Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series) Crush (2009) User Reviews

Interesting episode in the second half with a rather formulaic first half.

[amy-m-mcleod · 7/10 · 10 April 2012]

I note that other reviews have criticised the second half of this as being unrealistic and even one has suggested it has some sort of "liberal" agenda.

The only problem with criticising it for being over the top and unrealistic to portray a right wing judge handing out tough sentences on juveniles for trivial offences in return for monetary gain in deals with a private prison, is that it's obviously based on the kids for cash case. in which judges did exactly that in return for money and favours. Sadly with the growth of the private prison industry the practice of judiciary being prepared to ruin peoples lives for their own gain is probably not an isolated incident.

Googling "Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan" will provide information about the cash for kids case if you are not familiar with it.

The episode itself doesn't really pick up until the second half, I might well have not continued watching if I didn't know in advance that it was going to get more interesting, but the second half makes up for the first.

Way overboard

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 17 November 2014]

The SVU squad gets a case involving a low esteem teen girl who gets beaten up and thrown down a flight of stairs. Furthermore the girl won't name her attacker, but it's one of two boys who did this to Carly Schroeder, jock Alexander Nifong and theater major Ezra Miller. Really complicating things is the fact that the girl sent out some sex-ting pictures of herself which could be considered porn.

Of course we find out halfway through who did the assault, but Judge Swoosie Kurtz goes way overboard and sentences Schroeder to a youth facility. One of the few times you'll ever see the defense, prosecution and Mariska Hargitay all join forces to see just what this judge's agenda is. Believe me, Kurtz certainly has one.

This episode also marked the third appearance of Noel Fisher as CSU lab tech Neil Stuckey. He's getting more and more annoying as time goes on leading to a great climax in his fourth and final appearance. I'd be annoyed at him to as he races over to the SVU squad to show them Schroeder's porn on the web. Clearly he got his jollies seeing it.

Nicely done and Swoosie Kurtz is some piece of work as you'll see.

The judge gets hers

[marysammons-42220 · 7/10 · 5 November 2019]

Swoozie Kurtz is great as a corrupt judge taking kickbacks who gets hers in the end. A little personal trivia. The actress Kelly Overby who played the young girl's mom grew up down the street from me in Kentucky. Her sister gave me swimming lessons. So cool to see her on screen. This was a good episode on the issue of teen dating abuse. Kudos to all the actors in this.

Half good, half great.

[keiljd · 9/10 · 26 May 2010]

Washington Mitch is dead wrong, and I couldn't disagree more with his summary and opinion of this latterly excellent episode. The first half of the show is your basic beautiful teen girl being abused by her sadistic boyfriend formula plot, which we've already seen maybe 60 times previously in this wonderful series. There are a few new wrinkles thrown in to keep the audience awake, until the far more interesting and often fascinating secondary storyline kicks in, at about the 35 minute mark.

Greatly aided by a terrific evil witch performance by Swoosie Kurtz as a corrupt Family Court Judge, the show sails along to a most satisfying conclusion, following a successful if paper thin ruse sprung upon the greedy, power hungry Judge Hilda, leaving her enough time for a right wing rant before being hauled off to the lockup, presumably for at least ten years. Plus the loss of her license to practice Law, and being removed from the Bench. 9 out of ten.

Back to that Rant for just a second, before signing off. Like so many other posters, I too deplore Dick Wolf's politics, and the way he manages to work his thoughts, ideals and preposterously over the top Liberalism into so many episodes, including this one. Just plain reprehensible, is what it is.

Poison

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 6 January 2022]

Season 10 saw a small number of episodes where the guest performance was better than the episode itself, where the guest performance was good or more and lived up to the hype but the episode wasn't as strong. It happened with James Brolin for "Lunacy". It happened with Martin Mull for "Retro". It happened with Michael Trucco with "Smut". It happened with Delroy Lindo for "Baggage". Brenda Blethyn ("Persona") and Carol Burnett ("Ballerina", Matthew Lillard applies too) were examples of guest star and episode equally living up to the hype and Ellen Burstyn for "Swing" was close.

"Crush" is another episode of Season 10 where the main guest performance was better than the episode and where the episode benefitted hugely from it. Certainly did not hate the episode not at all, never have and still don't, and it is an episode that has actually grown on me a little. "Crush" has always struck me as a bit uneven though and a case of the second half generally being better than the first quarter. It's moderately recommended but not one of the essential episodes in my view.

The good things are many. The photography while very close up doesn't come over as too static or filmed play-like, while the production values are typically solid and have subtle atmosphere while not being drab and keeping things simple. When the music is used it is haunting and has a melancholic edge that is not overdone. The episode is sympathetically yet uncompromisingly directed.

Most of the writing is thoughtful and gritty, with no signs of rambling. The story is generally compelling once it got going (a quarter of the way in). The second half on the most part is great and the conflict surrounding the judge has tension. The judge is also a fascinating character that one loves to hate, we do know that there is more to what she is doing other than bias but the what and why is not so obvious until late in. The regulars are excellent, but this is an episode where the guest star steals the show and Soozie Kurtz absolutely has a blast and relishes her role.

Did feel though that "Crush" takes too long to get going, with a routine first quarter. While the ending is absolutely ingenious and one of the episode's interest points, it also felt a little rushed and too busy.

Although Stuckey actually serves a point in getting the evidence (didn't like how he did it though), that doesn't stop him from being a real annoyance as a character. Also found Kathleen's role on the contrived side and it would honestly have made a lot more sense if it was Huang instead.

In summary, uneven but has a good deal to recommend. 6/10.

One of Law & Order SVU's signature tricks kind of results in a dud this time

[alexandrajade · 5/10 · 22 September 2009]

One move that SVU seems to pull quite frequently as part of its regular MO is to have its A story, the story that's advertised, run for around 35-40 minutes before a surprising B story that is tangentially related to the first comes in to fill the rest of the time. This often can make for a fulfilling episode - certainly it was a good decision in the previous episode "Selfish."

Here, though, it takes away from a compelling and true-to-life seeming story for something that is goofy and over the top. They could have done a lot more with the A story of a girl refusing to name her attacker, which could be one of two boys she'd been linked to. Less is often more. Instead, we get a ridiculous and cheesy B story about a corrupt judge. The climactic scene with Stabler, Huang, and the guest ADA du jour putting on a fake trial to ensnare the judge *was* well done, but ultimately I think the episode would have been better sticking with the A story to the end. Save the over the top stuff for another episode when you've got such a strong and true-seeming A story.

Ugh

[haji-94529 · 1/10 · 24 August 2022]

Always disliked this episode because the ending was so contrived. SVU is always fast and loose with the rules of law, but this was ridiculous. No way the final scene is ever allowed to occur. Besides Stabler never testified in her court before? She would accept a bribe when she knows she is being closely watched? This was clearly a case of entrapment and would never go anywhere. Everyone in that court room would have lost their jobs and disbarred. The case would have never been put before her to begin with. It is insulting.