22.2: A Neverending Ballad

**Blogged while at work listening to Apple Music Indie Holiday Radio 

Wednesday--The Hype:

The teaser reminded me of the episode where a boy kills the man he thinks killed his mother. I don't remember if the man did the deed or not, but Benson treats the boy to lunch and the boy sees the man get out of a car? Remember? Anyway, beyond the preview clip aired last week I didn't give #SVU much thought. I live in Georgia after all and have other things on my mind!

Thursday--The #42 Minutes 

(and the other 18 filled with Warnock, Ossoff, L&*##$, and P%*&@% ads)

Is there anything more tragic and heartbreaking than watching adults routinely failing children? At the center of the story are four grown-ups who physically and verbally abuse or enable the abuse directed at 14-year-old Will and his mother and cataloged by six-year-old Leann. From the very beginning it was clear Irena had lived a trauma-filled life and she then became complicit in Will's version. It would have been easy for the writers to delve into the past Irena alluded to in the courthouse stairwell (always a place for deep reckoning as Benson knows all too well), but to their credit, the script largely focused on the kids and the whodunit surrounding Dwight's old-school, hair-dryer-in-the-tub death. Meanwhile, in a depressingly similar story, the Ballad of Leon and Joelle reached its conclusion in a series of flashbacks and snippets from Fin's deposition which culminates in a two million dollar settlement and Fin wrestling with the reality of circumstances casting him in the mold of the kind of cop he never intended to be. 

 

It's hard to write anything negative about any show right now. After all, the actors, crew, writers, caterers, drivers--they're all risking their lives to bring us fresh doses of entertainment. But...I do have to mention one criticism. The mystery of who tossed the dryer into the water didn't matter to me. I had no problem with Dwight being dead. Not even his pregnant wife showing up in Carisi's office could sway me. Call me insensitive, cruel, whatever...the world is better without Dwights among us. Around the mid-episode mark my interest waned. I sensed Pippa was going to save Will and expected Irena to crack one way or the other. 

What I did not expect was the lawyer shushing Benson. Holy shit. If looks could kill...

Checking in With:

Kat--She impressively cajoled information from Leann and becoming more confident and perhaps a bit restless in her role as newbie. Though Benson had her reasons for sending Rollins along on the call, I wonder how long before Kat demands to be trusted like the others. As long as the writers are intent on weaving in threads to past cases, I'm cool with Kat being sometimes used as the vehicle to get us back there. Two-for-two on #SVU heartbreak reminders. RIP Dodds. 

Rollins--For the second week in a row, not much for Rollins to do other than remain her no-nonsense, cynical self. Of course she was the one to confront Dwight outside of the hospital but what a relief that the encounter was not yet another opportunity to remind us Rollins is from the backwards South. 

Carisi--His behavior continues to set off alarm bells. He's going to have to really work on his bedside manner if he wants to excel in this ADA role. He stalks around, frustrated and angry, snapping and shouting, and generally acting like a petulant child. His heart's in the right place, but it's difficult for anyone to tell. I couldn't believe how harshly he spoke to Will! He was such an asshole that it was surprising Will ended up spilling the truth to him. Then again, Will was accustomed to being berated by adults.  

Fin--I feel for our man. He's in crisis and it's one I'm sure many officers of color are battling and have battled throughout their careers. Even though Fin has doggedly tried not to become one of those cops, he's still human like everyone else and has to make split-second, life-or-death decisions that sometimes end in the worst possible ways, and not even rekindling romance with Phoebe can erase that reality. 

Benson--It must have been extremely difficult for her to refrain from shaking Irena and in a polite-but-not-nice way asking "what the fuck is wrong with you?" In addition to having impeccable hair, the Captain deftly handled the case as we would expect from a veteran of her caliber. Groan-inducing though was her encouraging Fin to remember the job isn't everything. All this does for me is conjure images of Tucker leaving her apartment and telling her to take care of herself. She's really good at giving that advice but terrible at taking it. Unless, of course, the other Ed(gar) is waiting in the wings somewhere and we don't know about it yet. Ugh. I'm still #Tuckson heartbroken. 

That's a Wrap

Nothing in this ends well for Andre (who will forever remember a police officer killed his Dad), Will (can he survive a year with his father and a stepmother who would rather him not exist?), and Leann (headed into the foster system?). The cycle continues. 

It was nice to see Pippa again (ah, the memories of Collateral Damages). I hope this isn't the last we see of her. What's up with her scumbag husband? Shouldn't his sentence be about over? Oh, and is it just me or did the actors playing Will and Leann almost too closely resemble her Jordan and Leah? 

The spotty mask-wearing was slightly less annoying this time around. Other than that, Covid realities were not very noticeable except for the reminder that schools often catch instances of abuse, and many kids like Will are in grave danger and missing this safety net while in their homes. 

The next episode looks twisted and weird. Can't wait!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Be safe!

22.1: A Lot of Work To Do

**Blogged while listening to Dino Saluzzi's newest album, Albores.  

Note: It's no secret my dedication to and interest in writing this blog faded after the unnecessary #Tuckson breakup in the most awful season of television in the history of the small screen. After Tucker's tragic passing, I sat Shiva for, well, from then until now--either a testament to my unhealthy obsession with fictional characters or the expert work of the writers (let's go with the latter). I did not finish watching Season 21. But...I think I'm finally in the acceptance stage though I will forever mourn the loss of #Tuckson's potential. Okay, maybe I'm not there quite yet. Anyhow, I'm ready for the new season and extremely grateful the cast and crew were able to resume filming. Let's go!

