Law & Order (TV Series) Savior (1996) User Reviews

Unhappy families

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 3 March 2021]

With the episodes from 'Law and Order's' middle period (Seasons 7-14) and from its later seasons airing so often, it is very easy perhaps to overlook the pre-Season 7 seasons. That is a shame, because 'Law and Order' in its early years was more often than not good to fantastic with some truly fine episodes in each of the seasons in question. Wasn't blown away by every episode, indicated in the weakest episodes of Season 6, but when the show was at its best it was brilliant, and there were obvious good things in lesser episodes too.

"Savior's" subject sounded very interesting and can't think of any 'Law and Order' episode beforehand that tackled it. Was a bit worried that it would be a bit too ordinary, as it did sound formulaic structurally and other Season 6 episodes tackled far bolder and heavier themes. As said a few times in reviews for previous episodes, 'Law and Order' has actually shown more than once that it can do something interesting and at times special with ordinary-sounding premises. The latter is not quite achieved with the latter category, but it succeeds in the former.

The ending for my tastes did try to cram too much in in a too short space of time. Meaning pretty much everything in the last five minutes or so, as has been said already, and with the truth already being quite difficult to get the head round it did feel a little confusing at the end.

However, "Savior" has so many good things and pretty much excels everywhere else. The photography and such as usual are fully professional, the slickness still remaining. The music is used sparingly and is haunting and non-overwrought when it is used, and it's mainly used when a crucial revelation or plot development is revealed. The direction has some nice tension while keeping things steady, without going too far the other way.

Moreover, the script is thought provoking and smart, thankfully not rambling or too complicated that it makes things confused. A lot of the legal scenes' dialogue really probes thought and pulls no punches, which prime-'Law and Order' often excelled at brilliantly. It's not just non stop seriousness though, there are also humorous moments here and there such as Briscoe's one-liners. The story is an interesting and well paced one that is a lot less ordinary than it sounds.

It has a lot to say about family annihilation, as said a unique topic back then for the show, and it is handled in a balanced and illuminating way. It is also quite creepy in terms of atmosphere. The performances are great all round, can't fault the regulars (especially Jerry Orbach and Sam Waterston). Standing out especially is Ellen Pompeo in the latter stages.

Overall, very good. 8/10

Compelling and creepy story

[jbirks106 · 8/10 · 19 December 2017]

The Family Annihilator is a well known criminal pathology and has become an increasingly common theme in crime dramas, but this episode was my introduction. Ron Weber (Timothy Landfield) is the alleged annihilator here, accused of murdering his wife for insurance money, in the process killing one daughter and seriously injuring another.

Weber's attorney (Brooke Smith) turns out to be a former schoolmate of Kincaid's, and they have several agreeable scenes together lamenting the state of their chosen profession and later cracking the case. McCoy is in his usual damn-the-torpedoes form, but Schiff has his doubts. He insists the jury be told why a seemingly ordinary businessman with no criminal history would commit such a ghastly act. Olivet, as usual, is pressured to draw conclusions she's not altogether comfortable with, and at a crucial moment realizes she, and the prosecution, were wrong all along.

It is at this point that the story shifts into a higher, even more disturbing, gear. Ellen Pompeo, still years away from "Grey's Anatomy" fame, gives a chilling performance as a calculating, utterly amoral being. I've never considered her a great actress, but she's great as she dispassionately describes the most hideous behavior. It's unclear whether McCoy knows ahead of time that the judge will reject the deal he offers Jenna, but we share her disgust.

Families Unhappy In Their Own Way.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 18 March 2011]

Follows the usual -- and thoroughly respectable -- pattern of having a murder discovered, the two detectives following a false lead or two, followed by legal complications and a final resolution.

In this case, two middle-class children are found shot dead while asleep, and a third teen-aged girl is severely wounded but manages to pull through. Suspicion falls on the husband, a business failure who has become a drunk, and, as the evidence accumulates, probably a "family annihilator" too.

The police shrink, Liz, is called in and says he fits the profile of a family annihilator. He's "textbook perfect", except for one thing -- he doesn't break down under pressure and confess. I don't know where Liz gets her data from. I can only think of two famous "family annihilators" off hand. List murdered his entire family and then took off to establish a new identity elsewhere. And Jeffrey MacDonald murdered his wife and two young children at Fort Bragg and blamed it on an out-dated stereotype of hippies.

That stuff on family annihilators is interesting, though. The problem with this episode is that the resolution of a couple of complex problems all takes place in the last three or four minutes, and it comes out of nowhere.

That's made up for by the performance of Ellen Pompeo as the surviving daughter, which is quite good, though I can't describe it without giving away some of the surprises.

Cracking humourous dialogue...

[rossmcfarlen · 9/10 · 2 September 2020]

....between ADA Kincaid and Margot Bell about pursuing alternative careers to the legal field.

Family annihilator

[johngmurray-57968 · 10/10 · 6 January 2022]

In this one and a later SVU episode,Ellen Pompeo plays evil young women very effectively .in this one she's Jenna ,the sole survivor of a massacre at the Weber home while Dad is out getting cataclysmically hammered. The ending is chilling. In Trivia , this show is based on two fascinating real life cases,John List and Bradford Bishop. Bishop is more fascinating because he's still at large 48 years later. He might even be dead given his age at the time. I also think it resembled the Patricia Colombo case, where she and her boyfriend slaughtered her entire family.

Family Annihilator

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 27 August 2020]

Shades of John List. Jerry Orbach and Benjamin Bratt respond to a home where a mother and young son have been stabbed to death and the teenage daughter Ellen Pompeo is wounded. Husband Timothy Landfield is home later and he's stupifyingly drunk. Did he do the horrible deed while inebriated because he admits to nothing.

Is Landfield going to get justice because the cards looked stacked against him. His attorney Brooke Smith tries to deal but he insists on his innicene though he remembers nothing.

The whole theory of what makes someone a family annihilator is discussed at length. The truth is arroved at, but it ain't an easy one to swallow.

Nice performances by Landfield, Smith, and Pompeo.

Ellen Pompeo Before the plastic surgery

[evony-jwm · 3/10 · 11 May 2021]

Also Family Annihilation has been so discredited that it's not allowed to be mentioned in court without a confession. Also any lawyer mentioning client is guilty is past grounds for disbarment. It's also required exculpatory material by prosecution to judge to avoid an appeal dismissal of inadequate, incompetent defense lawyer.

Other than those mentioned this episode tars police with shoddy investigation and prosecution ditto.