A promising young writer confesses to the murder and robbery of a cabbie and demands that he receive the death penalty.A promising young writer confesses to the murder and robbery of a cabbie and demands that he receive the death penalty.A promising young writer confesses to the murder and robbery of a cabbie and demands that he receive the death penalty.
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Fred Thompson
- DA Arthur Branch
- (as Fred Dalton Thompson)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode appears to be based on two separate cases:
- The 1981 Jack Abbott case. Abbott wrote the acclaimed book In the "Belly of the Beast" while in prison. He was granted parole in 1981 then moved to New York City and became a star of the literary scene until he killed a waiter at a restaurant 6 weeks later. He returned to prison and committed suicide in 2002.
- The 1976 Gary Gilmore case.
- GoofsIn several scenes, Detective Ed Green is seen conversing with author Nelson Lambert and they allude to the fact that they are both drinking Lambert's Scotch. In fact, Lambert is seen pouring their drinks from a Maker's Mark bottle which is Kentucky Bourbon, not Scotch.
- Quotes
[after Ed had an informal discussion with a suspect that led to a partial confession]
Lt. Anita Van Buren: Five hours? I hope the hell he called you in the morning.
Det. Ed Green: Hey, the best way to get a drunk to open his mouth is to let him drink, isn't that right, Lennie?
Det. Lennie Briscoe: [looking up from his desk] Hear, hear!
Featured review
Demand
'Law and Order' is no stranger when it comes to talking about the death penalty, but the take on it in "Genius" is something not seen before in the show's history. Quite a unique and strange take on how people feel about it, with the perpetrator's really oddly fascinating and conceptually hard to believe attitude towards how they should be punished, when it is something that perpetrators make a big effort to avoid being sentenced to that.
"Genius" does this very well on the whole. Was worrying as to whether this take on the death penalty would be hard to buy, but although it did start off that way the more the episode explored it the more convincing the argument became. "Genius" struck me as a very good episode. Not one of 'Law and Order's' best episodes or quite one of the best of Season 13, but again there is a lot that is good and even great and it was refreshing to see a different slant on a familiar topic.
Did not get fully behind the perpetrator's want for his punishment for the crime at first, thinking it such a strange and extreme request. Especially when not knowing the reason.
Elisabeth Rohm continues to do nothing for me, can only think of about three or four times at the top of my head where she didn't bother me. Here though her stiffness and lack of variety in expressions and delivery sticks out like a sore thumb.
However, everything else works very well indeed. While the investigating is entertaining and carried by the great teaming of Briscoe and Green (not to mention Briscoe's wisecracking), the legal portion and the moral dilemmas that McCoy has to face when prosecuting fare even better and of this complicated issue and unique take on it and have a good degree of tension. What it has to say about the subject and the perpetrator's attitude intrigued.
Furthermore, "Genius" production values are still slick and suitably gritty (without being too heavy in it). The music is not too melodramatic and is not used too much, even not being too manipulative in revelations. The direction lets the drama breathe while making sure that the tension and emotion never slipped. The script is lean and thought-provoking, especially in the second half. The acting is excellent from the rest of the regulars and Stanley Anderson registers strongly in an initially strange but increasingly fascinating role.
Concluding, very good. 8/10.
"Genius" does this very well on the whole. Was worrying as to whether this take on the death penalty would be hard to buy, but although it did start off that way the more the episode explored it the more convincing the argument became. "Genius" struck me as a very good episode. Not one of 'Law and Order's' best episodes or quite one of the best of Season 13, but again there is a lot that is good and even great and it was refreshing to see a different slant on a familiar topic.
Did not get fully behind the perpetrator's want for his punishment for the crime at first, thinking it such a strange and extreme request. Especially when not knowing the reason.
Elisabeth Rohm continues to do nothing for me, can only think of about three or four times at the top of my head where she didn't bother me. Here though her stiffness and lack of variety in expressions and delivery sticks out like a sore thumb.
However, everything else works very well indeed. While the investigating is entertaining and carried by the great teaming of Briscoe and Green (not to mention Briscoe's wisecracking), the legal portion and the moral dilemmas that McCoy has to face when prosecuting fare even better and of this complicated issue and unique take on it and have a good degree of tension. What it has to say about the subject and the perpetrator's attitude intrigued.
Furthermore, "Genius" production values are still slick and suitably gritty (without being too heavy in it). The music is not too melodramatic and is not used too much, even not being too manipulative in revelations. The direction lets the drama breathe while making sure that the tension and emotion never slipped. The script is lean and thought-provoking, especially in the second half. The acting is excellent from the rest of the regulars and Stanley Anderson registers strongly in an initially strange but increasingly fascinating role.
Concluding, very good. 8/10.
helpful•102
- TheLittleSongbird
- Jun 16, 2022
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