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 jamiebambernews
 asta77 | |
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 "Broken" written by Emilia di GirolamoOver the years, I've steered clear of doing post episode discussions on the community. Mostly this was because, when it came to Battlestar Galactica, there were numerous communities, blogs and forums dedicated to the series and it seemed redundant to host another discussion here. But taking a quick look around the net, I didn't see much in the way of talk about last night's Law & Order: UK premiere. So, in case anyone would like to share their thoughts or chat about the episode, I figured I would open up the possibility here. If you'd like to see a weekly discussion post, please let me know. zegeekgirl and I would happily devote the next six Fridays to episode discussions if it spared us from having to put our thinking caps on for forum topics. ;) My non-spoilery and brief review (I may ramble on later in comments ;) is I felt the new season/series got off to a very strong start last night. There was some controversy about "Broken" before it premiered, but the material was handled in an extremely thoughtful and sensitive manner. I also appreciated we were shown so many varied points of view in exploring the case and the ramifications for all involved. Often series will take sides and try to tell the viewer how to feel. In cases such as the one we saw unfold, there are no easy answers. Finally, Jamie was awesome. :) For a brief review and recap of the episode, check out All Things Law & Order. Tags: friday forum, tv: law and order: uk
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From: elzed |
Date:
September 11th, 2010 12:45 am (UTC)
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Oh, man, I cried all the way through this episode. I don't know what case is referred to in the original US version of this, but it has incredibly strong echoes on this side of the pond of the Bulger case - a two year old boy killed 17 years ago by two boys, aged 10 or 11 at the time.
It is one of the most notorious child-killer cases here in Britain, and it unleashed a fury of tabloid headlines about evil children which sent shudders down my spine then.
I love what they did with Connor's mother and George - while perhaps a bit heavy handed in its desperate desire to show that it doesn't have to be all about evil and revenge, I thought she played it with enough heart that it really worked; her cry of "I'm a mother, I can't hate a child" (or whatever the exact words were) struck chords in my own - I had no children at the time Jamie Bulger was killed, but I remember being horrified at the media storm around those fucked up children who were branded as evil killers, from damaged family backgrounds...
Very strong opening there - and some sensitive work on the part of Jamie and Bradley with the child interviews, bless them.
But god, what a hideous, horrible disaster of a case...
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From: elzed |
Date:
September 11th, 2010 08:25 am (UTC)
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I am sure Jamie being a parent of young children must have had an impact on his performance - it completely changes the way you look at anything involving the death of children. Completely.
I absolutely agree about Connor's mother's reasoning making admirable sense to me (and the way, actually, that the others fail to comprehend her mercy at first, because they cannot imagine that she would be capable of such understanding in the raw pain of her grief). It just dovetails so perfectly with mine I find it almost too good to be true! Perhaps I was just being an old cynic... I did think her speech was superb!
And I am not sure there are so many cases of young children murdering other young children even in the US - certainly not as notorious as the Bulger case.
Btw - I went back to look at the issue, and the case it most closely resembles isn't the Bulger story, but the case of Mary Bell - another child who killed a three year old in the late 60s in the UK. She was the daughter of a prostitute, had been abused, committed the killing with another girl, and, tellingly, carved her initial into the boy's stomach....
In fact, wikipedia points out it's the actual source for the original L&O 1999 story that was readapted. So in the end, it comes back to the UK anyhow...
I notice I am not the only one to spot that!!!
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Fan-freaking-tastic opener to the new series. Controversy be damned, it was a bold and very smart choice to start with such difficult subject matter and I think Emilia D.G. did a superb job keeping the storytelling on an even, truthful, heartfelt keel. (I can't recall if I've seen the original U.S. ep now, I know it was from '99 so if I'm not mistaken, it's the Briscoe/Green era.) To make up one's mind about the content before watching it is simply foolish. Turn it off if you don't like it, but at least give it a chance. Agree with asta77's assessment above that it was fantastic to see the handling of the girls utilizing both detectives' strengths: Matt we know had a rough home life as a kid and using his experience with a child's nervous ticks as a defense mechanism to work with Paige was great. (Again, as I did with Episode 2.6, there was real character development here. Even more than before, both in the writing and Jamie's performance, Matt seems like he's maturing as a detective.) And then Ronnie being the one to have to deal with the twitchy addict mum who he can obviously relate to on a certain level, even if she can't return the favor. (I really thought Pippa Nixon as Rose's mum was fantastic, as well as of course Lorraine Stanley as Conor's mum. Agreed, her monologue in the CPS scene was superb.) Top-form from the whole cast, but I do want to put a fine point on Harriet Walter and Bill Paterson this time especially. Just cause they seem to get mentioned the least and they are SO fantastic, both have so much warmth and gravitas which makes them such compelling chieftains on both sides. ;) And now, the shallow portion of tonight's comment: OMFG WHY SO PRETTY, DETECTIVE?! XD
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Well, it appears that no one else has commented following the BBCA broadcast yet, so let me be the first to say....
WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! I kind of wish I had the time/energy to clock the episode vs. a previous BBCA airing, because I'm convinced they decided to lengthen/increase the commercial breaks even more than previously. There were HUGE cuts to this episode, specifically:
- The entire scene with Matt & Ronnie outside the CPS, where Ron tells the story about losing one of his girls at a carnival once and laments how hard it is to manage kids sometimes, followed by the entire exchange after Matt goes back inside and Connor's mum arrives distraught at the notion that they are questioning the two girls. Whole scene, gone.
- They also cut to credits at the end immediately after the shot of Alesha and James on the bench, excising the entire scene on the council estate where George kicks the football and speaks further with Connor's mum about the difficult resolution w/ what happened to Rose, even though they tried to save her. Yeah, I know, it's a coda, it's not vital to the outcome of the trial. But it only underscores the ENTIRE THEME of the episode. So, yeah, that's not important. :P
Sorry to vent so vehemently, but it's really starting to bug me how much BBCA is cutting. They seem to be getting comfortable enough that the show is pulling good numbers that they are willing to trim more of the substance that makes it so great for the sake of making a few more bucks. Grrr.
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Previously on...
