Law & Order (TV Series) Fixed (2004) User Reviews

Public Service Homicide

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 7 September 2013]

Other than Paul Newman playing Fast Eddie Felson in The Hustler and The Color Of Money with a 25 year gap between those two feature films, I can't think of any players doing their roles 14 years apart as David Groh and Marcia Jean Kurtz as those battering and battered Lowensteins in different episodes of Law And Order 14 years apart.

Back in 1990 in an episode based on the Joel Steinberg case, David Groh was found guilty and went to prison for the murder of his little daughter and child abuse of his son. Marcia Jean Kurtz repeats her role as the battered spouse for whom the question of guilt and complicity still remain.

As Jacob Lowenstein, David Groh is run down in the street and Accident Investigation leaves no doubt this was quite deliberate. He loses a leg and eventually dies.

But even a public service homicide, a phrase I heard cops use about certain victims in real life, Jesse Martin and Dennis Farina still have to find the doer. It turns out to be a prison therapist Tracy Thorne who believes that Groh was conning her to get release. She's got good reason to think that it is so and she decides to do something about it.

No doubt she's one appealing defendant and Sam Waterston is going to have one huge task to get any jury to find her guilty.

You'll have to see this 14 year gap sequel to find out. It's an episode worth the wait.

Citizens may not take the law into their own hands.

[Mrpalli77 · 9/10 · 14 December 2017]

Before a primary school, a man just paroled (David Groh) was run over by a SUV; he lost the right leg as a result. He had just spent fifteen years in jail for murder and paedophilia; he always claimed himself innocent even if there were compelling evidences against him (the jury found him guilty of killing his step-daughter). Shortly after jailtime, he started a relationship with a girl who had two kids on her own. His prison therapist was really at anger because she realized that the system failed towards him, so she resigned from the office and she tried to prevent him from doing harm to his new step-daughter. While her guilty seemed out of the question (the SUV belonged to her and victim DNA was found on the bumper), the point is to determine if she freaked out at the time of the murder of if she planned everything before. Be ready for the twist ending.

The plot didn't convince me enterily. How could a mother (a cute young girl, by the way) let a convicted pedophile take care of her own childen? Not even a junkie could do such a thing. Despite that, I find the episode quite enjoyable.

Continuity? What Continuity?

[rrakoczy · 2/10 · 14 July 2015]

One has to wonder if anybody involved in the production of "Law & Order" even bothered to watch the original episode for which "Fixed" is based. Not a single character or plot point properly follows the continuity of "Indifference." This includes: 1) Did the lawyers even read the case file? At one point, one of the District Attorneys mentions that Dr. Jacob Lowenstein pleaded to first degree manslaughter, which is why he was out on the street so early. They even go so far as to say that they offered a plea because they didn't want to "gamble" on the jury. Of course, anyone who saw the original episode knows that the jury convicted Dr. Lowenstein to second degree murder, for which he was sentenced to 25 years to life.

2) Why is Jacob Lowenstein even out of jail? He was sentenced to 25 years, yet he was out in less than 15! Actually, this one is easily answered: The real life Lowenstein, Joel Steinberg, was convicted of manslaughter and was released in 2004 for good behavior. This episode aired in 2006,which of course, fits with "Law & Order's" penchant for "ripped from the headlines" stories.

3) Why did they whitewash the role of the mother? The episode makes it sound like Jacob Lowenstein went around abusing children on his own, when the original episode is very clear that Carla Lowenstein killed her daughter in reaction to her own abuse. Did everyone forget Det. Logan's heartfelt story of the abuse he received from his own mother? She received manslaughter as part of her own role in the murder of her daughter, and yet the episode makes it sound like she was merely a victim.

4) Why does Jacob Lowenstein act so strange? Did David Groh even watch his old performance? The Dr. Lowenstein in this episode acts more like Marlon Brando meets Woody Allen than the narcissistic monster we saw 10 years earlier. The videotaped interview shown during the trial has him acting in a manner that is completely unrecognizable from the character he portrayed 15 years earlier.

5) Why are the police officers making stuff up? Captain Cragan's rant about how heinous Lowenstein is involves almost no truth. "Tied to the radiator?" When did that happen? "When we got to Carla her jaw was so swollen she could barely talk." Was this before or after she killed her daughter? The Lowenstein's were bad people, no need to alter plot points to fit the new narrative. Cragan's glee in describing the crime in new ways sounds like he's been spending too much time over at SVU.

In the end, "Fixed" is a disappointing bookend to one of "Law & Order's" most well respected episodes. It's a sequel that had no reason to be made.

If it ain't broke don't fix it

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 27 July 2022]

Season 15's "Fixed" is a follow up from Season 1's "Indifference", where we see the return fourteen years later of the supporting characters it centered around. That episode is an outstanding one and one of the best of that season. On first watch, "Fixed" was one of those nothing special episodes with a couple too many things that didn't ring true. While Season 15 was an uneven season, it did have plenty of good and more episodes.

"Fixed" isn't one of them. Actually found it one of the season's weakest episodes and one of the most frustrating, as this was one of the episodes that should have worked. As a 'Law and Order' episode, it is pretty wanting with the things that were not buyable on first watch still being there and more irksome this time round. As a follow up to "Indifference", it had pointless and why did they even bother written all over it. Watchable but nothing special as an overall episode, but pretty much a mess as a follow up.

There are good things about "Fixed". It is a slickly made episode, the editing especially having come on quite a bit from when the show first started (never was it a problem but it got more fluid with each episode up to this stage). The music is sparingly used and never seemed melodramatic, the theme tune easy to remember as usual. The direction is sympathetic enough without being too low key on the whole.

Very little to fault with the performances, almost all the regulars doing everything they can with what they're given which they are above. The supporting actors make a bigger impression, despite having issues with the way Lowenstein is written this time round Dave Groh is suitably reptilian. Marcia Jean Kurtz and Tracy Thorne are affecting in their roles and this is a case of despite not condoning the defendant's actions their viewpoint is understood in a way.

However, there is too much wrong here. And it is not just that it not only doesn't feel like the writers remembered what made the show so great at its best and remembered what made "Indifference" the outstanding episode that it was, but it was like they forgot it even existed. That's how vastly inferior it is, continuity is practically non-existent and it was like the events of that episode had been re-written. Not just the events but the characters as well, Lowenstein for example is too neurotic this time. But there is more to the problem than that it fails as a sequel.

Also found it a very bland episode on its own terms too. Tension and suspense is pretty much nil, both in the routine policing and the rather thin and less than taut legal scenes, and the emotion isn't there either. There is nothing surprising going on in the story and some of the story felt implausible even, for a mother to be that clueless about a convicted felon's past and be so trusting of him was one major credibility stretch too far and that did bring the episode down a lot. The dialogue lacks edge and tightness and it is really amazing at how Southerlyn lasted as long as she did in this show because she added absolutely nothing to it.

Summing up, disappointing and pointless. See "Indifference" instead to see how classic 'Law and Order' is done. 5/10.