Discuss the Mothership - the one that started it all - here!
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Hello to any new (and maybe familiar!) faces. Just a heads up: Right now, the site is new, and yes, you may notice it is single thread.
HOWEVER, if enough find us and activity grows, we can look into expanding in the future to a subforum.
Enjoy. Let’s chat!
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Original Law and Order is my all time favorite show
I’m enjoying the revival pretty good, it hasn’t reached the heights of the original 20 year run, more flaws than the older episodes, but it’s great to have the show back.
The current season has been pretty good - I loved the farewell episode for Jack McCoy, such a great exit for an iconic character. Still not exactly sure what to make of new DA Nick Baxter, but I’m giving him a chance.
I still watch the reruns of the original 20 years all the time.
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I will admit I’m not as fond of L&O 2.0, but it isn’t BAD. Still, I do watch the other 20 seasons a lot!
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The revival definitely isn’t as good as the original 20 year run, and I wish they would eliminate the foot chases, go back to the openings of people finding bodies instead of showing one of the last minutes of the victim’s life, and find a way to make the legal writing better - it seems like the DAs get caught off guard by a surprise witness or something way too often. But it’s still a good show.
What do you think of the new DA Baxter? I’m not sure whether I like him or not, I get they want to make him different from Jack McCoy, I just hope they don’t make him like the DA on the LA spin-off and have him be too obsessed with the public image of the office. I miss Jack, even in his reduced role he added a lot to the show, and he provided stability on the legal side. ADAs Price and Maroun don’t really inspire much reaction from me.
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Like you, I’m not exactly sure what to make of Nick Baxter. The political bent is a lot like Arthur Branch, though.
I do agree the writing on the court side needs tightening. It’s letting the characters on that side down.
I remember a chase or two with Briscoe, etc., too, but it was RARE. The reboot seems to rely too heavily on that, and you’re right. It’s not needed.
Either way, this and SVU have been renewed (will SVU EVER die?), so we’ll see what happens.
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On another note, Dick Wolf is now a billionaire. As Stephen Colbert revealed:
Shocked it took this long.
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Yeah the foot chases happen way too often now, it’s a minor detail but it’s annoying given that they didn’t happen often during the original run.
The biggest issue is the writing for the legal side - the DAs come off as unprepared and get caught off guard way too often. And Price/Maroun just lack personality - Maroun is one of the blandest characters in L&O history, and while I sometimes like Price he sometimes comes off as soft or gun shy. He was irritating in Baxter’s first episode when he acted like he needed his hand held and was constantly panicking over Baxter.
We still know nothing about Baxter, I would like a reference as to what he did, where he worked at before being named DA. I don’t think they will make Baxter unlikable but I hope they dial back the conflicts between Baxter/Price, that has gotten old already. With time we will see how well Baxter fits in but he’s stepping into impossible shoes.
I loved Jack’s last episode, it was a treat to see him back in court again and his exit was very strong and very fitting, L&O’s exits have been a mixed bag as you know but Jack got one of the best.
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I kind of figured Sam/Jack was never back for good. I was surprised he was around for as long as he was! Sam’s a GREAT actor, but age catches up with all of us. I know he says he plans to keep acting, but maybe the shooting schedule for L&O got to be too much or something.
But Jack will be missed.
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Yeah I knew Sam/Jack wouldn’t stick around forever, given his age. He still provided a very stabilizing presence on the legal side - even in his limited role, he carried the legal scenes. And it’s great they got him back in the courtroom for his exit - it was very well done. I was nervous they would screw up his exit given the inconsistency of the writers and how they trashed Jamie Ross for no reason, but they did great with Jack.
There’s no replacing Jack, I just hope Baxter settles in soon and there’s less conflict with him, there’s usually some conflict when a new character joins and they are clearly trying to make Baxter different from Jack, but hopefully things become smoother with him going forward.
I love the detective side of the show right now, Shaw and Riley are a really good pairing that play off of each other nicely, Riley has been a great addition, much more likable than Cosgrove even though Cosgrove did grow on me a lot in season 22. I wish they would give Dixon a bit more to do.
