Law & Order (TV Series) Girl Most Likely (2002) User Reviews

Outing can be dangerous

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 12 May 2013]

A young teen who recently transferred to a nice private school in Manhattan is found dead in the basement laundry of her apartment building. Her head met the corner of one of the machines. Jerry Orbach and Jesse Martin soon start looking in the direction of school.

This case reminded so much of one I was involved with when I was working at New York State Crime Victims Board that involved several victims. The reason that her classmate Caroline Dhavernas kills her is to keep their lesbian relationship quiet. Seeing her uptight parents I understand why she feels as she does. This episode is deadly reminder of how stifling the closet can be.

The case I had involved a man killed by someone he just had got involved with. The victim wanted to tell the world of his new love, the perpetrator was very closeted and very much wanted to keep it on the down low. He killed his lover and stabbed up two other men who were friends who survived so he could stay in the closet.

The issue for Sam Waterston and Elisabeth Rohm is the ethics of outing the young woman. Dhavernas pleads guilty to avoid a trial only to keep her secret. Rohm objects violently to Waterston's tactics and he only sees it as leverage like any other with a suspect. Remember as she left the series Rohm herself revealed she was a lesbian.

It's a great episode especially for a young gay audience about the stifling effects of the closet.

Mostly very well done

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 26 May 2022]

This was a subject that resonated a lot with me, being somebody who has a sister in a (happy) same sex marriage but saw her being upset (me as well) by some of the friction that occurred when she came out. Have said a lot about appreciating 'Law and Order' when it addresses and explores challenging and controversial topics, and the one for "Girl Most Likely" is one of Season 12's most controversial. Not just back then but still is now, perhaps more so now.

"Girl Most Likely" struck me as a very good episode. Much better and more consistent than the uneven previous episode "Born Again", and in the better end in my view when it comes to ranking the inconsistent (not as much as Season 11 though) but generally solid if not outstanding Season 12. Did appreciate a lot how it addresses a difficult topic and the uncompromising but not heavy handed way it does so, which made me easy to connect with.

By all means "Girl Most Likely" isn't perfect. A bit ordinary to begin with and the ending was on the rushed side.

Southerlyn continues to be a deadweight, likewise with Elisabeth Rohm's acting. Have neglected to say in previous reviews that she and McCoy's chemistry was never really here when she was on the show, don't remember any spark or many instances where there was strong disagreements on both sides of the argument where both sides can be seen.

However, a lot is good. The production values are as professional as usual, and this aspect did come on a lot overtime with a sharper and slicker look growing with each season. The music is haunting while not intrusive or overused. The direction is sympathetic without being too low key. The script is intelligently written and taut, with a take no prisoners approach to the material. Briscoe's one-liners are always fun and the exchanges in the legal scenes are very thought-provoking.

The story is not predictable thanks to some sharp unexpected twists and turns, the truth was a surprise and not what one would think would be from the beginning with it being different to what it initially seemed. That prevents what sounds a little basic from being too ordinary, as does the tension in the legal scenes (i.e. How McCoy gets to the truth). The characters are interesting in both the policing and legal scenes, while the defendant is one that one doesn't completely feel sympathy for but doesn't hate due to a relatable plight. The acting on the whole is very good, particularly Sam Waterston and Caroline Dhavernas.

In conclusion, very well done. 8/10.

I wonder if she will ever come to terms with who she really is.

[Mrpalli77 · 7/10 · 16 November 2017]

In a laundry room placed in a condo basement, two women were chatting about the piercing trend in new generation. Suddenly they noticed a blood stain in the washing machine and a girl dead with her skull fractured. The victim was a teenager who attended the local high school in a quiet neighborhood. A photographer, who lived in the same building, helped her out to improve her self-esteem by taking some pictures for the yearbook, but he's far from being a suspect. Two classmates has just been suspended for victim's fault, but the motive is not so strength and police cut them loose. Then detectives figured out the case is sexual related: something terrible happened in a teenage party the night before (an attempting rape) and there is a secret between two schoolgirls that can't be unveiled even if the episode involved daily life in a big city and we are in the new millennium.

A nice plot, great performance for the Canadian then young actress Caroline Dhavernas. I think the gay audience enjoyed the episode.

The episode that proved Serena's later coming out was nonsense

[kwebster-11879 · 6/10 · 10 July 2022]

In this episode about high school gay girls, Serena Southerlyn had a couple of relevant quotes: "When I was in high school, I had a very close friend, I had no idea she was gay until she came out in college. She always said she was too afraid until then. I'm not sure much has changed." "Coming out's gotta be a pretty tough thing to do, no matter how understanding your parents are. "

This show was a perfect opportunity for Serena to at least give a hint of her own sexuality. But, not even a hint of a whisper.

Nothing until she later gets fired and blurts out to everyone's surprise "Is this because I'm a lesbian?".