Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series) Payback (1999) User Reviews

"We don't pick the vic"

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 14 January 2015]

The first episode of SVU got off to a great start as the team catches a case involving a cabby being murdered. Around this time in New York City there were a rash of cabdriver crimes. But SVU gets involved because the robbers and evidence shows there were two cut off the victim's private parts as well as robbing him of cash.

Captain Dann Florek originally with Law And Order prime returns to the franchise in charge of the squad. A little detective work on his part shows them that the victim was using another license with his photograph. That throws things off track, were the perpetrators after the man whom the license was registered to or the actual victim himself.

Christopher Meloni gets off to a great start interviewing the actual cab medallion owner Matt Skollar in Riker's Island. He's a flamboyant gay hustler who really doesn't have any behavioral boundaries even in jail. In fact jail can be kind of fun for him. It's the highlight of the show. Meloni's TV wife Isabel Gillies is also here and the Elliott Stabler family provide many a future plot.

It turns the perpetrators got the guy they were after. And he's a real piece of work. But as Florek reminds them 'we don't pick the vic'.

Mariska Hargitay who is now the only original cast member left is also introduced to us and we learn she was a product of a rape. Elizabeth Ashley is here as her mother. The character of the mother would die early on in the series, but the issues that Olivia Benson faced and her empathy for victims would remain through the series run.

An auspicious debut for SVU.

The First Episode...

[taylorkingston · 8/10 · 16 April 2016]

I really liked the Series Premiere of Law & Order: SVU. It's such a good show, and I'm honestly so happy, and kind of surprised, that it's still airing right now.

In this episode, we meet Olivia Benson, and Elliot Stabler, two Special Victims Unit detectives, working in New York City. They're new partners, and they investigate the murder, and castration (ew, by the way) of a taxi-cab driver. In the end they discover that the man assumed the identity of another man, because he was on the run from the law, and wanted by the police.

Best part of the episode: Olivia.

Worst part of the episode: Nothing in particular.

Overall, I give this episode an 8 out of 10, which in my ratings book is: Awesome.

Pilot of A Great L&O Spin off!

[ShelbyTMItchell · 8/10 · 24 March 2013]

We are for the very first time introduced to the SUV unit in the NYPD. As it is lead but hotheaded but sympathetic detective Elliot Stabler(Christopher Meloni), and his junior detective partner, Olivia Benson(Mariska Hagraity), who was a victim of sexual abuse herself when she was young.

There they are joined by Homicide Life on the Street Baltimore vet John Munch(Richard Belzer) and gruff yet compassionate Captain and boss Don Cragen(Dan Florek).

It has a much more sympathetic tone and would for years to come. Along with cases of sexual abuse and murder. Not as great and the best as the original but comes close to it.

It shows more of a gritty and dark but sympathetic tone than the original or Criminal Intent!

This is where it all started

[hilary89 · 6 November 2021]

Finally watched the first of this series, over 20 years later. This episode proves how impactful this series would be. It addressed the complexity of victim vs perpetrator in sexual assault and was highly topical (in this case, survivors of the Bosnian genocide).

Benson and Stabler (and of course Munch) are nothing short of iconic.

Death and retribution

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 12 July 2019]

Am a fan of the original 'Law and Order', especially the early Briscoe years, and also watch 'Special Victims Unit' and 'Criminal Intent' regularly. Will admit about being hard on the former years back, feeling that it started off brilliantly but jumped the shark. Although the early seasons in my mind are definitely better when there was a much better balance of case, trial, moral issues and personal lives, that's part of my opinion that has not changed, this show has grown on me over-time.

Cannot believe that "Payback" was the first episode of 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit'. It honestly feels like a "show hit its stride and in its prime" episode and could easily pass for one, with so much so well established and its different aspects expertly balanced with nothing coming over as questionable. To this day, to me it is one of the show's finest episodes, of its prime years and overall. Everything here just works.

"Payback" to this day is one of 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit's' most harrowing, most uncomfortable to watch episodes. Not just the grisly case, that the victim is one of the show's nastiest (a reprehensible piece of work indeed) and that one in a way feels sorry for the killer despite not condoning their actions. Also because of the moral issues it raises, in a way that's not heavy-handed and done sensitively, and providing a character that is already remarkably richly drawn in Olivia Benson (one of the show's crowning achievement even when past prime).

It is a complex, disturbing case without feeliing over-stuffed or convoluted, and the personal lives of the team succeeds in making them interesting and it is an aspect that doesn't take over too much or feel too soap-operatic. The writing is taut and thought-provoking, while the direction is wholly competent while with enough personality and style.

Visually, "Payback" is slick and matches the gritty yet layered tone perfectly. The locations are great and made good use of. The music is only used when necessary and when it is used it does stick in the mind and not done so ham-handedly, difficult to forget the main theme too or the opening voice over. The acting is very strong here, excellent in the case of Mariska Hargitay in particular.

Overall, brilliant start that doesn't feel like a debut episode at all. 10/10

Introducing Benson and Stabler to the Nation

[shelbythuylinh · 10/10 · 10 December 2021]

As remember Elliott Stabler starting the show was the senior detective and that over in Benson was the junior. My how times have changed investigating the cab driver that had in the being mutilated and purchasing a phony license from a Riker Island inmate.

And how that it shows over in the chemistry and in the much more sympathetic but a little more darker than the original L&O but it shows their personal lives than over in the original there.

How it is still going strong for twenty four seasons and counting.

God I love this show

[danielaantes · 10/10 · 30 March 2023]

I'm re-watching the show from the beginning and ughhhh I love this so much.

This show started the same year I was born and the fact that still goes on to this day it's amazing.

Well, now talking about this particular chapter. The phrase "We don't pic the victim" is an AMAZING way to start this and I wanna congratulate everyone that was involved because it's true. There's a lot of stories and not always the victim is a 100% a good person.

Also how much Olivia's character grows on this series? AMAZING. It's honestly amazing. It's increible how much she changed between this first season and now.