On first watch about five years back, the most memorable part of "Theatre Tricks" was the opening, which was both strange and creepy not to mention very theatrical. Definitely an opening that lived up to the episode title. At the same time, on first watch the rest of the episode was not as memorable to me. Have been rewatching all of 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit's' episodes overtime and it has been interesting seeing how perceptions have changed overtime or if they stayed the same.
"Theatre Tricks" is one of the 'Special Victims Unit' episodes that fared better on rewatch. The opening still has impact and is the scene that stands out the most, but the rest of the story, while not quite living up to the opening in quality, is thankfully less forgettable. "Theatre Tricks" is an uneven episode in my view and is neither one of the best or worst of Season 13 (mostly not a bad season at all and much better than Seasons 10-12 on the whole), but there are plenty of things done well.
Starting with what "Theatre Tricks" does well, the production values as ever have slickness and grit, with an intimacy without being claustrophobic. The music has presence when it's used but does so without being intrusive, some of it is quite haunting too. The direction is also understated but the tension never slips, the second half being full of it. The script is taut and smart with very little sign of rambling or long winded-ness.
Furthermore, the story is intriguing with plenty of plausible twists and turns. The most memorable thing about it is the opening, which is wonderfully theatrical, suitably strange (without being overly so) and very creepy. The regular and support acting, which includes an early career Adam Driver (good here but he has definitely gone onto better things), is very good with no real exception.
However, "Theatre Tricks" doesn't succeed in everything. It is predictable from most of the plot strands being familiar ground and not much different to what has been seen before in previous episodes. Everything with the emails being an example. Will say though that the ending did shock me as it was something that wasn't even considered by me on first watch. Everything with the judge and the emails didn't make sense to me, just didn't buy that someone so high up in authority was so clueless.
Rollins still doesn't properly fit in, though did like some of her conversations with Olivia. The episode also sees the return of Gilbert Gottfried and he again doesn't work here for the same reasons as "Lost Traveller". He is annoying, feels out of place and his line delivery and attempts of humour are at odds with the serious tone of the story.
All in all, not great but worth a look. 6/10.
