An aspiring actress dies from a drug overdose. Investigation reveals that her domineering mother may have driven her to suicide by forcing her to act in a pornographic film. The DA's office ... Read allAn aspiring actress dies from a drug overdose. Investigation reveals that her domineering mother may have driven her to suicide by forcing her to act in a pornographic film. The DA's office pursues murder charges against her.An aspiring actress dies from a drug overdose. Investigation reveals that her domineering mother may have driven her to suicide by forcing her to act in a pornographic film. The DA's office pursues murder charges against her.
- Dr. Seliger
- (as Stephen Newman)
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis is the first of 13 appearances of defense attorney Danielle Melnick, portrayed by Tovah Feldshuh. This character also appeared briefly in the final episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, "To the Boy in the Blue Knit Cap (2011)."
- GoofsPatti says that Priscilla once lost a part in The Nutcracker Suite. A suite is a music-only performance of selected pieces of a larger work, and there are no actors. She should have said she lost a part in The Nutcracker.
- Quotes
Priscilla Blaine: Mama... are you awake? I couldn't sleep. I haven't slept in days. Last night in the dark, I looked at myself in the mirror and all I could see were the whites of my eyes... and I knew how scared I really was. Are you dreaming, Mama? Remember Abilene, Mama? How the towns clicked by and I begged you to stop the train? Lexington, Nashville, Little Rock. I was sick for a thousand miles... and I hated you for it. Well, Mama, you sleep. Me, I'm getting off this train. I'm tired now, Mama. When you wake up, don't be angry that I'm gone. It's my turn to sleep.
Following on from the great "Confession" and pretty good if slightly uneven "The Wages of Love", when talking about the previous Season 2 episodes, "Aria" continues the promising though slightly unsettled quality present at this point of the season. Again it is not a bad episode at all, the opposite in fact and the good things are many, but it definitely could have been better than it was and could have explored its interesting subject further. Comparing it with the previous two episodes, it leans closer in quality towards "The Wages of Love" (though faring a little better) rather than "Confession".
While "The Wages of Love's" story had the issue of being on the thin and bland side, that for "Aria" occasionally had the opposite problem of trying to include a little too much and being a little more complicated than it needed to be. Do agree also that it peters out at the end, showing great potential in bringing up a big problem and then doing nothing with it, almost neglecting it.
To me, though this is more understandable, Cerreta and Logan's chemistry hasn't completely gelled yet. They work well together by all means but it needed more spark and edge, a sign of the season still adjusting understandably to the big amount of change it underwent.
However, the cast do a fine job with Michael Moriarty standing out of the leads (helped by that to me Stone was the most interesting of the regular characters at this early stage of the show). Marilyn Rockafellow sends chills up the spine as the monstrous mother figure, especially her reaction to the video tape. One that is played in the most haunting part of the episode. It was hard too to not feel sorry for the victim, being somebody that has frequently been pushed in doing things that didn't make me feel comfortable.
"Aria" didn't strike me as a bland episode, not as thought-provoking as the previous two episodes but did find myself connecting emotionally here than in "The Wages of Love". Especially in the aforementioned scene but the whole episode is not easy to watch, with everything revolving around the stage business hitting home and still relevant now. Also appreciated that the pornographic industry wasn't stereotyped too one-dimensionally or extremely. "Aria" is well made and scored, with an intelligent script that raises some interesting moral questions.
In summation, good episode that makes an impact but indicative still of Season 2 having not properly hit its stride yet. 7/10
- TheLittleSongbird
- Feb 11, 2020