Despite only being Season 1, which usually for most shows tends to be "finding its feet"/"taking time to settle" period, 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' has fared very well up to this point of it. Of the previous episodes, "Wanderlust" and "Stocks and Bondage" disappointed, the only episodes to do so while still not bad, but on the other side of the opinion scale "Payback", "Uncivilised", "Stalked" and "Closure" were outstanding. All the other episodes were very good.
Apart from one aspect, Season 1's and 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit's' eleventh episode "Bad Blood" is a great episode and among the season's better and more interesting at this still early point of it. It has a very interesting case and Olivia's subplot is quite powerful stuff, both equally strong rather than being a case of one being better done than the other and they don't feel unbalanced either rather than one being favoured and the other neglected.
"Bad Blood" looks suitably slick and doesn't look too drab, suiting the gritty tone more than convincingly. The taut and intelligent dialogue is allowed to do all the talking and is not drowned out by constant and over-obvious music, which is used sparingly and generally low-key apart from in major revelations. The main theme is not hard to forget. The dialogue has momentum and provokes thought (the genetics discussion is a great scene), approaching a difficult subject with tact, with some nice dry humour from Munch. Really enjoy the team interaction, the sympathetic one between Elliot and Olivia being beautifully handled and a reminder of how and why they work so well together.
The case is gripping with enough twists and turns to satisfy, nothing is obvious really here. Just as good is Olivia's subplot, really felt for Olivia here and found the subplot harrowing and poignantly done. The chemistry between her and Elliot and Mariska Hargitay's haunted performance help a lot. The acting is very good, Hargitay, Christopher Meloni and Richard Belzer being spot on and Jerry Lanning playing a nasty piece of work to suitably repellent effect.
My only complaint with "Bad Blood" is when all is revealed, which for my tastes came over as a bit convoluted and difficult to get the head round.
Overall though, a great episode. 9/10