Despite there being a huge number of good and more episodes of 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit', especially the earlier seasons, there are also a number of episodes of the show that did little for me on first watch. "Agent Provocateur" was one of those, though not one of the worst cases. The premise did not appeal to me at all to the point of being unsure whether to watch it again (having rewatched all the show's episodes, some more than once, over-time).
Some episodes of the show left me indifferent or less on first watch and still left me indifferent on rewatch or got marginally better or marginally worse. "Agent Provacateur" had a bit of all. It still leaves me indifferent and does little to make the premise more appealing, but it has to be said that there are things that are good that were more noticeable on rewatch (some not picked up at all). As well as things that came off worse, while finding more things that didn't work.
Am going to start with the good. It is a visually slick episode, typical for 'Criminal Intent' and the 'Law and Order' franchise, and one with the right amount of muted grit, the photography doesn't try to do anything too fancy or gimmicky while not being claustrophobic and keeping things simple. The music doesn't overbear with the theme tune still memorable.
The acting is also fine from all, Raul Esparza and Peter Scanavino coming off best due to having the best material. Other highlights are Barba in sassy mode and Fin and Carisi undercover in jail, Carisi is very funny in the episode and just love his unfiltered communication.
Unfortunately, there is a lot wrong here. The story is pretty much a mess. It is suspense free and very predictable from too few twists, and from doing nothing new with material that has little originality in the first place. It manages to make an unappealing premise even more so in execution from going too far on the sleaziness. Tonally it is unsure, the dark comedy like moments made the writing very strange and not always tasteful at times.
Really couldn't identify with or sympathise with with the victim, who comes over as too naive and untrustworthy. The pacing can be dull, especially in the second half which is not helped by the legal case being as flimsy as it is. Flimsy enough for it to be easily thrown out of court. The dialogue often is trite and the tautness and grit are not there.
In summary, very average at best episode and a lesser outing in a not bad season. 5/10.