Law & Order (TV Series) Faccia a Faccia (1998) User Reviews

Died with his boots on

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 30 May 2015]

A Mafia hit-man who is supposed to be in Montana in the witness protection program is found shot to death in Central Park. Obviously he grew up on westerns because he requests to die with his Montana cowboy boots on.

Turns out that this guy has shaken his FBI handlers and that's appropriate since his street name was 'Nicky Shakes' and he's in town to discuss a book deal. But a whole lot of people are keeping tabs on him even if the FBI has fallen down on the job. It's why he winds up dead.

The guy who has the most to gain with the deceased's demise is Frank Savino who is a Mafia Don putting on a crazy act. See how Dr. Skoda gets under his skin.

Who actually does the deed is a bit of a surprise, but the motive is completely understandable.

A great Law And Order story.

great episode

[kathy-73-265317 · 10/10 · 28 October 2011]

One of their best mafia episodes and Skoda is at his best. There are enough turns early in the episode to keep you guessing on who did it. It started out as just a typical murder but progressed into a mafia murder with plenty of twists. The mafia boss tries to appear incompetent and seemingly fooled plenty of experts but the psychiatrist trips him up and cracked me up. The episode shows nice character development for the guest stars and a rather rare shot of humor - even if from a regular guest star. When it looks like the case is all wrapped up, it unravels and the legal team brings it back together. It looks like there are plenty of loose ends. But all are nicely wrapped back up with the defense tripping themselves up by trying to be too smart.

Face to face

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 14 July 2021]

'Law and Order' was no stranger to episodes revolving around the mafia or with it being involved somewhere in the plot. The mafia continued to be familiar territory for the whole 'Law and Order' franchise, which is not a problem because when this type of trope is done well it is tense and attention-grabbing. Though there are the traps of convolution and implausibility if not done well. The premise may not be innovative, but the show and franchise frequently had episodes that are a lot more interesting than they sound.

"Faccia a Faccia" is one of those episodes. Season 8 was a very solid season, and the best and most consistent Season 8 of the Season 8s of the big three 'Law and Order' shows (this, 'Special Victims Unit' and 'Criminal Intent'). And "Faccia a Faccia" is one of the best, and it is an episode that gets better and better with each minute with intrigue from the very beginning but becomes quite special in the legal portions. Cannot recommend it highly enough and can't fault it.

As usual for 'Law and Order', the production values are solid and the intimacy of the photography doesn't get static or too filmed play-like. The music when used is not too over-emphatic and has a melancholic edge that is quite haunting. The direction is sympathetic enough without being leaden.

The script is taut and provokes a lot of thought, especially in the second half where more than one point of view is shown and in a way that rings true and worth considering. The story is deceptively typical at first but very quickly becomes very intricate and twisty, the many turns being sharp, clever and unexpected. The ending floored me on first watch and still has the shock factor, especially when such a good job was done making one think the truth was something otherwise.

Conflict has tension, with the suspense in the legal scenes being quite unsettling, and all sides are easy to swallow. The character of Emil Skoda was always interesting and this is one of his best appearances, while the character interaction is full of fun and tension. The acting is terrific in lead and supporting, all the regulars are without complaint and JK Simmons shines as does the truly chilling defendent.

In conclusion, wonderful. 10/10.