The Case in 182 Words
Vice President Biden honors Benson and SVU for their work in clearing the rape kit backlog and as she accepts the accolades, Olivia tearfully announces that testing the kits resulted in the exoneration of Sean Roberts who went to prison at age eighteen for raping Melanie Harper. Things go south quickly with SVU being called to the Harper residence early the next morning. Ashley has been raped, doused with bleach, and burned. The detectives eventually end up at Roberts' apartment. Sean has an injured hand and an alibi…which falls apart quickly. Ashley dies, Charlie identifies Sean, SVU and company go back to the apartment with a warrant where Fin finds Ashley’s engagement ring in the drain and, ok, back to prison ya go, Mr. Roberts. But it’s not that simple because when is it ever that simple and what Barba at first sees as a fairly easy case to prosecute quickly mangles and almost is torpedoed until our favorite ADA hostile-witnesses Melanie (the original victim) and he’s so good that a chastened Buchanan asks for and gets a plea deal for Sean.
My Thoughts In Unlimited Words
Stop me if you've heard this one. THE SHOW NEEDS TO BE LONGER. Ninety minutes. Or more two-parters. This one left me staring (albeit a bit bleary-eyed from the alcohol) at the beginning of whatever show comes on after SVU wondering how on Earth and hour can pass so quickly and also...
Could we not have had a little more Finfo? Such as...the background to the original case? I know "Talkin's overrated" but would it have been possible to see a little bitty snippet of introspective Fin? Like a convo between him and Amanda in a bar or him and Carisi in a bar or him and OMB in a bar or..I KNOW...him and Liv in the office having a heart-to-heart and then Fin picks up a new framed photo of the Tuckers in Paris and he shifts gears into Grandpa (I know, I know, it's Fin) mode and then maybe she gets a text from Ed and is all like "I gotta go" and Fin is like "yeah, don't wanna keep him waiting" and OMB smiles kinda mischievously, and they walk out together? I'm not trying to type words onto the writers' scripts or anything, but...oh, who am I kidding? Yes I am.
I CANNOT be the only viewer who was whimsically smiling at the good ole Veep as he commended SVU and thinking, as the camera panned the onlookers, that ED FUCKING TUCKER would be front and center with a proud and perhaps a bit lustful smirk on his face? Y'all couldn't have called RJB in for a few minutes that day? I KNOW it wasn't like there were security clearance issues or anything. Jeez Louise if #Tuckson is #Tuckson there would be no fucking way Tucker would miss his boo getting that honor and, btw, don't you imagine Tucker and Biden getting along really well? #DrinkingBuddies
So, I was certain Benson was going to have another closed-door sesh with Rollins after the spat in Barba's office, but I was proud of Mama Bear for keeping it cool and sending everyone out. I am hoping against hope that Fin's Sergeant's exam griping was a red herring and it's Rollins who actually will take the test and get the promotion.
The whole Charlie thing reminded me of Holden and also of the kid with Pica who was molested by Dr. Keppler and ended up shooting and beating the life out of him because the Doc called him stupid...wtf was that kid's name? Jeffrey? Barba was as compassionate as ever outside the court room ("You'll be fine") and I don't care what his IQ is...he pissed me off because Rollins did nothing wrong there...now we're detective-blaming because she's attractive????????????????????
I am very shocked the episode didn't end with the old person with loads of unbearable guilt and also a bleak future pulls the court officer's gun and blows her brains out on the court steps a la the former QB with brain damage...what was HIS name? Damn. Did I ever mention I'm bad with names (even real people's)? I'm really good with Twitter handles though...anyway...lemme get this straight. Melanie Harper was raped. Melanie Harper's ID was wrong (I think...still a little fuzzy on that one because she did ID Sean Roberts and also who's to say there wasn't a problem with evidence collection or Sean worked in conjunction with a partner or he's good at destroying or damaging DNA). Melanie Harper and her daughter, big hearted as they are, help Sean get on his feet. Sean gets all fucked up. Sean, drunk and also irreparably damaged from being raped and brutalized in prison, rapes and kills Ashley after she laughs at him. So, as Barba so helpfully walks us through in court, because of her bad ID, Melanie the victim is now Melanie the rapist, murderer, and hell, while we're at it, let's blame her for me having to choose between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on November 8.
JFC.
Style Guide
Ok, so, this is what happened. Ed Tucker loves OMB in leather SO MUCH that she's purchased a few new pieces (she has extra cash because they've moved in together and are now splitting expenses). Those of you following me on Twitter know how I feel about OMB's wardrobe so excuse the redundancy but those leather-accented blazers at the beginning of the ep were so freaking redonk that I went directly to Madewell.com among others, filled carts with thousands of dollars of OMB-esque merchandise, and then realized I was breaking my "no buying under the influence" rule and I slammed that laptop shut and thanked myself this morning (silver linings because I had a wicked hangover).
Rollins buttons the top blouse button and OMB does not. That's what happens when ya have an Ed Tucker in your life I guess.
Fic Writers Could Fill In The Blanks With...
Take your pick from the ideas already articulated above...#Tuckson sex post-VP visit--like, they're watching the news and they show the clip and he tosses his plate aside and to the bedroom they go and, IDK, say Noah is already asleep or they plop him in front of the TV or iPad (maybe he has some baby Beats by nwow?)...or maybe Tucker just whisks her away for a nooner at a hotel or something (I'm still on the fence about how far OMB would go in her office...in real fake life of course)...take that honor out to play, kids!
Ain't No Party Like An #SVU Watch Party
 |
| It was #NationalBeerDay or something...and I did the hashtag proud. |
Quotable
"It's not your fault."
"Then whose is it?"
"Talkin's overrated."
And Barba's entire line of questioning Melanie...
And also the off-screen exchange when Tucker says "Olivia Margaret Benson, I'm so proud of you." and then he jokes about feeling threatened "you're not gonna leave me for the VP are ya?" Oh, Tucker.
Is It Next Wednesday Yet?
I've been bitching on Twitter all day about how I didn't like this ep but I've calmed down but it's still not on my list of "I'm sure the people at Hulu look at my viewing history and are like 'damn, IDK what meds that lady needs, but she needs somethin''
Tension between Barba and everyone else in NYC seems to be building and, um, I seem to remember his LIFE BEING IN DANGER at the end of S17, so I'd really like to know how all that's going or maybe he's just bunking with Carisi now and Sonny was like, don't be givin my address out, Raffie.
There was zero suspense. ZERO. Nobody thought Fin planted evidence. I thought there was something off about Sean from the get-go. And I absolutely hate what happened to Melanie.
Did I also mention I happen to hate that there was no #Tuckson reference?
I see the squad coming together and I see OMB continuing to grow into her leadership role, but I want more of that side and not just evidence gathering, arrest, trial, aftermath, someone's not happy, ok, let's start over.
The engagement ring, upcoming wedding talk...to me that's all a tease, so nobody can say anything even loosely related to marriage on this show because I read too much into it and think it hints at #Tuckson and then I spend the rest of the night finishing what's left of my husband's Macallan 12 and watching #Tuckson clips.
Lastly, I thought the show "looked" a lot better this week and not like the cameramen were being carted around in rickshaws.
Really lastly, when's sister Kim coming back? God, I miss that crazy bitch.
No comments:
Post a Comment