When it comes to talking about the original 'Law and Order', there is a strong preference for the earlier seasons (Seasons 1-10), the standard of the seasons were more consistent and hit hard more, they were the seasons with the more iconic characters and had none that annoyed me. Season 11 onwards was still very watchable and there were a number of great and more episodes, but the show was not as consistent or as fresh in stories and characters.
"Rumble" is a great start to a surprisingly good Season 19 (certainly much better than 'Special Victims Unit's' Season 19). One of the season's best, most tense and most complex. As well as most thoughtful, with so many viewpoints and all understandable, and most relevant topic-wise (scarily so). Is "Rumble" one of the best 'Law and Order' episodes? No. Is it a sign of that the show was still worth watching despite not feeling the same? Yes indeed.
Still find Lupo and Bernard's chemistry a little on the bland, so their tensions never quite ignite and certainly not to the same extent as Lupo's with McCoy.
However, all the legal stuff is absolutely riveting, with plenty of snappy and thought provoking dialogue and a lot of tension. The subject is a difficult one to get right, with it being so political oriented it could easily have been heavy handed, but instead turned out to be disturbingly unflinching and tense as well as scary in its relevance (with this issue still happening today and to this extent, more so) and truth. Neither does it feel convoluted or over-stuffed. The moral dilemmas are thoughtfully handled and don't come over as laid on too thick or one-sided.
All the acting is fine, with Linus Roache (who has settled incredibly well) and Sam Waterston firing on all cylinders. The disagreements between them blister. Pablo Schreiber, who always does unsettling expertly, and Margot White, as the only person in the case to come off well, are excellent too.
Production values as ever are slick and with the right amount of muted grit, the photography doesn't try to do anything too fancy or gimmicky while not being claustrophobic and keeping things simple. The music doesn't overbear with the theme tune still memorable. The direction keeps things tight while allowing time to breathe.
Summing up, absolutely great. 9/10.