BY CRIME WATCHER

I did something the other day I hadn’t done in a long time. I said to myself “Oh, Law & Order’s on…” and flipped to NBC. The show, in its 18th season, or something, had long ago lost real “stop and watch” appeal to me. It wasn’t just the boring characters like DA Branch and ADA Southerlyn or the fact the whole “ripped from the headlines” thing had gotten old, or that I was tired of seeing Sam Waterston offer people plea bargains. It was more, well, a combination of all of the above. This season, though, I happened to come upon the show by chance when it was Det. Ed Green’s farewell episode. I stopped and watched to see what his big secret was, and I was impressed by how the series seemed to have some juice. I tried on a few other episodes and it seemed to me my accusation- that L&O had been murdered by being run into the ground - may have been premature. Obejection overruled. The show is kind of cool this season.

Let’s look at the cop angle first. I have say, I like Jesse L. Martin (Green) a lot, but, let’s face it, when the guy who was originally the handsome new young cop has been on the show for 198 episodes, it’s maybe time to move along. And we’ve obviously not seen the last of multi-talented Martin on the screen. So, I was ready to say goodbye. I can’t say I was overly excited by how his big controversial exit actually petered out to his playing knight in shining armor, but Green at least left on a note consistent with his overall character. I’d been overly annoyed if he turned out to be a big loser or got shot or something. And the episode featured a shout out to the late great Det. Briscoe. Nice.

Before he left though, it seems Green got a new partner- Jeremy Sisto as Lupo (isn’t that like ’wolf’…like a guy who gets his prey, or maybe like Dick Wolf?). Lupo entered the fray in another episode I saw- as something of a rogue cop, coming in from intelligence detail out of the country. He’s called back when his brother is killed or ends up dead at least. The episode in which he is introduced, which I happened to see after the one where he loses Green as his partner, was also an episode where the mystery was sort of cool and twisty.

As Lupo, Sisto is good- he’s kind of brooding, but at the same time, eager, and I’ve gotten over the fact he has such a weirdly deep voice to go with his Christian Slater-like face. Lupo is a good new cop and, unlike Cordova of last year (no offense to the actress), he seems like a real detective. And Sisto can definitely step up to be the leading man. I wish they had gone a little easier with the cloak and dagger backstory, if I have any complaint.

The other new addition is Anthony Anderson as Det. Bernard. Bernard begins his tour in the Green exit episode as an IA guy. Then, in one of those common L&O universe deals where a character shows up on an episode with another detail, impresses the squad commander, and so gets requested and becomes a regular. Bernard and Lupo work a little together in his first appearance, even, and the chemistry is good. Like Lupo, Bernard comes across as a real detective, maybe more savvy than Lupo even. Anderson is good here, too. I like his character’s backstory better than Lupo’s. And I like that he’s picking up the sarcastic detective torch passed from Logan to Briscoe to Fontana.

Watching over all is of course the inimitable Anita Van Buren played for three hundred plus episodes by the inimitable S. Epatha Merkeson. She had some nice stuff to do with the departing Green, maybe the young cop she most mentored. It will be interesting to see her deal with her two new guys, and if her mentoring chops get an even greater work out.

In the law area, there seems to be even more revitalization. Sam Waterston’s McCoy has done the show wonders by taking over as the actual D.A. This has three great effects on the show: it gives McCoy new things to do- he’s a mentor and a politician now; it gives us a new ADA, Cutter (Linus Roache) whom we’ve never seen in action; and it gets rid of the formerly dead airtime which was anytime Fred Thompson was on doing his impersonation of a guy reading cue cards. (Oh, that’s harsh….). So now when the DA is on, he’s doing something other than offering platitudes- he’s coaching his new guy. And when the ADA is strategizing or prosecuting in court, we’re not sure what to expect. Linus Roache is a breath of fresh ADA air. We also have the benefit of Alan De La Garza who carries off the pretty-but-professional thing that all the ADA assistants on L&O are asked to do. She isn’t Ross-seasoned or Carmichael-tough or Kincaid- idealistic; she’s got her own contemporary career woman thing going. She’s solid.

And then there are the stories. To be honest, I’ve yet to see a whole episode straight through,but I’ve enjoyed the three mysteries I’ve seen in parts. And a good mystery, in my opinion, is key to a good episode of L&O. To see good mysteries combined by a revamped and effective cast? Even better.

So I’m going to tune back into L&O again, at least on ocassion. It even has a shot of becoming my favorite of the franchise since Criminal Intent seems to have gone off the character trauma deep end this year (note to Warren Leight: a little of that goes a very very long way) and SVU, well, SVU has always been off the character trauma deep end. “In this episode, a guy with a personal grudge against one of the cops endangers another one of the cops while another cop’s relative shows up and the other cops’ partnership is threatened and another cop might lose his badge…” But those are other reviews for another time. Bottom line here: check in on L&O, and see what you think. It get back on your “stop and watch” list, too.