Law & Order (TV Series) Stiff (2000) User Reviews

The idle rich and their idle hands

[AlsExGal · 9/10 · 23 September 2021]

I've heard that this episode is supposed to be based on the Klaus Von Bulow case, but ultimately there are not that many similarities. A very wealthy middle aged woman has remarried a man who is not wealthy. The woman has been depressed, just lying in bed much of the time. So when she slips into a coma, insulin is found in her, and she is not diabetic, at first the suspicion is that this was a suicide attempt, especially when it is discovered she is chronically ill. But then nothing is ever as it appears on L&O.

It turns out there are any number of family members and close associates who might want the woman either dead or even just incapacitated as she now is. And in the end the episode is somewhat more horror than police procedural. It's one of those episodes you will remember because of all of the uncertainties and the intersections of the actions of people with less than noble motives.

Know Your Insulin?

[gamay9 · 8/10 · 30 January 2015]

The segment is interesting since I have diabetes and take insulin. An overdose of insulin leaves a person sweaty, weak and dizzy. It certainly wouldn't leave anyone 'laid back' so as to be a willing sex partner. Yes, one can go into a coma; in fact, I once made an error in the injection process and woke up at 3:00 AM, barely able to function and test. I had a 22 blood sugar, drank orange juice and called 911. I did increase my blood sugar to 65 but the doctor told me orange juice is a temporary fix. Insulin can be extremely dangerous, especially if one lives alone, but it is hardly an aphrodisiac nor has a calming effect if the 'victim' is over-dosed. Nonetheless, it was an interesting episode despite some technical misinterpretations I take issue with.

First, Kill the Patient.

[rmax304823 · 8/10 · 17 January 2013]

A pretty decent entry in the series. This is the tenth season and yet the performances are still animated and the stories up to the usual high standard. But it wouldn't be long before the shark was jumped.

A wealthy man takes his comatose wife to the ER. They've been playing sexual games in which the husband injects the wife with insulin, puts her into a light state of shock, and has his way with her, every which way, while she enjoys being unable to resist. This time, there was an apparent overdose. The question is whether the husband did it deliberately to get her money, did it deliberately to kill her before she died of Parkinson's disease, or did it accidentally? And then it really gets twisted.

It must be nice to have money. These are the people who, when placed under arrest, tell their secretaries, "Call my lawyer." They HAVE lawyers. I've seen a lawyer twice in my life. One of them listened to my tale of woe for half an hour, told me he'd look into it and call me back, and charged me one hundred dollars. A few days later, having received no information, I left a message and got this response: "This is Mr. Stiffem, returning your call," as if he'd never heard of me. Another lawyer charged me the same amount to retype a letter I'd already written, but he got the addressee wrong! "The first thing we do, let's kill the lawyers," says Dick in Henry IV, Part 2. Well, I'm glad I got that off my chest. How much do I owe?

Now, the husband in this case probably had the right idea -- rendering his spouse unable to resist. (My ex never needed a drug to make me helpless; talking was enough.) But it turns out he was simply a tool of the evidently innocent daughter, who really WAS after mother's money in order to fund her own coffee-table-book business. But the REAL culprit is the doctor who was in cahoots with the daughter. Let's see him wield his Aesculapian authority in the slams. If he's lucky, they'll make him an assistant in the library at Sing Sing.

Prescription of death

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 12 January 2022]

The subject matter immediately is enough to grab the attention. It is a very sensitive and difficult topic to discuss, and if anybody has doubts about whether the execution would be tactful enough without being preachy, one-sided and too heavy that is understandable (those are common traps with this kind of topic and similar). Anybody though that has always admired how 'Law and Order' approached tough subjects and how it did so will be intrigued.

"Stiff" could have been too sleazy and exploitative. Or it could have been hard-hitting and moving. Luckily, it was on the most part the latter. The subject is not a novel one, 'Law and Order' did cases that involved comatose spouses quite a few times beforehand ("Coma", "Encore", "Grief", which all handled the subject even better than here), but "Stiff" generally handled it very well if not exceptionally or innovatively.

Maybe there is not an awful lot unique about it to begin with.

Once again, the denouement could have taken its time more to be explained, too much information explained in a hurry.

However, there is an awful lot to recommend about "Stiff". It is shot with the right amount of intimacy without being claustrophobic and that the editing has become increasingly tighter over-time has been great too. Nice use of locations too. The music doesn't get over-scored or overwrought, even in the more dramatic revelation moments. The direction doesn't try to do too much and is understated but never flat or unsure.

Script is intelligent, lean enough and thought-provoking, managing to not be too heavy-handed or one-sided which is very easy to do for a subject like this. The story is incredibly compelling and harrowing in the second half, the crime/scheme is one that makes one sick to the stomach even thinking about it and even watching it is riling-up worthy. The performances are excellent from leads and supporting.

In summary, very good though be warned that it is not an easy watch. 8/10.

Missed the last 10 mins

[moonchick-20680 · 10/10 · 15 August 2019]

Yes so it turns out the dr. (John Slattery) was conspiring with the daughter, only she had a change of heart at the last min and wanted to back out. Slattery said okay, but really he gave her the drugs anyway so that's why the he's culpable, and he took a plea deal right before they inject the mom with drugs to wake her up out of the coma. So they inject the drugs in her and poof. She's all better. She points the finger at her no good husband and says he took advantage of her and he goes to jail. She makes up with her daughter and McCoy, forgiving soul that he is, let's her off on a misdemeanor. She even has a change of heart about her daughters magazine and decides to start funding it again. It becomes a huge hit and they are a happy family! The mom stops letting men inject her with insulin for kicks. The End.

Missed the last 10 minutes

[worshipchrist-52222 · 8/10 · 19 March 2015]

I watched this episode, and really got into it. Unfortunately, it was saved on a DVR and the end of it was cut off. I would really appreciate someone telling me how it ended. Can anyone tell me how the ending was? Lasts hung I saw was they were going to bring Joan out of the frozen state, and she could talk. Then we would know hat happened to her. The husband was guilty of negligence when administering the drug used for sex games, but now it looks like the daughter was after her money. It's hard to believe the daughter would do such a thing to her mother. Reading someone else's review, it looks like the doctor may have also conspired with the daughter What happened? I would really appreciate someone telling me how this story ended. Thank you in advance.

Not quite a murder

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 21 April 2018]

This is one Law And Order I found a bit much to take. Jerry Orbach and Jesse Martin respond to a call involving an unconscious woman who is slipping into a vegetative coma. With her hovering between life and death her condition warrants a full court investigation.

What she overdosed on was insulin and it comes down to two suspects, her husband and her daughter. Turns out that insulin in just and I mean just the right amount can give you a bit of ecstasy which along with sex is a great high. Her husband David Dukes got her turned on to that.

I think that's some really sick stuff and insulin is nothing to play with. There are lots of insulin shock death every year. But daughter Marin Hinkle would have liked mom to loosen the purse strings a bit. Gaining control through power of attorney would do.

It's up to Sam Waterston to parse out the blame. I can only feel for the victim hovering between one world and another.