Have loved the original 'Law and Order' for a long time, particularly the earlier seasons, and consider it my personal favourite of the 'Law and Order' franchise. "Just a Girl in the World" on paper immediately intrigued, to some (not me) it may seem too basic and ordinary. 'Law and Order' do have a good track record at making something great and more complex than expected out of stories that don't sound out of the ordinary on paper and understandably one expects similar from "Just a Girl in the World".
Which managed to be a great episode that is among the better episodes of a surprisingly generally solid (with a few blips of course) Season 20. A definite improvement over the still interesting previous episode "Memo from the Dark Side", which was let down by the unrealistic legal portion. Whereas here it is the second half that makes "Just a Girl in the World" close to special, as well as having one of the latter seasons' most unsettling female supporting characters.
"Just a Girl in the World" is a little on the ordinary side to begin with.
It immediately becomes the great episode it overall is when Camille Chen's character turns up and everything surrounding her and Lupo is introduced into the plot, and keeps getting even better with each minute. The production values are still fully professional, the slickness and subtly gritty style still remaining. The music is sparingly used and is haunting and thankfully non-overwrought. The direction shows some nice tension in the legal scenes. The script is well balanced, taut and intelligent, and handles complex themes tactfully yet with unyielding grit.
Moreover, "Just a Girl in the World" has a compelling and clever story that delivers on plenty of unexpected and plausible twists and turns and dark suspense. Also excelling in raising uncompromisingly but also sensitively intriguing questions regarding the strange pathology of Chen's character. The cross examination is one powerfully devastating and tense piece of writing and character interaction.
Lupo to me was rootable, despite the outcome of his subplot not being that much of a surprise. Chen's character is truly psychologically fascinating as well as one of the amoral characters of the show in a long time. Of the uniformly strong cast, with Linus Roache being the standout of the regulars, Chen steals the show in a chilling portrayal that really unnerves in the second half.
All in all, great. 9/10.
Which managed to be a great episode that is among the better episodes of a surprisingly generally solid (with a few blips of course) Season 20. A definite improvement over the still interesting previous episode "Memo from the Dark Side", which was let down by the unrealistic legal portion. Whereas here it is the second half that makes "Just a Girl in the World" close to special, as well as having one of the latter seasons' most unsettling female supporting characters.
"Just a Girl in the World" is a little on the ordinary side to begin with.
It immediately becomes the great episode it overall is when Camille Chen's character turns up and everything surrounding her and Lupo is introduced into the plot, and keeps getting even better with each minute. The production values are still fully professional, the slickness and subtly gritty style still remaining. The music is sparingly used and is haunting and thankfully non-overwrought. The direction shows some nice tension in the legal scenes. The script is well balanced, taut and intelligent, and handles complex themes tactfully yet with unyielding grit.
Moreover, "Just a Girl in the World" has a compelling and clever story that delivers on plenty of unexpected and plausible twists and turns and dark suspense. Also excelling in raising uncompromisingly but also sensitively intriguing questions regarding the strange pathology of Chen's character. The cross examination is one powerfully devastating and tense piece of writing and character interaction.
Lupo to me was rootable, despite the outcome of his subplot not being that much of a surprise. Chen's character is truly psychologically fascinating as well as one of the amoral characters of the show in a long time. Of the uniformly strong cast, with Linus Roache being the standout of the regulars, Chen steals the show in a chilling portrayal that really unnerves in the second half.
All in all, great. 9/10.