The most fascinating thing about the L&O finale

[23skidoo]

I tuned in last night to bid Law & Order farewell. I know it wasn't produced as a finale episode, but it still worked quite well, I thought.

During the episode, they went into CSI mode, using computers to enhance a photograph in order to find a clue. This actually surprised me a little, because they never used to rely on tech so much, but I thought, heck, L&O influenced so many shows in its day it's inevitable it, in turn, would be influenced by CSI.

And the it occurred to me, that back in 1990 when the series started, such technology was considered science-fiction! We actually have experienced a case where a series lasted so long that technology considered either the stuff of SF, or at least future-thinking scientists, back when it started, was now considered commonplace as the show ended! (Not just the computer photo thing either -- the cell phones, too, as well as the Internet being a major part of the plot. There was no Internet per se back in 1990 and cell phones were the size of bricks.)

Alex

 

[Marc]

the 27th Precinct has come a long way from the IBM PS/2 that would sit in the corner of the squad room and seldom used

 

[bigdaddy]

I like to think of the show is...

When it started I have a friend who was 10 months old.

 

[ATimson]

I tuned in last night to bid Law & Order farewell. I know it wasn't produced as a finale episode, but it still worked quite well, I thought.

It worked as a good farewell to the characters, but I don't think it was a good finale. The episode was pretty much devoid of the courtroom...

...but then, so was the pilot. So I guess it's fitting, in a way.

Still wish we could have seen McCoy's threatened prosecution and civil suit. It would have been glorious.

 

[DonnyBaker]

Yeah,
It was alright. But I was hoping they would do something dramatic like have them all get blown up in a bomb at the courthouse. Not the school cause that would have only taken out the Lupo and the Fat black guy from Transformers 1. But they could have killed them all off at a big Oklahoma City style bomb on the courthouse. That woulda been a heck of a way to go out on a bang.

 

[Starbreaker]

McCoy sure had a great last rant. That was Emmy worthy stuff right there.

 

[Kira's Mom]

I'm going to miss McCoy's rants.

 

[Christopher]

Yeah,
It was alright. But I was hoping they would do something dramatic like have them all get blown up in a bomb at the courthouse. Not the school cause that would have only taken out the Lupo and the Fat black guy from Transformers 1. But they could have killed them all off at a big Oklahoma City style bomb on the courthouse. That woulda been a heck of a way to go out on a bang.

Seeing as how L&O has never been about a specific set of characters, it wouldn't really have made sense for the end of the series to focus on a conclusive (let alone cataclysmic) ending for the specific group of characters that happens to be filling the stock roles at the moment. That wouldn't really have been a resolution to L&O, because there are so many other characters whose stories have already been resolved or who have just moved on to other jobs. It's not the kind of show that should have a decisive ending. It's about the process of fighting crime in New York City. That's not a story with an endpoint. I didn't see the finale -- I didn't realize it was this week -- but I say the way to end L&O is in the same vein as the episodic, continuity-light '60s and '70s shows whose tradition it continued: with just another episode, same as any other. Even if the show isn't on anymore, the story implicitly continues.

 

[Nathan_Heller]

I missed it. What happened with Lt. Van Buren and her cancer?

 

[ATimson]

I missed it. What happened with Lt. Van Buren and her cancer?

It's in remission.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Also,

Spoiler: the Law & Order finale, if anyone cares about spoilers here.

Lt. Van Buren got engaged to her new boyfriend played by Ernie Hudson. Imagine, Miles Dyson's wife is marrying a Ghostbuster.

Still wish we could have seen McCoy's threatened prosecution and civil suit. It would have been glorious.

It would have been a glorious victory that even the Klingons would be singing songs about it for generations!

It's not the kind of show that should have a decisive ending. It's about the process of fighting crime in New York City. That's not a story with an endpoint.

Yeah, see, they should have had some kind of resolution to that, like ending with New York City instituting some sort of pre-cog crime provention program.

I agree that the finale should have seen more courtroom action. Cutter seemed a bit paralyzed & useless this time out. Still, the bar scene at the end was a nice sort of soft finale.

Still, I'm hoping for a reprieve for the series. Come on, TNT!

I kinda like the idea of a "rubber room." It makes me wish I belonged to a union.

 

[Star Wolf]

I kinda like the idea of a "rubber room." It makes me wish I belonged to a union.

At my local school district you first have to go through the "dance of the lemons" before you are assigned to the local equivalent of the rubber room.

The most fascinating thing was THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY yelling at the teacher telling her the union attorney wasn't going to stop him as she was moving out of a labor dispute and about to step into something she wasn't ready for.

 

[Timby]

TNT has officially passed on the series.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I kinda like the idea of a "rubber room." It makes me wish I belonged to a union.

At my local school district you first have to go through the "dance of the lemons" before you are assigned to the local equivalent of the rubber room.

Why do they have those rubber rooms in the first place? If the teachers can't be fired, why don't they just stay home?

 

[Star Wolf]

I kinda like the idea of a "rubber room." It makes me wish I belonged to a union.

At my local school district you first have to go through the "dance of the lemons" before you are assigned to the local equivalent of the rubber room.

Why do they have those rubber rooms in the first place? If the teachers can't be fired, why don't they just stay home?

Management wants them to quit. If they stayed at home and played on the Trekbbs there is no disincentive like being bored 8 hours will provide.

 

[ATimson]

Why do they have those rubber rooms in the first place? If the teachers can't be fired, why don't they just stay home?

They can't be fired without ironclad cause; not showing up for work would qualify.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

TNT has officially passed on the series.

Then I guess this is not on the level...

 

[23skidoo]

TNT has officially passed on the series.

Then I guess this is not on the level...

Look at the date on that item: April 30. I think that's even before NBC announced the cancellation! If it had been on the level, we'd have heard about it in the regular media before the finale aired.

The idea of a wrap-up movie is still alive, apparently, if there's enough demand.

Seeing as how L&O has never been about a specific set of characters, it wouldn't really have made sense for the end of the series to focus on a conclusive (let alone cataclysmic) ending for the specific group of characters that happens to be filling the stock roles at the moment. That wouldn't really have been a resolution to L&O, because there are so many other characters whose stories have already been resolved or who have just moved on to other jobs. It's not the kind of show that should have a decisive ending.

Exactly. A few odds and ends in the backstory aside, like Van Buren's cancer and the affair between Jack and Claire in the 90s, the series was the epitome of the standalone series. I'm actually not really in favor of a "true finale" TV movie, because frankly the show's strength was in the fact you could jump in at just about any point, without any need for backstory. Having the series just end, as it did - though the final scene had everyone together in a celebratory mood, which was a nice coincidence as it was intended to be Merkeson's farewell, not the show's - was perfect.

Alex

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I wonder who would have taken over for Van Buren. Eames, perhaps? (She made Captain right before she left CI)

 

[Timby]

Kathryn Erbe was axed from Criminal Intent due to budget cuts. If she was too expensive for the much more cheaply produced Criminal Intent, I highly doubt that she would have been hired onto Vanilla.

I'm pretty sure that the new "commanding officer of the detectives" character would have been filled by some mildly known B-list actor, as have nearly all the vacancies in Law & Order's history (with the notable exceptions of Dennis Farina and Jeff Goldblum).