Better quality was yet to come in later episodes of 'Law and Order', but its very early years were still solid and do deserve to be known and shown more. Even if at this point it had not yet settled completely, though a lot of what 'Law and Order' did so well in is evident. While for me of the previous Season 1 episodes only "Prescription for Death" and especially "Indifference" were above very good, "Indifference" was one of the season's best episodes.
"Out of the Half-Light" is also among the season's better episodes and perhaps the second best of the eleven episodes at this point of the season, and show. Almost as great as "Indifference". It is really quite powerful and really makes one think, raising some very interesting questions worth pondering upon. Something that 'Law and Order' more often than not great at. Anybody familiar with or remembers the Tawana Brawley case may very well find that "Out of the Half-Light" resonates with them, 'Law and Order' excelled at the ripped from the headlines kind of stories and those dealing with moral dilemmas, both can be seen here.
Everything to do with the sociological implications and the girl's motives could have gone into more depth and handled more directly, as has been said already. That would have made it even more thought-provoking and even more emotionally impactful or so in my opinion it would have been, it also would have set the episode apart a little more from the previous episodes.
The episode gets a lot of credit for raising the issue and its implications, raising some interesting points and doing it in a thoughtful and tactful manner. It is a difficult and sensitive subject but something well worth addressing and is hardly un-topical today, it could have been executed in a way that was ham-fisted but "Out of the Half-Light" doesn't do that luckily without making its points.
It was great though that "Out of the Half-Light" had an equal mix of the law and order sides of the case, showing both procedures in the show and its spin offs was a great idea and always makes me when done right think hard about the truth and making a judgment myself. The case, one of the most complex ones of the season up to this point, does grip as does the inestigative/procedural work and the prosecution element also intrigues, seeing how they work to get the result they do. Complete with the complications of a case and moral dilemmas of the case and of their own character.
Can't fault the gritty production values here or the sparingly used and unobtrusive music (also that memorable main theme). The script is thought-provoking and intelligently written, with no fat and no focus on soapy personal lives which could be a problem in the later seasons of 'Special Victims Unit'. Michael Moriarty, Chris Noth and Richard Brooks are very strong, as are an affecting Sandra Reeves-Phillip and even more so a chillingly egotistical J.A. Preston.
Summing up, one problem aside it is a great episode. 9/10
