User Reviews

Stakes are raised tremendously as Anne Parisee's ADA Borgia is kidnapped and murdered, and Jack McCoy is driven to any means necessary to bring the killers to justice. Ritchie Coster does exceptional work as the corrupt DEA agent Almonte (probably what gained him attention to get plum roles in the next year's American Gangster and The Dark Knight) and old pro Lynne Cohen does a nice turn as a judge outraged at McCoy's skirting of the law to get vengeance. This episode is also notable for the final appearance of the late Dennis Farina's Detective Fontana. The show tried for a more sexed-up appeal the next season by replacing him with shirt-permanently-unbuttoned Milena Govich and a new ADA in runway model-worthy Ana De La Garza, but it was never better when it stuck to the grit of reality like this episode.

This final episode of season 16 marks the farewell of two regulars. Annie Parisse was killed and in a grisly manner by two professional drug dealers armed and extremely dangerous. Parisse was prosecuting a man who had duplicated and sold DEA badges. Bruce MacVittie was going to turn state's evidence. Then it's his family who is murdered.

And if that wasn't enough these same two, Shawn Andrew and Johnny Mez, then murder Alexandra Borgia.

After that Sam Waterston is ready to throw the rulebook away to get these killers who are tied into a crooked DEA agent Ritchie Coster. Coster is one of the nastiest pieces of work in the history of the series.

This was also a farewell episode for Dennis Farina who left the series abruptly. Detective Fontana was a guy who only viewed the rule book as suggestions any way.

Coster is dangerous, but not stupid. You have to see how this one plays out.

Quite a lot of episodes from the 'Law and Order' franchise have at least one interest point. "Invaders" is most notable for being the last episodes of Alexandra Borgia and Joe Fontana. Season 16 was a very good season, one of the few of the original 'Law and Order' to not have any less than decent episodes and where even the weaker episodes ("Age of Innocence", "Bible Story") were still pretty good. At its best, like with "Criminal Law" it was even excellent.

The season finale "Invaders" is to me one of the best episodes of Season 16. It is a great episode and is also a powerful one, even with flashes of the 2006 Richmond Killing Spree murders it didn't come over as exploitative or sensationalist (which is amazing how soon the episode aired after those horrific crimes. In regard to it being the final episodes of the two characters mentioned), the events after one makes for some of the most powerful moments of the show in a while and the other could have been gone into depth much more.

So much is great about "Invaders". As ever, the photography and such 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 writing is lean, leaves one in thought and nothing feels sugar-coated. The story is incredibly hard hitting, with a beginning that will make one familiar with the Richmond Killing Spree murders feel like their stomachs were churning (though even when watching the episode for the first time it wrenched the gut when having no knowledge of the case). It does a great job with the exit of Borgia, which is one of the franchises most gut wrenching exits that doesn't come over as excessive shock value (Sonya Paxton) or an out of the blue excuse to get rid of an unpopular character (Serena Southerlyn).

All the performances are great, with Sam Waterston dominating the legal portions and Ritchie Coster showing once again that he can do dangerous expertly.

For all those great things though, there is one thing that could have been done better. Fontana's exit is too abrupt and afterthought like.

Otherwise, great end to a very good season and one of the last "great" episodes of the show. 9/10.

A woman left one of her daughters to a neighbor due to a night shift. Unfortunately, a thief hold a gun against her and all the people inside the apartment are tied in chairs. Shortly after they were all murdered by asphyxiation with plastic bags. Victim's husband was the prime witness to thieves conviction years before (he set them up over a phony badges trade) but the perps were recently realeased from Rikers. Borgia was assaulted and abducted in her flat by the same robbers who wanted to find something, because they put her place upside down. They killed her, leaving her body in a trunk. Then McCoy was ready for the first time to break some procedures, much to Branch disapproval: a corrupt cop (Ritchie Coster) is ready to be used as bait.

Alexandra Borgia farewell is a sick one. I don't like her character very much and so do most of the audience. She is the second ADA who died in the series: Borgia died while performing her duty, while Claire Kincaid (McCoy former lover) died by car accident at the end of the sixth season

Another list of finer Law & Order episodes and a recommendation for 'Invaders' from the sixteenth season and season finale. It was watching this I realized I hadn't sat thru much of the show after Orbach left, Farina came on board & Waterston's ADAs kept changing. It's the latter element that fuels this tale and it ups the stakes, gives it some heart in a tale of corruption, murder and unethical tactics that make for a good viewing.

The family of a cooperating police source are murdered and Fontana (Dennis Farina) & Green (Jesse L. Martin) find he was the real target. He was busted for supplying legit police uniforms, fake badges, credentials and given a deal by ADA Borgia (Annie Parisse) in exchange for the suspects involved in a series of ripoff murders. He stonewalls McCoy (Sam Waterston). So does DEA Agent Almonte (Ritchie Coster) when he circumstantially gets linked. When the worst case scenario happens, McCoy now finds himself bending the rules as the idea of the guilty not facing justice becomes very real.

Wasn't following the show as this point so I can only regurgitate what was obviously known back then. Both Farina, Parisse were unhappy and this episode marked their last, but it gave them a banger to go out on. I've always like Farina as an actor even if I didn't catch much of his run as senior Det. Joe Fontana over two seasons. I think he had big shoes to fill and fans might have held some resentment. I can't say much about Parisse having not seen her 1.5 seasons of work, but her resolution provides some real weight and Waterston carries it thru.

'Invaders' is one of those episodes that isn't the typical 50/50 mix of investigation and courtroom procedural. The main suspects are basically unknown and on the run up until the end and a lot of the work comes down to the street and bluff tactics. Even without a jury and a gavel you get the resolution you crave. I don't know if I'd personally call it one of L&O's best, but it was interesting from start to finish.