21.5: Kat Won't Be Saying That Again

#The42Minutes

The squad and Carisi juggle three cases they caught late on a Friday night because Kat fucked up and said the Q-Word. Each case comes with its own unique snags, tempers flare, coffee flows, and Benson and Rollins have to pay some serious babysitter overtime unless of course Noah was being cared for by...ok, I'm not going to go there quite yet.

The Verdict

A+++++++

There's so much to unpack in this loaded, ambitious episode, I'm certain to miss something. Showrunner Leight had already stated either in a tweet or in an interview that this season will explore how race, power, and class stratify the criminal justice system and determine agency, so, thematically, the episode wasn't a surprise and there was relatively little case-related suspense. Rather than a whodunit with multiple twists and turns, this episode was a raw, real, beautifully written, acted, and directed plea for humanity.

The juxtaposition of the three victims was done in a way that evoked compassion and sympathy without diminishing each woman's inner strength. But, from the outset, race, class, connections, and, in Lakira's case, gender, led them down three very different paths.

After her husband assaults her, Joelle goes to the hospital with her son, and there are apparently no actual rooms available, so she's relegated to a bench in the hallway. Lakira is on a gurney, partially separated from other patients by a curtain. Chloe, whose mother called Benson on her cell phone to report the attempted rape, is treated in a softly-lit private room that would make the occupant almost feel not too bummed out about being in the hospital.

For Carisi, who's assigned to an unappealing newbie role within the DA's office, the cases are difficult to get off the ground. Joelle is concerned with losing Leon's financial support, Lakira doubts anyone will believe her story, and the Hail Me driver Chloe accused appears to have an alibi. The frustration leads to an argument with Rollins and "I would be fine if you were here beside me"...was she exhausted and overly emotional? Simply missing her partner? Or is there a more personal meaning to what she said? I'm sure we'll see this play out over the course of the season. I'm not a Rollisi shipper, but it's certainly probable that Rollins has realized she has developed some complex feelings for Sonny. It's also reasonable to assume Carisi's new job has left him little time to help her out with the girls and she's missing that piece of their friendship.

A little over halfway through the episode, as Chole's case comes together, we're introduced to the fourth victim--Aadesh Patel. My heart absolutely broke seeing this kind man invite the detectives into his house only to witness his son's arrest in the backyard. The writers managed to touch on the peril of medallion owners in the age of Uber and Lyft and also included a reference to the circumstances that led to the murder of Samantha Josephson, who mistook the killer's car for her Uber.

Speaking of hearts, before mine broke it melted at Fin caring for Andre, Joelle's son who is all too familiar with fathers going to jail...see what I mean? There are just too many elements to squeeze into one post!

BTW-Carisi debating the merits of putting Andre on the stand to testify against his father reminds me of the bourbon bar and "Either he has to testify against his father, which is barbaric..."

Carisi applying eyedrops while Rollins does push-ups was such in-character writing it almost hurts.

Finally, I really didn't appreciate Davies sullying Venn Diagrams.

Wardrobe

Not a lot of outfit changes in this one, but Benson sizzled with her hair back in that clip.

Quotable

"Get over it." Badass Boss Benson is back and it's bringing me more joy than a television show character should. There is absolutely no doubt as to who's calling the shots, but OMB being all "hey, kids, shut the hell up, Mama's on an important call" was especially fabulous.

"Women are stronger than men."
"...Andre would be alone."
So well written, compassionate but not condescending.

"Even his eyes shine money." Lakira's no dummy; she knows how the world works. Too often victims have to choose between fighting for justice or basic survival, and Lakira, much to Kat's disappointment, chose survival.

"Already on the street cams." Overeager Kat started to get on my nerves a little bit and I think maybe on Benson's too, but her reaction to Davies' arrest was adorable and I love her.

"Your shoes say police." LOLOLOLOLOL. What a great character. I hope there's room to see her again even though the use of "Moms" sounded awkward every time Lakira uttered it.

"Siddown, Gilligan."

Is It Next Thursday, Yet?

Fuck next Thursday, when exactly is "midpoint of the season"?

