Darlings, I Am Telling You, That Jessica Hecht As Mriam Johnson!!!!!!!!!!

Now, girls, I know I said I was going to cut down on "Law And Order," but I just can't ignore it, now, can I????? And a good thing, because last night's episode featured one of my favorite actresses, Jessica Hecht. But what a piece of work she played!!!!!!!

The episode, entitled "Chattel", was from 2009, and the title tells pretty much all--children being used as chattel. A couple of divorced lawyers, the Bellamys, are found murdered in their bedroom; they were about to expose a group of people who were exporting children from Haiti and using them for slaves/servants!!!!! The head of this ring is a couple of slime balls, the Johnsons (Tom Gilroy and Jessica Hecht). Miriam Johnson, in particular is venomous; all social concern about poverty and saving a child, while having the social status of being an Upper West Side plantation mistress.

Honey, there is so much wrong with this, I cannot begin to enumerate. What adult couple in their right mind would allow a child of prepubescence--especially one not familiar with the ways of this country--to iron, cook, clean, do things that not all children of that age know how to do. I mean, the kitchen stove???? Supposed he torched them, cooking dinner??? No great loss there, except for the child, Patrick!!!!! Darlings, I remember when I tried to make pancakes at 12; the batter was easy, the pouring too. But I naively greased a tin cookie sheet and placed it on the stove, thinking that would do the job. Well, when the flame turned on underneath, and butter and batter collided on top, I almost torched our house!!!! If that fire had not been put out, we might have been forced to move to Harrison Avenue!!!!! So the Johnsons and their friends assigning young children such adult responsibilities shows they don't have the sense of the slave owners of the South!!!!! Do you think this would be allowed at Tara?????

The Johnsons also have a fifteen-year-old daughter, Karen, who is a piece of work herself!!!! She has so little warmth, next to her Veda Pierce would win a Miss Congeniality contest!!!!!! It turns out she does a bit of exploitation herself--knowing her parents slave ring is about to be exposed, fearful that her parents will go to jail, she preys on Patrick's fears of being turned out into the street. She extracts a .22 caliber gun from her father's cabinet, goes with Patrick to the Bellamys, and forces him to kill them. Too bad he did not shoot Karen right after.

Linus Roache as Mike Cutter is SO cute, and boy does he call out Miriam Jonhnson for the hypocrite she is. At least when the Park Avenue doyennes were doing the same thing, they were up front about it. But Miriam Johnson's butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth-act fools no one, and, finally, she gets hauled off to prison. Not only she, but her husband Eric, and their rotten daughter, Karen. Unfortunately, since Patrick DID pull the trigger, he gets hauled off, too. The last scene of him marching off in a row of prisoners, the youngest of the lot, is one of the saddest scenes seen in this franchise.

But S. Epatha Merkerson has the best line. When the slave ring is rounded up, she says, "This plantation is closed!!!!!!!!"

Mine serves breakfast at 8 am, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!