"Avatar" is one of the very few earlier season episodes of 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' episode to do next to nothing for me on first watch. The idea already had turned me off as there was the worry of it being ridiculous, strange and exploitative, but on first watch the episode struck me as one that started off well but quickly lost its way and got worse with each minute. Watched it recently again, like most 'Special Victims Unit' episodes, for the third time as there have been episodes that grew on me quite a bit on re-watch.
Sadly, "Avatar" is not one of those episodes. Actually thought the flaws were more noticeable this time and even more problematic than before and noticed more along the way. It is such a shame that Season 9 went from a very solid season opener, with one of the show's best guest star performances, to one of the worst episodes of the early seasons and the worst since Season 7's "Alien". As said, the idea was not a promising one to begin with and the execution of the idea was everything that was feared would be the case and worse. So my mind was not changed in any way.
By all means, "Avatar" was not an irredeemable episode as such. Kevin Tighe brings out every ounce of mileage he could and gives a quite creepy performance, more so than the episode and character deserved. The acting actually on the whole is very good, no problems with the regulars. As said, the episode does start off promisingly and surprisingly quite graphic for 'Special Victims Unit' at this stage of its run.
The production values are slick and have a subtle grit, with an intimacy to the photography without being too claustrophobic. The music isn't used too much and doesn't get too melodramatic. The direction is quite taut to begin with.
It is really infuriating though that the first ten minutes were rushed through and then completely discarded, what was the point of it if you were going to do nothing with it and do nothing with an issue that is a complicated and divisive one in itself (and also would have made for a much more interesting episode). Sadly, the rest of the story is a choppy, ridiculous and erratically paced mess that has no tension or suspense. When it comes to surprises too, only the identity of the perpetrator at first was a shock and the surprises were actually too few. Beyond the first ten minutes, "Avatar" fails to come to life with a dull pace, some jumping about and a real ignorance of virtual technology.
Furthermore, the case is more excessively strange than disturbing and gets more and more ridiculous with each minute. Some of it even gets very confusing and too reliant on coincidences, one of the biggest offenders being the very melodramatic and contrived ending. The script can be very ropy and lacks tautess and flow. The police work is truly sloppy and unprofessional, such as Olivia's confidentiality breach. As bad as this sounds, "Avatar" also didn't make me root for the victim as much as ought once it is revealed what she was up to.
Overall, very underwhelming. 4/10.
Sadly, "Avatar" is not one of those episodes. Actually thought the flaws were more noticeable this time and even more problematic than before and noticed more along the way. It is such a shame that Season 9 went from a very solid season opener, with one of the show's best guest star performances, to one of the worst episodes of the early seasons and the worst since Season 7's "Alien". As said, the idea was not a promising one to begin with and the execution of the idea was everything that was feared would be the case and worse. So my mind was not changed in any way.
By all means, "Avatar" was not an irredeemable episode as such. Kevin Tighe brings out every ounce of mileage he could and gives a quite creepy performance, more so than the episode and character deserved. The acting actually on the whole is very good, no problems with the regulars. As said, the episode does start off promisingly and surprisingly quite graphic for 'Special Victims Unit' at this stage of its run.
The production values are slick and have a subtle grit, with an intimacy to the photography without being too claustrophobic. The music isn't used too much and doesn't get too melodramatic. The direction is quite taut to begin with.
It is really infuriating though that the first ten minutes were rushed through and then completely discarded, what was the point of it if you were going to do nothing with it and do nothing with an issue that is a complicated and divisive one in itself (and also would have made for a much more interesting episode). Sadly, the rest of the story is a choppy, ridiculous and erratically paced mess that has no tension or suspense. When it comes to surprises too, only the identity of the perpetrator at first was a shock and the surprises were actually too few. Beyond the first ten minutes, "Avatar" fails to come to life with a dull pace, some jumping about and a real ignorance of virtual technology.
Furthermore, the case is more excessively strange than disturbing and gets more and more ridiculous with each minute. Some of it even gets very confusing and too reliant on coincidences, one of the biggest offenders being the very melodramatic and contrived ending. The script can be very ropy and lacks tautess and flow. The police work is truly sloppy and unprofessional, such as Olivia's confidentiality breach. As bad as this sounds, "Avatar" also didn't make me root for the victim as much as ought once it is revealed what she was up to.
Overall, very underwhelming. 4/10.