Quite a lot of episodes from the 'Law and Order' franchise have at least one interest point. "Invaders" is most notable for being the last episodes of Alexandra Borgia and Joe Fontana. Season 16 was a very good season, one of the few of the original 'Law and Order' to not have any less than decent episodes and where even the weaker episodes ("Age of Innocence", "Bible Story") were still pretty good. At its best, like with "Criminal Law" it was even excellent.
The season finale "Invaders" is to me one of the best episodes of Season 16. It is a great episode and is also a powerful one, even with flashes of the 2006 Richmond Killing Spree murders it didn't come over as exploitative or sensationalist (which is amazing how soon the episode aired after those horrific crimes. In regard to it being the final episodes of the two characters mentioned), the events after one makes for some of the most powerful moments of the show in a while and the other could have been gone into depth much more.
So much is great about "Invaders". As ever, the photography and such 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.
Moreover, the writing is lean, leaves one in thought and nothing feels sugar-coated. The story is incredibly hard hitting, with a beginning that will make one familiar with the Richmond Killing Spree murders feel like their stomachs were churning (though even when watching the episode for the first time it wrenched the gut when having no knowledge of the case). It does a great job with the exit of Borgia, which is one of the franchises most gut wrenching exits that doesn't come over as excessive shock value (Sonya Paxton) or an out of the blue excuse to get rid of an unpopular character (Serena Southerlyn).
All the performances are great, with Sam Waterston dominating the legal portions and Ritchie Coster showing once again that he can do dangerous expertly.
For all those great things though, there is one thing that could have been done better. Fontana's exit is too abrupt and afterthought like.
Otherwise, great end to a very good season and one of the last "great" episodes of the show. 9/10.