Nooch.5: A (not-so) Complicated Road to Nothing

The #42 Minutes:

Nice juxtaposition of KillerBrother and the Family Photo

The episode begins with the Family Court hearing where Judge Linden covers her bases and Langan plus a hand-wringing Benson are all "come on" and the whole hearing ends up being pointless because bulldog I-wanna-vacate-the-adoption Sheila backs down and claims, claims, she simply wants a relationship with her grandson. Later on, Benson decides to let her meet Noah; thus taking control of the situation rather than be burdened with court-ordered visitation.

In between, Not-Emma-Lawrence (who reminded me a hell of a lot of Ellie Porter with better teeth) shows up after sixteen years missing and is reunited with her family which gives Carisi a temporary sense of I-done-good but he gets all detectivey and runs the girl's photo through facial recognition and, oopsie! she's not who she says she is. But the Dad and Glen already knew that because they have a deep...deep...deeply (actually it wasn't so deep) buried secret which somehow a young boy managed to keep and not give away during the intense initial investigation.

SVU arrests Not-Emma and she comes clean about her past--abusive home, saw the Lawrences on television, and figured they needed a replacement daughter which was great because she needed somewhere to go. At 21 Not-Emma was relegated to dangerous adult shelters which sounded a lot like Pretend when the girl faked being a high school student because she aged out of foster care and didn't know what to do.

But that wasn't the only blast from the past...

Complicated/Merchandise

Ramblings:

I hate seeing an anguished OMB. I really do. It makes me want to jump through the screen and hug her and send Thinking of You greeting cards and puppy photos and hang-in-there memes to Olivia.Benson@nypd.org. There are a zillion actors out there but none are as good as Mariska in this role and I blame her 100% for my inability to draw the line between reality and fiction.

The court scene at the beginning gutted me and everyone else except maybe Rick and Dick and Trump but I had to laugh when Benson and Langan both stood up to remind the judge that the child abuse case had been dismissed and I kept flashing back to Benson saying "I'm the one who asks the questions" because she was about to say "fuck this," push Langan aside, and go all Barba in that drab courtroom.

Rewinding a bit, gawwwwd I love how Peter looks at his wife; even though they're playing a role his eyes betray his adoration for her and I am so here for it.

So Sheila, perhaps on the advice of her silent lawyer, realized the law wasn't on her side and went for the less severe visitation request but things with her past and Ellie's past still aren't adding up. I mean, her PI must've really sucked. She could have asked Ariel's mom who probably would've only asked to be reimbursed for travel. And Ellie apparently lied about all that foster care business...or maybe we're not supposed to remember?

Swinging over to the case...maybe it was Glen's overall demeanor but I knew he did it, whatever it was, very early in the show. The acting was good but the case? Cll me high-maintenance, but the twists were more like foreseeable gentle curves I thought maybe the whole Florida thing was, perhaps Emma's forced second identity and there actually was a Steve and, being in Florida, maybe Cassidy had something to do with it when he tried to retire there (haha) but in the end Not Emma was just another Not Heather Hallender.

But seriously--what if Cassidy did go to the dark side and use the knowledge gained undercover to start an "escort service" in the Sunshine State and OMG that service is connected to a guy who owns a swanky, oceanside resort and everyone thought he was a douche and happy to hang out on the golf course and do reality shows but ends up running for President?

Sorry--that thought got away from me...

Even though I am vehemently opposed to prolonged OMB torture I am simultaneously elated and befuddled that the whole Will She Keep Noah question abruptly went away.

In the Wouldn't It Be Nice If Tucker Were There Department...Ed coulda been feeding sick Noah applesauce and saying okay no more cartoons but really allowing him to watch all the freaking TV he wants and Ed coulda been on Face Time and WHO WOULD NOT WANT TO SEE ALOOF TUCKER SCOWLING AT GRANDMA FROM THE CORNER OF THE LIVING ROOM?

Quotable:

The precious Barba-Benson convo...

"How do you feel about that?"
"...I'm just doubting myself at every turn."
"...You can trust your instincts."

*Clunk.

Have I mentioned I have an extreme dislike for seeing OMB upset?

Ugh.That angle.

Graciously, Benson (I'm assuming) invites Sheila for coffee and, yep, the articles were right, they both have valid points. OMB also had to recognize a parallel. She and Sheila are close in age and Benson is only a Noah away from being completely alone like Grandma and...like Mrs. Lawrence. Benson's gigantic heart has been an obstacle in the past and it certainly looms large now. I'm interested to see when and how the two of them warm up to one another especially with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas coming up and also Noah's birthday but perhaps his approximate DOB is a little detail I was also supposed to forget.

What we didn't see was the two of them arranging the visit and agreeing on the time and Benson remarking a bit caustically, "you know the address."

"Do you want to see my room?" NO! NO THIS STRANGER IS NOT ALLOWED IN THE BE---oh well, okay. Obviously Mommy spent some quality prep time with sweet Noah but I was fucking annoyed at "This is Sheila" and then Sheila saying "I'm your Grandmother" and if OMB was okay with that why didn't she say it first?

Check w/ someone RE: PA oranges

"I just wanted a family." OMB gets it, Britt.

"Was this your first day of school?" Leading much, Carisi?

Wardrobe:

Striped Benson! Glasses and striped Benson! Powder blue blouse Benson! AND SHE HAD THE NECKLACE ON AT THE END! THE ONE FROM THIGH GRAB! AGAIN! (Yes, I know it means that's what @SVUStyle gave her to wear but I'm going down swinging, y'all).

Mommy and Me framed artwork!

Is It Next Wednesday Yet?

Actually, I could use a break.

I don't see this approach sustained over two more seasons. Aside from Noahgate, these are standalone episodes which, other than the first two, lack the fiery, edge-of-your-seat, pins-and-needles, SVUness I used to love so much.

And what a disappointment to see Stranger almost exactly replicated.

Unless there's more to it and Sheila turns out to be a conniving, ill-intentioned sociopath who OMB has to arrest for stalking, I'm no longer interested enough in her role to want to see much more of the character (although Brooke Shields is awesome). Or, in a really rosy Tucksony twist, if OMB comes to realize it's okay to let people in (to her life, that is, her building is open-access) and that brings the Captain back, Sheila can be my Grandma, too.

As the show closed, Benson's expression revealed her inner torment. There she was, all alone, obviously second-guessing her decision as Noah all-too-happily led Grams to his room for story time. Hmmm. Come to think of it...I've seen that look before...

Go 'head, Liv. Call him.

Lastly...

Complicated? 

Really, Céline?