"Trade" has always been an uneven episode to me and of an up and down Season 9 it has always been one of the lesser and most frustrating ones. 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' when at its best is brilliant and there are many brilliant episodes in particularly the early seasons, even when the show declined. When not on form, and it did start losing its way from Season 7 or so onwards but became particularly uneven around Season 10/11, it was not good at all.
Regarding which category "Trade" falls under, my feeling is that it is not in the "at its best" category while also not being in the "not good at all" category. Plenty of episodes fall into the "in between" category, and that's where "Trade" fits under. Actually quite liked it, without loving it, in the first half, but it became rather hairy in the second and left me and many others absolutely exasperated at the end. It's above average but also something of a disappointment.
Quite a lot is good here in "Trade". The photography and such as usual are fully professional, the slickness still remaining. The music is used sparingly and is haunting and non-overwrought when it is used, and it's mainly used when a crucial revelation or plot development is revealed. The direction has some nice tension while keeping things steady, without going too far the other way.
All the acting, lead and supporting, is very good. The script is lean and thought-provoking and the story in the first half was intriguing and never dull.
It is a shame that the second half was not near as good. While the story is involving and there are a number of twists, few of them are that surprising from having been done before on the show and the franchise. The identity of the killer was the only one that truly shocked me. Some of the writing in the second half veered on soapy, especially towards the end.
While sloppy police work was a common thing in the show's mid period, there are not many episodes from Seasons 7-10 where the police work was this sloppy or unrealistic to the extent that one wonders how they even got onto the force. What happens at the end could easily have been avoided if the way the police behaved was competent. What really spoils "Trade" is the truly ridiculous ending, the only ending of Season 9 actually that insulted my intelligence. It is too heavily relied upon and is far too melodramatic and what happens is beyond stupidity and physically impossible. There are episodes where a lot of characters do not come off well, there are not many up to this stage of the show's run where everybody comes off badly.
Overall, above average but could have been a lot better. 6/10.
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