Expectations on first watch of "Quit Claim" were fairly mixed. Love 'Law and Order' and even when it wasn't as good as it was and started to run out of ideas there were still great episodes made. Of all the episodes of Season 18, this had one of the most interesting sounding stories. Season 18 though had not been great with the previous six episodes and don't really rate January Jones that highly, but on first "Quit Claim" really impressed me.
It impressed me hugely on rewatch too, even more so in fact. "Quit Claim" for me was the first great Season 18 episode, the first episode to have very little wrong and the episode where the legal portions started to really improve drastically. Of the patchy first half of the season, "Quit Claim" is one of the best and as far as the season goes overall it compares very favourably. One aspect also really pleasantly surprised me in a way that was not expected at all.
Maybe it starts off on the ordinary side (which is a nit-pick), but there is very little to criticise.
"Quit Claim's" good things range between very good and brilliant. Can find nothing to fault the production values for though, the slickness and grit still present and likewise with the more fluid editing. The music is used relatively sparingly and is not too intrusively orchestrated, fitting too with the mood. The direction is generally alert but also sympathetic, shining in the character interactions in the legal scenes. Liked the tautness, edge and thought-probing of the second half's writing.
After being disappointed by most of the previous six episodes' legal portions, there is a drastic improvement here. What happens is complex and incredibly compelling, with a good deal of tension. It is also a great showcase for Cutter, really liked him in the previous episodes but this is the first episode where he gets anything with proper meat. The story is neither too simple or too complicated and while the policing scenes intrigue and have good central chemistry the second half is even better.
Can't fault the acting either, with Linus Roache really dominating the legal scenes and giving one of his best performances of this season. The biggest surprise was how the episode managed to get a good performance out of Jones, she does manipulation so chillingly proving that with the right material she has some acting ability.
Great episode all in all and sees Season 18 stepping in the right direction. 9/10.