Law and Order: Special Victims UnitPersona
Original Air Date: 15 Nov 2008
Kara – TwoCents Staff Writer
kara@thetwocentscorp.com
Olivia gets involved in a case where a young woman (Clea DuVall) claims she’s been raped by a stranger and is horribly beaten. She quickly discovers it’s the woman’s husband who is the abuser but Olivia has trouble convincing the woman and her downstairs neighbor (Brenda Blethyn) to let her help.
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[photo: NBC.com]
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Olivia gets involved in a case where a young woman (Clea DuVall) claims she’s been raped by a stranger and is horribly beaten. She quickly discovers it’s the woman’s husband who is the abuser but Olivia has trouble convincing the woman and her downstairs neighbor (Brenda Blethyn) to let her help.
ReplyDeleteThree Notable Things That Made This A Great Episode:
1. There were a record number of recognizable guest stars. Let’s see, there was Clea DuVall and Brenda Blethyn, Didi Conn (Frenchie from Grease) popped up as an E.R. nurse, Kelly Bishop (Emily Gilmore from Gilmore Girls) was the defense attorney, Mike Farrell (Providence) played Brenda Blethyn’s husband and Judith Light came back as the District Attorney. I was surprised how many guest stars there were. I adore Clea DuVall and she really knocked this one out of the park.
2. The twists. Mia (Clea DuVall) wasn’t raped and beaten in an alley but in her own home, by her husband. Then, while Olivia stakes out the house after Mia returns home from the shelter, Mia and her husband get into a terrible fight. By the time Olivia has kicked down the door, Mia’s got a knife sticking out of her chest and dies. After a fingerprint sweep, we find out Linnie (Brenda Blethyn) is a fugitive and was arrested for killing a man thirty years earlier. She says she was beaten, raped and feared for her life so she stabbed him when he slept. D.A. Donnelly (Judith Light) is on an epic mission to throw Linnie in prison because Linnie escaping all those years ago made her look bad. On the stand, Linnie says she was willing to go to prison as long as she could do something first, which is why she send Donnelly a note asking to speak to her, again, thirty years prior. Donnelly dismissed it and Linnie explains she wanted to have an abortion so she didn’t bring his child into the world. Donnelly’s hardened attitude takes a hit as she realizes she made a mistake. She asks for probation and the judge agrees. Linnie’s husband leaves her, realizing their entire relationship was a lie, including her name and the circumstances of how they met. I don’t know about you but it definitely kept me on my toes.
3. It was another emotional Olivia episode. Mariska Hargitay is so good at going so deep into character that as I write this, I have to remind myself that she was acting. That woman’s a genius, honestly. She’s so natural with all of the choices she makes and all of her super intense, emotional moments are so believable, I just want to give her a hug.
This was such an amazing episode. I was really impressed. There were a lot of twists, all of which were well crafted and made sense. Good for you, SVU! So what did you think? Tell me your TwoCents in the comments!
I lost track of all the guest stars ~ LOVE Judith Light's role! Can we see more of her again?! Please?!
ReplyDeleteThe story was wonderful ~ but even more so with Clea Duvall (I loved her on Carnival).
Seeing their faces as the story unfolded in the courtroom ~ why she wanted to see the DA, why she ran, etc. That was a true SVU moment. Their director knows to stay on the faces & let their expressions tell the story ~ Well done!!