Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series) Rotten (2003) User Reviews

Empowerment and entitlement

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 18 January 2016]

In my former job with NYS Crime Victims Board I got to see all kinds of police from truly heroic and dedicated to people who think that shield gives them a sense of empowerment and entitlement. Sad to say that this SVU episode has some basis in the real life Abner Louima case where a prisoner at a precinct was sodomized with a nightstick.

At the Tombs a prisoner immediately upon being transferred there goes straight to the infirmary feeling sick and later dies in his cell. When Tamara Tunie the medical examiner sees the body she says he was forcibly sodomized and that makes it an SVU case. The timeline of the injuries sustained trace it back to when the victim was in police custody at the precinct.

The one who takes the fall for it is William Mapother who in real life is a relative of Tom Cruise and sure looks like it. But the real bad guy is Terry Serpico. He's the textbook definition of empowerment and entitlement among cops without the societal responsibility. The blue wall of silence protected him for years and Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T, have a tough scaling of said wall.

Trust me, Serpico (and that's ironical for an actor with that name to portray a corrupt cop) is doing far more than getting his jollies with a prisoner or three. Watch the episode to find out.

Dirty rotten scoundrels

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 1 October 2020]

Am not entirely sure why "Rotten" is Season 4's lowest rated episode and rated lower than pretty much all the episodes of the previous three seasons as well. By 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' standards the rating is pretty low. Absolutely do not agree with it being the season's lowest rated episode and rated lower than a lot of the show's episodes. There are certainly far better episodes, but there are worse as well.

"Rotten" may not be a great episode but it is a long way from rotten. It is not as good as "Chameleon", "Dolls", "Damaged" and "Risk", the standout best episodes as far as the previous episodes go, but it is a lot better than "Disappearing Acts" (which is rated much higher somehow despite that its second half is a mess). The theme is not a new one and there is not much illuminating here, so maybe on that front "Rotten" may be a bit bland for some, but it is a topic that is always worth addressing with it still being true to life now.

If anybody finds "Rotten" bland at all, that is in a way understandable. As said, the subject of corruption within the force is not new territory and not much fresh is done with it, so it is on the predictable side. If one character was also written with more subtlety perhaps, it wouldn't have been as obvious that they were either involved in some way or knew more than what they let on.

Emotionally, "Rotten" doesn't quite have the tension, emotional impact or the shock factor of the previous two episodes for example. There is a twist, but while it is not easily foreseeable and is clever and well executed it isn't earth shattering.

Part of me cannot be too hard on the episode though because it does do a lot right. The production values are still slick and suitably gritty (without being too heavy in it). The music is not too melodramatic and is not used too much, even not being too manipulative in revelations. The script is taut, not too talky or flowery and makes one think. It has grit too and it doesn't feel trivialised.

From a story perspective, "Rotten" is not perfect. Yet it is still solid, not hard to follow and has enough intrigue even if other episodes of Season 4 and 'Special Victims Unit' in general have more to them on an emotional level. The team interaction is great and Olivia and Fin once again show that they gel very well as a team. The acting from the regulars is very good, as is that of Terry Serpico.

Summing up, far from rotten and quite good if not exceptional. Not the worst episode of Season 4 though, it's a lesser one but not the worst like the rating as of now implies. 7/10