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The episode title was a reference to Benson telling Velasco he needed to "put out the fire" in his neighborhood. As far as the interview I too wondered at fist if it was setting up some sort of twist, but it was just about the family not trusting the system and/or not being sure about sharing what happened with strangers. Probably could have been done a little more gracefully, but it didn't end with Liv preaching to them until they saw the light or waiting until the parents were gone and then whispering to the victim and magically changing her mind. So it was pretty much more realistic and less heavy handed than 90% of the victim interviews the last half decade or so...

The Good: The opener. Relatively subtle establishing Velasco's neighborhood and stake in the case, plus we didn't see the whole crime or waste a lot of time with a montage of the victim. Plus it is nice to see Benson actually assigning a case instead of immediately taking the lead. We actually got to see some technical specialists instead of having the squad doing everything. Velasco. It is great to see him getting some actual material, instead of being just another warm body. Pisiano may not have Kevin Kane's charisma (very few actors do) but he is a solid performer and deserves more than he has gotten from the writers. They also did a nice job pairing him up Bruno and Fin at the right times to take advantage of their perspectives. Fin. Speaking of characters who have needed some more solid material and actually got it... Benson. A rare appearance in this section, but she was actually acting like a CO who is also series lead rather than single handedly solving all sexually based offenses in NYC. The COTW. It was a solid investigation with a team approach from start to finish, and more importantly than just using the squad, actually used them thoughtfully instead of just as random supporting players for Benson. It was a refreshing throwback to days gone by. The Bad: Benson and Velasco. Why is she always giving him shit and holding him to standards nobody else is expected to live up to? I mean NOW she has no advice and isn't going to use her magic psychic powers for community relations??!! Yes she apologized in the end and complimented him, but it's getting a bit ridiculous. Overall this was an actually very good episode. Best in a long time. The script actually cared about ALL of the characters and not just Benson and maybe whoever else they had as #2 this week. And it was a good story that actually gave us a fresh take on things. Graziano and Martin should be proud to put their names on this script. And now we know they can still do more than "better than we expect these days" and shouldn't accept less.

Nothing will stop some guys from whipping it out... Seriously though handcuffs or any restraints just keep you tethered to the bed and unless they are specifically configured otherwise give some freedom of movement in the arms - he would just need to hike up the hospital gown and let it rip, which is pretty easy if your hands are at the waist and you have a couple inches of slack in the restraints.

As always it all comes back to Mariska insisting on being the sun and the moon, and not just the star. If we drop the unnecessary scenes of Benson promising AND delivering making everything all better for the victim, we would have had time to give Carisi some motivation instead of a single line about providing the actual pedos an entrapment defense. Properly developed, it is the basis for an actual conflict between well meaning protagonists motivated by different perspectives who eventually find a creative solution and unite to convince the guest star who is viewing the situation from a big picture perspective that it is better 49 pervs get a lighter sentence than 1 innocent developmentally disabled man is incarcerated. Which is how it would have been done in the classic SVU era. But now Benson has to be the angel on Carisi's shoulder and the one who explains legal ethics to the Manhattan DA. Which is sadly believable in the current SVU universe...

The Good: The opening. While it certainly had it flaws (see below) it did not lay out the whole crime, rely on quick cut editing and heavy handed music. or drag on for too long, or try to rely on some overly cutesy thematic link between Benson's day to day and the crime so overall a good start. The COTW. Good team approach with solid police work and interaction between the police and DA's office. A nice straightforward story with just enough twist to keep things interesting. Carisi in the first 3/4s of the episode. It's nice to see somebody telling Benson she is not the moral arbiter of the universe without immediately being shown to be a bad guy. Also nice to actually see him call bullshit Livsplaining the law to an ADA. Silva. It took too long, but it's nice to see her getting some character development and they finally are not trashing a younger female detective. Bruno and Fin. It is nice to see that someone at SVU remembers how to write with a degree of nuance. Nice mix of pragmatism as well as humanity. It reminds me of what this show used to be across the board when even the leads were pragmatic investigators in an imperfect world, trying to do the right thing within the system instead of moral paragons who always had the right answers. The Bad: A Captain going on a routine call while Detectives sit at their desk? Why not send Fin with Silva? If this is a De Minimus case that is supposed to be done by lunch why do we have the whole team working on this from the jump? So Benson can show off her super special psychic abilities that she knows this one could be special? Or worse lecture Silva about how SVU is more subtle than homicide? Really? Really?? Really??? Olivia Benson is talking about subtlety???!!! Benson as super counselor and victim whisperer. It added nothing and was a waste of time except to show that she can solve everything and make everything right. Carisi after the arrest. It is not in character for him to be a stickler for the rules without seeing shades of gray and using his discretion. Even when they do a crossover with Baxter we still have do that "8th Floor" bullshit? Why are we still doing this? Overall this was a good episode. It could have been a great episode with a few tweaks, mostly the usual (if the time we spend building up Benson was devoted to a bit of comic relief or maybe some slightly better crafted storytelling (for example in the old days they would have had the other detectives jumping on a case that seemed to have more potential for OT and stats leaving the newbie to take the nude selfies at the school nothingburger) but this was still an actual good episode and I can certainly take that.

