Sheltered

Two mothers were taking a stroll together with their newborn babies when one was shot in the neck by a straight bullet. Detectives thought at first the woman as an innocent bystander and the real target was the owner of a Chinese restaurant for extortion matters. Anyway, another two people (an accountant and a man sit in a park bench) were killed right away by the same gun at long range, so there was a serial killer shooting from some rooftops in the neighborhood. When a four victims was killed far away from the others, police was in a dead end. Luckily they managed to trace the weapon down and thanks to notes left in the last crime scene, Briscoe and Green narrow the suspect down to a former marksman in the army (Ty Burrell), who had just been fired by the last man killed. He may have murdered the other three to put police off track, but there is something else: he had a son, who is not his real son because he kidnapped him ten years before....

A sad episode, in which we see a teenager totally brainwashed by his kidnapper. I feel pity for his original family that felt into despair for over ten years and he doesn't even recognize them.

'Law and Order' was incredibly good at exploring challenging topics and themes that hit hard and are still relevant and important to address. It was also, as has been said more than once in previous reviews, incredibly good at exploring them in an honest and pull no punches way and in a way that still holds up for many episodes. One of the most challenging topics from Season 13 is for "Sheltered", a case that is incredibly intense and sad.

Those adjectives are perfect ways to describe the execution of "Sheltered". Was generally impressed by the overall standard of Season 13, and this is one of the best episodes and one of the most shocking. Remember very vividly how the episode moved and shocked me on first watch, and not only does it still do both those things they do so even more so now, partly because of being more aware and understanding of the subject and understanding more of what is being argued.

Everything works here. The truly powerful performance of Sebastian Stan is the main reason to see "Sheltered", his character's actions are truly awful but his circumstances are truly tragic too. It is hard to not hate him at first because of such dreadful crimes, but once more is revealed about him it is even harder to not feel sympathy for him without being manipulated in doing so because of how he was treated. The regulars are every bit as top notch, especially in the legal scenes.

Moreover, the production values are slick and have a subtle grit, with an intimacy to the photography without being too claustrophobic. The music isn't used too much and doesn't get too melodramatic. The direction is sympathetic but also alert.

It is a brilliantly written episode, thought provoking, tightly structured, tough as nails and also sensitive. The story is intense in the second half the more the tension of the legal scenes builds, but also heart-breakingly tragic. The outcome haunted me and Stan's character is very richly drawn and complex.

Concluding, brilliant. 10/10.