Billy Porter made this episode. He was great until the very end. Amzaing to see how his career has sky-rockted. This episode highlights how Benson ALWAYS takes the "victims" side before confirming if they are in fact a victim. They literally ruined this man's life.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series)
Dissonant Voices (2013)
User Reviews
Review this title9 Reviews
Voice: This didn't have to be
yazguloner4 August 2021
We watch how there is a dark gray area at the end of a clear true event. We listen a little.
Does the evidence always tell the truth?
Doubt but to what extent is there a limit to doubt and question mark?
Do law enforcement officers really be empathetic and idealistic and solve the mystery of the case?
Are children always innocent? Or does he always tell the truth?
From your questions And we face the great virtue of apologizing.
It is an example of how to communicate with the child who is monopolized by the mother and father or the teacher.
A good story about honesty, harassment, hysteria, slander, competition is good writing.
Does the evidence always tell the truth?
Doubt but to what extent is there a limit to doubt and question mark?
Do law enforcement officers really be empathetic and idealistic and solve the mystery of the case?
Are children always innocent? Or does he always tell the truth?
From your questions And we face the great virtue of apologizing.
It is an example of how to communicate with the child who is monopolized by the mother and father or the teacher.
A good story about honesty, harassment, hysteria, slander, competition is good writing.
Nice change of pace.
wkozak22114 April 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I like this episode because you get to see the team loosen up: Olivia is planning a party, Fin is kinda dancing in a diner on a stool with Amand a who is singing along. The topic is very disturbing. It is handled with gentleness.
Ridiculous!!!!!!
stacy03167428 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Crazy how everyone believed the kids and did not investigate further before charging Jackie. The blonde teen girl is going to have a lot of issues as an adult with the way her mother was acting after the truth came out. In real life, those girls would not have had a choice but to testify against each other. This episode was totally unfair and made me pissed at Olivia.
Very ooc
michelle-m9413 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Benson was disappointing in this ep. Especially the ending "how could we have been wrong" theme. They messed up, but they get to rationalize it, while a man's life is forever ruined.
While Benson usually has good instincts, she blindly follows the accusations of the boys without real thought or consideration.
While Benson usually has good instincts, she blindly follows the accusations of the boys without real thought or consideration.
Good Idea, Histrionic, Amateurish Execution
bkkaz4 December 2020
Warning: Spoilers
If it wasn't for the over-the-top acting and the cheesy directing that includes the camera trying desperately to love Mariska Hargitay every possible moment rather than stay focused on the actual events, this wouldn't be a bad episode. No, it's nothing as tight or interesting as those of SVU's glory days -- long gone now -- but it at least has the courage to show what happens when someone is falsely accused and then dragged through the mud because rather than actually assume innocence until proven guilty, the current thinking is for the mob to equate an accusation with guilt. Still, the episode suffers from what all SVU episodes do, which is even when the squad is so obviously wrong, the worst thing that ever happens is they have some somber dramatic moment at the end to think about their actions. When will they get sanctioned or a disciplinary note in the file? It's the usual pseudo-comeuppance that has actually helped to bring about the current mob mentality with consequences.
Preposterous
Dorjee_Wang20 October 2016
Warning: Spoilers
This was definitely the most maddening episode of the season. The episode centred a case regarding child abuse by a gay singing coach. Any one with perception and sense can see that man is clearly being framed from the beginning, but somehow the SVU detectives (with the exception of Rollins) set their mind that he committed the felonies even when there were no concrete evidence to show that he did it.
The episode goes beyond border to prove that Benson can be a prejudicial narrow minded goat (I'm sorry that I don't feel sorry to say this) and to make the children and teens look "innocent" even when they are Satan's spawn (ironically, the episode left me with the opposite feeling than intended by the episode). As shown by the fact that Benson decides to make the case public regardless of the consequences just because she "thinks" the man molested those children. It might've been because of the development she had this season, but it does not excuse her actions in any way. Besides that the ending was preposterous as there are no repercussions against the culprits for making false claims. Barbra says they "won't testify" against each other hence they can't be charged, which is ridiculous since they filed a false report (and confessed to such) which is a misdemeanor (and they had the criminal intent or mens rea for such) with upto 6 months or more jail time (not to mention fines). Besides that, they were liable to civil suit for ruining the defendant's reputation as well.
