Wet

Rosemary Harris playing the grandmother was spectacular. The one who played the ADA however...

This one is a bit much. Yesterday I made sure when buying sodapop it was root beer with only 2% sugar content. We all have to read labels. But soda is a part of American culture whether the folks who wrote this SVU episode admit it or not.

The PR executive of a cola company is found drowned in a park. Later on video surfaces that shows said executive hot to trot and ready to get it on right there in Central Park. Lucy Owen's body shows that it was given a rather exotic quantity of mushrooms at a banquet earlier in the evening.

The verdict on Owen is mixed. Some regard her as a saint, some just good at her job, some as some kind of happy face put on a corporate monster.

In the end a rather odd pair of suspects are picked up, David Krumholtz a scientist and Amanda Fuller the screw-up heiress of the family who owned the cola company. What and how much culpability each has the crux of the episode.

There's also Rosemary Harris the grand dame of the cola company family who is one matriarch no one runs afoul of. She provides an interesting coda for the cola episode.

It's a great story, from the mushrooming to the water supply problem.

It is the Svu we are always looking for.

There are quotes and information to take note of. Consistent and balanced writing dominates. It is Svu that I always watch and always want to watch.

It's gripping as the team struggles to find the real culprit.

Icons are unforgettable: Rosemary Harris (Francine Brooks).

The guest star performances are great: David Krumholtz (Dr. Vincent Prochik).

A.d.a., one of the good: Paula Patton (a.d.a. Mikka Von)

The humor is very good in itself and at the right time: "I'm not the one who stabbed the captain with pickles!", "I didn't want the pizza, your honor" And Munch humor is a must.

It is always frustrating when a subject interests you but any film or television episode that explores it doesn't do a particularly good job exploring it. 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' was a great show in its prime (a too brief too in retrospect), with the best Seasons 1-6 period of it, the original 'Law and Order' and 'Criminal Intent', and the previous four Season 12 episodes were so brilliant (especially a show high point "Behave"). So "Wet" did have potential.

Which it did too little with. By all means, it is a long way from being one of the worst episodes of Season 12 but it is sad that the brilliant start the season enjoyed wasn't continued with "Wet". It definitely has its moments and good things, such as a great guest performance and one part that made me laugh out loud, but the odd tone and heavy-handedness badly sink things. Not a terrible episode at all, but it did leave me rather cold, a disappointment after being so riveted, shocked and moved by the previous four episodes.

Beginning with the good things, the production values are slick, gritty and professional. The music is haunting while not spelling out the emotions too much. Some of the direction shows some nice tension in the character interaction.

A major highlight is the eerily icy guest performance of Rosemary Harris, her character not being the stereotypical grandmother character that it sounds on paper. David Krumholtz does crazy very well. "Wet" is worth seeing just the once for Olivia's reaction to the toxic mushrooms, that line about stabbing the captain with pickle made me laugh out loud.

However, a lot could have been done so much better. "Wet" is far too preachy, regarding with everything regarding the sugar. Making it clear what side of the argument the writers are on and with only that side being shown. The start of the episode is routine and too much of it is incredibly strange tonally and over offbeat. Paula Patton comes over as bland.

To me, "Wet" didn't feel like a 'Special Victims Unit' episode, or at least the second half certainly didn't. Instead it feels more like late 'Criminal Intent', can actually vividly imagine Goren reacting to the mushrooms in the way Olivia does except considering his personality it would have been even more priceless and would have fit into classic Goren territory. The dialogue tends to be rather heavy and could have been tighter, the offbeatness of it also didn't gel particularly well.

Overall, underwhelming. 5/10.