Kidding, kidding, well, sort of...in the teaser for next week Benson's crying. WHY IS SHE CRYING? Looks like another good one and I'm wondering if the ghost from the past is someone we know. In the meantime, will Tucker's return be cause for celebration or result in crushing disappointment? For the love of all things good and perfect and wonderful, please let it be the former.

21.4: Platonicaly Shipping TutuTamin

The #42Minutes

A thirteen-year-old girl from western Ohio travels to New York, desperate to get an abortion after being raped by her stepfather. Evangeline is easily tracked down, and once she reveals the abuse and explains why she fled, SVU and Carisi decide the best route is to take emergency custody, so they call in Trevor Langan to assist in family court. The legal arm seems to be swinging Evangeline's way until some very midwestern-looking lawyers from Ohio show up (great job, casting) with a fistful of arrest warrants and their leader, Mr. Graham, parks himself on the courthouse steps and spews all the conservative Christian anti-abortion talking points he can muster. As Benson and Garland stroll by, Garland vows, with cocky disdain, to fight the Ohioans. Garland didn't play a huge part in this ep, but if I can't have Barba as Benson's sparring partner, I'll gladly take Garland.

Anyway,  Carisi and Langan prevail in court, and Benson lays it out plain and simple for Evangeline's mother--believe your daughter or lose her.

The Verdict

A
A+ for directing

I must admit, there was so much hype about this episode, actually, maybe too much hype, that I was certain I'd be disappointed. After the PERFECT opening sequence (damn, that was good), I immediately got Patrimonial Burden vibes. Who can blame me? Pregnant teenager from a rural area, fundamentalist family, and a pastor who's also a lawyer because of course he is. I feared the episode would be #42Minutes of Who's the Father? and that would have been awful because I immediately pegged the babyfaced stepfather as the rapist. When Mrs. Miller objected to the fetal DNA test as too invasive, I groaned. Here we go again.

But I was wrong! The bulk of the episode was devoted to giving the audience a balanced and, at times, rage-inducing, view of all sides of the abortion debate and the implications of "Heartbeat Bills" that have been passed into law in four states and are hung up in appeals courts in several others. I did not expect Carisi would be the one to mic-drop Graham in the final scene, but he distilled the issue down to its most salient point--the decision to abort is painful for everyone; most painful for the mother, but it's a decision women must have the legal right to make.

Officer Tamin wasted no time asserting herself, and I did have to laugh a little when she went nose-to-nose with Carisi in the squadroom. Benson's all, "okay, okay, calm down" but she knows she has a live wire on her hands and it only makes me more excited for how this new relationship with Carisi will develop. Kat and Fin had immediate chemistry; I can't wait to see him take her under his wing and he'll be so proud when she gets her detective shield OMG OMG OMG. I got warm fuzzies each time he said "good job" or "nice work."

Kelli Giddish did an excellent job in this episode. It may have been one of her best. Rollins was clearly in personal agony the entire episode, but she managed to be Evangeline's staunch advocate and friend. Too many times, when Rollins identifies with a victim, her dialogue is mostly snarky, sarcastic digs at the South or the good ole boys club or the world in general. Kudos to the writers for "growing" Rollins--while she'll never be an Olivia Benson, she stepped out of the Angry Amanda persona during this case, and I liked it.

A couple of nitpicks--

No one other than SVU at the Baptism?  No one? I would have preferred substituting the deleted scene for the Baptism scene which seemed kind of pointless other than to emphasize the religious undertones in the ep. And I was very surprised there was zero interaction between Langan and Benson. Not even a "how's Noah?" Nice to see Trevor though! Finally, I was bummed the breakroom convo between Benson and Rollins was cut short. I'm not desperate to see those two become besties, but they were having a moment for Chrissakes!

Wardrobe

Benson in red and in oversized reading glasses? Yes, please!

Quotable

Too many to list.

"...The rest of the world, that's not your responsibility."

"If you have enough money, there's always a way."

Officer Tamin challenging Carisi--"so a woman has to be a victim to control her own body?" Damn, Sonny, buckle up.

