I have not watched any of the L&O series before but this casting was irresistible. I thought the regulars were an excellent ensemble, and Bart and Esparza had plenty of material to work with for a single episode. I look forward to Esparza in a recurring role because he gradually won me over to his character over the course of the episode. As a lawyer, one of my favorite moments was his resigned shrug when the judge refused his request to continue for another 30 minutes. Nice work, Mr. Barba.
Roger was deliciously evil. If Raul is to be a continuing character, I would hope that someone talks to him about his enunciation. I watched it with a large group and there were many complaints of not being able to understand what he was saying.
I like Roger Bart, but after winning the Tony for playing Snoopy, all I see are him in roles where he is a pretty vile and detestible characters (Hostel, this role on L&O).
Raul was pretty good. I didn't mind his enunciation, as I just took it as part of his fast talking lawyer character (which made me wonder what he would be like as Billy Flynn).
I really liked it. Rory, I would like to see show up again. And Roger is always a good choice for any distasteful person. And I was particularly impressed with how well Raul fit in with the show. I hope he starts showing up more often on the show.
I get the character choice of the fast-talking, no-bullsh*t lawyer, but it was like every phrase that came out of his mouth was one word. A lot of people I know who watched have said it was hard to understand him. I think it can work, it just needs to be moderated a little bit. It's a recurring part, but he's not back for almost a month.
I thought it was fine. Thought the episode was a little ridiculous, but I am not the biggest L&O fan to begin with. The performances were good, though (especially those Raul-Roger moments), and it's always nice to have a little Raul on my tv.