As well as loving the show, for a while my personal favourite of the 'Law and Order' franchise, more the earlier seasons than the latter seasons (it wasn't quite the same post-Lennie Briscoe), what always drew me in watching "Aria" was the story's subject. One that is hardly out of date today with people like Elizabeth Blaine still very much existing, and one that is not too hard to relate to regardless of whether anything similar has happened to you or not.
Following on from the great "Confession" and pretty good if slightly uneven "The Wages of Love", when talking about the previous Season 2 episodes, "Aria" continues the promising though slightly unsettled quality present at this point of the season. Again it is not a bad episode at all, the opposite in fact and the good things are many, but it definitely could have been better than it was and could have explored its interesting subject further. Comparing it with the previous two episodes, it leans closer in quality towards "The Wages of Love" (though faring a little better) rather than "Confession".
While "The Wages of Love's" story had the issue of being on the thin and bland side, that for "Aria" occasionally had the opposite problem of trying to include a little too much and being a little more complicated than it needed to be. Do agree also that it peters out at the end, showing great potential in bringing up a big problem and then doing nothing with it, almost neglecting it.
To me, though this is more understandable, Cerreta and Logan's chemistry hasn't completely gelled yet. They work well together by all means but it needed more spark and edge, a sign of the season still adjusting understandably to the big amount of change it underwent.
However, the cast do a fine job with Michael Moriarty standing out of the leads (helped by that to me Stone was the most interesting of the regular characters at this early stage of the show). Marilyn Rockafellow sends chills up the spine as the monstrous mother figure, especially her reaction to the video tape. One that is played in the most haunting part of the episode. It was hard too to not feel sorry for the victim, being somebody that has frequently been pushed in doing things that didn't make me feel comfortable.
"Aria" didn't strike me as a bland episode, not as thought-provoking as the previous two episodes but did find myself connecting emotionally here than in "The Wages of Love". Especially in the aforementioned scene but the whole episode is not easy to watch, with everything revolving around the stage business hitting home and still relevant now. Also appreciated that the pornographic industry wasn't stereotyped too one-dimensionally or extremely. "Aria" is well made and scored, with an intelligent script that raises some interesting moral questions.
In summation, good episode that makes an impact but indicative still of Season 2 having not properly hit its stride yet. 7/10
Following on from the great "Confession" and pretty good if slightly uneven "The Wages of Love", when talking about the previous Season 2 episodes, "Aria" continues the promising though slightly unsettled quality present at this point of the season. Again it is not a bad episode at all, the opposite in fact and the good things are many, but it definitely could have been better than it was and could have explored its interesting subject further. Comparing it with the previous two episodes, it leans closer in quality towards "The Wages of Love" (though faring a little better) rather than "Confession".
While "The Wages of Love's" story had the issue of being on the thin and bland side, that for "Aria" occasionally had the opposite problem of trying to include a little too much and being a little more complicated than it needed to be. Do agree also that it peters out at the end, showing great potential in bringing up a big problem and then doing nothing with it, almost neglecting it.
To me, though this is more understandable, Cerreta and Logan's chemistry hasn't completely gelled yet. They work well together by all means but it needed more spark and edge, a sign of the season still adjusting understandably to the big amount of change it underwent.
However, the cast do a fine job with Michael Moriarty standing out of the leads (helped by that to me Stone was the most interesting of the regular characters at this early stage of the show). Marilyn Rockafellow sends chills up the spine as the monstrous mother figure, especially her reaction to the video tape. One that is played in the most haunting part of the episode. It was hard too to not feel sorry for the victim, being somebody that has frequently been pushed in doing things that didn't make me feel comfortable.
"Aria" didn't strike me as a bland episode, not as thought-provoking as the previous two episodes but did find myself connecting emotionally here than in "The Wages of Love". Especially in the aforementioned scene but the whole episode is not easy to watch, with everything revolving around the stage business hitting home and still relevant now. Also appreciated that the pornographic industry wasn't stereotyped too one-dimensionally or extremely. "Aria" is well made and scored, with an intelligent script that raises some interesting moral questions.
In summation, good episode that makes an impact but indicative still of Season 2 having not properly hit its stride yet. 7/10