That's because Captain Cragen was busy doing all of the admin work that the CO is expected to do. As we found out this week she is making Fin do all of the paperwork so she can micromanage the cases. Which is probably where Fin is all of those weeks we don't see him - in an office typing up reports and sticking one of those "sign here" arrows for Liv to sign and trying to remember her password for the HR system...

The Good: The non-Benson parts of the investigation. A team effort with some solid police work. Lots of Fin and giving Silva some real work didn't hurt. Benson's self-righteousness and victim whispering magic did. Carisi. Some solid work even if like everything else this episode the material was nothing that hasn't been done a hundred times before, usually better. An actual trial! With actual testimony on both sides! And Benson wasn't all pissy that Carisi had to actually have evidence and follow the law! The previews for next week look potentially good. The Bad: The opening. It was way too long for so little and everything except the OT conversation was about as clunky and overbearing as possible without any sense that it was meant to be. And speaking of lacking subtlety and self-awareness the scene with Benson promising the kid everything would be OK... The guest acting in the first half of the episode. The non-Mariska regulars were mostly solid to good, but except for the kid most of the guest stars seemed flat. I know the writing was uninspired at best, but the guest stars have sold the hell out of a lot less before. I don't know if it was poor directing or what but it was noticeable that what was usually a strength was a weak point. A ton of B.S. (Benson Stuff) this week. Just out of control from beginning to end. I guess we should be just be greatful Benson didn't adopt the kid... Overall this was a turd - a collection of all of the worst tropes of the past decade made watchable only by some decent scenes for the squad and a mostly competently done trial. And the script seemed like it was one of those AI generated regurgitations the WGA was warning us about during the strike. This was a disappointment after some solid outings. Hopefully this was just one of those sacrificial episodes where they let Mariska run wild in exchange for keeping her worst tendencies in check for 5 or 6 weeks of the season. Otherwise there is no excuse for such a mediocre outing.

It would have been an African-American Congress representative assuming there is anyone left at Wolf Entertainment who actually remembers the early seasons. And Ms. Shambala Green would have handed Price and Maroun their asses on a platter...

The Good: The opener. A nice classic example of the crime being discovered and detectives showing up. No personal melodrama intertwined. No showing us the crime in a quick montage where overly loud music tries to distract us from a lack of production value or writing. Best of all we have 2 detectives responding and not Benson showing up to start the investigation. The COTW. Actual police work with actual prosecution,with the Benson nonsense mostly a sideshow instead of the central focus. Plus she actually did some productive work instead of just speechifying. And the entire team actually got to contribute to the plot instead of being glorified extras. Carisi. He was the experienced investigator trying to uncover the truth and willing to call out lies on all side that Benson SHOULD have been. The Bad: Once again we have Benson as advocate and mystical savior instead of cop. Why not just show her like everyone else - investigators whose gut is telling them there is more to the case than the surface trying to get to the bottom of things? She is the most experienced and could even be the best and first to figure it out without being more of a social worker than the the social workers. Overall this was a solid episode. A classic style SVU story with some good performances and a nice distribution of screen time. Dragged down as usual by Mariska's ego, but it was pretty well contained. Not great, but good and in a season that has been mostly meh that is enough.

The Good: The opener. I always like Leland Orser playing charmingly quirky and it was nice not to see the everything at the start so there is an actual mystery. Even if we know that the perp was going to be the well known character actor who has already been the perp on multiple past franchise episodes. Some and Fin and Carisi scenes. It was nice to see. (And again it shows why he should have been there last episode!) Another Carisi focused episode with lots of actual courtroom content. And they seem to have avoided the traps of either Benson saving him or a prolonged slog of PTSD. The Bad: Not liking the return to Curry and Benson as the only ones who can handle challenging damaged victims in what is supposed to be a specialized unit dedicated to just that. Especially in an episode where there are characters barely used. I like Curry (although it is ridiculous having 2 captains on one squad) and I like that they aren't trying to power through weeks with only 2.5 detectives any more but why not use Bruno or Fin or show us Benson mentoring the new detective? Why have the whole squad in on this when most of them only get a couple scenes? It's just an odd use of resources especially when we are going to be heavy on Benson and Carisi and have to fit in Rollins as well. The last scene with the victim. Of all of the many annoying tropes on this show I think Benson's whispered words of wisdom bringing healing,understanding, and acceptance to the victim might be my least favorite. Overall this was a perfectly cromulent current era SVU episode I guess. Mostly competently written and well acted, but nothing special. Like the last episode this could have benefited from tightening things up a bit and adding more Fin, but that is probably true of just about every new episode. Maybe next week will be interestingly good or bad?

I don't know. Would SNL ever bring on a criminal to host, just because he's in the news and has a certain populist appeal to some? After making all those jokes about him? Doesn't seem like something Lorne would ever do...

Unfortunately with all the OTT unrealistic flourishes like the words on the bullets and the Chief of Detectives giving away key details to "avoid panic", as well as the crime and suspect being caught on multiple cameras yet somehow not having good angles or enough detail to identify the perp it seems like they ripped it from the reboot and not the original run...

Seasons 1-20 Streaming on Hulu Starting December 16th

And we now have reports of a new showrunner being named and exclusive backstage footage of their first day on set -