User Reviews

The story begins with a woman calling 911 to report a rape and assault, although she was the one who assaulted the rapist. It turns out that the rapist was led to believe that she initiated the attack through an online forum. However, it turns out that the whole situation was set up by a stalker she thought had been out of her life since she moved to New York.

I was really amazed by the plot turns that were taken in this episode. When the man who orchestrated the rape entered the courtroom, it was obvious that he wasn't being compliant, but when he shouted at the judge, everything changed from that moment on. The original case remains open, leaving the audience to wonder about the outcome. However, the new plot that develops is rather shocking and touching at the same time.

I highly recommend this episode to other viewers and would definitely watch it again

I thought Alan Dale as Judge Koehler gave a superb performance that gripped me throughout. A vety difficult storyline handled with finesse by an actor of great talent.

SVU has its share of episodes where the story starts out appearing to be about one thing but then morphs into having a completely different central theme, but I don't think it's ever been do so thoroughly as this. And it's a good thing too, as after about ten minutes of the story I was *really* not looking forward to spending the next forty minutes watching yet another generic "He's stalking and victimizing her, but is so smart that he might get away with it" story unfold.

Fortunately, the story turns on a dime when the stalker has a meltdown in court and the judge recognizes something from his own past in a certain turn of phrase in the defendant's rant, and the stalking-crimes story effectively goes by the wayside (though there's little doubt that the guy will be found guilty eventually) in favor of a completely different one about the kidnapping and disappearance of the judge's then three-year-old son thirty years ago.

The serial child kidnapper-rapist-murderer who took the boy had been eventually caught and imprisoned on twelve consecutive life sentences, one for each victim. Over the years he's been revealing the locations of the bodies, one at a time, in exchange for certain in-prison privileges or other slight improvements in his living conditions. Now the only child whose body is still unfound is the judge's, and the killer is dying of emphysema. After reviewing Stabler's file. rife with incidents where he's gone right up to and in many cases over the line in the interrogation room. the judge asks him as a favor to visit the killer and extract from him the location of his son's body. Meanwhile, the judge also egregiously violates the trial rules by meeting alone with the stalker-defendant in his jail cell to ask him some personal questions...

This is a different kind of story from the usual SVU fare, much more about *people* than the investigation of a crime, and frankly my only real complaint about it is that it reached the end leaving us not knowing how things were going to work out for the people whose lives had been incredibly changed both on a very bad day thirty years ago and today. Recommended.

On first watch, Season 10's penultimate episode "Liberties" struck me as very powerful (one of the few Season 10 episodes of 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' to wrench my gut). Memorable for having such a twisty case, one of the season's twistiest, and for one of the best guest star performances of the season. In fact, there were some truly fantastic guest star performances this season but not every one of them were in episodes that did them justice.

"Liberties" certainly did Alan Dale justice and lived up to the hype. It still is a great and powerful episode and one of the few great episodes of a generally disappointing season. Also one of the few to have a very complicated plot yet still be coherent and generally not feel like there was too much happening. Really do wish that "Liberties" was the final episode of Season 10 and not the near-disaster that was the actual finale "Zebras", which is perplexingly rated higher here.

It is not quite perfect. It occasionally feels on the jumpy side, especially towards the end. Stabler once again showing his ugly side with little consequence has been a source of frustration for a while now.

However, everything else is brilliant. Dale is superb in a hard hitting and moving performance, one of the best guest performances of Season 10 as one of the most fascinating and complex characters. Jon Patrick Walker also hits hard in some genuinely tense conflict. Christopher Meloni and Stephanie March stand out of the regulars with the meatiest material.

Plot-wise, "Liberties" is full of twists and turns, all not expected at all. There is also genuine suspense in the latter stages and the ending is moving. A lot happens but even the odd jumping about didn't affect the cohesion. The script is tight and thought-provoking, especially in the final third or so.

Furthermore, "Liberties" looks good, with the usual slickness and subtle grit. Really liked too that the photography was simple and close up but doing so without being claustrophobic. The music has presence when used, and luckily it isn't constant, and when it is used it doesn't feel over-scored. The direction allows the drama to breathe while still giving it momentum as well.

Overall, absolutely great. 9/10.

The plot while predictable at the beginning the development of it proves to more what it seems. The detectives realize that as well and the script makes the appropriate adjustments to meet that threshold.

This episode where a computer expert has been stalking a former girlfriend takes an unexpected turn. Jon Patrick Walker has been arrested for setting up his girlfriend to be raped by another man. How he did it is for you to see the story, but when the SVU squad finally arrests Walker and he's arraigned in court, the trial judge Alan Dale recognizes something in a remark Walker makes that sets him and the story in a whole different direction.

Dale is considered a model judge of integrity, rectitude, and probity. What he does after is completely out of character, but it goes back to a personal tragedy in his own life.

Usually I'm not liking when stories go off on a tangent and a lot of SVU plots do that. But in this case it's a good story and leaves with a lot of questions and possibly the conclusion that many perpetrators started out as victims.