was it the genes or the fertilizer that made this taste so good?

Last night I saw a (recent) Law and Order: SVU rerun.  And it was FABULOUS.

Ok, I'm so-so about Law and Order in general... mostly because the stories follow the EVIL MOTHER LEADS SON INTO A LIFE OF CRIME formula.  Which I find a little sexist, in the same old, same old Adam and Eve vain.

But I love three particular episodes, though they all follow that format. 

Two are Criminal Intent episodes, which tend toward the evil older woman motif more than the other Law and Order incarnations (sometimes branching out into evil middle-aged effeminate man).  

The first is about a woman who picks her son up from foster care and leads him into a life of drugs and pawn shop robbery-murders.  It's a super skeezy storyline, what with a dead girlfriend hidden in a trunk which becomes a table for shooting up drugs, etc.  I like because the story is INCREDIBLY skeezy, while remaining completely chaste- an unusual combination.

The second stars Stephen Colbert, and he's WONDERFUL.  In "The Saint," he's a super uptight forger who lives with his manic-depressive mother... her main problem seems to be that she's SUPER into giving to charity, so his problem is keeping her from giving away all his money/things.  I like it because Stephen Colbert is the most intense person ever.  He carries the story- he gives it pop.  I'm not an actress, so I don't know how he's doing it.  Charisma?

And the third show is from SVU, and is the one I saw last night: "Ballerina."  It was about an adopted son who lives with his mother, an actress has-been who has watched Mommie Dearest ten million times.  She's even got this weird silk turban thing to wear in bed.  People die all over the place, but the main story is- what really is the relationship between mother and son?  What would they do for each other?  

Carol Bernett is the mother, and she's suitably creepy.  But the son is WONDERFUL.  He's got these tight little gestures he uses, and he's got this really light skin that got really blotchy whenever the scene got intense.  He was SO much fun to watch.  I kept looking at the clock and thinking, 'oh no!  Only twenty minutes left!' or 'oh no!  Only ten minutes left!' etc.  Law and Order episodes are SUPER predictable, so I think that's a miracle.

And MATTHEW LILLARD plays the son.  Yes, the guy from Scream and Scooby Doo.  Weird, huh?  He obviously went balls to the wall with this Law and Order part, and he was mesmerizing.  How come his credits aren't more interesting?  I guess he just hasn't been given a fair shake.  

HEY, MATTHEW LILLARD, IF YOU'RE LISTENING, I'M GONNA WRITE SOMETHING JUST FOR YOU, OK BABY?

Because it is painful to see good talent go to waste.  It's not just anybody who can make their skin go all crazy-realistic-but-not-gross-blotchy when they're actor crying.  Seriously.

OK, so I guess the real question is: I think script writing is SO important.  So why are two out of my three favorite Law and Order episodes blah script-wise and only awesome acting-wise?