Cheers to the End!

The #42Minutes

All victims, dead or alive, lead to Rob Miller in the season finale and every time Benson and the squad make inroads, they're derailed either by flimsy evidence or uncooperative witnesses until Peter Stone says "fuck this" (he didn't really say it but he was thinking it) and arranges a series of shady transactions, effectively framing Miller. Even though his attorney busts Staines for her involvement during the trial, Stone flips the script on cross and manages to recast Staines as desperate and terrified (which she is), and the jury shockingly finds Miller guilty.

Verdict

This episode wasn't all that bad and would have been actually pretty good if I felt any affinity for Peter Stone and if the Rob Miller arc were better developed. Honestly, other than raping Staines, I don't remember what exactly he did and, yes, I could have gone back and rewatched but I haven't done that since Heartfelt Passages.

Since Miller's malevolence hadn't yet blotted my soul a la William Lewis, Benson's terror seemed overly contrived at times. Yes, he's creepy. Yes, she's still reeling from multiple Noah-in-danger subplots. Yes, Mariska Hargitay's portrayal of a mother's anguish is Emmy-worthy. Nevertheless, there were times I found myself muttering, "oh, calm down." Nothing was going to happen to Noah (although I did freak at the schoolyard pickup), Benson isn't losing her job...there are some things the audience, with 100% confidence, knows will not happen so venturing into that territory feels silly.

I was happy Philip Winchester got one last chance to overact a bunch of scenes. What was it with all that teary-eyed emotion? God, grow up, Peter. You're a fucking ADA. And also, the melodramatic, I did this for a good friend crap at the end? Good friend? Really? Blech.

I might miss Benson staring down Stone...just a little.

I hope, as the series hits its twilight, we get more dynamic, inventive writing. I had to chuckle a bit at the copycat nature of the finale--a sex trafficking ring run by someone so powerful and recalcitrant they operate beyond the reach of justice (sounds familiar) and an ADA breaching ethics for "the greater good" (did the writers sit around, scratching their heads, wondering how to exit Stone and then say 'what'd we do last time we had to replace an ADA, let's do something like that again')

For a minute I wondered why Miller's attorney didn't make a motion to set aside the verdict but of course he couldn't because then we wouldn't have had time for that gross scene outside of the courthouse. The best part about it was OMB's earrings, a blast from the past.

Ok, maybe I didn’t like it after all.

Quotable

"I shoulda shot the sonofabitch." I welcome Benson saying sonofabitch at any time. 

"Her organs were liquefied." That happens? Yuck.

"Never gets easier, does it?" HATE HATE HATE these lines. She's been doing this for THIRTY YEARS. It may not get easier but does she have to say this every time? WE. GET. IT.

"...Pursue our relationship..." Ewwww Rob Miller and your nasty ass beard...ewwww.

"If you saw him so much as light up a cigarette in a no smoking area..." Get it, Carisi. 

"There are things more important than a license to tap dance around a courtroom." Perhaps...but it's helpful to have that license. Wonder what will happen to Nikki Staines. I liked the character and hope she'll return. 


Finally, kudos to the ME for basically telling Rollins to chill the fuck out.

Wardrobe

Pink blazer and chunky reading glasses? Yes, please!

Is It...21 YET?

Bring it home, Warren!
(and if that home includes RJB I wouldn't exactly mind *wink wink)

Cheers, fans! We deserve a drink or two for surviving this very difficult three years.

Turn that frown upside down, OMB! #LeightsOn!

XX.XXIII: PenUGHtimate

The #42Minutes

After Councilwoman Nahla Nasar is found beaten and raped in a synagogue, Benson and her crew set out to find the assailant amidst a firestorm of less-than-scrupulous media coverage and public outrage. As has been the pattern for most of this season, the audience has to spend almost half of the #42Minutes following the detectives down a dead end path before one of them (Carisi this time) unlocks the mystery box with a piece of evidence that should not have been all that much of a mystery.

The Verdict

It will probably be difficult to find a viewer who hasn't taken issue with part or all of the episode. Lately I've been more annoyed than angry with SVU, and last night's #42 was no exception. I suppose I would have been more exasperated if a) my expectations weren't already dreadfully low and b) if the patchwork of extreme, exaggerated stereotypes hadn't been so, well, absurd...almost comical. The plot was clearly penned by people hopelessly detached from the core issues jolting the world. To make matters worse, nobody apparently bothered with research or took the time to consult people who are currently in the trenches and directly embroiled in the political, social, and cultural cataclysm facing the nation. No, no...instead the writers gathered a bunch of lazy tropes, lampooned sensitive issues, and produced an embarrassing caricature of very serious and potentially devastating
behaviors and attitudes.

