It’s somewhat amusing to me that the solid finale of Law & Order: UK was adapted from an episode of Law & Order that I wasn’t all that impressed with. It just shows how much more the LOUK writers do than merely adapt scripts.
“Fault Lines” is translated from Season 20’s “Just A Girl In The World,” making it the only LOUK episode adapted from an L&O I reviewed on its original air date. The original hour wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t one of my favorites, either. I never bought that Detective Lupo would fall for an alleged victim so transparent that it was too easy to peg her as the perpetrator – and so annoying that I spent the whole episode wanting to kill her myself.
Yet as an LOUK episode, the choice intrigued me. Would it give some more development to the character of Sam Casey? Would we then get to see Paul Nicholls flex his acting muscles a bit more? That I could get behind.
I was pleasantly surprised by “Fault Lines,” principally because Emilia di Girolamo‘s script corrected many of the things that bugged me about “Just A Girl In The World.” Yes, the girl was still a little easy to finger, but at least she didn’t grate on my nerves the whole hour. Sam’s sleeping with her was still a boneheaded move, but at least he put up more resistance, and he got much more flak for it from Ronnie and DI Chandler. I loved, in particular, Ronnie calling Sam out for wearing yesterday’s suit back to the office the morning after his indiscretion. The whole situation felt much more believable.
Would Matt Devlin have been so stupid? Absolutely not. This was a story that could only have been told with Sam. It was a prime opportunity for the character to really distinguish himself, and he did. We learned a few more facts about his pre-force days, and saw more of his personality in how he dealt with his mistakes. Unlike Matt, Sam actually managed to rub me the wrong way for a moment or two. It was real evidence of the show’s sea change – like how Spooks took on an entirely different tone with Rupert Penry-Jones than it had with Matthew MacFadyen.
The one letdown here was in what didn’t make it to air. In the original episode, there’s a great courtroom scene where Michael Cutter makes the guilty woman come unhinged, and Linus Roache ran with it, making Cutter look almost crazy himself. With only minutes left in LOUK, Thorne managed to turn the screws enough for a guilty verdict, but there wasn’t enough time to see if Dominic Rowan could match Roache’s wicked cunning.
We were treated to solid performances from Bradley Walsh, Harriet Walter and Freema Agyeman, who in 39 episodes, have never had an off hour.
As an LOUK episode, “Fault Lines” was a good investment of time, elevating an average original script into something more realistic and viable. Was it one of my favorites? No, but I didn’t like the source material to begin with. At least this time I enjoyed it.
As the series finale, it gives me mixed emotions. If ITV chooses not to commission another series, the show goes out on a solid note. Would it have been better if we still had the sterling original cast? Probably, but that’s a pipe dream. With who and what was on the table, I’m not ashamed of this as a last installment.
Yet do I want to see LOUK back? I’m of two minds. The fan in me doesn’t want to see it end. Yet we’ve already seen a lot of changes, and if there is a series seven, we’re going to see more, including a new head writer. And if series five and six have shown us anything, it’s that unlike the parent series, Law & Order: UK isn’t about the formula – it’s about the people.
Whatever happens, this series is going to remain as one of my favorite British dramas ever. I want to thank everyone involved, past and present, cast and crew, for 39 episodes of thought-provoking, compelling entertainment. Thank you for all your hard work. Thank you for being so accessible to your fans, and in particular thanks to the cast and crew members who have become friends and taught me a thing or two along the way. I appreciate that I’ve gotten to be a part of and talk about such a fantastic show.
Clacked by Brittany Frederick 
on Nov 10, 2011 @ 00:54 EST5EDT
Are they canel law and order uk