Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series) Traumatic Wound (2013) User Reviews

Snotty Preppies face justice

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 7 November 2013]

The SVU squad gets to deal with some rich preppy kids from Connecticut who betray one of their own, a recent immigrant from the United Kingdom who was trying to fit in with their crowd. Lola Kirke goes clubbing with the rest of the gang at a club in New York where her 'friend' Alexandra Socha rips her top off and the sight of her naked breasts is enough to get a bunch drunken and drugged up club kids ready for a gang bang.

Eion Bailey is the club security man and he's an Iraq war veteran with post traumatic stress disorder. Only bit by bit and with the help of Danny Pino is Bailey able to recall the events of the night. The pyrotechnics of the club band's music made him flash back to the war and the story has to be dragged out of him.

Bailey gives a fine performance and it's always a pleasure to see snotty preppies face justice in any show.

Wounded

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 15 July 2022]

Have said more than once about admiring hugely the 'Law and Order' franchise's tackling of tough themes and subjects that one doesn't always see to this extent on similar shows. When this aspect is done well, like it was throughout a lot of the original 'Law and Order' and 'Special Victims Unit' in the Stabler years, the themes were tackled in a gutsy, intense and poignant way. When not done well, like the latter seasons of 'Special Victims Unit' too often, it came over as heavy-handed and one-sided.

"Traumatic Wound", despite being a latter seasons episode of 'Special Victims Unit' is an example of the former, so gutsy, intense and poignant. 'Special Victims Unit' and the franchise in fact has tackled PTSD more than once beforehand and quite well, for example Olivia's difficulties with her trauma gotten from the events in "Undercover". "Traumatic Wound" tackles this subject quite powerfully and much more tactfully than expected, considering the traps portraying PTSD can have.

It's not perfect, with the dialogue for the teenagers being too on the awkward and over-corny side.

On the other hand, "Traumatic Wound" benefits hugely from the truly powerful performance of Eion Bailey, who really wrenches the gut and makes a character that doesn't sound that complex just that. Raul Esparza is the other acting standout, from his very first appearance he has brought so much life to the show that was really needing it by this point and he does here. The regulars are very good as is the support, but not in the same class as the other two.

Furthermore, the portrayal of PTSD (which to be honest is more memorable than the case itself) is surprisingly tactful and is also uncompromising and poignant, PTSD may be broader than what is shown but what is shown is not judgemental, one sided or over-generalised. The story is eventful and intricate, but never convoluted, and while the script is not perfect it is on the whole taut and hard boiled. The opening sequence is very harrowing. Did not expect the truth.

Photography while very close up doesn't come over as too static or filmed play-like, while the production values are typically solid and have subtle atmosphere while not being drab and keeping things simple. When the music is used it is haunting and has a melancholic edge that is not overdone. The episode is sympathetically yet uncompromisingly directed.

Concluding, excellent. 9/10.

Known and Unknown

[yazguloner · 10/10 · 29 July 2021]

Eion Bailey's performance was good. He has a good main player charisma.

Terrible plans behind a terrible event... It is one of the stories where the gray area is most intense.

Barba's Benghazi analogy describes the event.

I like the thesis and antithesis reasoning of Amanda and Nick. Amanda advocates the more general and the visible. Nick sees the invisible, the detail. In this way, they take the case further.

Good episode, strange portrayal of PTSD

[mjsites · 5/10 · 13 June 2022]

I sort of liked this episode. The conspiracy, justice actually being served, Amaro's character development, all good points. However, the way they portrayed PTSD was just... strange. I can absolutely see being triggered by pyrotechnics at a concert. Having a flashback and not being aware of or remembering what you did. But to be able to keep going back to that flashback to remember more details? I don't know about that. I've never heard of it or experienced it, and I have severe PTSD. It just seemed strange to me.

Law & Order at it's worst

[Alphotron · 4/10 · 2 September 2022]

While I'm not a scholar when it comes to the series, and gonna be honest I've only seen the episode because my mom has been watching the series for a while since it came to Prime a month ago and usually I sit down for a few episodes to spend time with her, this has to be one of the, or even possibly the weakest episode featuring almost all the typical sins the series has (at least in season 14).

Although I haven't watched the entirety of the series from '99, since my mom likes her crime shows I've got to watch a good number of episodes between the years '11-'13 and more or less know about the general tone and structure of the series. And like I said, from the start of the episode there were an unusual amount of cheesy one liners that did not land at least for me, the plot was only mildly interesting, acting was (even with the main cast) sub par, handling of heavy topics like sexual/violent assault - PTSD were honestly a bit laughable (below average acting didn't help either) and finally, possibly the biggest offender, the court scenes were extremely dramatic and not even one bit realistic.

I mean I don't expect anything even remotely close to actual reality when it comes to court room drama in any Hollywood made media and I'm non the wiser to legitimitely criticize their authenticity, but if it makes even me go "A judge wouldn't say that out loud on the courtroom like that?" or "How can a witness say that and how is it not shut down since it's an attempt to lead the jury??" I think I can call that a new low.

It felt like in the writer's room nobody cared that day and just went full Law & Order. The whole "incident" also seemed to be formed after a couple haphazard google searches about "mosh pits" and "top sharking" (latter of which I've never even heard about, not even sure if that's an actual thing). And frankly there should've been a lot more research done on the first topic, that ain't no mosh pit that was a run'o'the mill concert.

I don't want to be misunderstood since cheesy crime drama series like NCIS:LA/NY/New Orleans, Hawaii Five-O and many others I can't recall at the moment have a near and dear part in my heart because of my mother's affinity and the good memories but this single episode was just lazy. Things I've mentioned do happen often throughout the series yes, but not to this extreme degree, at least in my opinion.

Yeah, bad episode through and through. Also the pacing was not right either, forgot to mention that.