"Cage" is most notable for it being the final appearance of Dani Beck, Olivia's temporary replacement. Often panned (at times to an unnecessarily over the top degree) by the fandom, but to me she was never that bad a character and she was more a character that left me mixed (especially in "Underbelly"). Can understand why she never clicked with many, but she shouldn't be automatically dismissed because of her not being Olivia. Her episodes also shouldn't be dismissed as most are surprisingly quite good.
In "Cage's" case, the standard is more than quite good. It's very good even. It's not one of the best episodes of Season 8 or of 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit', but it does benefit from having a story that does hit hard emotionally and from having a victim that is completely worth rooting for. It's a little more mixed in how it treats Beck's exit, that was where it was at its weakest for me, but actually as far as Beck episodes go "Cage" is one of the better ones.
Am going to begin with the criticisms. While Beck's exit was far from handled indifferently, it was no surprise at all how it was all going to end (her behaviour in "Underbelly" foreshadowed it) and was slightly on the convenient side.
Did feel that the last scene was a little too dragged out.
Having said all of that, on the whole Beck in terms of character writing is the best written here since "Recall", though she is focused on somewhat too heavily. Certainly don't dislike her as much as other 'Special Victims Unit' viewers and her character writing is vastly improved here than it was in "Underbelly" (which was on the soapy side), here her feelings are understandable as this is the kind of case that would break and disturb a lot of people that are usually tough cookies. She is especially good in her poignant chemistry with Eden, which does show that she did have moments where she could work with victims sympathetically yet forcefully.
Performances are never less than very good, with Connie Nielsen pulling out all the emotional stops as Beck, and Elle Fanning being a mature mix of adorable, unsettling and heart-breaking. Stabler is on good steely form, especially in his confronting of the perpetrators. The script is well balanced and avoids soap opera and unintentional camp, handling a heavy theme with tact and emotional wallop. Did like Novak's line about aliens and giant pumpkins. The case is not a novel one, but it is always worth addressing and doesn't feel predictable.
This is a story that has always disturbed me and broke my heart, it was great to see such a demanding subject handled in the uncompromising way it was. The production values as ever are slick and with the right amount of muted grit, the photography doesn't try to do anything too fancy or gimmicky while not being claustrophobic and keeping things simple. The music doesn't overbear with the theme tune still memorable. The direction keeps things tight while allowing time to breathe
On the whole, very good though it does a lot better with the case itself than its sending off to Beck. 8/10.