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I liked last night’s episode pretty good and I thought Baxter was good in it, I’m hopeful Baxter has settled in now, I liked that there wasn’t conflict with him and things seemed smoother. Maroun was getting on my nerves, she was too sympathetic to the defendant and didn’t seem like she was going to do her job until Price called a recess and gave her a wake up call. I lost all sympathy for the defendant when she tried to use the baby as a bargaining chip to get off with a slap on the wrist for the murder and I was glad Baxter was having none of it.
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Mehcad Brooks continues to impress me. He was a great addition to the cast.
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Agreed - I really like Shaw, he’s a great character. Riley is great as well IMO, and I think Mehcad Brooks and Reid Scott play off of each other very well
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I have 37 unwatched episodes in my que. Brisco and Greene are my alltime favorite team, Jerry is funny, and Greene is pleasant on the eyes.
I saw the new series and couldn’t believe how awful Hugh Dancy looks. He was so much more handsome in his younger days, now he looks like a guy who went thru a carwash and forgot to roll up his windows.
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I just think Price is written as too weak. And I have no problem with Hugh Dancy on principle, but his ADA doesn’t seem like the overworked, underpaid servant. Nolan Price seems like he’d fit in at a high-end law office.
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I alternate between liking and disliking Nolan Price- sometimes I think he’s a strong lawyer, other times he comes off as soft/indecisive. He’s had some good episodes, but he’s had moments of looking weak as well. It’s hard though for any L&O prosecutor to follow in the footsteps of Jack McCoy though - both Jack and Ben Stone for that matter were so great in the courtroom that it’s hard for others to measure up to that level of excellence.
Maroun is getting on my nerves some, she’s starting to remind me of Serena, sort of disagreeable and overly sympathetic to the defense. She’s the weakest link in the current cast IMO - she was getting on my nerves in this week’s episode, she shouldn’t have needed a wake up call from Price to do her job properly.
I don’t dislike Price/Maroun as strongly as some, but they lack energy much of the time and just don’t add a big spark to their scenes. Jack carried the legal side in his scenes, and Baxter has a commanding personality as well.
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Sam Waterston and Martin Sheen [who starred together in Grace & Frankie) visit the site of The Gettysburg Address. Of note, Sam Waterston once played Abraham Lincoln; Martin Sheen also once played Robert E. Lee.
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Interesting premise of tonight’s episode of the Mothership, but I found it hard to believe that the DAs went to trial with such flimsy evidence, and the witness mistaking the female killer for a man was stretching things - he was a very shaky witness all along and the DAs going to trial mainly on his ID wasn’t smart IMO - especially given the nature of the case.
The detective side remains better than the legal side, although I’m liking Baxter more now, he’s settled in nicely and I enjoyed his scenes tonight, and we finally got some background on him which was nice. I like that they are giving Baxter more scenes than they gave Jack usually, it was clear Sam couldn’t be in as many scenes due to his age.
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The female being mistaken for a male was just stretching beyond belief.
But I think that - as an example - is my problem with this revival. The show would rather have GOTCHA! moments that defy plausibility instead of just showing a compelling case. Sure, the original 20 seasons had twists, but not EVERY FREAKING EPISODE.
TPTB need to remember the old adage of less is more.
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I agree with that, all too often on the legal side they want to have some big twist happen even if it doesn’t make a lot of logical sense, it’s why the legal side is weaker. The detective side is really good - Shaw and Riley are an excellent pairing and that stuff flows smoothly and works well, it’s the legal side where they all too often try to have twists that either make the DAs look sloppy or don’t make much sense. The witness not realizing that the killer was a woman was very hard to believe tonight, and given how weak his ID was I had trouble believing that the DAs would go to trial with such a shaky case.
That being said, even with the Mothership’s flaws - it’s a billion times better than SVU - what a shitshow SVU is now, it’s just painful to watch, it’s nothing but a melodramatic soap opera designed to make Olivia Benson look like a holy figure. I have no idea why I watch it anymore, it’s complete garbage. At least the Mothership is case centric, has minimal personal crap and is a lot more interesting than the St Olivia soap opera
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