The #42Minutes
What begins as a type of crime SVU has explored dozens of times turns into a media circus when victim Monica Russo lashes out against the incompetent, unsympathetic, and (at the very least) unethical police officer with whom she made an initial rape complaint weeks before plastering accusatory artwork all over the west side. Once Monica is located, Benson pulls every string she has to help her, but Monica and her lawyer, prove to be challenging allies in the fight to put the invincible Merkeevious Ryan behind bars. After one of several public displays of outrage, two more of Ryan's victims come forward and, even though the judge rules their testimony inadmissible, the women do give Carisi leverage to arrest Ryan. In the courtroom, our beloved detective turned ADA gets absolutely annihilated by the more experienced and more ruthless Elana Barth, but Benson saves the day with take out and a pep talk and Carisi ends up manipulating the defense into making a serious mistake by putting Ryan on the stand...after Carisi's terrible opening performance, it was the only way to get the guilty verdict...but wouldn't it be nice if Monica's words were enough?
The Verdict
B
First of all, the episode wasn't well balanced. It took 12 minutes for the squad to locate Monica (even though we did get to see Orfeh, yay!, and I learned strippers can pay $20 for spare thongs in the locker room. Who knew?)--anyway, the pace picked up after that, but I would have liked to swap some of those seconds for more legal wrangling time.
Most problematic for me, though, was the trial. Why in the world would the DA's office leave Carisi alone at the prosecution table to argue a case against a very high profile defendant and his shrewd defense attorney who has decades of legal experience on him? This made zero sense. I kept waiting for Hadid to show up and make some comment implying she'd hung him out to dry as revenge. The variables--intense media focus, celeb client, an outburst-prone accuser, and a novice prosecutor--were a recipe for complete disaster until...until...
Barth fucks up.
Problemo numero dos.
I do not for one second believe former Judge Elana Barth would have been so stupid and full of hubris to put Ryan on the stand so he could hang himself. Surely she'd spent ample time with her client and knew he would be prone to shooting himself in the foot. She had already pummeled Monica enough to create reasonable doubt with the jury...everyone knew it. Barth should've been immune to Carisi's manipulation.
So, chalk up a victory for Carisi, and, most importantly, for Monica, but I'm quite sure Barth's decision opened the door for an appeal, although I doubt we'll hear anything else about this case as the season progresses.
Rollins is suppressing whatever lingering "hostage-lite" trauma she's experiencing and, of course, has declared herself "cured" and no longer in need of therapy which we all know is miles and miles from the truth. I loved her little dig at Kat about checking with the Captain and I can't imagine she enjoyed Fin telling her to take five and then ten after he previously allowed Kat to roam unleashed around Getz.
When Mariska Hargitay directs, we can always expect some well-timed, poignant close-ups and she didn't disappoint with this one, especially the shot of her escorting Monica into the police car after she's arrested and Carisi's strip club, what am I doing here, grimace...but, c'mon, Sonny, you've done this seedy OC thing before, dude. Maybe you'd be more comfortable with your camera-embedded specs?
And in the category of Annoying Elements I'm Thrilled Writers Omitted:
We were spared a Kat Ooooo I found some obvious detail that anyone else could have spotted but I'm the one looking so I'm awesome moment, and, I'll be damned, they found a way to include Noah without reminding us that he's now a dancer!
I'm also happy we didn't have to sit through a snippet of the fucking Nutcracker.
Wardrobe
Benson, you can wear that burgundy trench all day every day in each episode for all #42. Burgundy prevailed in this episode, with both Benson and Barth sporting the color and, speaking of Barth, her austere courtroom attire is spot on.
And, of course, Benson's wearing these earrings again which I associate with Tucker because she was wearing them in the ep after Collateral Damages and even though she'd worn them in a prior season they were prominent and my romantic heart imagined he'd given them to her and...okay, I'll stop.
Quotable
"Certainly not a kids' movie..." And then Benson pushes Noah along...LOLOLOLOL...such a no-bullshit mom move.
"It's a strip club, you'll be fine." Did I miss something? Does Fin have a penchant for patronizing strip clubs? I know this line was probably tossed in as banter among two longtime colleagues but it kind of rubbed me the wrong way.
"I'm not pleading to anything."
"Good for you."
A Barba-esque response from ADA Carisi. OH, one more thing...why is it that Every. Single. ADA. has had some sort of an office...in Barba's and Stone's cases, quite an expansive one, but Carisi's relegated to a tiny desk in a room shared with others? A sign the DA's office is relegating SVU prosecution to a lower rung? But still...get the kid a fucking SPACE. Yet another issue I have with the whole Carisi-as-ADA concept...
"And I'm dead serious here." Oh, Carisi, green or otherwise, I love you so. He's so desperate to be good at his job...to be taken seriously...I winced in pain after Barth tore him apart, but the visit from Benson was sweet and the writers did a nice job of making the encounter fall along the lines of a mentor-mentee chat rather than something more patronizing.
"You lied to my face." Oh, wait...that's next ep. But Tucker wouldn't lie to Liv unless it was absolutely necessary, right? RIGHT?
RIGHT????
Is It Next Thursday, Yet?
Making us wait two weeks for the return of Tucker falls somewhere along the lines of an A Misdemeanor or a low-grade felony. The way the promo audio lined up with flashes of (still-gorgeous), smirking, smug Tucker sure makes it easy to expect a return of the villainous version of the character, though it would be wildly out of sync with how Leight wrote him and even how he was portrayed when Eidteen broke up the most perfect ship in the history of ships.
And I'll be damned if the wife doesn't look like Barth, but after careful analysis (and I DO mean CAREFUL), I don't think it is.
Frankly, I'm tired of speculating. Rip the Band-Aid off and get it over with. I survived Tuckson heartbreak number one, I can weather another.
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| Hmmm...a box...did they recently move in? The "Just Married" sign still on their car? Whatever the circumstances, Tucker you're fine as hell. |
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