Law & Order (TV Series) Free Speech (2022) User Reviews

So many holes that you could drive a bus through!

[Stone-Author · 5/10 · 8 April 2022]

I am really pleased that L&O is back but thus episode was really, really weak. The good old right vs left is really pushed in this episode and it missed the mark.

The holes in the plot were massive! If I was on that jury I wouldn't have found him guilty. He said some stuff that some don't agree with and somebody acted on it. Is the guy responsible?

Time to stop using the right as a punching bag and start being a little fairer. Not everybody on the right is bad, they might hold views we don't agree with but stop making them total cranks. It doesn't do anybody any justice.

That's coming from somebody pretty Liberal.

High Hopes Dashed!

[kimberon9 · 5/10 · 8 April 2022]

I love everything Law and Order. This revival falls flat. I keep watching and find myself disappointed every episode. The characters don't have the same rapport as before. Where's Briscoe when you need him? Yea.

Free Speech

[bobcobb301 · 6/10 · 9 April 2022]

A lot of unnecessary shots at conservatives, but what can you do, that is TV to today.

The episode just felt underwhelming. Counterpart SVU just had a nearly identical episode about a right wing host but did a better job.

Free pizza

[safenoe · 6/10 · 19 December 2023]

Seasoned imdb users can measure how explosive or provocative a certain episode is by the massive spike in imdb user votes and imdb user reviews, and Free Speech you could see a mile away as being in this category.

This episode, Free Speech, was based on many political events, and the pizzagate conspiracy in DC would have been one of them. I know Free Speech will divide for sure, but that's the price of free speech to borrow from the title. Anyway, Free Speech ain't for everyone, and I think the jigsaw puzzle approach of trying fit all the political real-life headlines together was a bit clumsy although well intentioned.

do y'all understand tv bc evidence suggests no

[Chanel_and_gucci12 · 9/10 · 15 September 2022]

Tv has quite literally always been a commentary on current societal and political issues. All the way back to original Doctor Who in the 60's. If you don't want to be confronted with the things that need to be changed in the world, may I suggest Cocomelon? Also, and this might be news to y'all, but Dick Wolf is, and has been, bff's with the NYPD. Y'all are barking up the wrong tree if you're gonna start to accuse that man of being against the police or "woke".

I, for one, LOVE the new season. As an avid watcher of all the Dick Wolf shows available to me, I wasn't disappointed with the reboot. I especially love Mr. Anthony Anderson (though I tend to love him in pretty much anything he's in, back to Kangaroo Jack and Transformers) and the dynamic he has with his new partner. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to watch all of the original Law & Order because it's not all on Peacock so I might not be completely aware of all the past relationships and issues; however, the reboot is presented in a way that someone who hasn't seen a minute of any Wolf show would be able to enjoy. Props to the writers. I'm excited to see where it goes (and about upcoming crossovers with the two current Law & Order shows running).

Competent, but . . .

[fayremead · 6/10 · 8 April 2022]

There is nothing technically wrong with "Free Speech" or the earlier Season 21 Law & Order episodes. There is just more that could be right. The character of Frank Cosgrove (Jeffrey Donovan) needs the most improvement. Donovan performs intensely, projecting a stern demeanour somewhat reminiscent of Rey Curtis (the underrated Benjamin Bratt) in the mid-to-late 1990s. But Bratt always brought at least a hint of warmth to his character, enough so that Rey came across as a loving family man. Frank is also known to be raising a family; unfortunately, for all we know so far his kids don't see much love in him. In other ways Season 21 has yet to rise above the more routine Law & Order episodes of past seasons.

A Waste of Talent.

[ecastonguay1 · 1/10 · 9 April 2022]

Individually, I like the actors playing the detectives, but they have awful chemistry together on the show. The actors playing the attorneys are not very good. The show is so obviously political and one-sided that it takes all of the fun out of watching it. Using today's headlines to inspire a show is fine, but brow-beating the audience into how they need to react to them is not.

BEST EPISODE EVER

[PlexJunkie · 10/10 · 8 April 2022]

You could insert the name Alex Jones or another QAnon extremist and this episode would fit perfectly. However, if you are extremely sensitive and trigger easily you may not want to watch this episode.

One-sided as always yet...

