Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series) Legitimate Rape (2013) User Reviews

It's a long story...but not that long

[yazguloner · 10/10 · 28 July 2021]

The story has an impressive and emotional volume with its title, plot and actors.

The display of a woman's gaze in the field of sports, which is the world of men, was perfect.

Lauren Cohan (Avery Jordan) struggled and they were perfect with Olivia's heartfelt support.

David Marciano (Rick Purcell) plays a big part in the story with his impulsive performance.

The tension of court inquiries is well presented. And Barba is amazing again.

Legitimately frustrating

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 14 July 2022]

On first watch, "Legitimate Rape" was an uneven episode. Starting off incredibly well but got frustrating later, which was a similar feeling felt with for example Season 9's "Trade". That 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' addresses and explores such tough and gutsy subjects with the frequency it does has always been and still is when done well admirable. The subject here definitely fits under that distinction, among the more difficult ones of the season.

Did think however that the subject could have been executed more consistently, and other episodes have dealt with similar subjects or the same basic one with more tact and tension. My present feelings of "Legitimate Rape" are that it is still uneven. A long way from terrible, but was well on its way to being one of the better episodes of Season 14 and then dropped the ball to frustration land just after the halfway mark. So good potential not lived up to enough.

Am going to start with the good. The photography and such as usual are fully professional, the slickness still remaining. The music is used sparingly and is haunting and non-overwrought when it is used, and it's mainly used when a crucial revelation or plot development is revealed. The direction has some nice tension while keeping things steady, without going too far the other way. The prime 'Special Victims Unit' vibe of the first half was great.

The acting from the regulars is very good, particularly Mariska Hargitay who makes a welcome return to the sympathetic Olivia. Raul Esparza continues to be a breath of fresh air. Lauren Cohan portrays a victim worth rooting for up to a point and one does root for the perpetrator to be brought to justice. Due to David Merchant playing him so unnervingly. Really liked that it did focus a lot on the supporting cast, as well as that it brought up and acknowledged Olivia's past without focusing too much on it.

However, the second half could have been a lot better and not only is there is a less 'Special Victims Unit' vibe it felt like another show. Usually find the whole representing themselves trope potentially one sided, and it was here. Not to mention very predictable. So much so that it made me worry about the outcome. Towards the end it feels over-complicated.

Really do have to agree with those that found the ending infuriating, it didn't feel like it made sense and would have rung true more and been more fair if the episode continued to make Avery rootable throughout the episode rather than paint her in a negative light later.

Overall, liked it a lot to begin with but finished the episode frustrated. 6/10.

Bearing her rapist's child

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 29 May 2014]

Mariska Hargitay feels this one personally from the day she meets sports reporter Lauren Cohan in a small coffee shop because she's afraid of the notoriety coming into the precinct, she's so public a figure. Then it was just to report a stalking. Later on it gets public when she's raped by her stalker who happens to be her cameraman David Marciano.

The unkindest part of it all is that Cohan gets pregnant because of the rape and bears her rapist's child, something that Detective Olivia Benson certainly can empathize.

It's a good episode because it certainly demonstrates some horrible after effects of rape. Cohan is wonderful as a most put upon victim.

Where it fails however is making Marciano such a loathsome creep. It makes what follows afterward a bit unbelievable.

Still it's worth a look.

To knavesub1

[RichardMcMahonWF · 5/10 · 27 September 2014]

First of all , I will agree that law enforcement officers agree to uphold the law when they become such & that when the fail to do so, they should be fired & prosecuted for what they did.

But, I wish to disagree with what you said. From my point of view, a rapist should NOT have ANY rights to see the child their action resulted in. Their action is a crime, according to US law, and when you commit a crime, there's a LOT of rights you lose. How would it be right, in your opinion, for someone who committed the crime of rape to have ANY rights towards what that crime ultimately resulted in (birth of a child)? To be honest, I would think that, as a woman, you'd be against rapists having rights towards the human being their actions resulted in.

Not to mention the fact that the juror hung on "legit rape" would NEVER have been an issue in the first place, as they would be been immediately dismissed upon their view (legit rape does not result in pregnancy/a woman would fight back in the case of legit rape) being revealed, nor would the rapist's status as bio-father or his willingness to pay child support have been a factor in a judge allowing ANY sort of visitation rights in real life. Most, if not the majority of, judges would NEVER allow a rapist parental rights towards the child they fathered. Plus, the rape victim was NOT a fugitive, at least not until AFTER she would have fled the country with her kid. And, Det. Benson did NOT break the law, unless she was the one who escorted the woman to whatever airport.

In my opinion, the fact that you have the beliefs you do towards rape, as well as your interpretation of the law, with your status as a cop, makes me hope NO woman EVER deals with you in a rape situation. Oh, and the sad fact is, there ARE people sworn to uphold the law who bend & break it & do not get punished. That is life. Deal with it. You, madam, are a disgrace to both the law profession & women everywhere.

