"Influence" has divided fans, with extreme reactions on both sides of loved and hated. Some really connected with it emotionally and found it harrowing. Others found it ridiculous and intensely disliked the way Jamie was written and treated by the other characters. Always have expected a lot from season finales, have been blown away by many and also let down by many and the finales should ideally be one of a season's best episodes or even the best.
Which was not the case with "Influence". Season 7 was a very up and down season, which started underwhelmingly with "Demons", which struck me as quite silly and with an inconsistently written prime suspect. The season also ended underwhelmingly with "Influence", a shame because there were a few exceptional episodes in between. Didn't think that "Influence" was a bad episode, it just felt lacking for me and didn't feel like either a finale or even like an episode of 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit'.
Shall start with the good things. It looks good, with the usual slickness and subtle grit. Really liked too that the photography was simple and close up but doing so without being claustrophobic. The music has presence when used, and luckily it isn't constant, and when it is used it doesn't feel over-scored. "Influence" is thought-provoking at times.
Also thought that it did start off promisingly, with a sense of tension. Did like Cragen and his perceptions and no-nonsense attitude are spot on. Derek is an enjoyable character at first and quite amusing, the Tom Cruise-like influence was striking. The acting is very good all round, the regulars can't be faulted (particularly an excellent Diane Neal) and while having major reservations with Jamie as a character Brittany Snow is affecting.
Unfortunately, she and the rest of the cast deserved a much better episode. "Influence" does not feel like a season finale, more a mid-season episode or an out of place thrown in final episode. It just doesn't have enough tension, emotional impact or tautness for one, "911" or "Raw" would have served much better as a season finale. It also did not feel like a 'Special Victims Unit' episode, and would have fitted much better as one from the original 'Law and Order' (which would have dealt with the issue with more force and tact). The story didn't connect enough with me, the whole mental illness and suddenly not taking medication for a specific reason angle has been explored before and since frequently (including in 'Special Victims Unit') and done not just more uncompromisingly but also more tactfully. And insightfully, not enough of delving into the mind and showing how difficult medication can be and how it affects decisions. Blaming bipolar as a consequence of not taking medication through celebrity influence for Jamie's uncondonable actions was a big stretch and not a respectful one, people with bipolar who go through this do act extremely but mostly not to this extent and they are not this naive too. Will say though that a decent job is done making one feel concerned and scared that there are celebrities that influence people to do something that puts them and others at risk, it's been happening for the past year with those denying the existence of the virus for instance.
The story feels routine and over-stretched, actually found some of it quite uneventful, with not much emotion felt other than frustration. Jamie was impossible to root for, the episode tries to stick her in a situation where sympathy is intended but to me actually her manipulative manner and what she does makes her rather hateable. If there was more explaining how she came to be the way she became it perhaps may have made a difference. Personally do not find it realistic or just when episodes try too hard to make one feel sympathetic towards those responsible for abhorrent crimes, and this is not the first episode of Season 7 to do this ("Alien" and "Fat" did it too, and "Alien" did it even more ridiculously than here).
Really didn't buy at all Olivia and Novak's attitudes towards Jamie and the case, far too soft and unprofessional. Olivia is a little more understandable and she's actually already got form for being too soft on suspects every bit as much as taking cases too personally, though she has also come down hard on those suspected for crimes not near as bad as what happens here. Novak's case however was not realistic at all, this is the sort of case where she and Olivia (and even the whole SVU) would have come to blows with and had real disagreements with how to treat the case and it goes against her whole by the book take no prisoners approach. The only character to have a spot on point of view is Cragen. Some of the dialogue is overwrought. Derek was interesting and enjoyable character at first, but once his influence is made clearer he became over-the-top. Most of the regulars have next to no screen time and the tension within the squad is non-existent.
Overall, not terrible but disappointing and promises more than it delivers. 5/10.
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