Rollins and Carisi uncover 3 female suspects in the castration of a man who was left for dead. Langan has devastating news for Benson.Rollins and Carisi uncover 3 female suspects in the castration of a man who was left for dead. Langan has devastating news for Benson.Rollins and Carisi uncover 3 female suspects in the castration of a man who was left for dead. Langan has devastating news for Benson.
- Detective Odafin 'Fin' Tutuola
- (as Ice T)
- Dr. Darby Wilder
- (as Yvonna Kopacz-Wright)
- Karen Karr
- (as Lauren Donahue)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAlprazolam, better known as Xanax, is a benzodiazepine medication prescribed for the treatment of anxiety disorders.
- Quotes
Rafael Barba: [during his closing argument] Jason assaulted Evelyn, Evelyn assaulted him back. That sounds fair to me. Sounds like justice at work. To be just, it has to be fair. I mean, that's what Ms. Rivers asserts. You know, I can't really disagree with that. In purely pound of flesh terms, Mr. Karr certainly gave up a hell of a lot more than he got. Fair? Not a chance. To be totally fair, you should give Jason one of Evelyn's breasts. An arm, maybe. That's only fair. And as we have now decided, that means it's just. Jason Karr forcibly raped Evelyn Bundy when she was little more than a child, but to tack a prison sentence on Mr. Karr's already gargantuan suffering would tip the balance of justice in Ms. Bundy's favor, and hey, there's no way that's fair, so there's no way that's just. A man whose store burns down rushes out, buys some gasoline, a book of matches and sets the house of the arsonist on fire. Hey! It's fair, so that means it's just! A man whose children have been murdered buys a gun and splatters the brains of the killer's children all over their bedroom walls. It's fair. It's just. Why bother with cops or courts? If it's fair, it has to be just! Let the blood flow in the streets, I say! Oh, wait, you don't like it? I say get a bigger pair of boots.
When it comes to the previous two episodes of Season 19, "Gone Fishin" was pretty good, despite a few misgivings, but "Mood" was a very mixed bag. As was "Contrapasso" on rewatch for pretty much the exact same reasons as on first watch while noticing a couple more issues and feeling more strongly about another one that was already a major turn off in the season and in most of the latter seasons. "Contrapasso" is a long way from a terrible episode, it just isn't great either.
It has good things. The production values are still slick and suitably gritty (without being too heavy in it). The music is not too melodramatic and is not used too much, even not being too manipulative in revelations. Some of the direction early on was solid enough.
Fin and Carisi were strong presences (great to not have Fin underused and Carisi true to character). They gel very well. The dramatic highlight of the episode was easily Barba's very impassioned closing argument, one of his best and most persuasive in a long time. Love Barba still as a character, who is one of the main reasons as to why the latter seasons were stuck with, and Raul Esparza's acting. Peter Herman is not close behind (the acting near-all round is fine, though Mariska Hargitay is a bit one dimensional) and the opening is disturbing.
Too much of the rest of "Contrapasso" doesn't live up to its initial promise. The story is very predictable and lacked any form of tension other than the opening. Also found it rushed at times, especially at the end where part of me was wondering whether there was anything else that wasn't mentioned that influenced the verdict. Too many things did not make sense, especially the outcome of the trial of the accused rapist despite evidence being so little and weak. And also felt strongly that the accusers/attackers, in a case where nobody in any way is innocent in their action, not only should gotten a much harsher sentence what they were charged with should have been more serious too. What was gone through with them was absolutely terrible, but that doesn't condone doing something that was close to equalling it in seriousness.
Once again, the dialogue is less than taut and came over as bland, Olivia's at times condescending. Olivia's sanctimonious-ness and victim bias has really worn thin and has been for ages, enough to make one question how so many relate to her in so many difficult scenarios and a role model if she is this stubborn, this preachy and this lacking in professionalism. Her personal life subplot didn't feel necessary to the story and while Brooke Sheilds did nicely with the little screen time she had in a role that would signal the start of an arc her appearance in this episode was on the shoe-horned in side.
Concluding, watchable but only for a couple of watches at most. 5/10.
- TheLittleSongbird
- Dec 13, 2022