A baby kidnapped from a playground leads to a twisted case of lies, betrayal, and infidelity.A baby kidnapped from a playground leads to a twisted case of lies, betrayal, and infidelity.A baby kidnapped from a playground leads to a twisted case of lies, betrayal, and infidelity.
Photos
- Sergeant John Munch
- (credit only)
- Detective Odafin 'Fin' Tutuola
- (as Ice T)
- Hannah Webster
- (as Abby Quinn Jackman)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode crisscrosses with a Law & Order Criminal Intent: Legacy-S7 E19. Both of them use the Surname Nobile, in Legacy it's the mother of Tessa, whose name is also in Vanities Bonfire. The mother in SVU is Dia Nobile and her daughter is Tessa. In CI Anna Nobile's daughter is Tessa and Anna teaches at Manor Hill which is used in the following SVU: Lessons Learned-S14 E8.
- Quotes
Dr. Melinda Warner: You do know, even if it turns out that Kent is the biological father, there's no way I can prove he knew about the baby.
Amanda Rollins: Oh, he knew. I mean, come on, the sexting, the burner cell. He knocked up his mistress and then dummied up a bunch of legal papers to keep her quiet. He's a sociopath.
Olivia Benson: He told her that this would be resolved within a year and now she's trying to remind him.
Amanda Rollins: You know, Kent did send her photos of his "king." Any way to verify?
Dr. Melinda Warner: Not without seeing the original in a similar state. You want to ask for that subpoena?
That was not the case with "Vanity Bonfire" sad to say. It's not a terrible episode or a waste of time, but on the whole it just felt bland and disjointed and like it was trying to do too much, in my mind that is just as bad as having an episode with too much emphasis on badly done melodrama. Between the two, this probably gets the slight edge of being worse as this had more story problems and the regulars generally don't come over too great here.
Am going to start with what "Vanity Bonfire" does right. The production values are slick and professional, not ever resorting to cheap or untested gimmicks or anything, and liked that the photography was intimate without it being claustrophobic. The music is haunting in the right places and isn't constant or too loud.
Did think as well that the supporting cast were great, especially Scott Bakula. As was Mariska Hargitay, she does determined and sympathetic so well. The fradulent adoption story was intriguing and where "Vanity Bonfire" was at its most involving and least predictable.
However, there is a lot wrong here. The story didn't grab me on the whole and felt disjointed and like there were three stories in one. The first quarter is too standard and so been there done that. On the whole the pacing is very draggy due to the lack of suspense and too little drama, even with trying to cram in a lot of (too many) events. The ending felt incomplete and over too soon, in need of more time to expand on the truth. Really didn't buy as well the outcome, which was too much of a rushed, illogical cheat.
Furthermore, the dialogue is again pretty trite and Olivia's character writing is not done well here. While Olivia has often been prone to putting her job on the line when taking a case personally and being too sympathetic, it is not like her at this point to be hypocritical when excusing the actions of someone that was proven to have committed far worse than the person she badgered. The regulars generally go through the motions and their roles in the case are underwritten.
Overall, another underwhelming episode. 4/10.
- TheLittleSongbird
- Jul 12, 2022