Law & Order (TV Series) Disappeared (1998) User Reviews

Disappearing acts

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 22 July 2021]

With the episodes from 'Law and Order's' middle period and from its later seasons airing so often, it is very easy perhaps to overlook the early seasons. That is a shame, because 'Law and Order' in its early years was more often than not good to fantastic with some truly fine episodes in each of the seasons in question. Wasn't blown away by every episode but when the show was at its best it was brilliant, and there were obvious good things in lesser episodes too.

"Disappeared" is not one of the best episodes of Season 8 or of 'Law and Order', but it is certainly not a lesser episode. Most of it in fact was great, but pacing problems towards the end brought it down from great to overall very good. Which is a good position actually for the season and the show considering the high quality. This was an episode that really did stick out for me on first watch, especially when the truth is revealed. "Disappeared" may have gone down in my estimations since a little but it is still a good example of the early seasons being not to overlook.

The production values are slick and have a subtle grit, with an intimacy to the photography without being too claustrophobic. The music isn't used too much and doesn't get too melodramatic. The direction is tight but also accommodating enough, letting the story breathe while still giving it momentum thanks to some nice tension in the second half.

Moreover, the script is very well written and meaty, especially when this hard hitting case comes to trial and when the appropriate punishment is debated. The story is engrossing and thought probing, it also gets very hard hitting especially going into the second half. The episode is not anti-death penalty, the show and franchise have often offered for and against arguments concerning this controversial topic and done so in a way where one can see where both sides are coming from. The case here in "Disappeared".

Character writing and interaction are on point, especially in the legal portions and the performances cannot be faulted either.

Only one significant drawback here, and that is that "Disappeared" gets over-complicated and rushed in the final third from trying to pack too much in, not uncommon for 'Law and Order' before and since.

All in all, very good. 8/10.

You two take a lot of liberties.

[lastliberal · 7/10 · 8 September 2008]

This is an interesting episode not just for the fact that the judge was the wife of the former Mayor of New York.

Ray (benjamin Bratt) refers to the printer on which the letters to the paper as a "garden variety bubble jet." He might as well had been talking about Commodore 64s or 5 1/4 inch floppies. Few people remember the bubble jet.

There is a lot of Unabomber in this as the brother turns in his brother hoping to save his life. Adam Schiff (Steven Hill) wants the death penalty, but Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) pulls a fast one so Jaime (Carey Lowell) could regain her credibility.

Good performances bu all, including Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach).

Law and Justice.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 17 December 2013]

One of the more interesting episodes because it raises issues that go beyond legal tricks. A Yuppie couple and the owner of a tony coffee shop go missing. The New York Post gets letters from the kidnapper claiming -- well, it's not clear what he's claiming. The old neighborhoods are disappearing, I guess, and the city is becoming a sewer and civilization is rotting from within.

With the aid of a reluctant brother, the kidnapper is finally caught. He's a scruffy and very bright paranoid schizophrenic. In other words, he's nutty as a fruitcake but he denies his lawyer any opportunity to introduce his mental state at the trial. He's as sane as anyone else in the courtroom, he emphasizes. By this time the audience should be thinking of the Unibomber, who was captured because he was identified by his brother.

The defendant is, after all, a serial killer. He knocked off the three people he'd abducted and was still dangerous. McCoy is happy to see him get the needle, if that's what he wants. Jamie Ross is unconvinced and when she is given the responsibilities of the trial she allows the reluctant snitch of a brother to describe the psychiatric history of the murderer, which looks even worse than my own should look, although not as damning as that of my ex spouse.

There's a conundrum at the heart of the story. The perpetrator is crazy but refuses to allow his counsel to use his insanity (or his "instability", as it's called) as part of his defense. The defendant looks like the Wild Man of Borneo from P. T. Barnum's circus but he speaks clearly, sounds lucid, and can quote Max Weber, having an education behind him that includes Princeton and Harvard.

When a defendant tells the court that he believes the IRS is hiding under his bed and that he is being secretly videotaped by the NSA and frequently lapses into word salad, he's clearly not got his wits about him. But how about THIS particular perp? The law considers him merely a sane and serious murderer, whatever his cause. But is he? It may be legal to execute him but is it just?

The aroma of homicide

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 3 June 2019]

This episode starts with a couple who abandoned the dinner they were preparing and just disappeared. Then the owner and developer of the building they lived in also disappears. It's officially missing persons, but it's getting the aroma of homicide.

Kenneth Welsh comes in and says he knows who did it. It turns out to be Michael Medeiros his brother who is a high functioning psychotic. One of those who not being wrapped tight in the first place gets all worked up over causes. In this case it's the environment.

The dilemma is that being both brilliant and psychotic he refuses to have any evidence of his mental state brought in to the trial. Tying ace defense attorney Tovah Feldshuh's hands.

Carey Lowell takes what could be a career ending move with the DA's office in the end. You'll have to see the story to find out what.