"Infiltrated" impressed me massively on first watch and an easy standout episode of Season 8 (not one of the show's best seasons but a lot better than Season 7), way back when in my late teens. Was overjoyed at seeing Olivia Benson again after noting and feeling her absence in the previous few episodes and liked very much that it was a different kind of story. Not many episodes had Benson going undercover and ending up being on the other side of the law and that was interesting.
My positive feelings on "Infiltrated" are still very much the same and actually to me the episode is even better than it was back then. The change of pace was handled brilliantly, there are some great moments that fans won't forget and Olivia's character writing here epitomises why she is one of the franchise's longest serving characters and deserving of being. "Infiltrated" is a brilliant episode where everything is wonderfully done, one of the best of Season 8 by far.
Knowing where to begin with the praise is very difficult. Mariska Hargitay is incredible and when it comes to individual episodes in terms of her acting "Infiltrated" is one of her best. Up to this point of the show, only her Emmy-winning performance in Season 7's "911" surpassed the one she gives here but she was consistently great at this point and still is. Diane Neal is every bit as good, determined but also sympathetic. Evident in the powerful exchange with affecting Candace Thompson, who plays one of two of the episode's most rootable character (Britney played beautifully by Molly Camp being the other). Vincent Spano is a nice addition and has fun chemistry with Hargitay.
The tension that Olivia has with the police sizzles, even if one is deliberately infuriated by the officers' lack of competence and ability to listen. The story is basically two plots in one, but "Infiltrated" doesn't feel like two episodes in one. Thanks to the two stories being equally brilliantly executed, Olivia's plot line grabs the attention and has tension. It is also one where one feels absolutely no sympathy for the murder victim. The episode has a good deal of heart too, where it was easy to feel empathy for Britney and especially Chelsea. The court subplot also has tense anticipation, where getting justice done is very touch and go and very dependent on a crucial source of evidence being there but with obstacles in getting there.
Really loved the ever taut and thought-provoking (entertaining often here too) dialogue, especially Munch's love child line which was an in-joke to Mariska Hargitay's real life pregnancy. Classic Munch that line. Olivia saying "Elliot" in her sleep was funny too, the whole scene was. Plus the feminising the fish line. The episode never gets dull and the characters are all believable, even the cops just about.
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. The direction has some nice tension while keeping things steady, without going too far the other way.
Concluding, brilliant. 10/10.
My positive feelings on "Infiltrated" are still very much the same and actually to me the episode is even better than it was back then. The change of pace was handled brilliantly, there are some great moments that fans won't forget and Olivia's character writing here epitomises why she is one of the franchise's longest serving characters and deserving of being. "Infiltrated" is a brilliant episode where everything is wonderfully done, one of the best of Season 8 by far.
Knowing where to begin with the praise is very difficult. Mariska Hargitay is incredible and when it comes to individual episodes in terms of her acting "Infiltrated" is one of her best. Up to this point of the show, only her Emmy-winning performance in Season 7's "911" surpassed the one she gives here but she was consistently great at this point and still is. Diane Neal is every bit as good, determined but also sympathetic. Evident in the powerful exchange with affecting Candace Thompson, who plays one of two of the episode's most rootable character (Britney played beautifully by Molly Camp being the other). Vincent Spano is a nice addition and has fun chemistry with Hargitay.
The tension that Olivia has with the police sizzles, even if one is deliberately infuriated by the officers' lack of competence and ability to listen. The story is basically two plots in one, but "Infiltrated" doesn't feel like two episodes in one. Thanks to the two stories being equally brilliantly executed, Olivia's plot line grabs the attention and has tension. It is also one where one feels absolutely no sympathy for the murder victim. The episode has a good deal of heart too, where it was easy to feel empathy for Britney and especially Chelsea. The court subplot also has tense anticipation, where getting justice done is very touch and go and very dependent on a crucial source of evidence being there but with obstacles in getting there.
Really loved the ever taut and thought-provoking (entertaining often here too) dialogue, especially Munch's love child line which was an in-joke to Mariska Hargitay's real life pregnancy. Classic Munch that line. Olivia saying "Elliot" in her sleep was funny too, the whole scene was. Plus the feminising the fish line. The episode never gets dull and the characters are all believable, even the cops just about.
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. The direction has some nice tension while keeping things steady, without going too far the other way.
Concluding, brilliant. 10/10.