Only a Trumpish character was omitted...wait...there's Rob Miller! He fits the bill. Wealthy. Villainous. Doesn't play by the rules. Audacious enough to follow a Lieutenant and her son to a restaurant (yeah right he just happened upon them) and shake son's hand after he touched Benson's shoulder! Her recoil was priceless!

I sort of don't care about this Miller arc especially since Stone's probably going to lose his life or his job putting the motherfucker in prison. Oh, and the insinuation that the evil Miller could arrange Noabduction, Round II, was a cheap shot.

Speaking of Noah, not only is he almost twice the age he realistically should be, can we lose his whiny, inauthentic dialogue next season? Are we supposed to b-e-l-i-e-v-e he's eight or nine? Or a precocious first grader? I don't know...too bad...I loved Liv with little, pajama-ed, correctly-aged Noah. Huge mistake to age him solely because the "creatives" couldn't be more creative in their continued torture of Benson.

Quotable

"If we were in Iraq, they'd throw her off the roof."
"So it's free speech until you piss somebody off and then it's hate speech."
Fin's been extra surly lately. Wonder if that's going some---oh, never mind. 

"I don't know about that but I'm pretty sure she hates you."
Rollins at her best when slapping the cuffs on a perp and adding something snarky.

"You read the memo?'
Oh, fuck that memo. 

Wardrobe

Dodds' ties matched Benson's blouses. How cute.

The ep was spiffily camel colored! I didn't mind!

Nahla's hijab game was strong!

Is It Next Thursday, Yet?

I'm gonna need some expensive booze. I'm sure the outgoing showrunner is determined to give his darling Peter Stone a gushy, melodramatic exit. A pricey bottle oughta dull the dullness...

20.22: Fin TutuOVERLOAD

The #42Minutes

Snake, AKA Justin, AKA J is the prime suspect when his wife, Dallas, is found beaten nearly to death. After the squad clears Snake (a process which consumes too much of the episode, btw), their attention turns to the "diss war" Snake and Snoop (I didn't like his character name so I'm not using it) were having in which Snoop threatened Dallas; however, Snoop's alibi also checks out. Not to worry, though, because eagle-eye Rollins and Carisi make a Mongoose bicycle connection. Meanwhile, Fin follows the trail of a suspicious financial transaction between Snake's mother and a woman who turns out to be the baby mama of a man Snake murdered eighteen years ago. The dead man's son Andreas is arrested and admits to Fin that he wanted to force Snake into feeling some semblance of his pain.

 The Verdict

Thank you, SVU, for once again pointing out the obvious (cycle of violence and code of the street). Yawn. Also, I'm not so sure some audience members reacted well to the #MeToo cover story but I suppose that kind of thing does happen revolting as it may be.

Did Carisi and Fin just ditch the police vehicle they drove to the Apollo?

Why did Benson look so shocked when she saw Dallas on the gurney? I've been watching this show since the beginning and I assure you she's seen way, way, way, way worse. And WTF is she doing allowing Fin to interrogate Snake (albeit after some pretty flimsy probable cause). If law enforcement heard what I said to myself in the car on the commute to work I'd certainly be detained for making terroristic threats.

For such a severe head injury, Dallas was surprisingly lucid when talking to Benson and Rollins at the hospital.

So Fin just happens to know Justin and his mother...you know, this was quite the elaborate and tragic Fin backstory for it to never have come up before. It felt like a stretch, or maybe I just don't care as much about the character's history as I care about the others. I prefer him being snarky and sarcastic, annoyed with Carisi, and, occasionally, the doting yet sort of awkward Grandpa to Jaden.

For a few minutes I thought Jo arranged the hit on Dallas and I think that would've been way more interesting.

The Andreas character seemed neither angry enough nor nervous enough (at the beginning of the ep when speaking to Carisi). I didn't think the way the actor played the role fit what the audience was supposed to perceive or infer.

Quotable:

SNAKE CALLED CARISI "WONDER BREAD" lololololol...second only to the female cons calling Rollins "Elsa" in Intersecting Lives.

"Will someone please explain why our investigation is on the front page of the paper?" Well...duh Peter...you idiot.

"This isn't my first time with stalkers. You see, I've seen them all..." Now there's the experienced Lieutenant showing up to question Andreas. Took 34 minutes, but there she is!

"Take care of them ladies upstairs, man."

Wardrobe

Dull this week. Pass

Is it Next Thursday, Yet? 

We're down to the home stretch. Let's see what sappy send off they give to Peter Stone before Warren comes to the rescue. I've written thousands of words of fanfic to cope and I need a goddamn break.

Next week's episode sounds like another less than scintillating foray into hate crimes.

Back to daydreaming about "Tuckson"...