When a baby boy is discovered in the rubbish, detectives Benson and Stabler use a t-shirt found at the scene to trace the crime back to a well-to-do college student.When a baby boy is discovered in the rubbish, detectives Benson and Stabler use a t-shirt found at the scene to trace the crime back to a well-to-do college student.When a baby boy is discovered in the rubbish, detectives Benson and Stabler use a t-shirt found at the scene to trace the crime back to a well-to-do college student.
- Special Agent Dr. George Huang, M.D.
- (as B.D. Wong)
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe case Cragen refers to is of Andrea Yates, a Texas woman who confessed to drowning her five children in their bathtub on June 20, 2001. She had been suffering for some time with very severe postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. She was tried and convicted on five counts of first degree murder, while the DA had originally sought the death penalty at trial they took it off the table after it was proven that one of the state's expert witnesses lied on the stand, at sentencing she was given life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. However shortly afterwards the conviction was overturned by the appellate court. On July 26, 2006, the Texas jury in her retrial found that Yates was not guilty by reason of insanity. She was consequently committed by the court to the North Texas State Hospital.
- Quotes
Elliot Stabler: [to Ella] You look just like him.
Ella Christiansen: Who?
Elliot Stabler: Your son.
Ella Christiansen: I don't... this... I don't have a son.
Elliot Stabler: Carried him nine months. You didn't want him, you had legal options. You have a problem with abortion, that's your choice. I understand that. There's adoption. You chose to give birth!
Ella Christiansen: You have the wrong person.
Elliot Stabler: You chose to walk six blocks with him, right past a firehouse! A hospital where under safe haven laws, you could have just left him anonymously!
Ella Christiansen: Why are you yelling at me?
Elliot Stabler: Because you tossed him in the trash like the garbage you are! All those choices. How is that even an option?
For my tastes on the most part, "Taboo" sadly was in the latter category. Didn't hate it as such and it is not quite one of the worst episodes of Season 7, but it is towards the lesser end in my view (another case of my rating conflicting with the rating here) and could have handled its subject a lot more tactfully. Granted it is not an easy subject to make tasteful as the truth really does make one squirm on paper, but the execution not only felt cheap it also made the mistakes of not being very interesting or realistic.
"Taboo" does have good things. The photography and such as usual are fully professional, the slickness still remaining. The music is used sparingly and is haunting and non-overwrought when it is used, and it's mainly used when a crucial revelation or plot development is revealed. There is some suitably cotrolled yet tense direction when necessary.
Can't fault the performances all round, with Mariska Hargitay and Schuyler Fisk, both with the lion's share of the material, being particularly good. Zeljko Ivanek also makes one suitably uneasy. Some of the dialogue is thought-provoking. The part where Huang is on the stand was enjoyable, Novak sure was enjoying herself there. Also liked when Olivia was finally called out by another character who isn't a team member, love Olivia as a character but this was a part where she needed to be put in her place by somebody.
It is a shame though that the story has next to no surprises and goes well overboard on the creepiness and sleaziness to an exploitative degree. Also really disliked Fisk's character, the one one should feel some sympathy towards. For somebody meant to be very smart she comes over as pretty idiotic, being for example one of the few supporting characters on 'Special Victims Unit' to shoot themselves in the foot this badly more than once. The story also felt choppy and near incomplete, with wide gaps.
While loving Olivia as a character here, this is not one of her most likeable or relatable appearances. Actually found her almost manipulative, like for example when tricking to get to the truth by lying herself which would have been enough to throw the case out of court if discovered. Other parts of the dialogue doesn't feel as tight and again it could have explored the issue from all sides rather than villifying what felt like half the characters. There is some sloppy continuity here, regarding the relationship between Olivia and her now dead mother which sadly makes her relating to the victim difficult with empathise with as well, when told things different to what was already established.
Summarising, not a bad episode but far from great. 5/10.
- TheLittleSongbird
- Apr 29, 2021