Sunk Cost Fallacy

SVU is one of my favorite shows but in the last few seasons it has become evident that it has been on the air too long. No one wants a great show to end but when something is on for years and years, producers and executives sometimes resort to cheap tricks in the hopes of keeping it going, and in the process oftentimes force a show into "jumping the shark".

As SVU approaches 20 seasons, I'm hopeful they'll find a satisfying way to wrap it up. I'll keep watching regardless, waiting for gems like this episode. It's not perfect but it's the best this season and has so many elements of what made this show great in the first place.

The best episodes of all of the L&O franchise series are the ones that explore moral quandaries, the justice system's faults, and what law should be in the first place. Bringing Cabot back for this appearance was a delightful treat. She and Benson portray two characters who are good, honest people both trying to do what they hope is "right", even when it's opposite of what the other thinks. I won't spoil the episode but it is well worth the watch, as it makes you think without forcing any ideas upon you as a viewer.

People act like the law is a sacred thing that it can't never be wrong. Sometimes we have to bend it to save or help the ones who are under the shadow of the dark side of the law. Lawyers who defend the guilty ppl can use it to free their "customer". So why not the good ones do that too? I just think that we shouldn't worship and/or idolise the law because those who make the laws aren't the perfect fair-minded person. Everything that humans do or create has somekind of fault in it because we're not perfect to begin with.

Of all the Season 19 episodes, "Sunk Cost Fallacy" stuck in my mind quite vividly and in a good way, especially the first half. At the time it aired, it was one of the season's most hyped episodes with the promos promising a tense episode. Not to mention the return of fan favourite Alexandra Cabot after so long, but not in the way that she was before which was very interesting in a good way. First watch thoughts were very positive, though the first half was better than the second.

"Sunk Cost Fallacy" also fared as a good episode on rewatch and one of the better ones of the season (certainly of the second half of it). It doesn't quite live up to the hype and my feelings about the first half being better than the second are still the same, but there are a lot of good qualities about "Sunk Cost Fallacy" that is proof that Season 19 wasn't a complete and utter loss and that 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' hadn't completely lost its mileage despite it looking that way generally post-Olivia promotion.

The good things shall be mentioned first. It's well made, intimately photographed and slick with no signs of under-budget or anything. The music didn't sound melodramatic or too constant and the direction is accomodating while still having pulse. The script is tight and thought provoking. The story is also compelling for most of the length with a first half that keeps one glued, with some nice suspense. "Sunk Cost Fallacy" is also one of the few episodes of Season 19 where the truth really surprised me.

Furthermore, the episode boasts great performances from Mariska Hargitay, whose acting is closer to older seasons Olivia than newer seasons Olivia, and Stephanie March, one would never know that there was a long absence with her interpretation being full of what made Cabot such a great character with no sense of tiredness. Their chemistry is fantastic. Cabot's character writing here is very interesting, looking at how she was written in the early seasons you'd never think she'd become the person she is here but actually here her point of view and actions are understandable once the whole truth comes out.

Having said all this, there are a few drawbacks as well. Was not crazy about Olivia's attitude, don't like it when she says she's by the book and tells everybody else to be but seems to make herself the exception. This attitude has been apparent for some time on the show and it had gotten tiring a few seasons ago, that it's still happening is milking things.

Phillip Winchester is still very bland and the legal portion lags in momentum and lacks tension.

Overall, good but not great. 7/10.

In order to watch this episode, you have to believe former ADA Alex Cabot, the cool and no-nonsense attorney we've seen in literally hundreds of episodes before, no longer even has the most basic understanding of the law -- and even more laughable, that Benson has to teach that to her. There is so much scene chewing, it's embarrassing, and almost all of it is written merely to make Benson look more heroic. SVU has certainly been lobotomized in recent seasons, but this is quite possibly the most egregious demonstration of that.