With a new episode of the thirteenth season of Law & Order: SVU having aired a week ago and another just a few hours ago, I figured why not get the reviews of these two very well-done episodes done right away. So without any further delay, here there are.
Episode 13.06 "True Believers" - A young music student is raped at gunpoint in her own apartment, but with her help, the SVU squad makes a quick arrest. Bureau Chief Mike Cutter takes over the case when he finds out that opposing counsel is high-profile defense attorney Bayard Ellis. As Ellis works to undermine their police work and damage the victim's credibility, the detectives take the stand to prove they have more than just a he-said, she-said case.
This episode wonderfully portrayed how everything that happens in a courtroom is just one's perception of the defendant and the accuser. It also highlighted on how people act differently upon knowing who the opposing counsel is.
I know that guest star Sofia Vassilieva is the same age as her character on the show but dang does she look young. Her physical appearance was the only thing that really distracted me from this episode. I did appreciate that the episode took a more complex look at the victim and how this event that she never planned would change her and influence the rest of her life. I also thought that the use of her playing the piano was a great way to showcase the control chaos that was going on in this episode.
Guest star Andre Braugher and Mariska Hargitay were at their best in their acting in this episode. That concluding scene was done perfectly and the effect that it left could have only been achieved by those two.
As a small side note, I want to note that this season so far has had two courtroom heavy episodes, this one and the season premiere, while the five other episodes offered very little or none of them. In the future, just to add some more variety I would suggest adding some that balance both the law and order a bit more evenly. I'm not saying that the purely "law" episodes and the purely "order" episodes aren't phenomenal (which most have been this season) but you know something in the middle of the two could be just as great.
Episode 13.06 "True Believers" - A young music student is raped at gunpoint in her own apartment, but with her help, the SVU squad makes a quick arrest. Bureau Chief Mike Cutter takes over the case when he finds out that opposing counsel is high-profile defense attorney Bayard Ellis. As Ellis works to undermine their police work and damage the victim's credibility, the detectives take the stand to prove they have more than just a he-said, she-said case.This episode wonderfully portrayed how everything that happens in a courtroom is just one's perception of the defendant and the accuser. It also highlighted on how people act differently upon knowing who the opposing counsel is.
I know that guest star Sofia Vassilieva is the same age as her character on the show but dang does she look young. Her physical appearance was the only thing that really distracted me from this episode. I did appreciate that the episode took a more complex look at the victim and how this event that she never planned would change her and influence the rest of her life. I also thought that the use of her playing the piano was a great way to showcase the control chaos that was going on in this episode.
Guest star Andre Braugher and Mariska Hargitay were at their best in their acting in this episode. That concluding scene was done perfectly and the effect that it left could have only been achieved by those two.
As a small side note, I want to note that this season so far has had two courtroom heavy episodes, this one and the season premiere, while the five other episodes offered very little or none of them. In the future, just to add some more variety I would suggest adding some that balance both the law and order a bit more evenly. I'm not saying that the purely "law" episodes and the purely "order" episodes aren't phenomenal (which most have been this season) but you know something in the middle of the two could be just as great.
Episode 13.07 "Russian Brides" - When a young woman is found brutally murdered, the SVU detectives use her distinctive tattoos to identify her as a recently engaged Russian mail-order bride. Upon questioning her distraught fiance, they learn that she was kidnapped and held for ransom the night of their engagement party. While the detectives follow the money to a deadly blackmail scam run by the Russian Mafia, Captain Cragen goes undercover as a sad and lonely suitor to lure out the killer.Before anything I just have to say that this might have been Dann Florek's best performance ever on this show. Also, guest star Izabella Miko was phenomenal. I believed her for every second.
This episode just felt real organic and flowed perfectly without going overboard. This season has had a few clunker episodes where everything felt disjointed which made things difficult to connect to. However, this episode did not suffer from that. I did think that it was a bit slow getting into things but as soon as it got there it just took off seamlessly. I'm still not a fan of Tamara Tunie's diminished appearance as ME Warner because I just want her to add something more to the cases, I guess.
I enjoyed the reappearance of Alex Cabot and how her inclusion on the case was valuable despite the lack of a courtroom. Timothy Busfield's performance didn't offer anything really special for me but I enjoyed how the program went full circle with his character as the undercover thing started with him, then they backed off on him, and finished with the reality of what will happen to his character.
If Law & Order: SVU continues to turn out episodes like these two, I might even have to declare this season the best the show has been since its early years. The changes made have revitalized the program and allowed the show to take a look at things differently while still maintaining its compelling cases and characters.
