As with any detective adventure, we love the mystery. You work through the case bit by bit, trying to figure out who done it and why.
But two things strike me about Wolfe's creations. The first is that we are not the only L&O fans. L&O seems to be a bit of a rage among the American population. Why do I find this interesting? Because we live in a culture that is not big on truth. Yet, the exaltation of final and ultimate justice overrides our postmodern culture's poo-poo on absolutes.
Secondly, I find the way all of the L&O shows end interesting. Despite the victory of justice, the show almost always ends on a note of utter despair.
Contrast this with older shows, say something like Dick Tracy, the Lone Ranger, or even Magnum PI. These stories would almost always end on a high note. Justice has been served--we got our man, now we ride off into the sunset or kiss the girl.
Not so on the L&O series. Its ending bleeds existentialism: all gloom and despair.
Jean Paul Sartre was the classic existentialist. Microsoft Encarta summarizes Sartre's worldview by saying,
[Sartre] declared that human beings require a rational basis for their lives but are
unable to achieve one, and thus human life is a “futile passion.”
Yes, you heard right. According to Sartre, human life is a "futile passion." Thus the depressing ending of L&O: "We got our man--we got our justice, but life isn't worth living anyway."
I like Sartre and the L&O series because they are more honest than the Lone Ranger and Dick Tracy. Sartre has contemplated life here under the sun. Basically he says, "What does it have to offer?" Really, he has come to the same conclusion that King Solomon came to: "Vanity of Vanities, everything is vanity." Ecclesiastes 1:2
What Sartre needed to know (and what Dick Wolfe needs to know) is that human beings do have a rational basis for life. It is found in God's Word--God created man male and female, after His own image, with dominion over the creatures and for His glory. Through the Bible we can know that God has endowed man with purpose and significance in a world that tells us the exact opposite.
Moreover, through Jesus Christ, we may have life, and have it more abundantly. And the drama of life does not have to end in despair (Just read Revelation. 22).
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