[bonheura · 6/10 · 19 November 2023]

A candidate to Congres is murdered. He was being the victim of a smear campaign, when actually he was Mr. Perfect: married with kids, no defaults, no past dirt, nothing.

Spoiler: he was killed by a lunatic who believed he was a pedophile, and we discover that it all came from fake pics posted on QAnon-like social media. And guess what: the lunatic hangs himself while in prison!

Because it's L&O and because it's Dick Wolf's, it's once again the bad Right against the nice Left.

But I enjoyed the show nevertheless. The detectives are reliable, the attorneys too, and of course there's Jack McCoy, whom I just vener.

The most problematic is actually the big plot holes. Wolf is becoming lazy with these stories, which turn out to be very hard to believe. Too bad. Decent show though, just not as good as it used to be.

So disappointed in this reboot

[heatherdietel · 1/10 · 8 April 2022]

I was a huge Law & Order fan for 20 seasons and was excited for the return. I've been cringing at most of the episodes and find myself turning them off and not even finishing. This one was the last straw. I can't give a full review because I turned it off after they pulled the right winger in for questioning. Good gosh. Can we just have a normal damn crime to solve and stop with the left vs right BS. It's exhausting.

I'd like to give it a 0, but I'll give it a 1. Thumbs down.

Great episode!!!

[vcombs-57175 · 10/10 · 9 April 2022]

Relevant topic and fascinating case. What is the definition of free speech? The first episode of this season was disappointing but each episode has improved in plot and suspense. I'm hoping this revival is renewed for a second season.

Had high hopes...

[mv171661 · 3/10 · 10 April 2022]

I was so looking forward to this series coming back. Why am I not surprised that it's boring and woke. Can't we have any shows that aren't about racism or politics?

Hope to Warm Up to Cosgrove

[shelbythuylinh · 8/10 · 10 April 2022]

Really Bernard has mellowed out a bit. But hope that Jeffrey Donovan's Frank Cosgrove in a case over the First Amendment and how a political Congress candidate is mowed down by a huge bus.

As he was pushed after he was on a sleazy talk show host's radio as the latter promised to be respectful but firm. Still the candidate, a married father of three there is murdered and everybody is a suspect.

Lt. Dixon reminds me of Van Buren there. As she is firm but has a motherly tone.

Love ADA's Price and Mauron not just great lawyers but seems to be good people. Something that Jack McCoy in his younger years was a great lawyer but at times, a horrific human being.

Epic Fail NBC and Dick Wolf

[fullsailor1 · 1/10 · 8 April 2022]

This reboot of Law and Order is horrible. Have watched 3 episodes and have been very disappointed. Won't be watching anymore. The actors are lackluster probably because the scripts aren't any good. Too bad. SO sad. Another junk reboot bites the dust.

Worst episode of the new season, but that's a low bar

[madorosh · 2/10 · 8 April 2022]

I was excited beyond words to hear that Law and Order was coming back, and gave the show the benefit of the doubt through the first four episodes. The writing was a little flat and the characters all seem tired with little chemistry between them. But the stories were ok and the idea of L&O appealed even if the actual program seemed to have lost its lustre.

This episode has convinced me you can't go home again. Stereotypical evil right wingers may have smacked of "ripped from the headlines" to the writers, but there wasn't a single surprise or twist in this one. None of this episode seemed like anything but dialogue written only to service the plot. McCoy gives the go ahead to try a legal leap of faith, but legal strategies that would be suicidal to actually try have become weekly occurences now.

The show needs some fresh writers who can draw characters as something else than just political talking points.

So disappointing

[jaygc70-575-865059 · 1/10 · 12 April 2022]

I had high hopes for the return of law and order. I loved the old episodes. This is a terrible version of the old series. Only concerned about pushing political views.

Left wing drivel

[cstruvemd · 1/10 · 14 April 2022]

First off both sides suck. Those of us in the middle think the 10% on each end are just bat s*** crazy. That is the context of the my main complaint with this episode. When she says that it would be as big as convicting Trump of the Jan 6 deaths that is just too far. You didnt even try the cop who literally killed someone negligently. Absolute insanity. Keep the politics off the show (or at least show some class) or you will lose a viewer (or a couple of million).