Absolutely livid

[Dorjee_Wang · 4/10 · 4 October 2016]

Law & Order SVU is one of those crime dramas which leaves me bewildered at the end of most episodes. This was one of those. I found many flaws in this episode personally - "Legitimate Rape" is not an admissible argument for a rapist to be overruled on rape charges. It brings in a biased view into the trial, not to mention science doesn't back-up the argument. The one juror who disagreed with the verdict should've been held in contempt for the prejudice. That was the first flaw. Also there was an argument they could've gone for which could likely have created reasonable doubt in his innocence. During his questioning of the victim he said she came to him because she wanted a baby "with him", that is a speculative argument as the victim had an affair for a long time with another man and could've been countered with a line of questioning aimed at him by calling him on the stand and asking him why she came to "him" for that? When like earlier said in the episode she could've had sex with any guy, and when in fact she was already having sex with a higher ranking guy while he was just a "cameraman". I have no idea who wrote this episode, but they messed it up.

Second one was - the visitation rights should not have been given as the argument that he was acquitted of the rape charges should have more bearings "against him" on the verdict in a family court. His stalking actions should've mattered more as well. Third problem was Olivia could have prevented the flight by the victim by creating a connection with the latter because of her own background. She did not, hence the episode in the end painted the victim as a felon as well who whereupon could be charged with criminal contempt.

The 4/10 rating is because of the fact that Olivia's history was not showcased prominently, and was only hinted at the end. That was one thing the writers did right. Often the show comes off as The Olivia Benson Show, but this episode was definitely not one of those. Also Calhoun's defence had some bearing on it. Usually her defence arguments in other episodes are flimsy, in this one it was nailed right on. That had some bearing on the ratings as well.

Not worth watching

[stratus_phere · 3/10 · 14 June 2018]

This is just another tale of the bad guys winning. This episode wasn't worth watching, and isn't worth a lot of time to review. It was bad. Really bad. A guy rapes a woman, gets her pregnant, gets acquitted on the rape, and is given (at least partial) custody of the baby. The victim's only choice is to leave the United States...the so called land of justice, which it clearly is not since this reflects actual cases we've seen in the news. This really bad episode reflects our crooked laws, crooked politicians, crooked lawyers, and a system that praises criminals for being clever enough to get away with their crimes.

This is the 2nd episode this season (14) that almost made me violent towards my TV

[norareign · 1/10 · 6 November 2019]

I won't bother rehashing the vitriol that has already been spewed about this awful episode. Watching it made me so angry I wanted to stop watching t.v. altogether and go join every rally against each and every offensive thing/law/concept every day until all of them are illegal in every state. And then move to foreign countries and join the rallies and protests there.

A Shameful Story, Shameful Writing

[championbc-99-5005 · 4/10 · 3 February 2015]

Every episode of "SVU" starts with the disclaimer that the story is fictional, that it represents no real event or person. Then this one has the title "Legitimate Rape," taken directly from the statement by Missouri Senate Candidate Todd Akin that "legitimate rapes rarely result in pregnancy." While the statement is foolish and poorly worded, it as immediately picked up by the media.

So, the rapist gets off in this one, mainly because the Akins clone this time as a doctor-become-congressman who managed to convince one juror that this as a "legitimate rape." That opened the door to the rapist being found not guilty and being able to go to court for custody rights.

Evidently, in New York, lawyers don't cross-examine jurors. They just pick the first twelve, and so no one even brought this up. I have heard that "he who represents himself in court has a fool for a client," but a law school graduate who never took the bar exam, who is now a cameraman for a sports network, not to mention a lawyer and a rapist, who probably lives in his mother's basement, manages to win this trial, then win two hours of weekly visitation of the child of his "non-rape." I love to watch SVU, and I accept the fact that, because it is a major network production, it is going to always be to the left of center, but this episode was conjured to take a shot at one candidate for an office, and pretend that conservative America is behind this.

This was beneath you, SVU. I've seen you do so much better. You've even softened some of my own conservative stances by showing a compassionate quality of the issue from the other side.

But not this time. This was too strongly targeted. The least you could have done was to run this one without the disclaimer.

Absolutely Shameful

[knavesub1 · 1/10 · 25 June 2014]

While this episode clearly denotes a woman being stalked and raped, this episode of SVU is absolutely horrible and shameful. The show tries to come off as the good ones in Detective Benson, but all it goes to show is not only is the system corrupt in letting the male free who raped the woman now carrying his baby in the first place, but it shows a New York City detective breaking the law and allowing a fugitive from the courts get on a private jet and leave the country with the baby of a man who is the father and has legitimate rights to see his child.

Despite the fact he raped the mother doesn't factor into the law. All this shows portrays is the corrupt aspect of American police; if they don't like the law or the rules, then they break them. The law should be the law. Police are meant to uphold the law, not make it up as they go along. It doesn't matter if they don't agree with the verdict of the courts, they took an oath to uphold the law no matter what. This is why I don't watch this show anymore. Detective Benson should have been fired/terminated and thrown in jail for all the many times she has broken the law on this TV-program.

I am a woman and I don't condone rape in any sense of the word, but I'm also a police office, and if you take an oath to uphold the law, then that's what you are sworn to do. You don't have a choice. You don't get to choose who you do and do not arrest and take to jail.