Was absolutely bowled over by 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit's' Season 6 opener "Birthright". Of the Season 6 openers for the original 'Law and Order' ("Bitter Fruit"), 'Special Victims Unit' (this episode) and 'Criminal Intent' ("Blind Spot"), "Birthright" was easily the best of the three. So after such a brilliant beginning, anybody that loved it as much as me would understandably expect a good deal from "Debt", especially with the subject.
"Debt" is not as brilliant an episode as "Birthright", but it is still absolutely great and hard hitting second episode. The subject is one of the season's toughest and one knows from even reading the premise that the episode was not going to be an easy watch. This was not unexpected well before reading the synopsis with me though, as 'Special Victims Unit' is no stranger to heavy, controversial subjects and dealing with them in a pull no punches way. Which is exactly what "Debt" did and wonderfully.
If there is one thing that "Debt" disappoints a little in, it is that Munch and Fin are rather underused, neither of them have enough screen time and their material has been a lot more entertaining and intriguing before and since.
Otherwise, "Debt" comes together wonderfully. It does so well, and that is a big understatement, in showing the incredibly dark side and world of immigration and human trafficking, the depiction of it being harrowing and terrifying. It would be explored many times throughout the show's run, but it is an issue always worth addressing and should be done so more. 'Special Victims Unit' explored it better than most shows, often in a chilling and realistically uncompromising way. There is plenty of suspense and emotion, this difficult subject is the complete opposite of sugar-coated.
Plus it contains one heck of an interrogation scene and a villain that really makes the skin crawl. Really rooted for the victims to be okay and was always on the edge of my seat. There are uniformly terrific performances from the regulars, especially Mariska Hargitay on tough and sympathetic form (vintage Olivia basically). Ming Na Wen's performance is deeply felt and Jack Wang is truly frightening, especially when being interrogated, absolutely agree many being likely to have an extreme negative reaction to his demeanour when being interrogated. "Debt" is very intelligently scripted, with a lot of intensity and a wide mix of emotion. As usual for the franchise there is a lot of talk, but it didn't feel overly-so here.
Photography while very close up doesn't come over as too static or filmed play-like, while the production values are typically solid and have subtle atmosphere while not being drab and keeping things simple. When the music is used it is haunting and has a melancholic edge that is not overdone. The episode is sympathetically yet uncompromisingly directed. It was interesting to see how the case affects the SVU, especially Stabler and Huang (the latter also shines here) and how they approach it.
Summing up, truly great. 9/10
"Debt" is not as brilliant an episode as "Birthright", but it is still absolutely great and hard hitting second episode. The subject is one of the season's toughest and one knows from even reading the premise that the episode was not going to be an easy watch. This was not unexpected well before reading the synopsis with me though, as 'Special Victims Unit' is no stranger to heavy, controversial subjects and dealing with them in a pull no punches way. Which is exactly what "Debt" did and wonderfully.
If there is one thing that "Debt" disappoints a little in, it is that Munch and Fin are rather underused, neither of them have enough screen time and their material has been a lot more entertaining and intriguing before and since.
Otherwise, "Debt" comes together wonderfully. It does so well, and that is a big understatement, in showing the incredibly dark side and world of immigration and human trafficking, the depiction of it being harrowing and terrifying. It would be explored many times throughout the show's run, but it is an issue always worth addressing and should be done so more. 'Special Victims Unit' explored it better than most shows, often in a chilling and realistically uncompromising way. There is plenty of suspense and emotion, this difficult subject is the complete opposite of sugar-coated.
Plus it contains one heck of an interrogation scene and a villain that really makes the skin crawl. Really rooted for the victims to be okay and was always on the edge of my seat. There are uniformly terrific performances from the regulars, especially Mariska Hargitay on tough and sympathetic form (vintage Olivia basically). Ming Na Wen's performance is deeply felt and Jack Wang is truly frightening, especially when being interrogated, absolutely agree many being likely to have an extreme negative reaction to his demeanour when being interrogated. "Debt" is very intelligently scripted, with a lot of intensity and a wide mix of emotion. As usual for the franchise there is a lot of talk, but it didn't feel overly-so here.
Photography while very close up doesn't come over as too static or filmed play-like, while the production values are typically solid and have subtle atmosphere while not being drab and keeping things simple. When the music is used it is haunting and has a melancholic edge that is not overdone. The episode is sympathetically yet uncompromisingly directed. It was interesting to see how the case affects the SVU, especially Stabler and Huang (the latter also shines here) and how they approach it.
Summing up, truly great. 9/10