Years of watching SVU should've made me immune to such trivial burst of anger, but I guess it didn't as by the end of this I was livid. You'd think Benson would not jump to quick conclusion after 15 years with the SVU (especially after the Omar Pena fiasco some seasons earlier), but she exactly does that. Not a good sign of character development. 4/10
The episode goes beyond border to prove that Benson can be a prejudicial narrow minded goat (I'm sorry that I don't feel sorry to say this) and to make the children and teens look "innocent" even when they are Satan's spawn (ironically, the episode left me with the opposite feeling than intended by the episode). As shown by the fact that Benson decides to make the case public regardless of the consequences just because she "thinks" the man molested those children. It might've been because of the development she had this season, but it does not excuse her actions in any way. Besides that the ending was preposterous as there are no repercussions against the culprits for making false claims. Barbra says they "won't testify" against each other hence they can't be charged, which is ridiculous since they filed a false report (and confessed to such) which is a misdemeanor (and they had the criminal intent or mens rea for such) with upto 6 months or more jail time (not to mention fines). Besides that, they were liable to civil suit for ruining the defendant's reputation as well.
Years of watching SVU should've made me immune to such trivial burst of anger, but I guess it didn't as by the end of this I was livid. You'd think Benson would not jump to quick conclusion after 15 years with the SVU (especially after the Omar Pena fiasco some seasons earlier), but she exactly does that. Not a good sign of character development. 4/10
Not harmonious
TheLittleSongbird2 August 2022
Not caring for "Dissonant Voices" had absolutely nothing to do with not wanting this subject explored. Quite the contrary. It is a tough subject that is always worthy of addressing, though not easy to do right as evidenced by the franchise's variable track record of tackling it or similar stories. When an episode of the show does little for me, it has always been to do with the execution of the subject and the story surrounding it.
To me, "Dissonant Voices" didn't do a good job with tackling its subject. Music/talent show-themed episodes for anything can work very well, but somehow it didn't here. It is a case of a great main guest star turn that deserved a much better episode, one that wasn't so predictable and wasn't unbalanced so much by how the team behave and handle the case. Again, "Dissonant Voices" is far from an unwatchable episode, it just doesn't come together and all the different elements aren't harmonious with each other.
"Dissonant Things" has good things. Its main compensation is the guest turn of Billy Porter. He gives a masterclass of how to make an accused person likeable in personality, especially at the end where his feelings are completely understandable and what a lot of people in his position would feel. Rollins had her dissenters in her first season, but couldn't help feeling a lot of respect for her for being the only professional and non judgemental person on the team. Kelli Giddish conveys this very well and has come on a long way since Season 13.
Furthermore, 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.
However, a lot is not well done. The story especially is heavily flawed, with the case being very predictable. Due to the outcome not being a surprise to me at all, actually guessed it correctly almost exactly early on. As a result, there is very little suspense and it is another episode that feels very thin (with it being easily being able to be solved in half the time it took). Getting to the truth and explaining it took too long and the ending is truly infuriating. Morally it felt wrong and a slap in the face, with only Porter's acting saving it from unwatchability.
Everything with the therapy felt shoe-horned in and too much like padding, while the dialogue is bland. Porter is truly excellent and Giddish shines too, but the rest of the cast come over as tired while Jessica Phillips overdoes it too much as the excessively over-zealous Cox. Really disliked how the team, other than Rollins, were so quick to judge and jump to conclusions with not that much to go on and were so self righteous. Especially Olivia. Didn't buy their reactions at all because of this.
Concluding, underwhelming. 4/10.
To me, "Dissonant Voices" didn't do a good job with tackling its subject. Music/talent show-themed episodes for anything can work very well, but somehow it didn't here. It is a case of a great main guest star turn that deserved a much better episode, one that wasn't so predictable and wasn't unbalanced so much by how the team behave and handle the case. Again, "Dissonant Voices" is far from an unwatchable episode, it just doesn't come together and all the different elements aren't harmonious with each other.
"Dissonant Things" has good things. Its main compensation is the guest turn of Billy Porter. He gives a masterclass of how to make an accused person likeable in personality, especially at the end where his feelings are completely understandable and what a lot of people in his position would feel. Rollins had her dissenters in her first season, but couldn't help feeling a lot of respect for her for being the only professional and non judgemental person on the team. Kelli Giddish conveys this very well and has come on a long way since Season 13.
Furthermore, 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.
However, a lot is not well done. The story especially is heavily flawed, with the case being very predictable. Due to the outcome not being a surprise to me at all, actually guessed it correctly almost exactly early on. As a result, there is very little suspense and it is another episode that feels very thin (with it being easily being able to be solved in half the time it took). Getting to the truth and explaining it took too long and the ending is truly infuriating. Morally it felt wrong and a slap in the face, with only Porter's acting saving it from unwatchability.
Everything with the therapy felt shoe-horned in and too much like padding, while the dialogue is bland. Porter is truly excellent and Giddish shines too, but the rest of the cast come over as tired while Jessica Phillips overdoes it too much as the excessively over-zealous Cox. Really disliked how the team, other than Rollins, were so quick to judge and jump to conclusions with not that much to go on and were so self righteous. Especially Olivia. Didn't buy their reactions at all because of this.
Concluding, underwhelming. 4/10.
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