Season 10's sixth episode "Babes" always did leave me mixed. Admired that it tries to tackle a difficult and sadly still relevant subject, but other episodes of 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' episodes do a much better job with their handling of far more difficult and a lot more controversial issues. On first watch, it struck me as an episode that starts off well, but loses its way in the second half from trying to do too much and not handling the subject tactfully enough.
On a few more subsequent rewatches over-time, my feelings on "Babes" are pretty much the same, meaning finding the same strengths and flaws, apart from disliking Greylek even more and feeling more strongly about its depiction of online media (while liking its depiction of cyber bullying). "Babes" is not an awful episode, none of the episodes of the generally underwhelming first quarter of Season 10 are, but it's also not really all that great either and it could easily have been.
"Babes" does have things it does well. Is well made, intimately photographed and slick with no signs of under-budget or anything. The music didn't sound melodramatic or too constant and some of the direction has tautness. The episode does do a good job showing a chilling and "brought a lump to the throat"-worthy depiction of the evils of cyber-bullying. Munch as a crazed homeless man was very funny.
Most of the performances are very good, that certainly applies to the regulars with one glaring exception. Also strong are the performances of Debi Mazar and Jesse McCartney, with Mazar playing a character that one roots for her to be sent down. The truth is a shock and very sad, the part with Tina at the end is also touching. The episode starts off very well too and does a good job at making one disturbed and left thinking.
However, a lot of issues were here. The second half after a very dramatic change of events is not near as strong and was where "Babes" became heavy-handed and had too much of a too many cooks vibe. "Babes" would have fared quite a lot better with less characters and tried to do less, the story later on feeling like a patchwork of over-heated ripped from the headlines ideas that had a feeling of too much too soon. Like the previous episode, the dialogue feels dumbed down, overwrought and ham-handed.
While it was admirable that "Babes" made a conscientous effort to tackle the issue of cyber-bullying and the dangers of online media, the portrayal of online media is too simplistic and one-sided. Giving the message that all online/social media is bad, which is not entirely true, cyber-bullying and trolling absolutely does exist but not everybody is guilty of it. Nearly all the supporting characters are unsympathetic and don't feel like real people, even the victims. Max is pretty much the only one one feels any kind of sympathy for (and Tina eventually at the end), due to the way he is treated. Greylek as a character has not in any way improved, a mess of over-exaggerated character flaws and one that is woodenly acted by Micaela McManus. Was mixed by what she says at the end, feeling that what she said and her wording was completely inappropriate for her job while finding too that she also had a very good point.
In conclusion, conflicting feelings here. 5/10.