"Take some family time." Um, Benson, could you also take your own advice? Even though Rollins didn't exactly go straight home...but still...

If this isn't the most "Bitch, I'm Serious" Faces of all "Bitch, I'm Serious Faces" IDK what is.

And of course Mrs. Miller had to ask Benson about the husband she doesn't have. Or maybe she does? Secretly? :-)

Is It Next Thursday, Yet?

Sir Toby's court battle looms ahead...

As long as Leight's checking off boxes of loose ends to tie up, how about we explore the complications that led to #Tuckson's demise? Thank gawwwwwd the Benson abortion question is put to bed once and for all, and now that I think about it, it's sort of amusing that scene was cut.

Next week looks like the most intense of the season so far. Carisi on the hot seat! I'm here for it!

21.3: Finarisi Is My New Ship

The #42Minutes

In Hell's Kitchen, a serial rapist targeting men on the DL has stymied law enforcement, but celeb Mathis Brooks lands in the hospital with injuries consistent with the serial's pattern and he saw the perp's face, a shred of evidence previously unreported. At first, Mathis, his brother, and manager insist he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time but, in truth, Mathis is gay and turns the vicious attack into a platform for revealing his own truth and for advocacy for the gay community. In the meantime, Ken brings in another victim who provides enough of a description for the squad to create a profile and send new Deputy Chief Garland in on a UC mission to sniff him out. The assailant happens to be at No Inhibitions (The SVU-est of SVU bar names) that night and they get their man...the problem is, Mathis can't ID him and Benson quickly concludes Mathis is, himself, the copycat. With no other victims willing to testify, the case nearly falls apart, but Devon returns to the precinct, having held back key information in his original disclosure. The ADA's office has enough ammunition to force a plea, Garland agrees to let Mathis off the legal hook, and Noah starts dance class and finally smiles at his mother.

The Verdict

A + for reasserting SVU's core values.
B for everything else.

This episode felt like the writers were given a list of everything that went wrong in the past three seasons and were charged with reaffirming SVU's core values. The story fell flat, probably because the plot served mostly to provide an opportunity for Benson and Company to deliver lines such as "We don't blame victims here." That sentence was part call to arms and part slap in the face to the multiple victim-blamey episodes we've to endure, particularly those of Eidteen, and it was refreshing to hear our beloved characters fight the good fight again. The dialogue was on fire. Without it, the case wasn't all that captivating.

I did like that the writers didn't completely riff from Jussie Smollett and crafted a believable scenario--an epically famous pop star wanting to get out in front of potentially damaging personal information before the press drops a bombshell.

OMG. OMG. Fin has come a long way from making wisecracks about Carisi to sharing a table with him in a gay bar. That was hilarious to me. What was not hilarious was Benson shutting down Rollins' opinion on pick up lines because, of course, we all know the greatest pick up line of all time is "I think you should try the bourbon" so that little exchange was really just mean. Unless it's foreshadowing the return of BB, in that case, cool.

Headlining the list of characters I'm starting not to care about is Noah. We had to age him to help him get kidnapped to torture Benson more, then we had to make him into a baseball player to insert Peter Stone's masculine energy, now we're stuck with a too-old child actor who's a dancer so now Noah has to be a dancer. Are we supposed to believe Benson will be uncomfortable with her son's new passion? I don't think so. Will Noah's supposed friends tease him and Benson will have to mother him through it? Maybe. Either way, I don't care. The show does not need to be a Thursday showcase of Ryan Buggle's burgeoning dance career.

Forgive the Noah rant. I'll forever be disgruntled about how 19-20 played that whole thing.

I loved that Fin was the one who went to talk to Mathis. As tough-as-nails as he is, I love it when Fin shows his compassionate side and how he understood though Mathis may not have been a victim in this particular instance, he was battling buried traumas of the past.

Wardrobe

Benson blouses were a mix of something old, something new, and something blue. Mariska looks so good this season I can't stand it. Tucker, where are you?

Courtroom Carisi!

Quotable

"Gets more ass than a toilet seat..." What a perfectly crass comment from the manager.

