Season 3 of 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' was extremely impressive on the whole, with almost all the episodes being good to brilliant with generally the quality getting better as the season progressed. My least favourite episode being "Redemption", which still had a lot of good things, with a few other still good episodes disappointing a little, but the number of great and brilliant episodes in Season 3 is as high as for the previous two.
The final episode of Season 3 "Silence" is not one of its best and for a season finale a large part of me was expecting more than what was given. Actually got more out of the previous outing "Competence". "Silence" is nonetheless very good, many aspects more than great, and props does have to be given for tackling a difficult subject and doing it with emotional power and respect. 'Special Victims Unit' was often very good at doing this, as was the franchise in general, so that was appreciated.
Points are lost for that the case is nothing extraordinary and is rather unoriginal, one that has been done quite a number of times or at least with similar themes in the franchise and elsewhere. Not many surprises, with the who and why aspects being obvious, due to suspects and such being too few early on, and simple to solve.
More interesting and more impressive, and what lifts "Silence" from falling into the nothing special category, was the development to Stabler and how the case affects him. How his beliefs are shaken is written and portrayed very harrowingly and his exchanges with Sweeney provoke thought and wrench the gut. "Silence" does a great job too showing that nobody is exempt from punishment, even those that are high up and think they are above the law (like here).
Christopher Meloni's performance is his most powerful of the season, thanks to it being one of Stabler's most interesting episodes development-wise. Eric Stoltz's skin crawling performance is far removed from his moving one in 'Mask', loved the chemistry between the two. The script is taut and sincere, the moral dilemmas intelligently and not heavy-handedly done. Even if the case wasn't perfect, the episode did disturb a good deal subject matter-wise but it doesn't come over as exploitative or sleazy.
Production values are stylish and slick with a brighter and more refined look, while maintaining the show's grit. The music doesn't overbear and is not overused. The direction keeps things moving well while letting the drama breathe.
In summary, a lot to be impressed by but with a better case this season finale could have been greater. 8/10
The final episode of Season 3 "Silence" is not one of its best and for a season finale a large part of me was expecting more than what was given. Actually got more out of the previous outing "Competence". "Silence" is nonetheless very good, many aspects more than great, and props does have to be given for tackling a difficult subject and doing it with emotional power and respect. 'Special Victims Unit' was often very good at doing this, as was the franchise in general, so that was appreciated.
Points are lost for that the case is nothing extraordinary and is rather unoriginal, one that has been done quite a number of times or at least with similar themes in the franchise and elsewhere. Not many surprises, with the who and why aspects being obvious, due to suspects and such being too few early on, and simple to solve.
More interesting and more impressive, and what lifts "Silence" from falling into the nothing special category, was the development to Stabler and how the case affects him. How his beliefs are shaken is written and portrayed very harrowingly and his exchanges with Sweeney provoke thought and wrench the gut. "Silence" does a great job too showing that nobody is exempt from punishment, even those that are high up and think they are above the law (like here).
Christopher Meloni's performance is his most powerful of the season, thanks to it being one of Stabler's most interesting episodes development-wise. Eric Stoltz's skin crawling performance is far removed from his moving one in 'Mask', loved the chemistry between the two. The script is taut and sincere, the moral dilemmas intelligently and not heavy-handedly done. Even if the case wasn't perfect, the episode did disturb a good deal subject matter-wise but it doesn't come over as exploitative or sleazy.
Production values are stylish and slick with a brighter and more refined look, while maintaining the show's grit. The music doesn't overbear and is not overused. The direction keeps things moving well while letting the drama breathe.
In summary, a lot to be impressed by but with a better case this season finale could have been greater. 8/10
