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...
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| 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!
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