The story didn't really sound like anything new, but the topic itself is always worth addressing anywhere and isn't made awareness of enough. If it was, one would be more understanding of what the LGBTQ community go through. Personally do think that 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' had long run out of ideas, which was evident even before Stabler left, but as said many times the choice of topics have always been admirable as is how the show covers them at its best.
"Broken Rhymes" isn't particularly good in my view and could have handled the topic better, but it is a significant improvement over the four consecutive disappointments that preceeded it. Really do applaud very much that this topic was even addressed and appreciate its effort in doing so, but the execution doesn't quite come off. "Broken Rhymes" isn't the first 'Special Victims Unit' to have transgender characters, "Fallacy", "Identity", "Transitions" and "Transgender Bridge" do too, and all of those are superior episodes in overall quality to me and do a better job showing what they go through through more challenging stories.
Of course "Broken Rhymes" does do things right. It visually is well made, especially the intimate photography. It looks stylish and slick with a more refined look than when 'Special Victims Unit' first started all the way back in 1999, while maintaining the show's grit. The music doesn't overbear and is not overused. The direction has moments of nice tension.
Also thought that the acting is very good from the regulars and the supporting cast do gamely with what they have despite their characters not being well written. The episode does do well at showing the true extent of the bigotry transgenders faced and still do. Fin's perception on the situation was great and it was great to see how much sense he made.
Did think though that the overall execution of the story could have done with a lot more subtlety, the supporting characters are more cartoonish than real, one doesn't properly get to know the victim because of them being underdeveloped and it is too much of one side. The story itself is once again very thin, which does affect the pacing (here over stretched feeling), and other than the reveal of the alibi contains very few surprises.
In my view, Olivia's character writing was a big problem and turn off this season on the whole, and while she is not as intolerable as she is in the previous episodes she comes over as very judgemental, self-righteous and condescending, not to mention narrow minded. Was totally on Barba's side regarding the murder, in the early seasons Olivia would never have defended or trivialised a crime like that and that she does here shocked and irked me. The dialogue is bland, doesn't always flow naturally and has the subtlety of an axe too often.
Summing up, an improvement but could have been a lot better. 5/10.
