Plot
There wasn't anything about this plot which made it feel better than average to me, hence the rating. It was predictable and played out exactly the way I expected from the start. Where I live, racial prejudice is not much of an issue, so it's quite probable that this episode hit harder at people who understand that and have witnessed/experienced it more than I have. It was certainly tragic. SVU is one of those shows where for the episode to be really good, you want it to leave you thinking 'hm' afterwards. You want to be turning it over in your mind for the next few days and wondering. I can't really see this episode doing that - it was good, but it fell short of that mark which would have made it great.
Character Development
I don't think anything was really achieved in terms of character development with the main cast here. Olivia is still haunted, everyone else is still normal, nothing happened.
Music
Didn't notice anything superb. There were some nice melodic notes towards the end of the episode, but nothing outstanding.
Acting
Seemed fine to me. I am having a bit of an issue with the way Olivia's face seems permanently fixed in the same expression, so there is that problem. I wish they'd let her make more faces. She could stick her tongue out, or something. I felt a lot of genuine dislike for Sparkles, so that was probably good acting.
Scenery
The same places as usual; the show didn't really take us anywhere new this time, except to Sparkles' restaurant, where she patted a statue of a horse head. I noticed that. It amused me, because it's exactly the sort of thing I would have done as a child. I went through a horse phase.
Sexism
None that I noticed at all, which is nice.
Bechdel Test
1. It includes at least two women, (Yes)
2. who have at least one conversation, (Yes)
3. about something other than a man or men. (Yes)
I had a bit of trouble with this one, but I eventually decided to include the very brief conversation between Rollins and Sparkles and that was what pushed it over into this score. 3/3
2. who have at least one conversation, (Yes)
3. about something other than a man or men. (Yes)
I had a bit of trouble with this one, but I eventually decided to include the very brief conversation between Rollins and Sparkles and that was what pushed it over into this score. 3/3