Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series) Girl Dishonored (2013) User Reviews

Episode done well

[Dorjee_Wang · 8/10 · 6 October 2016]

After the great episode that was the last one - "Born Pscyhopath", I'd expected this episode to be good as well. And it was. It indeed did follow the usual crime drama formula, but what SVU does better than other procedures is that it goes deeper and somehow convolutes the plot albeit in a good way. It doesn't overbear the watchers, which makes the convoluted plot persuasive enough.

This episode showcased a rape culture in a campus (nothing new there) with multiple victims, a fraternity named "The Rape Factory" and corrupted college administrators. Although the detectives had only circumstantial and inadmissible "he said, she said". Barba nailed the questioning in front of the grand jurors. Some of the lines were quite mortifying - in one line, the school dean fended off the rape claims as "liberalism". It shocked me nonetheless. Throughout the episode it was pretty clear that more flagitious than the rape itself was the cover up afterwards by the rapists, the student body itself, and most of all the school security and the administrations. At the end of the episode, I managed to fist bump the air at the end result. Another thing which made the episode better was Rollins' rape. It was a very subtle touch that her own rape made her headstrong and motivated for this case. You could hear the vice in her voice especially at the end & she was rather smug in a satisfying way.

Good one. 8/10

Rape and dishonour

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 14 July 2022]

"Girl Dishonored" is one of the "ripped from the headlines" stories that 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' and in fact the franchise did from time to time. This kind of story varied in execution. There were many that were uncompromisingly intense and moving, as well as not coming over as too predictable. There were also too many, especially in the more recent seasons, that were predictable, lacked suspense and emotion, were too sensationalist and ruined by un-rootable characters.

Season 14 had both extremes with its few "ripped from the headlines" stories. "Funny Valentine" was a very strong example of the latter. "Girl Dishonored" is fortunately in the former category, and while it is not quite prime 'Special Victims Unit' level it is closer to that than "Funny Valentine". While not a great episode or an outstanding one, "Girl Dishonored" is nonetheless very good and a lot of its individual elements are very strongly executed indeed.

It could have afforded perhaps to have been less faithful to the case it's ripped from ("Funny Valentine" did this far worse though, this episode at least didn't feel like a watered dramatisation/re-construction), meaning that surprises were too few.

Pacing could have been tighter too in the less eventful stretches.

However, so much is good. It is as ever shot with the right amount of intimacy without feeling too up close, even with a reliance of close up camerawork. The music isn't over-scored, manipulative or used too much. There is intimacy and tautness in the direction. The script is intelligent and lean with no signs of fat.

The story is a poignant one and it is truly scary that this can happen in real life and has done. In terms of how the case is handled and how team conduct themselves personally and professionally, this is agreed one of the better faring episodes. All the cast are very good indeed.

Concluding, very well done episode. 8/10.

The team does it right

[michelle-m94 · 10/10 · 13 May 2021]

This is by far the best ep of the season in terms of how the team handles the situation and themselves.

It's def one for people who don't know where to start watching.

Before Promising Young Woman

[kellielulu · 10/10 · 21 August 2022]

This isn't however a criticism of the movie or to say it was nothing original . The problem is it's not unusual. The rape culture allows rape to continue with impunity. The campus security and the Dean and administrators favor protecting the male students over females. They stigmatize them call them troubled and not from the better homes ( in other words the ones that make large contributions are the better homes) . Again the rape recorded is the only way it's ultimately solved and the the campus authorities are charged too no matter how they try to worm out of it.

One victim ultimately takes her own life another returns to school and vows to start a support group. Students hold up signs that goes after the campus authorities for protecting the rapists and failing and demonizing the victims.

Boys Will Be Boys

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 9 July 2013]

Although this is a good SVU episode, the college theme of rape on the campus is getting a bit thin. There must be about 5 or 6 show with this same setting and plot elements in the SVU annals.

A most innocent Colby Minifie a freshman goes to a fraternity party as part of an initiation and winds up getting raped by Lenny Platt who then passes her on to two of his buddies.

This actually was a theme that I wish had been developed a little more. Colby was home schooled and more innocent than most. There are parents who do that for a variety of reasons, but for myself even the most clumsy of us develop some social skills going even to the worst high schools around. She later commits suicide forcing the SVU squad to find another victim because you know Colby was not the first.

Who they find is Skyler Day who says that the campus just wanted to bury the incident, especially campus security head Robert Clohessy. It takes a while and a lot of patience, but eventually Skyler decides to press the issue.

A good episode even if it's an old theme.