NOT EVEN CLOSE TO THE ORIGINAL

[jasonbrier · 1/10 · 18 April 2022]

I have watched EVERY episode of L & O. I started watching the first season. I'm not going to rehash what all the other reviews have said. All I can say is that the series should not have destroyed the original recipe. We DO NOT want to see divided politics in future episodes.

Way to try to divide us more, L&O!

[lifeisgood110 · 1/10 · 11 April 2022]

I couldn't even finish this episode. In other seasons of L&O there is a pretty decent balance between issues on either "sides" of the isle, even though it does lean more on the left generally. But this episode was rank & so in-your-face with PC wokeness. In a time where people are so divided, it's like this episode's goal was to make it even worse. I tried to like this new season, but that is the last I will watch of it. Sticking with the older seasons and re-watching them for the hundredth time.

Original L&0 lasted 20 seasons. Betting this reboot won't last 20 episodes.

[patsette · 1/10 · 14 April 2022]

It is impossible to overstate how awful this once fine show has become.

The writing in the original respected the intelligence of the viewer, and in the vast majority of cases, the court room scenes resembled reality. But in the reboot, the judges let the prosecution spout lengthy screeds - laboriously spelling things out for the viewer - while the defense sits there passively.

The characters are wooden, unlikeable and don't mesh. How sad to see Jeffrey Donovan, so competent and enjoyable in Burn Notice, now totally out of his depth with a serious role.

And with this episode, Free Speech, the transformation of the program into a comic book is now complete. I was waiting to see POW! And ZOOM! Appear across some of the scenes, as the triumphal liberals trounced the villainous "right wing." It's a last ditch attempt, I suppose, to find some audience somewhere for this awful show. Actually, we watched the whole thing for laughs. But that gets old fast. We're done.

Talk About Destroying A Great Show !

[nj_tx · 1/10 · 24 April 2022]

I've watched the first 5 episodes of the reboot and it can only sum it up as total garbage which is a shame after 20 seasons that were excellent and some of the best TV in my life. Conservatives are devils, Liberals are always in the right and every single part of the liberal agenda is to be supported. Mr. Wolf had best get hold of his senses or the 21st season won't make it to the end. What a waste.

L&O 2.0 utterly unwatchable.

[Joseph-Molion · 1/10 · 15 April 2022]

Remember when this show walked the line between left, right & center, and mainly kept it apolitical?

Yeah, no more.

Every episode since the return has stepped further and further into wokeism and it's' ridiculously offensive to anyone who is right leaning, unapologetically so.

I'm done. If Dick Wolf knows what's good for him, he'd be done too. This show is woke hot dumpster fire level garbage.

Garbage politics

[gertdoggy · 1/10 · 17 April 2022]

No not every crime has to be committed by some small faction right wing loon or some BLM terrorist. Somehow this reboot thinks it is though. The writers should be ashamed of them self. They can not even get their narratives accurate.

It's a shame there isn't a 0

[hayesmikiet · 1/10 · 9 May 2022]

This show is a pathetic cliche. Every woke partisan subject is front and center and presented in the most biased manner possible. The writers are clearly a bunch of basement dwelling propaganda pushers - clearly desperate to sway public opinion. Done trying to give it a chance. Had high hopes that Jeffrey Donovan could rescue it - perhaps undo the tedious myopic arrogance of Anthony Anderson. But the writing is too bad. This episode is the worst yet - so sickeningly slanted - to the extent that it adulterates the characters and paints them as partisan hacks that can't be trusted to fairly interpret or prosecute the law.

Of course it's a "QANON" storyline because the only people obsessed with qanon are leftists.

[CKM22 · 1/10 · 4 May 2022]

I had high hopes when Law & Order came back, the storylines were a little clumsy but I liked the characters and I though maybe they were actually making an attempt to avoid ridiculous blue-anon talking points. But nope, they had to go right into a qanon storyline, something that every leftist I've interacted with seems to know more about than any righty I talk to.

Despite the stupidity of the episode I watched until the statement "would be as big as convicting Trump of the Jan 6 murders" which is utterly ridiculous since the only murders that took place on January 6th were at the hands of capital police and they weren't charged. What an absolutely stupid bit of writing this whole episode was.

I've always really liked Jeffrey Donovan, how can he let himself be a part of such low bar writing? What an embarrassment.