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I believe there are a few different things going on here. The first is that newer episodes are shorter. If you look at Peacock the early episodes of SVU are listed at 43/44 minutes while the last few seasons are 41/42 minutes. It doesn't seem like much, but it does have an impact. The second is that budget cuts mean that there are fewer characters and less fieldwork. What used to be done with interviews on location is now done showing surveillance camera footage in the squadroom. While this saves money - fewer speaking roles and location shoots, it also changes the feel of the episode and how much is happening, especially since combined with 2 minutes less story time we often have less of the initial stages of the investigation where the detectives are looking at multiple suspects and ruling them out. Finally there is something I have heard a few writers and showrunners talking about on various podcasts - network executive interference and the vogue for "second screen" storytelling. This is an assumption that viewers are also looking at their laptops, tablets, or smartphones while watching so shows need to repeat important story points and avoid important plot points being shown instead of told. So that means even if we had the 2 minutes back they wouldn't be as dense - because it is more expensive and because the suits feel like that kind of storytelling doesn't suit today's viewer. After all it's not like there is any evidence that the old style works perfectly well with modern viewers who are watching as background while doing other things as well as more attentive viewers. I mean to prove that you would need decades of leading viewership numbers on all sorts of networks and platforms and how could you ever get that?

I am not saying it can't be done. Just that it is harder. Especially on a set that is not used every week and where it is not a priority like with Lucy or "The Honeymooners" or Louis CK's show. For something like we are talking about where it is not a priority having room for crew and equipment to allow for various blocking the director might want makes it more practical and cost effective to be unrealistic.

I don't think they are really worried about being too depressing. It's not like they've shied away from dark moments. Just all about the practical issues of being able to fit the technical elements. It is actually much harder and more expensive to shoot on a stage set up like an actual NYC "affordable" apartment.

Yes she is all of that and more. Investigator, advocate, counselor, legal theorist, scientist, psychologist, sharpshooter, teacher, ethicist, psychic, wine connoisseur, mother of the year, and more. She is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end. She is 32 flavors and then some. She's a sinner, she's a saint, she does not feel ashamed. She's your Hell, she's your dream, she's nothing in between. You know you wouldn't want it any other way.. It wasn't about copyright it was about the OG Benson's look of disapproval. Because Google Image Search came up empty for "Robert Guillame flipping the bird"...

The Good: Carisi. He had some good moments this week and was about the only one who wasn't completely sucked into the Benson vortex. It wasn't a two-parter. The promo for next week at least has some potential. The Bad: Benson, Benson, Benson. Another episode where she is the expert in everything and everyone else is just there to handle the details. And she alone has the power to find both justice and understanding. And she has the gall to talk about the perp having a messiah complex? The heavy handed editing and musical cues. It's not like the writing didn't already make everything else abundantly clear so we don't need to be beaten over the head. All it did was undercut the great job the actors did making the material almost tolerable. Yet another Maddie episode that adds nothing new unless you consider elevating the rehashed material to a new level of unbelievablity new. After episodes with characters absent who would have added something to the story we have everyone here this week, with most of them not getting anything significant to do. We could have easily given Curry, Velasco, Bruno and/or Fin the week off since they contributed nothing of significance either plotwise or thematically. in an episode of overused, overdone cliches we have another hostage situation where Benson saves the day by completely disregarding procedure. And they make it worse by not actually taking a chance to go for either surprise or nuance - they could have either had mom kill the creep with Benson complicit, or actually ended the scene with Benson arresting the mom instead of merely mentioning it in dialogue and brought to the forefront that she was in the wrong. The ending. Benson whispers and makes it all better and the victim cries tears of gratitude while Mariska shows that she cannot do nonverbal acting well at all any more. Overall this was a steaming turd of an episode. Bad pretty much from start to finish. A bad idea executed poorly. And while I like being right, the writers really didn't need to prove that last week's episode was merely mediocre and that they were capable of producing a special and unique kind of bad and that the Benson worship dial went to 11.

And Amber Ruffin as the shopper! Talk about an all-star comedy sketch...

I am not going to go back and rewatch Season 18 to find specific examples as I don't hate myself that much, but I think even astute viewers such as yourself forget how terrible it was as only a few episodes such as "Imposter" were memorably bad. Something like 17 were the same plot and Benson was doing almost all of the investigative work, plus the scripts were even worse than this as far as plot mechanics were concerned - it wasn't even that they took short cuts to get from A to B while focusing on Benson, things just happened and you couldn't even figure out what might have been cut as too expensive or not focused on St. Liv. This week feels like pages were not shot or lost in the edit - repeatedly in my Season 18 posts I mention that it felt like the script was a rough draft where there wasn't even a blank to fill in and figure out what was missing. I guess my argument is that the Season 18 episodes were worse, both because of how repetitive they were (I see I went relatively easy on "Imposter" as after the last few episodes of Season 17 and the first couple episodes I was relieved to see an episode that was unquely bad ) and because they were probably even more Benson-centric with her lecturing the squad and the brass, doing more of the legwork herself, and not having anyone challenge her at all - the scene where Carsisi points out that she went too far for example would not have happened or she would told off Barba and they would have presented him as wrong. Perhaps in time I may agree that this is a standout bad episode, but right now it just seems like a mere D/D- episode that is more proof that they have lost control of Mariska again and that there are many equally bad or worse pieces of crap SVU has put out in the past 7 or 8 years.

