Rollins races to rescue a girl being held captive by her father.Rollins races to rescue a girl being held captive by her father.Rollins races to rescue a girl being held captive by her father.
Ice-T
- Detective Odafin 'Fin' Tutuola
- (as Ice T)
Philip Winchester
- ADA Peter Stone
- (credit only)
Shawn Andrew
- ESU Captain Sasso
- (as Shawn T. Andrew)
Margaret Rose Champagne
- Conductor
- (as Margaret Champagne)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBased on and shares similarities with the Turpin case; in January 2018, a couple were revealed to have subjected their thirteen children to years of abuse and starvation, as well as keeping them imprisoned in their home.
- GoofsWilliam Labott's driver's license incorrectly identifies his gender as being female. It also indicates that he is 42 years old, yet William Labott is clearly older than that, he appears to be in his late 50's or early 60's. Ray McKinnon, the actor that plays Labott, is 61 years old.
- Quotes
Amanda Rollins: [using a package of candy to get through to Esther] It works with Frannie.
Odafin Tutuola: Yeah, but Frannie's a dog.
Featured review
Agony
Anybody who has read any of my other reviews for for example individual episodes of the 'Law and Order' shows, am slowly working my way through writing reviews for all the episodes of 'Law and Order, and 'Special Victims Unit' (also 'Criminal Intent' until late 2021), with a long way to go, will know already how much admiration there is from me for anything that tackles difficult and controversial themes and issues. The topic here did sound interesting.
But it deserved much more interesting and stronger execution than what is seen in "The Book of Esther". The guest turns are truly great and one of the biggest reasons to see the episode as a one or two time watch, but "The Book of Esther" joins the fairly long list of 'Special Victims Unit' episodes where the episode overall is nowhere near as good as the guest turn. The plot is too much of a weird mix of what were major flaws in the worst of Seasons 10-12 and what were also major flaws post-Season 14 or so.
"The Book of Esther's" best aspect is the acting, namely the guest acting with an affecting Rebekah Kennedy and a terrifying Ray McKinnon. Kelli Giddish is also a strong presence, despite not liking how Rollins is written here (but am blaming the writing here not Giddish). The episode also starts off quite well and unsettlingly, but the episode is at its best dramatically with the unspeakably gut-wrenching aftermath of the climax.
Furthermore, it is a visually slick episode, typical for 'Special Victims Unit' and the 'Law and Order' franchise, and one with the right amount of muted grit, the photography doesn't try to do anything too fancy or gimmicky while not being claustrophobic and keeping things simple. The music doesn't overbear past the early stages with the theme tune still memorable.
However, "The Book of Esther" does have significant drawbacks. Did not like Rollins here, her handling of the case is all over the place with lots of dumb decisions and she comes over as very unsympathetic, like tempting the victim with food trick but in a way that was more distastefully taunting in body language than caring. Olivia seems very nonchalent and indifferent in her attitude towards the case and how she interacts here.
Despite the aftermath of the climax being gut wrenching, the climax itself is wildly implausible. Which really lacks tension and has some truly odd and sloppy police work. The story is dull generally and lacks tension and anything surprising (with everything being too easy to figure out). The character writing for the perpetrator tended to be more neurotic than anything else, while the dialogue is generally bland and overwrought especially in the latter stages.
In conclusion, watchable but nothing special here. 5/10.
But it deserved much more interesting and stronger execution than what is seen in "The Book of Esther". The guest turns are truly great and one of the biggest reasons to see the episode as a one or two time watch, but "The Book of Esther" joins the fairly long list of 'Special Victims Unit' episodes where the episode overall is nowhere near as good as the guest turn. The plot is too much of a weird mix of what were major flaws in the worst of Seasons 10-12 and what were also major flaws post-Season 14 or so.
"The Book of Esther's" best aspect is the acting, namely the guest acting with an affecting Rebekah Kennedy and a terrifying Ray McKinnon. Kelli Giddish is also a strong presence, despite not liking how Rollins is written here (but am blaming the writing here not Giddish). The episode also starts off quite well and unsettlingly, but the episode is at its best dramatically with the unspeakably gut-wrenching aftermath of the climax.
Furthermore, it is a visually slick episode, typical for 'Special Victims Unit' and the 'Law and Order' franchise, and one with the right amount of muted grit, the photography doesn't try to do anything too fancy or gimmicky while not being claustrophobic and keeping things simple. The music doesn't overbear past the early stages with the theme tune still memorable.
However, "The Book of Esther" does have significant drawbacks. Did not like Rollins here, her handling of the case is all over the place with lots of dumb decisions and she comes over as very unsympathetic, like tempting the victim with food trick but in a way that was more distastefully taunting in body language than caring. Olivia seems very nonchalent and indifferent in her attitude towards the case and how she interacts here.
Despite the aftermath of the climax being gut wrenching, the climax itself is wildly implausible. Which really lacks tension and has some truly odd and sloppy police work. The story is dull generally and lacks tension and anything surprising (with everything being too easy to figure out). The character writing for the perpetrator tended to be more neurotic than anything else, while the dialogue is generally bland and overwrought especially in the latter stages.
In conclusion, watchable but nothing special here. 5/10.
helpful•93
- TheLittleSongbird
- Jan 31, 2023
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