I'm surprised there's only one review for this episode and a negative one at that!
From the first time I saw this I was impressed at the complexity of the story. The single previous reviewer had a problem with the gender of the rape victim. While that added complexity to Elliot's reaction and bias, this could have been accomplished in any of other number of ways.
1) Had the victim been a prostitute, there would have been a lack of empathy from the original responding police but the obvious problem of previous arrests.
2) Had the victim been a wealthy 'entitled' individual, there would be the prerequisite lack of sympathy and empathy. We've seen evidence of that, indeed hostility in other episodes.
So, I find the gender bias, a false claim of fault. Rather, the storyline itself would work regardless of the principle characters. The plot itself is what mesmerized me.
I love any story that turns on itself and this one certainly did as soon as it became apparent that one crime was tied to another seemingly unrelated one and that the evidence linking them was so incredibly like an illusion that it was hiding in plain sight!
This story was about clever people who thought they were too smart to get caught. They were not the typical horrible criminals who will go on committing crimes until they get caught; NO! These were intelligent but self-indulgent & narcissistic people who thought they were out-of-the-reach of 'normal' rules.
They simply wanted to continue living their high-end lives without consequences (which in this case, meant eliminating a person who has the 'troublesome' ethics of admitting one's participation in committing a crime).
The beauty in this plot & script is how well ALL is revealed; it has little to do with the gender of the victim and so much joy to do with stemming the arrogance of the attorney whose knowledge of law was all about having more than others would be able to slip into the palm of her hand.
It is satisfying to see things flip on those deserving of it and this was done supremely well. Another example of the fine writing all the Law & Order franchises are known for.
From the first time I saw this I was impressed at the complexity of the story. The single previous reviewer had a problem with the gender of the rape victim. While that added complexity to Elliot's reaction and bias, this could have been accomplished in any of other number of ways.
1) Had the victim been a prostitute, there would have been a lack of empathy from the original responding police but the obvious problem of previous arrests.
2) Had the victim been a wealthy 'entitled' individual, there would be the prerequisite lack of sympathy and empathy. We've seen evidence of that, indeed hostility in other episodes.
So, I find the gender bias, a false claim of fault. Rather, the storyline itself would work regardless of the principle characters. The plot itself is what mesmerized me.
I love any story that turns on itself and this one certainly did as soon as it became apparent that one crime was tied to another seemingly unrelated one and that the evidence linking them was so incredibly like an illusion that it was hiding in plain sight!
This story was about clever people who thought they were too smart to get caught. They were not the typical horrible criminals who will go on committing crimes until they get caught; NO! These were intelligent but self-indulgent & narcissistic people who thought they were out-of-the-reach of 'normal' rules.
They simply wanted to continue living their high-end lives without consequences (which in this case, meant eliminating a person who has the 'troublesome' ethics of admitting one's participation in committing a crime).
The beauty in this plot & script is how well ALL is revealed; it has little to do with the gender of the victim and so much joy to do with stemming the arrogance of the attorney whose knowledge of law was all about having more than others would be able to slip into the palm of her hand.
It is satisfying to see things flip on those deserving of it and this was done supremely well. Another example of the fine writing all the Law & Order franchises are known for.