Law & Order (TV Series) Fluency (2005) User Reviews

That Ferris wheel scene just popped into my head.

[Mrpalli77 · 7/10 · 15 December 2017]

A young boy was taken to the hospital due to high fever; he died shortly after. Detectives were surprised forensics called them for what seemed out of their jurisdiction; actually there had been several other victims connected to a vaccine. Due to a shortage in flu vaccine, local doctors bought it from suppliers not so reliable. Detectives needed much time to reach the top of the pyramid; anyway a warehouse by the sea contained a lot of packages of the fake vaccine (it was actually a saline solution). The perp (Robert Sedgwick) was locked up and the defense attorney at first claimed the warrant was not regular, because of the wrong address written in the paper. McCoy, with the support of the new assistant, managed to get above this technicality, but at trial anything could happen.

"The Third Man": a classic movie quoted during trial by McCoy: he wanted us (as well as the jurors) to believe that the defendant considered people such as dots you can see from the top of a ferris wheel. His new assistant was not as stubborn as Southerlyn, she still has to learn.

Solid fluency

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 27 July 2022]

A lot of episodes in the 'Law and Order' franchise have at least one interest point. "Fluency's" is that it is the first episode of Alexandra Borgia. Personally did like her, though she didn't get enough time on the show to develop properly. Her personality may not have been as strong as Ross or especially Carmichael, but she at least had personality and a charming and professional one unlike Southerlyn, who inexplicably lasted a lot longer.

"Fluency" was a promising introduction to Borgia and is a solid episode overall. Solid enough to get rid of enough of the bad taste the ending of the previous episode "Ain't No Love" gave. It isn't great, with it being at its weakest in the final third, or one of the best episodes of an up and down Season 15. It is also not one of the worst. Somewhere around solid middle, and that it even addressed this touchy subject is worth applauding in itself.

So much is good. As always, it's 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.

The script pulls no punches yet is also careful to not be on too much of one side. The story is a little ordinary to begin with but it quickly becomes eventful and twisty without feeling rushed or muddled. Some nice tension here too and the moral dilemmas of the case are intriguingly and honestly handled. The performances are all fine, Sam Waterston is the regular standout but Annie Parrisse makes a charming first impression and personally liked it that she wasn't stubborn (which sometimes went too far with Southerlyn). Robert Sedgwick unsettles. The interaction is natural and has the right amount of tension.

It is a shame though that the final third brings things down. Do agree that it was too heavy handed, over spelled out and obvious and also that the cross examination was clumsily done and improbable. Just found it hard to buy that someone so cunning would act the way they did just like that.

Did think that it was on the ordinary side to begin, but that was not as big an issue. Also found the ending on the rushed side when trying to have too much information in too little time.

Concluding, solid episode and was actually to me very good indeed until it lost its way in the final third. 7/10.

Dots from the height of a ferris wheel

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 26 June 2020]

This Law And Order episode which introduces Annie Parisse as Sam Waterston's new second chair has to do with the relevent and timely topic of an epidemic. There is a flu epidemic going on and a shortage of the new vaccine apropos for this strain.

A drug representative gets a quantity of bogus saline solution that is passed off as vaccine and 19 people die. Dennis Farina and Jesse Martin go up a food chain of criminality to find the source which is Robert Sedgwick.

Sedgwick is some piece of work as he disclaims all responsibility. Sam Waterston has a devastating cross examination using an analogy from the classic film The Third Man.

Sedgwick was truly a New York version of Harry Lime.

New ADA Borgia and A Ham-Handed Tribute to The Third Man

[kdspringer-72759 · 5/10 · 17 March 2021]

This episode is ostensibly about a counterfeiter who makes and dstributes a fake flu vaccine during an epidemic when the real vaccine is hard to come by. Sitting here in my 60s, but still not eligible for the Covid vaccine, this held particular interest for me. Fortunately, I haven't heard any tales of counterfeit Covid vaccine.

But this is a review, not a recap, so I will leave it to the viewer to see how that is all resolved. Instead, I want to comment on two elements on this episode.

The first is the introduction of the new ADA, Alexandra Borgia, after the unceremonial firing of ADA Southerlyn in the previous episode. Personally, I think this was handled excellently. They quickly established that she is personable, professional, smart, and no pushover. They also established that she IS a rookie in the big-time homicide prosecution biz, and still has some things to learn. Full disclosure: ADA Borgia was my favorite ADA in the entire L&O run, so that might color my review here.

Less well handled was the obvious parallel of this plot and the plot in the great classic film, The Third Man, starring Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles. I think this was probably tough for the writers, as they could not be sure how many viewers had seen this underrated film and would immediately recognize the parallels. Still, I think they handled this very ham-handedly by pretty much spelling out every detail of that film in an extremely improbable courtroom cross examination. Why the perp would ever admit that he was so familiar with that film makes zero sense - he should have denied all knowledge of it. I found the whole thing hard to watch without cringing.

Anyway, that brings down what would otherwise have been a 7 star or even an 8 star episode, to a mere five stars. If you've never seen The Third Man, then you might like this episode better that I did. But in that case . . . I recommend just watching The Third Man instead.

Extremely over charged as feliny, goofs are noted under goofs

[evony-jwm · 1/10 · 15 March 2021]

Major murder felony charged.. the weakest felony reckless involuntary manslaughter aka typically accidental (sometimes driving) does require reasonable knowledge caused said death.. flu shots don't cure all, nor do flu shots guarantee no resulting death. Charges on the fake vaccines for all would never have risen above misdemeanor for any in this unbelievable episode that requires suspension of reasoning. Nearly unwatchable