Doubt

The examination scene was terrible! Det. Benson waas clearly in charge, not the nurse. Benson's the one who comforts the patient and explains what's happening and why. This is insulting to real forensic nurses. In real life, the police aren't even in the room.

Now for the key issue. I, the juror, find the defendant....

Not guilty. His lawyer's closing argument was compelling. Nothing in his past indicated that he was capable of that type of violence. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the young woman. She threw a bottle through the back window of a cab, and only mentioned rape when she was about to be arrested. Then she falsely accused Det. Stabler of sexual abuse when he was trying to help her. Then she faked a suicide attempt to get sympathy from Benson. Very discrediting. Of course, the professor show very poor judgement himself, but poor judgement isn't a crime.

I can't see enough evidence to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, so I'd find the defendant not guilty.

Season 6's "Doubt" is quite a unique episode of 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit'. It is also an understandably controversial one. Due to having the verdict left open in the air, so an open-ended up to interpretation ending (not one of my favourite types of endings overall if to be honest) that leaves the viewer to decide. Will say too that the "she said, he said" types of stories are not my favourite, but 'Special Victims Unit' didn't do too badly with the early examples.

"Doubt" is no exception. It is not my favourite episode of Season 6 or of 'Special Victims Unit' in general, but it is one of those episodes that has actually grown on me quite a lot. Which, as far as previous episodes of the show goes, is exactly my reaction when re-watching Season 5's "Poison" a while back. It was frustrating to me on first watch, due to not liking the abruptness and finding it very difficult to root for the accuser, but is now very interesting and leaves me deep in thought.

There are so many great things here in "Doubt". 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. Cannot fault Christopher Meloni or Mariska Hargitay, who are both wonderful and equally. Their chemistry has always been the heart of 'Special Victims Unit' in the early-mid years, and one can see why. Love the take no prisoners toughness while also showing that they care for each other. It was interesting too seeing their stances on who's telling the truth in one of the few cases up to this point where they are not on the same wavelength.

Did think that Stabler's subplot was very touching and didn't feel like soap opera (a few personal life subplots since did feel like that, for instance the one concerning Olivia and her brother). It was integrated well with the case and doesn't take over too much. The script is intelligently crafted, and could really see that it really did try (if not completely succeeding) to keep a very complicated situation, where getting to the truth is not as easy as one would think, compelling with interesting questions raised. There are excellent supporting performances from Michael Dolan and Shannyn Sossaman, both in challenging roles. Dolan is particularly good at making one feel unsure about whether he is innocent or not.

However, to me, somehow "Doubt" doesn't do a good job (or enough of one) to make Myra likeable or easy to root for. Despite the open-endedness of the ending, there is something about the manipulative way she behaves throughout that actually has always strengthened my opinion on what the verdict really was and should have been. Which is why the abruptness was frustrating for viewers and also me on first watch.

It was good that the episode found some way of leaving the viewer deep in thought and thinking of their own interpretation but there is something about the way the characters are written that makes one think that the kind of ending adopted here was not necessary.

Overall, didn't bowl me over but mostly very well done. 8/10

Sorry, but you're mistaken. Actually, there were three endings.

So in fact..

This episode was actually good, but your network obviously missed out on something.

The original NBC network let users vote online considering the ending, and they showed the one with the most votes.

Guilty was 20%, (they thought it was rape). Innocent was 60%, (they thought it was consensual). Mis-trial was 20%, (they needed more information).

So just a little message to whoever-you-were, I'd just like you to give SVU another try, and I sincerely hope that you won't be disappointed. Although some episodes are better than others, if you had seen the ending of this episode, I'm certain that you would have had a different view on it.

No, they do not all end like this.

Once again, I sincerely hope that you give it another try. :)

A lot of episodic content from tv shows - SVU included - follows a predictable if pleasant formula which means when an episode stands out it really stands out. This was one of those times for me. On the surface 'Doubt' is very much a "He said, she said" tale, but the deeper in we go the less that seems to be the case. I'll be blunt - I found it refreshing to see a story for once that featured a guilty female party who seems very much a liar and a male victim. It's a hot button topic, but the laws & penalties regarding people who make false rape allegations aren't severe enough.

Myra Denning (Shannyn Sossamon) a bit disheveled and possibly intoxicated tries to hail a cab in the middle of the night leading to a minor scene and the cops showing up. Immediately she blurts out she's been raped and Benson (Hagarty) & Stabler (Meloni) investigate the claim. The accused attacker - a university professor Ron Polikoff (Billy Campbell) - shows up quickly on scene (his apartment nearby) and shockingly makes the claim he knew this was going to happen with his female student.

The dynamic of burden of proof is handled quite well here because the story (at least initially) plays to it's strengths having the main stars taking sides of the victim, suspect respectively in this not-so-clearcut case. Some episodes tell a very straightforward tale with no ambiguity while others keep you guessing to know where the truth lies. This episode could have been either one of those if only Myra didn't keep making suspect decisions that equally diminish likability & credibility.

Viola Davis is here as the defense attorney and does her part making this episode a strong outing. The two other central guest stars are solid without question too. No one's dismissing that rape is a real thing and should be treated seriously, but this tale was really ahead of it's time. It showcases brilliantly how much a man has to lose legally, financially, judgmentally when he makes a bad decision involving sex. Pity about that failed experiment of an ending though.

I thought this episode was great , The ending couldnt have ended any better than to give the audience the privelage of drawing their own conclusions. great job with this episode. very impressive, although i hear there were several different endings but the final ending was the right one for me.