 The cast changes were met with mixed reviews . Mike Hale felt that the departure of Christopher Meloni was a relief to the show , as his " tightly wound " character had a " wack @-@ a @-@ doodle intensity [ that ] had taken ' SVU ' way off track " , but still found it hard to imagine the show without him . He said that Meloni 's absence turned the episode " into the best showcase his partner , Olivia , had been given in years . " He called the addition of Michael Cutter was " a big gain " for the show , but felt uncertain about the addition of Detective Rollins , writing : " A scene in which she tried to sweet @-@ talk information out of a jailed suspect was the one really weak moment in the episode . " TVfanatic.com also had mixed feeling about Detective Rollins , who is supposed to breathe new life into the series , but wrote that Rollins may end up becoming an interesting character . 
