Nearly all the previous Season 8 episodes of 'Law and Order' (my actual personal favourite of the 'Law and Order' franchise) are of a very high standard, with the only disappointments being "Blood", due to its improbability, and to a lesser extent "Under the Influence", found the story flawed there too while loving the character tension, and even they had a fair share of good things. Don't think in the early seasons that there was a single bad episode.
One of Season 8's best episodes, and one of the best of the early seasons perhaps even, is "Divorce". It does help that the premise is an immediately intriguing and attention-grabbing one and it is fares even better on both counts in the execution. There were some episodes in Season 8 where one half was better than the other, tending to be the second being better than the first. "Divorce" is a case of the story being on a consistently compelling level all the way through but shining especially in the character tensions in the legal portion.
"Divorce's" production values are suitably slick and gritty, with photography that is reliant on close ups that have an intimacy without being too claustrophobic. The music is didn't come over as too melodramatic or like it was emphasising the emotion too much. The direction is sympathetic while still giving momentum.
Script is very sharp, thoughtful and punchy, especially in McCoy and Schiff's final exchange and the verbal sparring between Atkins and Redfield. The story keeps one glued to the edge of the seat and keeps one guessing all the way through to the episode's not predictable end. The legal portion being even better than the still enormously entertaining and grippingly gritty policing. The final scenes are very powerful.
As are the all round great performances, with scorching guest turns from Tony Roberts and Jill Clayburgh and Sam Waterston being typically ruthless.
Concluding, brilliant. 10/10.
