Boy, I thought Ben Bratt was back for good - and only one episode? Darn, really, really, like him... And Anderson and his partner don't inspire me - don't know why... Chris Noth eventually grew on me - miss Jerry Orbach a lot - and Epatha? Love her dearly. She is a delight... come on Bratt and Epatha... get er done... love you.

The original Law and Order is still good, though, I miss Ed Green. I mean, Lupo and Bernard are okay, but I really liked Briscoe and Green the most. Obviously we couldn't bring Briscoe back on, what with Jerry Orbach being dead and all, I still don't understand the onscreen logic Green used for his resignation from the force. Lupo is a good character. Bernard... well... I kinda like him. I just don't like Anthony Anderson as a detective, quite. Just seems like our two latest detectives more came into the 2-7 simply because whatever murder they were involved in brought them into the fold (Which is true. Lupo ended up joining the 2-7 after his brother committed suicide, starting with the very investigation into his brother's death, whereas Bernard came n as the detective investigating the very crime Green was suspected of committing.). Remember when detectives were simply ASSIGNED to the 2-7 as opposed to just falling in through circumstance? I wonder if this is Anita Van Buren's last season, though, with this cancer story arc. I can see maybe two places Curtis could be returning if he was REALLY returning (Not just a 10-minute guest shot.): 1. Replacing van Buren as Lieutenant. That's a stretch, but it HAS been 10 years, he could have easily moved up the ranks in that time. Or 2. Replace Lupo as Senior Detective. No way he'd be a Bernard replacement. Curtis is AT LEAST Senior Detective material after all this time.

SVU, oh... good lord. SVU is in trouble. Story-wise and ratings-wise, SVU is suffering badly. It's because that show's producers have turned it into more of a character-driven melodrama then a police procedural. The last three or four seasons have been especially terrible. Especially the one with Adam Beach. I pretty much wrote the show off when we saw the really hammy "Stabler's daughter is bipolar" episode. But Adam Beach really took the cake on bad acting and horrible character. Even worse than Serena Southerlyn (Who had a decent run for two or three seasons. Pretty much all that was bad about her was the lesbianbomb she dropped in her last moment.) or Detective "Beauty Queen" Cassidy (Who couldn't even last a whole season. Wouldn't mind another attempt at a female Junior Detective, though.). Lake did three things I couldn't like. 1. He displaced one of the single greatest cop characters of all time: John Munch, who spent that entire season contributing virtually nothing to the show because he was more or less relegated to a "support character" role, even less then the ADAs on the same show. And for what? Lake didn't click at ALL as a character with Odafin Tutuola. 2. The producers, or the writers, it's hard to tell which, tried and completely bungled an attempt to make Lake into SVU's "Mike Logan." Forgetting that we more or less had the bad-cop character in Elliot Stabler. Combine it with 3. Chester talked slowly in such a way you wondered if he was dropped on his head too many times as a child. Dunno if it had to do with Adam Beach's lack of talent, but there you have it. The show tried to give him one last badass sendoff at teh end of the season, but I think I speak for ALL long-time SVU fans when I say this is one case where we're really glad to see one of the good guys get hauled off to prison. However, taking the horrenous Detective Chester Lake out of the show didn't save it from having the following seasons stink much less.

Criminal Intent... what can I say about this show? It's really good. Though it seems also that the last two or three seasons have tried to turn into a more character-driven plot. Still managed to stay good. I honestly thought that Mike Logan didn't really belong in a cerebral show like CI, though. He didn't do bad ad I enjoyed seeing Mike Logan back from Staten Island after makign his last Dirty Harry act in the orginal series, but Logan's style since the original was never about profiling the suspects or crawlign all over their plans like Goren or Goldblum's character. I was satisfied with how they gave Logan a lot more closure this time around. Resigning after finally having enough. The only other character who had a better closure in my opinion, from L&O was Ben Stone, waaaaaaaay back in Season 4 of the original series. I have it on DVD, and I cold almost DOCUMENT his gradual increase in dissatisfaction with the compromises and risks of his job. And once I heard that the one witness he personally promised protection for was shot dead on the street that Ben Stone was only going to last on the show for another scene or two. And look who replacved him! no better character than Jack McCoy, now in the DA seat. I digress. I am looking forward to seeing the next season of CI, hopefully we'll see a few questions answered, who left the rat in Goren's desk? How will he operate now knowing he has nobody left in his life but Donny and Alexandra? And how the hell are they goin

one and done I like my Lupo and Bernard

I'm very happy to see Bratt's return. I guess I'm in the minority, I think both Anderson and Sisto (whom I normally like) are a terrible fit and have no chemistry on the show or with each other. I cringe when Anderson tries to do the "sardonic comment" thing in the teasers, and Sisto has adopted this weird intonation that also makes me cringe.

Noth is my fav so any plans for his appearance would be much appreciated! He's by far the best cop, created chemistry with each of the rotating cast, and many of the best episodes revolved around him (e.g. Confession, Bad Faith, Last Rites - and note the Catholic theme too).

"While I would love to see Bratt on the show in some capacity, the Lupo and Bernard pairing has made the show the best it's been since Jerry Orbach left back in 2004."

You are correct. In my opinion, the best pairings were Bratt+Orbach, followed closely by Noth+Orbach.

But you're right, Lupo+Bernard is great. Absolute worst: Jesse Martin. I pretty much stopped watching when he was on.

I would love to see Bratt back, and I agree with aphoward
however I have NEVER,NEVER taken to Anderson, so a change in that area would be heaven to me.

I miss Jack McCoy in the court room to be honest. But I would love to see Det Curtis back in action.

I would love to see Bratt back, if only for one episode. I don't think I would like to see him as a regular on the original L&O, only because I think that they have a fantastic dynamic going on right now with Lupo & Bernard and Cutter, Rubirosa and Jack. It would be nice to see him return to something like CI, especially with the big casting changes they're facing, or even with SVU to change up the dynamic a bit.
Anyways, I'm really looking forward to what they've got planned for his character. I'd love to know what's happened to him since his departure.

Bring back reviews of Law & Order (all three iterations)!!!

It would be great if Goren joins the original. How about Munch leading Lupo and Bernard?