INFORMED earns seven stars NOT for being "enjoyable" - in a feel-good-at-the-end sense - but for being so watchable despite (or maybe because of) some truly infuriating, "are you #$%^$^ KIDDING me??" moments.
The highlight - worth 6 of those stars on her own - is easily Marcia Gay Harden's returning guest FBI Agent. She was the best part of the school-shooting/neo-Nazi episode that introduced her, and she's the best thing about INFORMED, too; wish Harden could have joined the show in a more regular role!
Now the bad: this is one of the hardest "Olivia" episodes to get through without whipping a cold drink at your new flat-screen. Olivia's admirable in many ways, but I've always found her too self-righteous and smugly judgmental to be actually Likable. She was comically uptight when Fin admitted to watching porn in a different episode, and the way she behaved toward Elliott in BURNED was reprehensible (frankly, it deserved to be addressed within that show, if only by Elliott pulling her aside to say "wtf?"). Still, I give her credit for good intentions, and it's to the SHOW'S credit that Olivia Benson is realistically flawed, not just a 2-D superhero.
Here, though, Olivia steps way over the line, and it's shocking to me that NO ONE CALLS HER ON IT (except for a little "tsk-tsk" from ADA Casey, who seems more troubled by the static Olivia may have brought down on the case, than by her actual behavior). Olivia pursue a rape victim to the point of outright trespassing and harassment: after tracking her down at home like a stalker, she actually threatens the woman that all of her business is gonna be heard out in the hallway if she doesn't let Olivia in to talk. After they argue and the victim retreats to her bathroom, telling Olivia to let herself out (which seems a bit convenient for the writers, frankly - would YOU just leave the room and trust someone who bullied her way into your home to let herself out?), Olivia snoops around, lets herself IN to the woman's bedroom, and steals her clothes (!) in order to gather forensics.
Even up to that point, I could still see Olivia's side of it: she has to know - from much bitter experience - just how hard it is to prove rape, how critical forensics are, and how often a traumatized victim will back down at first, only to regret it later. I don't agree with what she did - at some point, you have to respect a person's right to make decisions, even bad ones - but one can at least understand WHY Olivia felt so compelled to keep pushing, and so convinced (as usual) that she was right.
What made me yell at the screen - and what should have earned Olivia a good reaming in Cragen's office, if not something harsher - is the SLOPPY police work that followed: she casually discloses details of the attack to ANYONE she believes is connected to her victim, even though she doesn't know ANYTHING about these people, except what they tell her. Preserving evidence that can't be gathered later is one thing. Running your mouth left and right when you have NO idea whom you're actually talking to, what their connection really is, or what consequences your disclosures will have...that's grossly irresponsible. Forget violating someone's privacy and completely disregarding their judgment, now you're actually endangering them. If the victim's resistance meant that Olivia didn't have the information she needed to do her job competently, then her duty was to put her own feelings aside, STEP BACK, and display some patience.. NOT to do her job poorly just to prove that no one could stop her.
When this show works, it works as the story of smart, competent cops trying to do the right thing, even when they err in judgment or let their personal demons get in the way. It's when they start acting stupid that the plasma takes a pelting, and Olivia deserved all the wrath my peanut gallery could deliver.
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