Season 1 of 'Law and Order', the original show of the popular franchise and my personal favourite (despite it not feeling the same post-Briscoe) was a very solid one. Even the weakest episodes were pretty good. Outstanding, ones rewarded my highest rating, episodes were not many, with most of the episodes getting the very good to great ones. That is not to say though that Season 1 was exempt from outstanding episodes, far from it.
Both parts of the "The Torrents of Greed" two parter fit that distinction for exactly the same reasons to each other and among the best episodes of the season. Had a slight personal preference to this more tension-and-intrigue filled second part. Perfect examples of why the early seasons of 'Law and Order', so pre-Briscoe and the early Briscoe years, are worth watching and not deserving of being forgotten in favour of the more frequently aired Season 7-onwards episodes.
George Dzundza and Chris Noth have the usual hard-boiled edge as Greevey and Logan and Michael Moriarty squeezes out every bit of juice from Stone (a character that the writers always seemed to have fun with). Christina Baranski continues to make Katherine an increasingly interesting and strongly developed character. It is Charles Cioffi's truly sinister Masucci once again, one of the season's most formidable characters, that dominates. They are helped by a tautly structured and thoughtful script and well drawn characters, it doesn't get much more threatning than the Mob and mob bosses and Masucci proves that.
Furthermore, the story is ceaselessly compelling and piles on the tension and intrigue, with some interesting moral dilemmas and a conclusion that wraps things up satisfyingly. The production values are still stylish, the theme tune hard to forget and the music placement and tone never came over as questionable, not being melodramatic either.
Overall, outstanding. 10/10