Law & Order (TV Series) Cry Wolf (2004) User Reviews

The shock jock and the Don

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 8 September 2013]

A whole lot of bodies start to pile up in this one. Initially Jose Zuniga, radio talk show host modeled on Curtis Sliwa of the Guardian Angels, is victim of an attempted assassination. After that a Mafia hit-man is gunned down in a pizzeria.

But there is a real tragic side to this story. A young kid with the same name and cousin to another made Mafia guy is also killed in a case of mistaken identity. And then gallery owner Nicolette Hart is asphyxiated.

She's at the root of all this. She's the girlfriend of Don Arthur J. Nascarella and she's been stepping out on him with Zuniga who takes a particular delight in baiting Nascarella on his radio show.

This is a most testosterone driven Law And Order episode. But the end has a real twist to it.

Interesting episode.

[wkozak221 · 6/10 · 10 March 2021]

I like this episode somewhat. The story is good, The cast is interesting. However, this reminds me of the Guardian Angels. I guess they did good. However, I tired of Curtis very quickly. Every time I picked up a paper, turned on the radio or tv there he was. I think he wanted fame really bad.

l wasn't making a movie in Mongolia. I was meditating in a monastery.

[Mrpalli77 · 8/10 · 13 December 2017]

A NY radio celebrity was shot and then dropped off a rented car. Luckily for him, his life was not at stake, but he had to spent some time in a wheelchair. At first, detectives thought he had just looked for some publicity (his radio show ratings boosted shortly after the accident), so he could have staged everything. Anyway his deep hatred for an italian mob boss lead the detectives to the victim personal life: he had an affair with the boss' mistress. Later on, the boss killed both the car driver and the shooter to shut them down and because they didn't do their job properly (actually the shooter was still alive, he mistook him for his cousin who share the same name). During the trial, even the mistress was murdered to prevent her from testify and the victim changed his position on the stand.....

The classic mafia episode, everybody are afraid of the "Don". Fontana proves to be fluent in italian language by speaking with an old lady (Irma St. Paule, actually an actress of russian descent) who pretended not to know english.

What great acting and lines!

[a_little_about_law · 10/10 · 4 April 2007]

A character, Angelo Cimenetti (sp?), one of the two wise-guys hired to kill Christoff, had me in stitches! After cutting a deal with McCoy, he relates the story of how the hit he was hired to pull off came apart at the seams. McCoy asks him, "What went wrong?" and he replies, "What didn't?" in a manner as if he was talking about a birthday party gag that went awry. His storytelling of the woeful hit is so colorful that McCoy has to try not to seem amused; he fails.

Then when the same character is on the stand being grilled by the attorney for the mob boss he's testifying against, he's asked to confirm, "You tried your best to kill him," and he shrugs with a goofy grin, "It didn't work out", as if he was describing the circumstances surrounding a blind date his friend had set him up on that "didn't work out." Hilarious!

Tied to the mob

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 26 July 2022]

Have always found a lot to like about all three of the three best known and popular 'Law and Order' shows (the original 'Law and Order', 'Special Victims Unit' and 'Criminal Intent', the others are more variable). Although 'Special Victims Unit', great in the earlier seasons but less consistent in the latter ones, has topped the original as the longest-running of the franchise in terms of seasons, my personal favourite is the original, if more the Briscoe years and before.

"Cry Wolf" was a very good episode on first watch. It still is, despite the basic scenario not being a new one. There are quite a lot of mob related episodes in the franchise. 'Law and Order' on form was very good at not being too repetitive when coming back to previously explored subjects, familiar ground it may feel like but not in a way that feels derivative. "Cry Wolf" falls a little short of greatness, with it being a case of starting off a bit on the ordinary side but became near-classic 'Law and Order' level by the end. The complete opposite of the previous episode.

As said, it does start off a little too ordinary and Fontana (who is growing as a character, but inevitably suffers from being compared less favourably to the iconic Briscoe) and Green's chemistry was still a little on-off (like a light switch).

Did find the ending slightly on the crowded side and Elisabeth Rohm brings very little energy.

On the other hand, a lot is great. The photography while very close up doesn't come over as too static or filmed play-like, while the production values are typically solid and have subtle atmosphere while not being drab and keeping things simple. When the music is used it is haunting and has a melancholic edge that is not overdone. The episode is sympathetically yet uncompromisingly directed.

It is an intelligently and tautly scripted episode, especially the cross examination. The story becomes increasingly intricate and twisty, without feeling rushed or convoluted, and there is genuine tension as the conflict mounts. The legal portion is infinitely better in this episode than in "Gov Love", much more realistic and done with a lot more tact, plus McCoy didn't irk me this time. The performances are very good, regulars and supporting. The only exception being Rohm.

Concluding, very good. 8/10.