Absolutely love Goren and Eames' pairing, and Goren especially is the most fascinating of all the 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' leads. Do prefer them over the pairing that they alternated with throughout Season 5 Logan and Barek, and prefer and am more used to them as characters. Their episodes on the whole in Season 5 are better than the Logan and Barek-centric ones, although to me not every episode of theirs in the season was great.
Really wanted to like "Wrongful Life" a lot more. The subject is a fascinating one and one that sounded very relatable, being somebody who's disabled (though in different ways to Lisa), somebody that has struggled with accepting myself and who has struggled with people accepting me. There are a lot of great things about "Wrongful Life", but somehow it didn't connect with me as much as it could have done and instead of the potentially great episode it could have been to me it was only slightly above average.
"Wrongful Life" has a lot that is good. 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 sympathetic enough without being too lifeless. There are enough smart and thought-probing moments in the script, great rapport between Goren and Eames and Lisa's line quoted in the review summary really brought a lump to my throat because of its relatability.
The story has some intriguing moments, but what elevates "Wrongful Life" is the acting. Have no problem whatsoever with Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe, but the supporting performances make an even bigger impression actually. Allison Pill is heart-wrenching as Lisa, one of the show's most powerfully written characters, while Talia Balsam is the personification of evil as a character who would be high up in the list of top 10 most hateful mothers.
Sadly, the story was too ordinary, could have tightened in the pace and could have done with more tension. The identity of the killer was not a surprise at all and easily guessable early on in a case with not enough suspects. The motive was also obvious, once one narrows it down to three possible motives and only one of them is believable or makes sense within the context of the story.
Also felt that the script could have had more life and nuance on the whole, the moral dilemmas of pro-choice/life is familiar territory for the 'Law and Order' franchise and was handled with much more tact elsewhere. Here it is made all too clear what the writers' stance on the issue is, overtly, with little room for debate. While Courtney B Vance is great he is underused and this was at a point where he was getting more to do.
Not a bad episode at all, but did disappoint somewhat. 6/10
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