"She calls her boss and he calls my boss..." I'm all in for Benson and Garland navigating city politics together. I'm 100% on board with the new guy.

"I don't care about her exploding clock. I'm not letting this go." Benson may not be Hadid's boss, but she sure as hell took control of the room. That scene at the end of the episode was Benson at her finest. Well done. On a related note, Benson also showed a hint of being protective of Carisi. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it--I'm eagerly anticipating the unfolding of the tension that's brewing between Carisi and Hadid and Carisi and his former coworkers.

"So why's he a cop?"
"Don't take this the wrong way, Chief, but you're his type." LOLOLOLOL

Is it Next Thursday, Yet? 

Carisi's got that damn camera out again. Are we invited to another Unitarian Church dedication ceremony?

21.2: In Darkness, There's Leight

The #42Minutes

After an alcohol and drug-fueled girls' night out, Raegan James orders a QuikRide (how are they still in business?) and presumably heads home; however, when she wakes up the next morning she knows something horrible has happened. She stumbles into SVU and, little by little over the course of the episode, the squad is able to cobble together the bits and pieces of evidence into a case strong enough to force all four perps into plea deals.

The Verdict

A-

The episode did the "imperfect victim" some well deserved legal and poetic justice. Instead of hammering away at the imperfections, Benson, especially, zeroes in on piecing together the night and identifying the assailants. Had this same plot been the core of an episode in the past three years, we would have endured #42Minutes of the detectives lamenting Raegan's implied mental illness, her drug and alcohol abuse, and her penchant for engaging in casual sex acts in department stores. This episode prioritized the crime and the bad guys. Bravo.

The episode's one drawback was the highly anticipated trauma-based interviewing sessions. First of all, being in that cell-like office should have been trauma enough. WTF?

Rollins' and Fin's segments felt like filler. I know we're a bit overloaded with debriefing in bars scenes, but I would have liked to see the two of them add some after-hours context to what they experienced. As far as Benson is concerned, how many more times do we have to witness the specter of William Lewis come back to haunt her? After (I think it was Part 33?) there was speculation Lewis may have raped her and WL mentioned having to tie up some loose ends lingering from his hiatus, but nothing new came of Benson revisiting her trauma.

On the other hand, her relentlessness and compassion throughout the investigation showed growth and healing (as she mentioned at the end without being preachy, thank you very much writers)...but, then again, the "new interview technique" didn't seem all that cutting edge. It seemed like someone putting a name on an approach experienced detectives already use.

Finally, Lewis is NOT polarizing. He's universally loathed. So, that teaser was disappointing. My personal, and, possibly, futile, #TuckerWatch continues.

Wardrobe

Captain Benson sizzled! Perfect hair. Perfect blue blouses. And was that the Captain in chic sandals? I believe it was!

Quotable

"But I feel like I can trust you." Raegan speaks for us all. 

"Counselor Carisi..." LOL. I don't always love Amanda Rollins, but when I do, it's when she's at her sarcastic, skeptical self.

"That's Dennis, my old boss. I like your hair that way." I sincerely apologize, but I chuckled. BTW-the chemistry between Ariel Winter and Mariska Hargitay was phenomenal. Benson wrangling mercurial Raegan was the show at its finest, and I was worried I wouldn't be able to see Winter as anyone other than Alex Dunphy, but...Alex who?

"I just wanted her to get up." Finnnnnnn! Hugs!

"I drove her home. Who knows what would have happened to her?" Well, you could have driven her home in the first place, scumbag. 

Raegan recognizing Benson having said all of those lines...yes, true, but that doesn't mean they become irrelevant. Nice touch.

Is It Next Thursday, Yet?

I've scratched Uptown Girl from all playlists (thanks, SVU, for casting yet another sinister hue on something beloved).

I'm looking forward to Detective Kat joining the crew (this is all but guaranteed, right?) and watching Carisi settle into his new role. He didn't necessarily clash with Benson, but he was a voice of reason when she was leaning toward going all in with the four perps. I cannot wait to see this new dynamic play out over the course of the season.