Law & Order (TV Series) Performance (1995) User Reviews

A Finger-Wagging Tale About Some Bad, Bad Kids

[Better_TV · 7/10 · 2 June 2018]

I love L&O, but this one unfortunately reminded me of one of those mid-'90s "do you know where your children are?" type presentations. There's even an unintentionally hilarious line from a ridiculously nonchalant teen girl about how "We'd all go to Shane's place after school, watch Beavis and Butthead," before she would have sex with a group of teen boys (the "Mack Rangers") while they filmed the act. "They're not gonna get all goofy on you, like they're your boyfriend or anything," she says. It's a parody of how kids really talk, and that Beavis and Butthead line is so contrived I could practically see the writers wagging their fingers at '90s "youth culture."

And yet... just look at today's headlines. Rape, and especially rape within male fraternity culture, is alive and well. The sickening things the Mack Rangers do to the female victim in this episode are undeniably plausible (they are, in fact, based on the real life "Spur Posse" teen rape gang in California that made headlines in the '90s).

This one gets pretty graphic: we're forced to watch the disgusting tape the perpetrators made of themselves abusing the victim not once, but twice. Monica Keena gives a horrifyingly realistic performance; she does not just scream, she squeals and whimpers in a way that made my blood curdle. One wonders what Michael Moriarty, who claimed to have resigned from this show after the previous season over fears Attorney General Janet Reno was looking to censor it, would have felt about "Performance." (Seems he had nothing to worry about.)

There's some cool legal wrangling, including about 10 minutes of runtime even after the verdict is delivered; it takes our characters to appeals court, where Jack has to defend his prosecutorial tactics. But overall, I found it disappointingly unsubtle in its critique of '90s kids. It's all summed up by DA Adam Schiff's final line, in response to a comment from Jack about the wrongheaded youths maybe learning their lesson:

"Teenage boys?" he rhetorically asks. "Good luck."

The Mack Rangers

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 19 January 2018]

An outraged citizen who rented some porn for a bachelor party did not bargain on getting a snuff film and brings it to the cops. Jerry Orbach and Chris Noth track down the producer of the film and also discover that the 'victim' is very much alive. Monica Keena however is most reluctant to talk of her experience, especially in open court.

The two perpetrators, the doer and the one operating the camera are Peter Facinelli and Shane McDermott. They're part of a cool kids clique in their posh high school called The Mack Rangers. They've got a whole elaborate system of points for how many girls they nail.

High school can be a nasty experience for some and what we have here is bullying to the enth degree. Bullying with a sexual angle, but bullying nevertheless.

Getting victims to come forward at all is the problem for Sam Waterston. And it's a bumpy ride to justice if you think justice was done.

L&O SVU - type episode

[gmandane77 · 7/10 · 20 March 2018]

With L&O SVU not yet airing, the sexual crime involved in this episode would have rated higher with Stabler, Benson, Munch and crew. Always good acting on the base L&O but "deeper" character development in this particular episode is lacking. Sound legal approaches of enforcement by both police and prosecution. -GC-

One of the Greatest Law & Order Episodes Ever

[princessldybg91 · 10/10 · 19 June 2008]

This would have to be one of the greatest Law & Order episodes I have ever seen.

It starts with Briscoe and Logan investigating a young girl, Corey Russell who was killed in what they thought was a snuff film.

But she turns out to be alive. The investigation takes a twist when Corey reveals that she was raped by a group of guys at her school who participate in a "sex-for-points" club.

As the police investigate, they find out that Corey wasn't the only girl who was pressured by the "sex-for-points" club.

McCoy was good at questioning Peter Facinelli's character in court and another member of the group who is offered a deal. He says, "How many points do you think you'll be worth in prison?" That was excellent.

The episode contains the most brilliant performances with actors Monica Keena as the victim and Peter Facinelli as the cocky, smart-mouth member of the club.

The episode is another "ripped from the headlines" storyline about the Spur Posse.

This episode is absolutely amazing and it should be named one of the most greatest L&O episodes ever.

Monica Keena should have won an Emmy for her role in this episode. She was that good.

Like I've said before, this episode should go down as one of the greatest L&O episodes in the history of L&O.

Ripped from the headlines

[safenoe · 8/10 · 2 January 2024]

Performance is based on the infamous Spur Posse case that swept the country by storm in the 1990s, and I remember seeing some of the Spur Posse members on Donahue, and the father of one of them declared he was proud of his son. I sometimes wonder whatever happened to the Spur Posse as they entered adulthood and some may even be grandparents now of granddaughters in school.

Anyway, the Mack Rangers is the pseudonym for the Posse and we get standards and double standards of the high school girls wanting to be accepted and acknowledged. Performance also reminded me of the Nicolas Cage movie 8mm which is one to watch.

Grew on me

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 9 December 2020]

One's opinion of this episode is going to depend on how one feels about the premise. Which on paper left me unsure, but it also intrigued as story ideas that sound sordid have been known to not be too distastefully done. But it also did have potential of being distasteful and too strange if executed wrongly, such as in the character writing and how it would portray what it's based around (which is not my cup of tea personally). Saw it anyway as someone who has for a while loved the show and would see any episode willingly.

"Performance" was one of the 'Law and Order' episodes that actually grew on me. It was one of those episodes that didn't do much for me on first watch and could have done with a lot more subtlety than what was actually present. On re-watch, there was a lot more to appreciate and while there are still major reservations "Performance" was a lot better than remembered, if not one of the best episodes of Season 5 or as good as the outstanding previous two.

There is a lot to like about "Performance". As always, it's a slickly made episode, the editing especially having come on quite a bit from when the show first started (never was it a problem but it got more fluid with each episode up to this stage). The music is sparingly used and never seemed melodramatic, the theme tune easy to remember as usual. The direction is sympathetic enough without being too low key on the whole. The script is generally tight and thought-provoking, especially in the trial scenes, like the whole interaction between McCoy and Sutter.

Generally did like the story, it did intrigue and was not too simple or overloaded. Some of it was surprisingly violent and scary, count me in as another person who was very disturbed and left squeamish by the tape. The performances are all strong, with a truly affecting Monica Keena being especially impressive.

On the other hand, the writing was a long way from perfect. Will agree with the portrayal of 90s kids culture, which came over as more contrived than affectionate, completely lacks subtlety and hasn't held up well. Also think that the episode could have tackled the subject a lot more tactfully, some of it sounded very forced and on the smutty side.

Concluding, not a great episode but worth watching. 7/10