I find them to be quite fun, and always gonna have a good story and twist. My whole apt likes to watch the shows on tues/friday, and we make bets on whodunnit, 'tis good tv and an enjoyable way to relax.
Um, not really. As you should know with L&O, the beginning is nothing like what actually happened. Those "jingoistic Americans" turned out to be muslim extremists making the crime look like a coverup by posing as an American terrorist cell. Yeah, this episode did have a message (the divide within the muslim community), but not all of the new L&Os do.
In fact, most of them aren't like that. Last nights CI and SVU both weren't like that at all. The weeks before last Friday's didn't include a message either. Some of the episodes are like that, but not all are.