XX.XV: Friend of the House?

The #42Minutes

Whoever is running the pop-up brothels in Manhattan manages to stay one step ahead of the combined SVU/Vice task force charged with taking them down and complicating matters is the realization that someone from inside NYPD is tipping off the perps. When they screw up and leave an OD victim to die (she doesn't and becomes the key witness), the case starts to unravel and the strings lead to a trio of officers and a judge who unwittingly confesses thanks to side piece Judge Barth.

Fin gets shut down by his old flame Sgt. Baker...or did he get invited to a threesome? Well, either way, more of Phoebe, pretty please.

Verdict

I had to rewatch this morning because I'd had a few Valentine's Day beverages at the pub...but I may have rewatched anyway. This one wasn't bad. The interaction between the squad and Sgt. Baker was awesome and I'll say it again for the people behind the sound-proof writers room walls MORE PHOEBE, PLEASE.

Dirty cops and judges and brothels is nothing new to SVU (anyone get Manhattan Transfer feels?) but the pop-up style was and since the ep was condensed into #42Minutes it wasn't hard to figure out that asking for warrants=brothels dismantling and, duh, Kofax is signing all the warrants.

I wish this story would have unfolded over the course of the season or a few episodes. I found the Judge Barth affair angle oddly tantalizing for some reason and who wouldn't love Sgt. Baker showing up from time to time and she and Fin gradually rekindling their romance?

The writers (or maybe the editors?) didn't do a great job of seamlessly weaving in the Fin-Phoebe (FinOebe? BakOla?)--another reason this premise would have been better if presented over the course of the season.  However, Carisi, who obviously overheard the "meeting for drinks" comment after getting the warrant, trying to be all buddy buddy with Fin in the car during the stakeout was adorable Sonny at his finest...and his behavior lately is starting to worry me...like he's headed for an existential crisis. And where was he going after eating pizza with the Rollinses? To meet that bad guy's niece? Will she gift him those fancy shoes?

Not a Benson-heavy episode but Stone was nowhere to be found so I can live with MariskaLite, wait, that sounds like a beer, anyway, was the ep running short because, even though OMB is always about taking care of the victims, she didn't seem to make that deep of a connection with Ann, so, when she went to see her later it felt afterthought-ish.

Quotable:

"Means the store might have a record of who bought them." I HATE LINES LIKE THIS. DUH. It makes OMB sound like a ten-year-old. And also, even a semi-drunk audience member like me can make that inference. 

Fin-"We need a minute"
Baker-"I'll have a coffee."
LOLOLOLOL I LOVE Sgt. Baker!!!!

"The system is far from perfect but it can work." After this OMB got too preachy for my liking, but I think we all welcome the reassurance.

"...door in splinters..." There was something so badass about this quote. Even though she didn't have much screen time, I loved how "I'm in charge here" OMB was in this ep.

"Take a look and tell me what other idiots went to lock up that day." Sergeant Sass! Made even better by the fact that Esposito is a native New Yorker, accent and all.

Wardrobe:

Bringing back this subheading because Benson was sporting some spiffy new duds...along with a jacket recycled from 17--that and all the IAB, IAB, IAB, well, you know where I'm going with this.

Is it Next Thursday, Yet?

Even though I disagree him returning...again...for more closure...hopefully...for the last time...I'll stop hating on Cassidy for a second because this looks pretty good from the preview clip and I don't want to be in a bad mood during my NY visit. I'm almost positive they're going to pair the two of them up again because why else give him this now-multiseason arc? And also the SVU gods hate me.

So fine...but this will always be Valentine's Day to me: