Season 2 up to this point, and even overall, was a solid season, with pretty much all the episodes being decent to fantastic. The one disappointment, and that was still above average, being "Asunder", with "Closure Part 2", "Baby Killer" and "Legacy" being the top three episodes as far as the previous episodes go. It is hard to not expect a lot from "Victims" on paper, with a great idea and that it would have more of Elliot Stabler.
"Victims" for me is one of the best episodes of 'Special Victims Unit's' Season 2, though am aware that as of now there are episodes that to me weren't quite as good rated higher. Replacing "Secrets" as the best episode of 'Special Victims Unit' since "Taken". It not only makes the most of its great idea, it also rises above it. It was great to see more of Stabler and in such a meaty case that turned out to be very personal for him, in a very riveting way for the viewer.
It does get a touch on the confusing side later on, but there is very little to dislike in my view in "Victims".
Have very little, and still have very little (although the show in my opinion is not as good now), to criticise the production values for. They came on a lot here since 'Special Victims Unit' first started, and the show looked good in its Season 1 too, especially in the editing which is sharper and more fluid. The photography is still as slick as ever and the locations are well used. The music is only used when necessary and doesn't overbear when it is.
The writing is some of the tightest of the season and provokes thought and also both chills and feels. The interrogation scene is a superb piece of writing and a highlight of not just Season 2 but of the early seasons, a fond reminder of when 'Special Victims Unit' was still a great show and not the uneven one that it is now. The whole interaction between Stabler and Winfield (a character that is more than a match for Stabler) is scintillating in how it's written too, some of the best writing between Stabler and any guest star. The story is never dull and draws one right in, never letting go right up to one of the season's few jaw droppingly shocking final solutions. Wasn't expecting it at all.
All the regular characters are on top form. It was very moving to see a more vulnerable side to Stabler underneath all that steel and Cragen and Stabler's exchanges have a lot of tension, great to see Cragen have more of an authoritative role compared to previously. The acting can't be faulted either, Christopher Meloni's acting here, especially in the interrogation and the whole interaction with Eric Roberts' Winfield, is some of his best and Roberts shows that he can give a great and quite unnerving performance when he has good material. One would not think that looking at his paycheck-level performances in bad films for a while now.
Concluding, a great episode and one of Season 2's better ones. 9/10
