Homesick

Good episode, but an awful rendition of a British accent by the Lila character.

What was sad about this episode was that no one in this baby's life cared for him properly. Everyone in this baby's life was focused on something else. When they did focus on the baby, they didn't see him as he really was. Instead, to they seemed to project their hopes and dreams into him.

In the very first scene, the father expected behavior and ability that no 5 month old could achieve. Even the au pair pointed this out to him. The parents had been cursory when searching for a caregiver. The agency did not match the abilities of this particular au pair with the right family. The young mother was the father's second wife. His ex-wife had no love for the new baby and focused on her resentment over being forgotten. Son #1 stood off to the side.

The ending leaves all involved with plenty of regrets.

This particular Law And Order episode gladdened my heart. It shows that the DA's office, particularly Sam Waterston was more interested in justice than in another conviction notch. That's so refreshing to see in prosecutors.

A British au pair is settled on as the one who might have poisoned her infant with some extract from some plant medicine. Annika Peterson is not the most sympathetic of defendants, but she also has a sharp defense attorney in Patti Lupone.

Jill Hennessy is a hero herself. She catches the real killer with evidence gleaned from a disparity in testimony and in evidence introduced. What she and Waterston do with it is for you to see the story for.

Justice is beautifully served here.

The subject matter immediately is enough to grab the attention. It is yet another very sensitive and difficult topic to discuss, and if anybody has doubts about whether the execution would be tactful enough without being preachy, one-sided and too heavy that is understandable (those are common traps with this kind of topic and similar). Anybody though that has always admired how 'Law and Order' approached tough subjects and how it did so will be intrigued.

It is also evident even from the title that "Homesick" would not be an easy watch, experienced it many times myself when on residential trips and tours abroad due to having attachment issues as part of my autism. When it comes to the execution it is appropriately not an easy watch, appropriately because the subject (different to what is expected reading the title) is a tough one and should have a pull no punches approach to tackling it. Which "Homesick" does and beautifully in another fine episode, if not quite one of my favourites of Season 6.

Am going to get my only gripe with "Homesick" out of the way first. Annika Peterson was on the bland side as Lila and yes her British accent has much to be desired.

Otherwise, "Homesick" is great. The rest of the cast are terrific. Jerry Orbach (always a pleasure to watch) and Benjamin Bratt (who has now settled very well) make for a great team, both gritty and amusing. Sam Waterston and Jill Hennessy are great authority figures and Patti LuPone excels at showing a different side to her.

"Homesick" also has beautifully written and balanced character writing. All the regulars are true to character and none of the supporting characters are too beige or too black and white, after seeing some irredeemably evil characters this season it was refreshing to see characters that were more complex than they seemed at first. The story is very powerful and sad, as well as twistier than it sounds on paper. One of the highlights being how McCoy and Kincaid get to the truth and what they do with the evidence.

Script is suitably sensitive and while there is a lot to digest it doesn't come over as too talky or hard to follow. 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.

Concluding, excellent. 9/10