"Pretend" was one of those 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' episodes that didn't quite connect with me on first viewing some years back. Something about the premise didn't click or ring true, instead coming over as on the strange side. As a result, the episode was a little strange. That though was on first viewing, and there are a fair share of 'Special Victims Unit' episodes that fared better on rewatches and grew on me by quite some way.
One of those episodes is Season 8's penultimate episode "Pretend". While not one of my favourites of 'Special Victims Unit' or the season, it is leagues better than the previous outing "Annihilated". The scenario/premise is much easier to buy in my mind (there were far more improbable scenarios in the 'Law and Order' franchise), due to now being aware that it can happen in real life. And the execution is not weird anymore and is really quite unsettling.
Is "Pretend" perfect? No. The mother ID-ing the boy subplot could easily have been left out, it came over as irrelevant and was neglected and completely forgotten about very quickly.
There are other episodes that are more original and fresher, some of the early portions are fairly familiar.
However, there really isn't an awful lot that is wrong with "Pretend", providing that one can buy the premise of course. Some might not, it was fine to me and is not unheard of no matter how odd it sounds. The production values as ever have slickness and grit, with an intimacy without being claustrophobic. The music has presence when it's used but does so without being intrusive, some of it is quite haunting too. The direction is also understated but the tension never slips. All the performances are very good, especially the quite frightening one of Mitsi Traya. She particularly creeps one out at the end.
Script is taut and intelligent, a lot of talk but doesn't ramble or confuse. The very interesting story is both creepy and tragic, with an ending that lingers long in the memory a long time after. It was nice to see Stabler interacting with his family and being a family man without going into soap opera-land, it was very reminiscent of the earlier seasons before the family issues kicked in.
Overall, very good. 8/10.
One of those episodes is Season 8's penultimate episode "Pretend". While not one of my favourites of 'Special Victims Unit' or the season, it is leagues better than the previous outing "Annihilated". The scenario/premise is much easier to buy in my mind (there were far more improbable scenarios in the 'Law and Order' franchise), due to now being aware that it can happen in real life. And the execution is not weird anymore and is really quite unsettling.
Is "Pretend" perfect? No. The mother ID-ing the boy subplot could easily have been left out, it came over as irrelevant and was neglected and completely forgotten about very quickly.
There are other episodes that are more original and fresher, some of the early portions are fairly familiar.
However, there really isn't an awful lot that is wrong with "Pretend", providing that one can buy the premise of course. Some might not, it was fine to me and is not unheard of no matter how odd it sounds. The production values as ever have slickness and grit, with an intimacy without being claustrophobic. The music has presence when it's used but does so without being intrusive, some of it is quite haunting too. The direction is also understated but the tension never slips. All the performances are very good, especially the quite frightening one of Mitsi Traya. She particularly creeps one out at the end.
Script is taut and intelligent, a lot of talk but doesn't ramble or confuse. The very interesting story is both creepy and tragic, with an ending that lingers long in the memory a long time after. It was nice to see Stabler interacting with his family and being a family man without going into soap opera-land, it was very reminiscent of the earlier seasons before the family issues kicked in.
Overall, very good. 8/10.
