Catching up on random history is sometimes time well spent. Read about the US Navy's 'Tailhook' scandal before sitting thru this episode. 'Conduct Unbecoming' is the fictionalized tale, but 'Law & Order' bumps up the stakes to murder. It doesn't make for a bad watch, but it's also a rather simple straightforward slice of the pie and less interesting that the entire event, fallout it's based on.
At a NYC hotel officers have a party that gets out of control and one of their own - Lt. Tracy Hagen - is found dead. Briscoe (Orbach) & Logan (Noth) have to fight lies to find the guilty. As do Stone (Moriarty) & Robinette (Brooks) battle the bureaucratic nature of the US military with a tendency to protect it's own. An ensign who drunkenly tried to have sex with the deceased ends up confessing. The Navy is satisfied he's their man, but further digging uncovers Cpt. Bunker (Len Cariou) had a antagonistic past with this female officer, was at the party and they spoke privately before her death.
The event which this was based highlights the "old boys club". Outdated sexist misogynist attitudes where abuse, harassment & sexual assaults are kept quiet, brushed aside, never reported. Then of course a bungled government investigation, media frenzy where an image was left of protecting it's highest ranking men in the wrong. This episode touches on select pieces of the fiasco, but it feels relatively surface level at best.
'Conduct Unbecoming' is a serviceable whodunit using a topical theme "ripped from the headlines", but it's not amongst L&O best work. It's also one of those episodes that doesn't make it hard to guess who is the bad guy. A young Julianna Margulies puts in an early role and seeing George Coe (Best Seller) play another lawyer you love to hate was fun. They'd return to this Navy world again seasons later with 'Navy Blues' and it did a better job of presenting it's theme, bag of lies and military ignorance rooted in reality.
At a NYC hotel officers have a party that gets out of control and one of their own - Lt. Tracy Hagen - is found dead. Briscoe (Orbach) & Logan (Noth) have to fight lies to find the guilty. As do Stone (Moriarty) & Robinette (Brooks) battle the bureaucratic nature of the US military with a tendency to protect it's own. An ensign who drunkenly tried to have sex with the deceased ends up confessing. The Navy is satisfied he's their man, but further digging uncovers Cpt. Bunker (Len Cariou) had a antagonistic past with this female officer, was at the party and they spoke privately before her death.
The event which this was based highlights the "old boys club". Outdated sexist misogynist attitudes where abuse, harassment & sexual assaults are kept quiet, brushed aside, never reported. Then of course a bungled government investigation, media frenzy where an image was left of protecting it's highest ranking men in the wrong. This episode touches on select pieces of the fiasco, but it feels relatively surface level at best.
'Conduct Unbecoming' is a serviceable whodunit using a topical theme "ripped from the headlines", but it's not amongst L&O best work. It's also one of those episodes that doesn't make it hard to guess who is the bad guy. A young Julianna Margulies puts in an early role and seeing George Coe (Best Seller) play another lawyer you love to hate was fun. They'd return to this Navy world again seasons later with 'Navy Blues' and it did a better job of presenting it's theme, bag of lies and military ignorance rooted in reality.