This week has been a triumph of television consumption. For free, I might add... Shout-out to my parents, avid connoisseurs of quality film and television, who somewhat recently extended their Netflix subscription to include instant access online television and movies. [Another shout-out to Netflix for wisely catering their online access to families of five like mine, who can authorize the perfect number of computers to satisfy the entire household.]
The week started with my discovery of Veronica Mars season 3 on Netflix... A few summers ago, my twin sister Corey got me into this show, which I proceeded to watch in marathon form until the end of season two, when I became tired of waiting for my internet service provider to slowly stream my videos. (And really, the constant buffering was an insult to such a fine cinematic production.) Synopsis of V Mars: High school daughter of a private investigator assists her father in various case-solving while taking up petty-yet-for-some-reason-more-dramatic cases of her own from her high school peers. Incidentally, Veronica Mars joins my Sassy Yet Sophisticated list of badass women I would like to be in another life... (others of note: Beyonce, Angelina Jolie, and Angie Harmon)
Which leads me to the end of my week of television... some sleep-deprived nights and a sick day later, I found myself yesterday finishing the twentieth episode of season three and series finale of VMars. After a brief anxiety attack about where next to direct my not-so-free time, I came across a Netflix mecca: eleven seasons of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. It will take more than a few sick days to conquer this giant.
Things I love about Law and Order:
1. Angie Harmon
Every time I turn on the television and am welcomed by a L&O episode, I hold my breath until I find out whether or not Abbie Carmichael is this episode's Assistant DA. She and Jack McCoy are an unstoppable force rivaled only by Seeley Booth and Temperance Brennan (Bones). Angie's irresistible sass and Texas accent almost makes me forgive her for her role in Agent Cody Banks.
2. The opening lines.
"In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups..." These words never fail to send a shiver down my spine. Maybe it's the quietly dramatic tone of voice that speaks into existence the urgency of the enforcement of the law. Maybe it's the fact that an episode JUST ENDED, and before the credits of the last episode are over, the ominous opening words of the new episode are already upon me. And no, I did not and will not ever have to look up the words to quote them here. "These are their stories."
3. DUH DUH.
Need I say more? Frequent, yet not overused in the slightest. Accompanying the text that introduces each scene change to remind you of the importance and potential danger of each impending scene of investigation.
4. The cameos
I maintain that no person has an excuse to harbor distaste for this show. No matter who you are, I can almost guarantee that your favorite actor or actress has made a cameo on this show. Cynthia Nixon, Stephen Colbert, probably all of the Caulkins, Chevy Chase, Sarah Silverman, Jennifer Garner, Julia Roberts, Robin Williams, Ludacris, Hilary Duff... some of these guest appearances are downright ridiculous. Yet awesome. I charge you to IMDB your favorite actor and hold that he or she is not in some way affiliated with L&O.
5. Elliot Stabler
HOT.
6. IT'S ALWAYS ON.
I frequented Law & Order early in age; it conveniently has back-to-back episodes around the time that dinner is being prepared. Especially as I got older, it became a great excuse to help Mom in the kitchen with dinner. Turning it off becomes a challenge, until you remember that the episode will inevitably be rerun within a month or two.
7. There are so many episodes...
...it's difficult to actually remember the outcome of any given episode. Even when you think you know the ending, the chances that you are confusing it with another episode are high to definite. My dad has seen enough episodes that he can actually remember a few endings. I'm pretty sure my mom has actually seen all of the episodes, but she has a bit of a memory problem, so she's - at most - a minute and a half ahead of the episode. (It's a blessing in disguise.) For me, the problem is between the Law and the Order. I can remember that I've seen an episode; I can even remember some of the sites that are visited during the investigation, but I can NOT for the life of me anticipate IN THE SLIGHTEST where the episode is going once they get to court. Perhaps it is a symptom of dinner starting a little too often on the half-hour.
I could go on. For example, Fred Thompson ran for President of the United States. Why the Republican Party did not find him to be a superior candidate, I'll never understand. At least he had the Justice System down... When I was a Freshman at Berkeley, I wrote a paper about Jerry Orbach and his legacy. (Got an A, duh.) I bet the Justin Bieber episode is just a couple seasons away...
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