, each season did have truly fine episodes still.

Really do wish that "The Fire this Time" was one of those fine episodes. Unfortunately this was not to be, to me this was Season 12's first disappointment and one of the season's weakest. The subject showed a good deal of promise, despite having reservations about episodes that have people influencing others to do wrong, but the promise is not lived up to. After such an excellent previous episode, "The Fire this Time" should have been so much better.

Of course there are good things. The production values are still slick and suitably gritty (without being too heavy in it). The music is not too melodramatic and is not used too much, even not being too manipulative in revelations. There are thoughtful and entertaining moments in the script, Nora's line about doing stupid things when 20 does sum up the situation very well, strikes a chord and is every bit as relevant today as it was back then (with people saying and doing terrible things when younger that has consequences later on).

Most of the acting is very good from the regulars (Jerry Orbach and Sam Waterston taking top honours), with one exception. Erin Gann has an obvious character but plays him to the hilt to unnerving effect, it is very chilling at how easily he can manipulate. The episode does start off very well indeed, gritty and entertaining with a very brutal death.

As said however, "The Fire this Time" could have been so much better. To me the second half was not anywhere as strong, which disappoints considering that with 'Law and Order' the legal portions tend to be superior to the investigating. In this case, the legal scenes were rather heavy-handed. Really admired this subject being taken on, but it could have done so with more tact and a lot more depth, the show did a lot more challenging topics (racism, abortion, mercy killings, disabilities, conflicts regarding the death penalty) and were in most cases a lot more balanced and tactful than here. Some of the McCoy's dialogue comes over as too much of a sermon where it is made too clear what side of the issue the writers are on.

Did think that "The Fire this Time" could have had a lot more tension in the second half, where the story loses momentum, thins out and gets lost amidst the preachiness. Did feel the portrayal of the accused/responsible over-generalised, it is indeed episodes like this that is the reason why this age demographic got and continues to get a bad rap and negatively stereotyped. And it is also episodes like this why environmentalists are not painted in a good light in the media sometimes. McCoy could have handled the case with more professionalism and sensitivity as well, sure a murder so brutal to a respected role in society can get to people but he didn't have to resort to insults and generalisations. This is actually one of the very few episodes of the show where it's the defense attorney that speaks the most sense. Elisabeth Rohm adds absolutely nothing to the show and doesn't look interested.

Overall, disappointing. 5/10.

Propaganda, L&O style

[Irene212 · 3/10 · 22 August 2019]

This is Jack McCoy at his worst, and one of the worst epsides of L&O. An accidental death is prosecuted with vigor because environmentalists were behind it.

Sam Waterston-- a beta-male actor whose only way to display strength in court is to shout-- presents Jack McCoy as a rank authoritarian, closed-minded and (to use the words of one of the possible perps) sanctimonious.

I'm not defending the arson behind the crime, but instead of prosecuting that accidental killing, the writers attack and ridicule environmentalism. Idiotically, they assume that there has to be a ringleader somewhere, rather than observing that the three people in custody are all acting of their own free will, and out of their own convictions. McCoy calls them stupid, and it isn't at all clear that he is insulting them for recklessness, or for their concern for our habitat. As another of the potential perps said to McCoy, "You are so out of touch."

Other L&O regulars pile on. Lenny refers to them as "Green Machine" (not sure about the noun, but he definitely smirked "green"). Serena, the A.D.A., says, "I wonder if they'll get organic vegetables at Riker's." Nora Lewin (Dianne Weist) asks why 20-year-olds are "so stupid."

What's stupid is generalizing across an entire age group. Louis Braille invented Braille writing when he was 15. Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel Peace Prize at 17. Mark Zuckerberg was 19 when he founded facebook (I didn't say all the youngsters were admirable). More to the point, it is youth who are putting environmental crimes in the headlines. In Oregon, 21 plaintiffs, ages 11 to 22, are demanding that the government fight climate change (adult lawyers, of course). At 16, Greta Thunberg is an environmental activist to be reckoned with.

All in all, a severely disappointing episode, aired in 2001, which isn't exactly ancient history. I've always admired the show for not being youth-oriented, but this episode reflects all the attitudes that have brought us to the brink of climate catastrophe. Close-minded adults, set in their ways. Only one middle-aged character (the defense attorney) cares about the environment. The makers of L&O stopped short of using the abandoned term "tree-hugger," so I suppose we can be grateful for that.