Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series) Shadow (2010) User Reviews

So Disappointed

[championbc-99-5005 · 10/10 · 17 December 2014]

...but not disappointed in this episode, which is SVU at its finest. And it's one of those "detour" episodes where our favorite cops come in the "special victims" door, and get to stay on for a different type of crime.

The reason for my disappointment is that I'm writing this over four years after this one was first shown; I'm watching them in order on streaming video. I came to IMDb because I was sure that Naveen Andrews would be back, and was very disappointed to see that as of December, 2014, this one episode is the only one he's in. I had even suspected that he was being tried for a spin-off as Detective Ash Ramsey for Special Frauds Unit. There is too much back-story for a one-time appearance.

I will also say that the perp in this one was the kind that you expect to pop up later, and was surprised to go to this site and see that this was also a one-time appearance.

This is the best of the year so far, and there have been some good ones. I hope that, four years later, it's not too late to do another one with Ramsey. It added a lot to the series.

One of the Best SVU Episodes

[wrenleung · 10/10 · 15 April 2020]

Sarah Paulson and Naveen Andrews were marvellous guest stars. Too bad neither got Emmy nominations. The ending was so satisfying. The perp is so cunning but she was also taken for a spin by SVU gang. Loved every moment of this episode. Adding this to my "Best of SVU" list along with Recall (8.3) and Bedtime (11.18).

The first TEN-STAR installment of this season!

[garrard · 10/10 · 13 January 2010]

A wealthy couple is found in what is apparently a murder-suicide. However, upon further investigation, it is revealed that both were the victims of a homicide, staged to look like the former. Stabler (Chris Meloni) and Benson (Mariska Hargitay) console the grieving daughter (guest Sarah Paulsen), who reveals that she is being trailed by a mysterious man ("Lost's" Naveen Andrews). Many surprises develop as the story unfolds, leading to a most satisfying conclusion, with the trademark "Law & Order" twist.

Meloni, Hargitay, Ice-T, Dann Florek, and B.D. Wong are their usual brilliant selves, with Andrews so good that he makes a case for the possibility of a return visit as the character in this installment.

However, Paulsen is chillingly fantastic as the daughter with a little more to hide than the average person.

Also, "Frasier's" Edward Hibbert has a small but memorable part as a pompous twit (What else?) with a secret fetish. John Schuck makes one of his many appearances as the stern-as-nails Chief of Detectives.

As a whole, this installment is riveting from beginning to end, and Paulsen should get Emmy consideration in the fall.

'SVU With A Difference..!!!"

[carmenjulianna · 10/10 · 7 March 2022]

A really great episode with a difference... This episode was, and is, one of the best episodes ever of the 'SVU' Franchise... A really exciting and unique storyline, without any involvement of rape... The casting was a good choice with a touch of British Class by Naveen Andre, also, with the talented actress Sarah Paulson, a great actress, (always quite eerie :) ).

Thumbs Up For the writers Dick Wolf and Amanda Green...!!!

More episodes of this caliber would delight the avid followers of SVU.. Excellent...

An SVU episode that's actually fun

[wdstarr-1 · 9/10 · 28 December 2020]

There aren't many SVU episodes that can accurately be described as "fun" -- in fact, this may be the first one I've seen (though the next episode, "P.C.," which I'm only about halfway through as I write this, shows a lot of potential with everyone's exasperated reactions to Kathy Griffin's super-intense lesbian-activist character whom even the most sincere and earnest of left-wingers (like me) could only describe as being from Looneytown) -- but that's what we've got here.

With Olivia Benson doing a brief but excellent dominatrix impression in some gorgeous Gucci boots (no, really), and a wonderfully over-the-top staged crime (you'll know what I'm talking about when you see it), this one's got a whole lot of fun mixed in with the serious crime (a double-murder) and the possibility of direct threats to the safety of some of the detectives and their families. See it.

