Obsessions, madness and insanity
When the perpetrator is a woman, violence shows itself differently and more complex.
When the perpetrator is a woman, violence shows itself differently and more complex.
3 Reviews
A strange story
bkoganbing30 April 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This episode had to be one of the strangest stories SVU ever did. This starts out with a young gay hustler found beaten to death in an alley behind a swank hotel. Minutes before he'd been with a client whom he met at a wedding reception which the victim crashed. But the squad has two mysteries to solve because as it turns out the victim had fake ID which put him younger than he was.
So who is the person whose ID he has. It turns out that he's a psychiatric patient whose doctor Ally Walker has kept him on meds that have made him dependent on her. Why, because her own sex life has been so lousy that she's kept him psychologically dependent on her as a sex slave.
The kid played by Joseph Magaro does have issues, but this is one interesting cure. B.D. Wong is the one most distressed by this turn of events. In fact his own knowledge of pharmaceuticals helps bring her down.
Weird, just plain weird.
So who is the person whose ID he has. It turns out that he's a psychiatric patient whose doctor Ally Walker has kept him on meds that have made him dependent on her. Why, because her own sex life has been so lousy that she's kept him psychologically dependent on her as a sex slave.
The kid played by Joseph Magaro does have issues, but this is one interesting cure. B.D. Wong is the one most distressed by this turn of events. In fact his own knowledge of pharmaceuticals helps bring her down.
Weird, just plain weird.
A strange con
TheLittleSongbird12 May 2022
There were episodes from Season 11 that did leave me cold on first viewing and "Conned" was one of them. On first watch, it struck me as a very strange episode that tries to do too much to the point of being over-complicated and did nothing new. It is not the only Season 11 episode that had those feeling when first getting into the show, which was actually via the mid seasons, but on first watch it was the oddest one story wise and feared on my third viewing it would be the same.
Unfortunately, my initial feelings on "Conned" are exactly the same. There were a few great episodes, especially "Shadow" and "Disabled", and many solid ones, but there were average and below episodes too. And while not quite one of the very worst episodes of Season 11, "Conned" is in the bottom end and for exactly the same reasons as before and calling it odd is a major understatement. Really wanted it to be better on re-watch, but that wasn't to be.
"Conned" has good things. The production values are slick and professional, not ever resorting to cheap or untested gimmicks or anything. The music is haunting in the right places and isn't constant or too loud, and the direction gives the drama urgency and breathing space.
Did think that the regulars were all fine. It was great to see more of Fin, and his role was interesting, and more also of Munch who was criminally under-utilised this season. It did start off reasonably well with a brutal murder method.
However, "Conned" has a lot of problems. The story was really lacking, not only is it over-stuffed and over-complicated from trying to cram in too much there is also too much familiar ground so it was very predictable. The truth about the therapist could be seen from way off. The pace seemed routine too and the dullness increased the more things unravelled in too obvious a manner. There was too much of the Fin and Ken subplot, which is soapy and doesn't add much to the case. Ken's role and how he connects to the case were too coincidental.
Moreover, the supporting cast were not the best, John Magaro has to work with some very silly and clunky dialogue and really struggles in making his victim character easy to sympathise with in a case where few people come off well. The dialogue lacks tautness, doesn't sound natural and is at times unintentionally silly. Didn't care enough for any of the supporting characters. Huang in prime-'Special Victims Unit' was a great character, but to me he seemed very sanctimonious and aggressive in Season 11.
All in all, not too good. 5/10.
Unfortunately, my initial feelings on "Conned" are exactly the same. There were a few great episodes, especially "Shadow" and "Disabled", and many solid ones, but there were average and below episodes too. And while not quite one of the very worst episodes of Season 11, "Conned" is in the bottom end and for exactly the same reasons as before and calling it odd is a major understatement. Really wanted it to be better on re-watch, but that wasn't to be.
"Conned" has good things. The production values are slick and professional, not ever resorting to cheap or untested gimmicks or anything. The music is haunting in the right places and isn't constant or too loud, and the direction gives the drama urgency and breathing space.
Did think that the regulars were all fine. It was great to see more of Fin, and his role was interesting, and more also of Munch who was criminally under-utilised this season. It did start off reasonably well with a brutal murder method.
However, "Conned" has a lot of problems. The story was really lacking, not only is it over-stuffed and over-complicated from trying to cram in too much there is also too much familiar ground so it was very predictable. The truth about the therapist could be seen from way off. The pace seemed routine too and the dullness increased the more things unravelled in too obvious a manner. There was too much of the Fin and Ken subplot, which is soapy and doesn't add much to the case. Ken's role and how he connects to the case were too coincidental.
Moreover, the supporting cast were not the best, John Magaro has to work with some very silly and clunky dialogue and really struggles in making his victim character easy to sympathise with in a case where few people come off well. The dialogue lacks tautness, doesn't sound natural and is at times unintentionally silly. Didn't care enough for any of the supporting characters. Huang in prime-'Special Victims Unit' was a great character, but to me he seemed very sanctimonious and aggressive in Season 11.
All in all, not too good. 5/10.
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