> Paula is right, that the good white guys in the end
> reassure us that there is some "ethical spine" to the
> established order. But LawNOrder also had an ambitious
> judge who wanted to ramrod a defendant into a murder
> charge (concerning a drunk) and who later became a
> candidate for D.A.
Further complicating matters, McCoy (lead assistant DA) was in direct conflict with him, but had been taking advantage of his agenda up until almost the very end. McCoy had some shady backstory with him, too.
> The implication is that the "good order" is constantly
> under attack--by the ingenuity of the criminals, the
> defenses of their lawyers, and the ambitions of those
> who can manipulate the system to be something else.
> Thus the "good" of the system emerges as the result of
> a highly fragile coterie that is constantly under
> siege. The system is "good" but it is fragile.
I think you're overstating it. All the principles question the proposition that the system is good virtually all the time. It's good mostly in contrast to the alternatives represented by the other side (though not always) but there are ALWAYS internal debates which make it obvious that there is no "good" as a unified entity - only a continuous struggle.
> ...<SNIP>...
> I note that notwithstanding the casting of LawNOrder
> women are doing pretty well as a whole in TV land.
> Particularly in ER. LawNOrder has some good women
> judges and the woman who runs the cop precinct is
> pretty smart and cool under fire. But yeah, the
> formula of the show is 3 guys and 1 babe.
True, but before, when it was 4 guys, my sister commented a number of times how remarkably un-macho it was, not just for a cop show, but for ANY ensemble of men on TV. I had to agree with her. It actually became more macho when they added a female DA.
> Hormonal
> stimulation continues to sell product for advertisers.
> At least the LawNOrder women eat. It's a wonder Sam
> Waterson hasn't broken under the continued pressure of
> maintaining professional cool and "not noticing" that
> some of Hollywood's most dynamite hot young babe
> attorneys keep "coincidentally" ending up assigned to
> him. And he's never slept with one! (on the show)
>
> Maybe he's gay. But we're not ready for that.
I'm sorry, Greg, but you haven't been paying close enough attention. McCoy & Claire Kincaid had a thing going on. It was understated, but it was clearly there, a point that's been underscored on a number of occassions since via passing references.
Don't take my interpretion for it, you can check out an online interview with writer/producer Rene Balcer at http://www.wolffilms.com/interview.html, wherein it is revealed:
Q. Many clues strongly suggest there was some kind of romantic relationship going on between Claire Kincaid and Jack McCoy during seasons 5 and 6. What purpose was it for? Was it just to make the characters more realistic, or did you and/or the other writers feel that it added to the complexity of the cases - and to the subtleties of the story?
A. Yes, there was a relationship between Kincaid and Mccoy it was created for several reasons: To keep the writers and actors interested- It was consistent with the mentor relationship between McCoy and Kincaid. It gave their scenes together more juke. And I think it intrigued the audience. Keeping the audience from being bored is the writer's number one duty.
But, then, the fact that it was there, but subtle enough that you missed it -- that's just another indication of the quality of the show.
-- Paul Rosenberg Reason and Democracy rad at gte.net
"Let's put the information BACK into the information age!"