Death's shadow

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 11 May 2022]

"Shadow" on first watch was one of the standout Season 11 episodes, in a good way. Especially for the guest stars and the numerous twists and turns in the plotting. Despite quite liking the first half of Season 11 on the whole, despite serious reservations in most of the episodes, the previous two outings "Anchor" and "Quickie" were very disappointing and saw quite a large downturn in quality. Even from reading the attention grabbing synopsis, part of me knew already "Shadow" was going to be a big improvement.

And it absolutely was. Easily one of my favourite episodes of the season and the first one where there were no issues really with it. The identity of the perpetrator was not a massive surprise, but the character and how the detectives go about catching them are so juicy and entertaining to watch that it doesn't matter in the slightest. One might argue that it is a kind of premise that would typically fit better in a 'Criminal Intent' episode perhaps, but to me there was a feeling of being transported back to Seasons 5 and 6 of this show.

Everything works. Production values are as professional as usual and visually like the original 'Law and Order' and 'Criminal Intent' this aspect has come on quite a bit since the show's inception (and they were good to begin with). The music is haunting while not intrusive or overused. The direction is alert but also accomodating, showing also edge in the latter stages and a playfulness at times.

The script is thought-provoking, some of the tautest of the season and writing-wise, this is the episode that is the most entertaining. There is a surprisingly sizeable amount of comedy and it is the kind that made me laugh out loud. Loved the boot-licking part. The story is neither too simple or too complicated with plenty, but too many, very neat twists and turns. Again it didn't matter at all that the identity of the perpetrator was not a surprise, but what they were up to and the lengths they underwent to conceal it were surprising and very clever. After too many unsatisfying and cop-out endings, this satisfied immensely.

Furthermore, the acting is nothing short of excellent all round. The regulars are back on form, particularly Mariska Hargitay with some of the meatiest material. The guest stars are even better, absolutely loved the playful and suave turn of Naveen Andrews (a character so interesting and entertaining one wishes for more appearances) and just as much his chemistry with Hargitay. Sarah Paulson does cunning unsettlingly and doesn't overplay. Good too to have an episode where procedural sloppiness, unprofessionalism and exaggerated out of control behaviours don't frustrate so much, which were big problems in most of Season 11.

Concluding, brilliant and one of Season 11's best episodes. 10/10.

A great episode with Svu and partner Guest players

[yazguloner · 10/10 · 3 July 2021]

Like old crime dramas, a spy movie in the fifties or heist movies or an episode of Mission: Impossible...It was nice.

Naveen Andrews like greek statues.

You are not people : /

Naveen Andrews Adds Mystery to L&O franchise

[stephcsz · 10/10 · 1 March 2010]

When the team at SVU have to spread their grasp, they cross paths with a stylish and mysterious detective from the Fraud Unit named Ash Ramsey (Naveen Andrews). The undeniable chemistry between Olivia Benson (Hargitay) and SFU Detective Ramsey makes Stabler (Meloni) uncomfortable. This is a twisted tale that threatens the lives of nearly every SVU detective. Det. Fin Tutuola (Ice-T) get closer to the suspect than anyone could imagine when he goes undercover. Is this the new direction of SVU? A new spin-off of the successful Law & Order franchise.

This isn't so much a review as a plea. More Naveen on L&O!

Special Frauds and Special Victims

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 20 September 2013]

Benson and Stabler have their hands full in this SVU episode. They're dealing with one rich, spoiled, and psychotic woman who slays her parents and tries to make it look like murder/suicide. Sarah Poulson is their suspect and this woman is rich enough to afford anything so they have to nail this one down tight as it gets.

There's also another cop from Special Frauds played by Naveen Andrews over from London who has been working a fraud case where Poulson has been embezzling money from her parents' foundation for her own use. The murder and the fraud are inextricably linked. Special Frauds and Special Victims join forces.

This episode includes Mariska Hargitay using the foundation's accountant's fetish weakness to turn him into a prosecution witness and Ice T impersonating a hit-man. Not to mention a little sexual tension between Andrews and Hargitay.

A little something for everybody in this really good SVU story.