Prisoner of Love (Season 1 Episode 10)

Here's what I liked most about episode 10: during it, the camera pans over a couple of Frank Stella pieces, which happens in episode 9, too! Coincidence or conspiracy?

Either way, Prisoner of Love has a Robert Mapplethorpe-y theme, which you'd think I would like. But the episode lacks any characters who aren't either villains or grossed out by the S&M scene, and I couldn't find anyone to identify with.

The highlight of the episode is Frances Conroy (the mom from Six Feet Under), a supposedly rich and fancy New Yorker who lives at 615 Central Park West, which, if real, would be smack dab in a part of Harlem that featured mostly burned out buildings in 1990.

The sort of Stella seen in episode 10; episode 9 featured the pinstripe-y kind.

Indifference (Season 1 Episode 9)

On Friday night, after absorbing 90 minutes of turgid presidential debate, Tony and I decided to cleanse our palates with Super Egg and a few episodes of L&O. I'd link to a Super Egg recipe, but shockingly, the  pancake-like affair that my mom has been making since the beginning of time has less Internet presence than our friends Nate & Amanda, who happened to stop by just in time for our third episode of the night, Indifference.

The ep is based on the story of Lisa Steinberg--a child beaten to death by her guardian, Joel Steinberg, who also abused his partner, Hedda Nussbaum--and it provides a moral dilemma that every cast member can have a different opinion about: was Nussbaum culpable for the child's death when she, too, was beaten by Steinberg? I spent a lot of the show wondering whether the case, which was a very big sensation in its day and vilified Nussbaum (who cut an immunity deal), would play the same way today. I think and hope that 20 years later, a lot more people in the criminal justice system better understand the dynamics of domestic abuse. But in case I run out of juice worrying about global warming, McCain/Palin and the financial market meltdown, concern about double jeopardy for victims of domestic violence is a good one to keep in my back pocket.

Speaking of victims, I remember the Steinberg case because my Grandma Gwen felt strongly that, because Joel was Jewish, the whole ugly incident was "Not Good for the Jews." Personally, I take more after my Great Aunt Tootsie, who felt that a Red Sox win was the sort of thing you could classify as not good for the Jews. But I can see my grandmother's point: while we were watching, I couldn't help but mentioning several times to the assembled Christians and dogs that this episode was, really, not good PR for the latke-loving people.

Weirdly, the episode ends with a written disclaimer about how the actual Lisa Steinberg case turned out somewhat differently than the L&O version, in which the Nussbaum character winds up going to jail. Seeing as the show reinterprets headlines all the time, I didn't know what to make of that. Anyone?   

L&O hires the right actor: Nussbaum on the left; Kurtz--who portrays the Nussbaum character, Carla Lowenstein--on the left. Incidentally, Jacob Lowenstein, the Joel Steinberg charcter, is played by David Groh, Valerie Harper's boyfriend on the late great Rhoda.

By Hooker, By Crook (Season 1 Episode 7)

Our viewing of Episode 7 started with Sarah yelling that it never snows in NYC in December. Where do these writers live? Hollywood?

Actually, I wouldn't have known either. Weather and geography trivia are Sarah's expertise. I've been looking for sources of L&0 info so I can dig up my own brand of trivia. For instance Wikipedia keeps track of which true-life crimes inspired L&0 episodes. This one was inspired by the Mayflower Madam, a socialite,  descendent of people who came over on the Mayflower, and owner of a  high-end prostitution ring.

The real-life madam had some nuggets of business advice. How do you ensure high quality service? "Hire good people and pay them what they're worth."

The real-life trivia gets even more trivial. The madam is now married to the real-life lawyer who defended the real-life anti-parent-of-the-year candidate who inspired L&0 episode 9.

Season 1 Episode 5: Happily Ever After

On Friday night, we had our friends Nate and Amanda over. Despite their having pretty much no Internet presence, they're good people. They're hilarious. They can be counted on to pick up ice cream on the way over. Their dog, Maggie, is Eggs's girlfriend, and you've never seen two mammals get along so well. They are our best friends in Mill Valley.

Being good people ourselves, we invited them for dinner of tomato tarte Tatin (ours looked surprisingly similar to the NYT version pictured here) and a nice Napa zin. And then we subjected them to several hours of L&O.

All-time episode 5, which focuses on a couple that gets shot in a parking garage near the precinct house, is a little slow going but is not without its highlights. First, Aida Turturro (Tony Soprano's sister) and Vanessa Williams (Rhonda on Melrose Place) show up for about eight seconds at the beginning of the ep, and they say at least three words each.

Second, there is the hair. The public defender works a multi-tiered Olivia Newton John style (Amanda: "Wow, that's poodle-esque"). And ADA Paul Robinette has a flattop Grace Jones would covet (Nate: "It's weird how this was made in 1990 but looks so much like 1982.")

Third, there is the theme: woman wrongs man (in this case, wife wrongs husband). Amanda mentioned that it would be interesting to keep track of the episodes with this set up, and then later see how that compares to real-life stats. Tag created and deployed; criminal justice experts to be contacted at a future date.

Finally, our geography lesson for the day: There is no 1100 block of West End Ave (it tops out in the 900s). And walking out a building clearly labled "304" doesn't make it seem more real.