Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series) Rockabye (2005) User Reviews

To limit her options

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 13 May 2014]

The SVU squad gets a real winner of a case in this episode. Young Keri Lynn Pratt is pregnant and found beaten in an SRO hotel several weeks pregnant. She makes it and the infant dies.

Diane Neal is at first hot to trot to convict on this case. The perpetrator is her boyfriend John Patrick Amedori and it was on her instruction to beat her savagely and kill the fetus.

These two came up from Virginia to escape her fundamentalist dad Skipp Suddith and and get an abortion, but even in liberal New York there are restrictions and the clinic she goes to turns out to be one of those right to life fronts which is run by Robert Foxworth who fudges her records to limit her options.

This episode is an interesting take on the fundamental freedom promised in Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court and the chipping away of those rights. Make sure to see this one.

From the cradle to the grave

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 21 April 2021]

"Rockabye" has a topic that was and still is one of the most controversial there is in existence, that will spark a lot of debate and strong opinions on both sides. It is also one of the most controversial and toughest topics 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' ever tackled, which is quite amazing for a show that is known for its exploration of difficult subjects and its take no prisoners approach to them. A topic so relevant and worthy of addressing that it is a quite familiar theme for the 'Law and Order' franchise.

Season 7 was a lot less consistent in quality than the previous seasons, some terrific episodes but also ones that didn't work. "Rockabye" is neither one of the season's best, being nowhere near as amazing as "Raw" or especially 'Special Victims Unit' high point "911", or one of the worst, being much better than the disappointing previous two episodes "Name" and "Starved". The latter also covered the human rights debate (though not abortion), but "Rockabye" handles it a lot better and is a lot more tasteful.

It is not perfect. Other 'Special Victims Unit' episodes do a better job at seeing the controversial issue on both and all sides, while "Rockabye" to me always came over as an episode that makes it too clear what the writers' views on the subject are and over-emphasises on that side of the argument. This is especially apparent in Donnelly's views on abortion, which seem too personal for her to be involved, and the episode places too much emphasis on them.

The scenario is not always realistic or honest either, such as a doctor working at a clinic for something that he is against and the untruth of having a hard time finding an abortion clinic in New York.

Despite those (subjective) issues there is a huge amount to admire about "Rockabye". The production values are slick and have a subtle grit, with an intimacy to the photography without being too claustrophobic. The music isn't used too much and doesn't get too melodramatic. The direction is sympathetic but also alert. The characters are written well and are not handled too judgementally, something that is easy to do with this kind of subject.

Mostly, the script is thought-provoking and lean with the only reservations being the heavy-handed dialogue for Donnelly. The story isn't perfect, but it's compelling, quite poignant and hard to watch when you see and hear the extent of the attack the baby suffers. One of those cases that upsets and angers you, and one of those where one's hate is not towards the responsible. The acting is excellent all round, regulars and supporting.

Overall, good on the whole. 7/10.

This Shows how Anti-Male Sexist our Legal system really is.

[shydreamguywantsabboyfriend · 10/10 · 1 May 2020]

A Prime Example of how the laws treat males and females differently .letting females walk while piling on the full extent of responsibility for everything on males. This should make everyone angry regardless of your gender . The Law is Wrong ! For the DA & her boss to go after the boy like they did had me yelling at the TV set .