User Reviews

One of the biggest appeals of 'Law and Order' has been the topics it addresses and issues that come with the topics addressed. Also with how they are explored, the execution more often than not was hardly sugar coated or trivialised and was often pull no punches in quality. "Birthright" certainly does tackle a very tough issue and could either have been a very powerful and thought probing episode or one that could have been one sided.

Luckily, it is an example of the former. "Birthright" is a wonderful episode and one of the best episodes of Season 16 (perhaps the best one up to this point), as well as one of the saddest and most thought provoking. There is a ripped from the headlines aspect to the story, but never in a way that feels predictable or exploitative. 'Law and Order' excelled when it took the unflinching yet sensitive approach to divisive topics, and that is obvious in "Birthright".

It does start off on the slightly ordinary side.

But that very quickly subsides. The production values as ever have slickness and grit, with an intimacy without being claustrophobic. The music has presence when it's used but does so without being intrusive, some of it is quite haunting too. The direction is also understated but the tension never slips, the second half being full of it.

As expected, the script is lean, even with a lot of talk, and incredibly thought provoking and gritty. The story is a little ordinary to begin with but it quickly becomes eventful and twisty without feeling rushed or muddled. The moral dilemmas of the case are intriguingly and honestly handled, with no one-sided-ness. The story holds nothing back and is one of those cases that makes one incredibly saddened but also with pangs of anger too, the tough issue being explored being portrayed unyieldingly and sincerely. It s always compelling, with a suspenseful quality in the legal portions, with the many turns being unpredictable and not confusing. It also doesn't get preachy or overwrought.

Performances are excellent from all the regulars, particularly in the legal portions and the episode contains a powerful performance from Stephanie Roth Haberle and a devastating and unsettling one from Adapero Oduye (who indeed dominates the first quarter). Fontana and Green's chemistry has come on a long way and Borgia is still a big improvement over Southerlyn. Great to see Robinette again who has a very understandable point of view on the case.

Summing up, wonderful. 9/10.

The only villain in this Law And Order story is drugs. Recreational pharmaceuticals that can entrap and enslave a person including multiple generations in the same family.

Detectives Fontana and Green first get a case of a man murdered because he spoke up when he saw a crackhead teen mom abusing her infant. They arrest Adapero Oduye who is just mad at the world and gives an electrifying performance of just that. Though she's in the story for only the first quarter you remember her throughout because it's her character that is the key to this whole drama.

She dies in police custody and it's Leslie Hendrix at the medical examiner who determines the cause of death. Oduye had an Intra Uterine Device implanted in her which had a chemical in it that would render the person sterile. But she also had sickle cell syndrome and said chemical with that tendency would eventually kill them.

Who put it there without her knowledge was Stephanie Roth Haberle, a respected nurse practitioner who runs a neighborhood clinic. But that's far from the whole story as we learn as the trial proceeds.

The third performance in this tragic drama to watch is that of the grandmother of the teen killer, Myra Lucretia-Taylor. Can't say more but this woman's life could be classified with two words, burdens and tragedy.

One of the saddest stories ever on Law And Order.

Two black young kids found a dead body in a park right before going to school. He was stabbed nine times so it must have been personal. The victim was an old man from the neighborhood, where he used to press charges against molesters and robbers. A junkie mom used to boil in hot water his own kid was arrested with traces of blood on her vest and the DNA matched, so case closed. Unfortunately, she died on her cell that night while in custody, due to a birth control item placed in her uterus. Then another case turn up, the junkie's nurse (Stephanie Roth Haberle) wanted to prevent her from having further children and the death was accidental (she didn't know about a previous syndrome the victim had that was lethal for her): anyway the nurse practised the sterilization with other guinea pigs in the past, a technique she learned in Cambodia....

Paul Robinette played again the defense attorney at trial and he is really good in twisting witness arm on the stand. Anyway, many people (including victim's relatives) think the clinic where the nurse work played a public service to avoid unwanted children taking place in this world. The third millennium Josef Mengele on the screen.

It is by far , the best "film" to watch and be able to understand what happened to any "people's" ( In example native American) that are conquered by another. The sheer arrogance of "someone that knows better" is a classic tale of human nature and dominance. Just as DR. Rice , Secretary of State said this : "It's not logical that at this early stage we would try prematurely to turn over to the Iraqi sovereignty when they're not yet capable of exercising it,"

One of the reasons it took me awhile to really like "Law & Order" in its first few seasons was the miscasting of George Dzundza in the first-season lead and Richard Brooks as ADA Paul Robinette with his Kid 'n Play haircut and mushmouthed line readings.

The show improved markedly when Dzundza left after only one season and Brooks was replaced by Jill Hennessey after season three just as the series really found its stride.

Experience, age, and apparent acting classes have improved Brooks's presence as he returns here as a defense attorney, with Annie Parisse now in Brooks's old role. He's good in this episode.

Writers concoct sickle cell woman dying from IUD without consent sterilization. Practitioner is put on trial, it's defended by eugenics aka " her choice ". Predictable grandma told them to sterilize promiscuous granddaughter that wanted to have babies.

The whole purpose of this episode is for Democrats to promote eugenics thus making it unwatchable