Tough to choose.
Ultimately voted for
Enough.
Was well-written, with interesting, muddy, implications, screentime and case involment across the whole team, including Angell, humour, drama, a prior victim I actually felt for, internal strife, a twist I didn't see coming, no easy cut or dried answers. Strong performances all around. Wasn't about shiny important people or city politics or big business or mysterious artefacts, but three less than sympathetic men gunned down simultaneously a week after they attacked a woman who was going to testify against them. Was a case that provided some good material and moments for our core cast.
As for the internal strife, Adam had a range of moments from fun to distressing about his pink slip, and Stella and Mac had a nice back and forth about the whole thing too. Humor-wise, Angell was great with "
bitch, biatch," and happy not to be a labrat; I liked there was a perp named Scooby, Flack liking Scooby Dooby Doo, Hawkes preferring Mighty Mouse. Good moment between Don, Mac and Danny discussing the three brothers and whether a jury would convict, and what would they do if it had been their sister attacked; Flack and Messer chatting on the swingset was fun; was interesting to see Mac thwarted and feeling helpless in the face of the law after a promise made he couldn't keep where Maggie was concerned; and of course the twist in the lawyers killing their clients, and the fact that one suggested he could get a younger, keener version of himself to handle his defense and work the system to get him off.
The ep had a great case, not reliant on anything flashy, anything but black and white; there were moments of tension and moments of commiseration and insight within the team, there was even a dash of humor. A good balance. Was just a great hour of tv, and one of the very best NY aired this season. There was little I didn't like about this one. It was among the earliest eps of the season, and six months on it still stands out to me.
Runners up:
Yahrzeit
Absolutely outstanding performances by the supporting cast; all were great but Ed Asner, McTighe, Shelley Berman in particular stood out and were excellent. Solid performances by our regulars too, Gary, and Hill come to mind, though all were good. Some pretty deft handling of a delicate subject; was challenging for both the characters and the viewers. Some really smart writing for and nice contrasts between the characters; was a good ep for Hawkes; also some humor with Sid and Pluto. It was a compelling hour of tv, but in some ways it was predictable, and did flirt with being heavy handed; for that I ultimately couldn't say it was tops in this poll for me, but it was indeed very near for how well done it all was. Definitely one of the best of the season.
Pay Up
Action packed, intense, poignant; great ep for Eddie Cahill, and a decent team ep that did have some great moments; the pacing rarely flagged; set up a good cliff-hanger. Visually and stylistically a treat, sound was fantastic; good guests; not much of a mystery, but it was a helluva ride, the chase was fueled and relentless, and the end, with both Flack and the drive-by, will keep me mulling into the off-season. Very sad to see Emmanuelle go, but Angell got a solid ep as an exit for her, even if she had very little to do with it. Ended the season on a high note after a few disappointing preceding eps.
Also good:
Point of No Return
Ep shone when Pino was featured, Jonah Lotan was excellent; great reveal in just how close everyone thought they were to him, and just how deep the slide he suffered was; Sid and Hawkes in particular were memorable. Was a great idea to bring back a former character, even if he turned out to be a rather gruesomely industrious perp in the end. Or maybe because of it.
Memorable:
Cost of Living
Compelling, was evenly paced and not the yo yo some eps were, but verged on slow in places for it's complexity; archeology was a nice change of pace, but a false flag in that the main murder had to do with the archeologists more than what they were after; Don showed a softer side to him with the suspect, Hawkes was great, Adam had paper airplanes; nice supporting appearance by Wilford the Rat Fisherman; Stella's mystery was at that point still intriguing, gritty and perplexing. Ended with foreshadowing and promise, and I think at the time that translated into a cautious hope for the season. Possibly rated it higher than it merited for that reason and for it being so early in the season. Hadn't yet been ground down by the increasing mediocrity that made up the bulk of the season.
I remember Page Turner as being pretty good too for some reason. Another early season ep, and, one with Sid. Points right there.
Thinking back on the season I'd not have guessed there were that many that I liked :lol:
I do find it interesting though that Grounds for Deception is winning both the Favorite Ep of season five and least favorite episode of season five....
Yeah, I was initially surprised, but after a moment's thought no longer, that it would so split people's opinions... :lol:
