User Reviews

Jeremy Sisto and Anthony Anderson catch one grisly case in this Law And Order story. A young kid who is a promising student in a charter school is attacked and set on fire. A video that was passed around on the cell phones of students provides the opening clues in what Sisto and Anderson need to crack the case.

As it turns out the kids who did this go to a nearby public high school which is on the list of endangered schools from the State Department of Education. No one wants to talk and point any fingers. In addition the school principal Debra Winger stonewalls the investigation from the start.

Winger's is a complex character. She is obviously a dedicated educator with real concerns for her kids. She's also aware of her principal's job being on the line. It causes her to do some really stupid things. The best I can compare her too is Alec Guinness's Colonel Nicholson from The Bridge On The River Kwai whose concern for his men led him to a few stupid things in that film.

In the end it's figuring out the motivations behind the crime and the efforts to salvage one kid that turns the tide for the prosecution.

Highlight of the story is Debra Winger's Grand Jury testimony where she goes into the advantages of the charter schools versus what she has to deal with in a public high school. It's a controversy that will rage for years among educators and politicians.

This was one of those 'Law and Order' episodes on first watch that had a number of good things but it did feel on the ordinary side and didn't stick in the mind long after. There are episodes of the show and the 'Law and Order' franchise in general that felt like this, but there are many on both counts where that type of episode on first watch fared better on rewatch and were better than remembered seeing it through older eyes.

My generally positive but not blown away thoughts felt on first watch for "Boy on Fire" are pretty much the same today. As far as Season 20 goes, it had real potential to be one of the best but was closer to being one of the lesser ones. There are plenty of good things with "Boy on Fire", namely the opening and the guest turn, but time constraints and that it doesn't do enough with such a tough subject stopped it from being the great episode that it had potential of being.

"Boy on Fire" could have been better. For a less than an hour format, to me it did try to include too much, all with good potential, and doesn't do enough with some of them (like the advantages and disadvantages of charter schools) due to the limited time (this is a subject that lends itself better to a film due to its complexity).

Did think also that there could have been a little more tension and emotion, they were there but more in the second half than the first, which is quite formulaic outside of the opening.

However, a lot is good. The production values are still fully professional, the slickness and subtly gritty style still remaining. The music is sparingly used and is haunting and thankfully non-overwrought. The direction shows some nice tension in the legal scenes, which is where "Boy on Fire" fares a good deal better. The script is intelligent, lean enough and thought-provoking on both sides of the arguments, not too much of one side here.

Most of the story absorbs and moves, starting truly harrowingly and with Debra Winger's character's testimony being the dramatic highlight, thought-provoking and devastating. The performances are all of high quality, with Winger searing in her role.

In conclusion, pretty good but not great. 7/10.