X.VI--It's Not Always Hudson's Fault

The #42Minutes

SVU is called to a scene where a young woman who later identifies herself as Grace Walker is found beaten and raped. Benson, fresh from a workout (because of course she has time for regular training sessions) joins Carisi and they head to the hospital, gather preliminary details, and fan out across Manhattan to find the rapist. Problems arise quickly, though. Grace gave inaccurate and misleading information, she turns out to be homeless, but not homeless-homeless (right, Sonny?), she uses fancy words...her identity is not adding up. The detectives soon figure out Grace is actually Sophie--a promising young college student--but can't figure out why the fuck she'd trade the sorority house for the streets.

After a second attack, this one at the hands of her shelter boyfriend Tommy, Grace is taken to the hospital again. She doesn't recognize herself in a photo, says her parents are dead but can't remember their names, and recognizes her Dad... Season 20 Dr. Huang interviews Grace and diagnoses dissociative fugue even though, apparently, Benson had already done so.

These two are competent and pretty.

We're all suspicious of the Dad, but it's actually a professor who raped Sophie, sending her spiraling downhill (although I'm still not giving Dad a total pass, he was weird), which we figure out when Benson takes her to campus and plays a SVU-version of hot-and-cold. Sophie describes being violently raped by a professor, and incriminating blue ink stain is still on the sofa cushion, ugh, but the guy is dead so all this healing Benson promised doesn't seem like it's going to pan out but she's Olivia fucking Benson so, in the end, we're led to believe Sophie is in a much better place both geographically and psychologically.

Verdict

I'm not sure what it says about the state of the show when, during the credits, I shrug and mutter "could have been worse."

The writers treated Sophie's mental illness with dignity rather than portraying her as a liar or making her a terroristic killer. Aimee Spring Fortier and Mariska Hargitay were phenomenal on the screen together. For me, the more personal side of Benson is almost always cringe-worthy and uncomfortable, and at the very beginning of the scene I groaned--not this again--but the conversation was not at all awkward (even though y'all coulda thought of a different name for Benson's live-in boyfriend...Billy? Come on).

I was surprised the episode didn't delve deeper into sexual assault at homeless shelters and among the homeless in general. It also didn't make a big deal about Carisi driving Grace/Sophie home. Even though Carisi was professional and did nothing wrong, I thought maybe something more was going to develop with what I thought was an odd decision. Benson let a confused, battered rape victim be driven home by a male detective?

I loved Carisi in this episode because he was back to his original characterization of zealous, no-nonsense, go-get-the-bad-guy detective rather than the whiny, too-angry brat he's become in the past couple of seasons.

The transition from Sophie flipping the table in Benson's office to Sophie at the professor's grave happened too abruptly. I would have liked to see more of how Benson convinced her to go there, but I guess we have to leave room for Stone's on-screen melancholy.

I promised myself I would not devote more than a sentence to Stone so instead of repeating my cycle of complaints about the character, I will reiterate the prediction that his sex-as-coping habit will somehow come back to haunt him either in the courtroom or during an SVU investigation and I really hope that happens and I hope Barba returns to either prosecute him or clean up the mess.

I'm still giggling at Fin snatching himself a pot brownie, gratis.

Quotable:

"I was with a bear claw." We're over the OMB fitness arc, too, Carisi.

"In my experience..." Yeah, we get it, you all have seen some horrible shit but can we start using some different words?

"Every family needs someone with a truck." Stone, this is the most valuable thing you've ever said. 

"If you don't mind stand up and turn your ass around." Fin was on FIRE with the not-taking-any-bullshit sass in this one. Why is he the only one who consistently gets in-character dialogue?

"The past is over and done with."
(OMB) "Sometimes."
I hate these seemingly-insignificant, wistful comments of Benson's because I read too much into them and then twist my mind into a pretzel for days trying to dissect the underlying meaning in One. Fucking. Word.

"Peter." If he absolutely has to be on the show...I'm all for more of OMB scolding Stone. 

"He's dead, but you're not."

Eye Roll Quote of the Night:

"Definitely a college word."
Oh, FFS people.

Oh, and I admire and revere RBG as much as the next person, but now we have an 8 x 10 in the office? What's next? One of those Fat Head life-size cutouts?

Is it Next Thursday, Yet?

Ugh. Are they doing a version of the 2012 UWS nanny murders? I really hope not because that crime still gives me nightmares but it looks like they are because a bunch of blood in a kid's bedroom is never good news.

Until then, Imma go back and rewatch the mug-smashing scene just to make sure Liv didn't sacrifice the RBG one though I got the sense OMB is not entirely unfamiliar with this method of "letting it all out" so she probably has some cheapo generic ones sitting around...