SVU by 2007 was more than established for viewers and its tautness of plotting and strength of cast show through again in this very good episode with a show-stealing performance by Cynthia Nixon as the ultimate nut job, a split-personality who leads SVU on a wild goose chase for her sister.
This episode brings out the inadvertent humor that adds charm to the series as Nixon dons several guises, first as a lawyer reporting a child is being abused, then as a waif holed up in Central Park, then as a bitchy broad who tells off her own lawyer and then explodes in the subsequent trial - the bitchy broad telling off her lawyer is funny as heck, and the only thing this daffy duck doesn't portray is the telephone with dial tone - a Warner Brothers gag that, given how nutty Nixon's character is, would almost work in all seriousness on this show.
Easily the creepiest scene comes soon after Elliott Stabler has to sleepily tell off his teenage daughter who is griping about her punishment for drunk driving - Stabler goes to work, then gets a call that Nixon, in a hayseed guise complete with crude ponytails that looks like a deliberately atrocious Holly Marshall getup, has boldly walked into Elliott's house and is chatting with his wife and teenage children - complete with tightly-held butcher knife.
The other source of humor stems from the temporary "reassignment" of Captain Cragen over incidents of rule-breaking by Elliott, Olivia, and Fin; Munch is hastily promoted to oversee SVU and his protest to Fin et al that he wasn't seeking any promotion naturally isn't believed by anyone; he also doesn't inspire anything but snickering when he has to don the officious blues of his new assignment - which thankfully isn't permanent.
This episode brings out the inadvertent humor that adds charm to the series as Nixon dons several guises, first as a lawyer reporting a child is being abused, then as a waif holed up in Central Park, then as a bitchy broad who tells off her own lawyer and then explodes in the subsequent trial - the bitchy broad telling off her lawyer is funny as heck, and the only thing this daffy duck doesn't portray is the telephone with dial tone - a Warner Brothers gag that, given how nutty Nixon's character is, would almost work in all seriousness on this show.
Easily the creepiest scene comes soon after Elliott Stabler has to sleepily tell off his teenage daughter who is griping about her punishment for drunk driving - Stabler goes to work, then gets a call that Nixon, in a hayseed guise complete with crude ponytails that looks like a deliberately atrocious Holly Marshall getup, has boldly walked into Elliott's house and is chatting with his wife and teenage children - complete with tightly-held butcher knife.
The other source of humor stems from the temporary "reassignment" of Captain Cragen over incidents of rule-breaking by Elliott, Olivia, and Fin; Munch is hastily promoted to oversee SVU and his protest to Fin et al that he wasn't seeking any promotion naturally isn't believed by anyone; he also doesn't inspire anything but snickering when he has to don the officious blues of his new assignment - which thankfully isn't permanent.