Wednesday--The Hype:

Ripped from the headlines. Ugh. I'm going in with an open mind because I'm thrilled to have something new to watch, but I don't always dig this style. Also, as in real life, Covid on screen is going to get old fast. I realized this watching This Is Us two weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised Tuesday when the pandemic, though there, didn't dominate the entire episode. From what I've read, SVU is committed to filtering the stories through the Covid lens (among others). I suppose I should trust the writers. 

Thursday--The #42Minutes

If you haven't been paying attention to 2020, Guardians and Gladiators serves as a nice little recap of what we've been up against--Karens, Covid, cell phone footage showing questionable police tactics and outright criminal behavior, BLM, defund the police, cancelling, thirst traps, face masks, hand sanitizer, plexiglass, temperature checks, makeshift outdoor dining spaces, and, yes, the death of Ed Tucker. I mean, really, the only thing missing was the pathetic saga of the lame duck President and murder hornets. 

We were tossed into the episode in real-time with every trauma of the year on, as Garland puts it, "full boil." In the midst of this crucible, Benson makes a call that she's made hundreds of times before, only, this time, it comes back to haunt her in a major way. 

The biases characters hold are laid bare, drive the episode, and launch a season sure to be full of reckoning for the entire slate of characters. Public trust in law enforcement has eroded, yet duplicitous and diabolical predators like Joe Murphy are still out there. How long until more of them figure out how to work both the system and the unrest to their advantage? 

One nitpick—I’m not sure what the rules were/are for wearing masks but it was sporadic throughout the entire #42. Masks off in the hospital, then on once outside...I guess it was tough to strike a balance between art and safety. 

Checking in With:

Kat

She empathizes with both Eric and his mother, for she's been keeping her own truth from her family citing they have enough to deal with at the moment. One has to wonder if she's as unbothered as she sounds at her own predicament and how much more of her relationship with her family will be revealed this season. 

Rollins

My opinion of Amanda swings back and forth from loving to loathing her. No one can be so irritating one minute and so endearing the next quite like she can. The episode wasn't Rollins-centric, but we got a little hint that she's not going to have a whole lot of patience for the scrutiny to come. 

Carisi

You have to feel for this dude. He's wound tightly from the get and things don't get any better for him as the episode unfolds. How close was he to slamming the legal pad and saying "fuck it" at the grand jury? Sonny has about all he can handle and it's only episode one. I'm worried about him. But at least he can stew and brood in his own office. Not exactly Barba digs but, hey, it's a start. 

Garland

Casting Demore Barnes in this role was either impressively prescient or incredibly fortunate, because Chief Garland can do what Chief Dodds would not be able to do and that is tell the painful truth. He's able to get through to Fin which is no small feat and reinforce his loyalty to Benson while peeling away some of her blinders. We all know Benson and Fin aren't going anywhere, so Garland alluding to their job security was not so much a threat as it was a call to action. His parts in this episode were, perhaps, the most powerful and brutally honest of all. 

Fin

In the scene with Garland I thought we were headed for a why is Benson Captain and you're a newly minted Sergeant inquiry to which I was ready to respond HE DIDN'T WANT IT but now I wonder if Fin has subconsciously been relegating himself to low expectations for reasons other than he didn't want the increased responsibility and workload. He and Benson surely have a ton of mutual respect for one another, but, to what extent is their relationship going to be tested this season? 

Captain

Oh boy. Benson (HUGE PROPS TO Mariska Hargitay), looks miserable the whole freaking time. The nature of her job has allowed her to sidestep a lot of scrutiny over the course of her career and she is, by her own description, reeling at her complicity within the system not only in this case but in others. So poignant was the fact that Jayvon remembered her from a stop-and-frisk years earlier--clearly a traumatic moment in his life--yet, for Liv, it completely failed to register. And as if that weren't enough, the tough conversations don't end at home. She also has to be a parent and how does one parent right now? Noah sees her on the news and in his own childlike way calls her out and suggests she apologize which Benson tries to do (not sure that was the wisest move but her big heart often wields outsize influence on her judgment) and, predictably, Jayvon is nowhere near assuaged. Benson then, finally, comes to grips with what Garland had been saying from the start-change, this time, has to be about more than optics. 

Final Thoughts

The episode reminded me of Community Policing. Intentional or not, many of the lines seemed lifted directly from that fantastic Season 17 script. The parallels were compelling, for they revealed the core of the problem--instances of police brutality and misconduct are always followed by temporary bursts of outrage before quickly ebbing back to business as usual. Will Season 22 shift the narrative? More importantly, will 2020?

On a semi-lighter note...

Ed. Tucker. 

As soon as IAB was mentioned all the #Tuckson emotions came rushing back but thank you, writers, for doing the logical thing and acknowledging him and the funeral and letting us know he was Captain Curry's rabbi, that Benson wasn't herself at the funeral, that the mention of his wife hit her like a dagger to the heart, and the regret at letting him go is still real and raw. An unexpected and powerful scene. Well done. 

Oh, and stop leaving your clothes on the floor, Noah!

Let the work begin!