Shangri-La
By Hank74
Lennie-10/10
Ed-10/10
Van Buren-8/10
Jack-10/10
Serena-10/10
Arthur-9/10
Supporting Cast-9/10
Plot-8/10
Performance-8/10
Value-7/10
Total Grade-89/100
Notes:
My apologies for not
getting this out sooner, like last night as usual. Apparently the TNT boards
had a problem which prevented us from doing any new postings.
I thought this one was
going to another example where SVU could have done a better job because of the
rape angle. However, this one was well played out since it didn't really go
into that perspective and instead focused on the troubled girl.
It's very clear TPTB is
trying to inject some personality clashes between Lennie and Ed and Jack and
Serena. This has been long overdue since it goes back to the glory days when a
case would cause friction between the cops and lawyers.
What was bugging Jack in
this ep? I haven't seen him so animated and clashing with his second chair
since UTI. We know he was abused as a child by his dad and had a
"crush" on his daughter in part 2 of "Baby It's You." But
is there something about his past or family that we don't know about, yet was
revealed in this one. Or was it that he didn't like being second guessed by
Serena and made to look like a fool.
Is there another past
relationship between Jack and a defense attorney? At the very least, it sounds
like a deep professional one. In any case she was excellent. If Mr. Wolf is
bringing in a new generation of great defense attorneys, I'd like to see them
more often. This being in the same tradition of Brolin, Mellnick, Shambala, and
Steiglitz to name a few.
I get the sense that
Serena is like Nora and Claire when it comes to the application of the law.
Apparently she feels it should be dealt with a sense of morality and equality
instead of focusing in on reality. Very surprising that she would side with a
rapist teacher over a young girl. Perhaps there was something in her past that
prompted her to doubt the girl's story. We got some clues with her prom thing,
but nothing yet to reveal anything else.
I guess we will be
having alternating shrinks between eps with Olivet and Skoda. Between this one
and "American Jihad" last week, do you think they should have been
switched with Olivet interviewing the girl and Skoda talking to the American
Muslim?
Finally, this ep was
simplistic and didn't drag off to other avenues. I would have like to see more
of the teacher's story and his past. The scene with Serena talking to the cops
before the half hour reminded me of Robinette telling Ceretta and all to
"Pick him up."
A decent episode to
follow Jihad, but not a total letdown