'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' "The Longest Night of Rain (2020)'
Opening thoughts: My expectations before my first watch of "The Longest Night of Rain" were quite mixed. Tucker had grown a lot as a character since his first appearance, as did Robert John Burke's acting, but personally never completely bought his relationship between him and Olivia. The transition from being enemies (somewhat) back when Stabler was on the show to being in a romance felt rushed and the chemistry didn't always ignite. My feelings on the episode were also mixed on first watch.
And they still were on rewatch. "The Longest Night of Rain" isn't terrible and has a fair share of notable good things, but story-wise it felt very disjointed, one of the stories worked mostly up to a point, one was decently executed but could have been more and the other did not work. There are plus points but also some fairly major minuses. As far as Season 21 goes, "The Longest Night of Rain" is middling. There are worse episodes, including the previous ones, but also better. Really did admire that it even dared tackle this difficult, brave and not talked about enough subject, though it could have been executed better.
Good things: Beginning with the good things, as usual the production values are solid and the intimacy of the photography doesn't get static or too filmed play-like. The music when used is not too over-emphatic and has a melancholic edge that is quite haunting. Was impressed by the acting, actually thought that Mariska Hargitay and Robert John Burke were very good in the latter stages of the episode and Tucker's health diagnosis was unexpected and really sad.
Furthermore, most of the Olivia and Tucker subplot was not bad at all and did have heart. Of the plot strands it is the better faring one up to a point.
Bad things: However, as said, "The Longest Night of Rain" is very disjointed, with it being Essentially three stories in one, with two cases and a personal life subplot. The personal life subplot fared best up to a point, though the mental health crisis within the police force one showed a lot of promise and had some insight and emotion that would have fared better and had a lot more depth if it was its own story and examined each character in detail. The rape allegation storyline fared weakest, that was very under-explored and incomplete-feeling and would have fared better if there was actually a trial and if the tragic event happened after one was made and not before.
Did find too much of the dialogue over heated and Tamin continues to be very annoying, she's headstrong but also over-the-top over-zealous and opinionated. Jamie Gray Hyder's acting skills are very one note visually and audibly. It is another case of a recurring character being brought back but permanently written out in a gratuitous fashion, wanted to be moved but actually felt manipulated and like it was a reminder that Olivia couldn't be happy.
Closing thoughts: In summary, watchable but doesn't come together.
5/10.