I feel like this is slightly overstated. The Benson worship was just as bad and probably worse in Season 18 and there have been previous episodes that have been equally and more Mariska publicly gratifying herself in a much more horrific way than any of Munch's various subway weenie waggers that kept him in court for just about every episode Cragen was in for 3 seasons. "Something Happened" comes to mind as does the whole Mariska as a literal angel scene. And I would say most of Season 18's episodes were worse and there has been enough utter crap in the last decade that this probably doesn't crack the bottom 10. And this is probably slightly understated so I guess it all balances out.

A sense of humor is a big part of real world police work too. I think there is still some snark and one liners, but unfortunately this another problem that I suspect is caused by NBC/Dick Wolf mandates and not anything that could be fixed bringing in new writers or a new showrunner. TPTB want the new shows to be more like present day SVU than the original run and there is very little humor there these days since the lead does not have the chops to pull it off. Also they like to show us the crime in the opening scene instead of discovering the body during stereotypical NYC moments that were often little comedic gems. The other big opportunity for comedy was during witness interviews and those have been dramatically pared back because it saves money on hiring actors for those small speaking roles - which I strongly suspect is a big reason for almost entirely eliminating the cold openings where passers by find the dead body too. Where it is a matter of weak writing is on the legal side although part of that is also structural with less time for anything not essential to advancing the plot and a seeming reluctance to have the same number of recurring experts and distinctive arraignment judges which is where a lot of the courtroom humor came from.

Isn't it obvious which way they would go?

Yeah I don't know where she got the idea she could just keep repeating that and get acclaim and awards. Or maybe I do...

The Good: Carisi. He did a good job making Benson seem almost relatable and human and kept my eye rolls from reaching a full 360 degrees. Bruno and Velasco. I would have liked to have seen them given more material, but it is always nice to see SVU detectives acting like investigators instead of advocates or therapists. The guest cast. A good job all around in elevating the material and keeping things on track. It would have been really easy to veer into scenery chewing or simply phone it in, but everyone delivered. The Bad: The opening scene. As if clumsily done Benoah isn't bad enough we have it as a reason to drag up some of the worst of past Benson stories so Mariska can whisper and make constipated faces while talking like a third rate writer's idea of a second rate therapist. Along with a thematic link that is about as subtle as a slegehammer to the face and equally enjoyable. Mariska as director. Every time she directs she manages to amaze even a cynical jaded viewer like me that what we usually see is Mariska being dialed back by her collaborators. It would be like finding out that Lady Gaga's stylist has a whole book of outfit proposals they rejected as too far out there... I really do like a larger pool of potential team members to draw from, but this feels like another episode where they don't seem to be really making the best match of characters to story. Why not have the experienced profiler with a deep personal connection to kidnapped girls work this instead having the gratuitous second captain there to look concerned? Especially when the queen bee is so insecure that the other captain can't be wearing her badge at the crime scene like all the detectives and the extras because it would make Benson seem less special? Speaking of bad stories from the past as we were during the opening I don't think we ever need another hostage situation on SVU. At least nobody died and Benson never fired her weapon, so I guess that's a win? So after all of the various lectures Benson has given everyone she can torture a subject into confessing and it's OK because it's "for the victims"? And when we do acknowledge that there was an issue there she can just blow off everyone pointing it out and we're supposed to move on? The previews. Back to Maddie? Seriously??? Overall this is yet another good plot idea that never reached its' potential because it had to devote so much time to Mariska's creative autoeroticism. At least she didn't try to make herself into an actual avenging angel ascending to heaven this time so I guess we're making some progress?

What is the over/under for life expectancy of anyone closely associated with a politician taking the subway from or to Hudson University in the current run of Law & Order? 2 minutes? 3?

Does that really count as an SNL tie at this point? I mean I think fewer people have taken the NBC Rockefeller Center tour...

Wow. I guess we know that whatever other failings the writing may have, trading positive portrayals for sponsorship isn't one of them. I mean this is only slightly less surprising than finding out one of the local colleges is rebranding as Hudson University for a week...

Me too...

Moving this over from the episode thread as it's really more general discussion - Yes they do have market research. There is a certain percentage of the viewers that have stuck around to see how Benson's story turns out. I know it has been mentioned in past articles. We also know that it is out there because NBC execs have previously said publicly that they were waiting to sign a contract before renewing the series. And because Dick Wolf does not let any actor get so much money and become bigger than the show without some hard evidence that it is needed. As far as the extent of her power and influence it does have limits. NBC is only willing to spend so much on the show, even if it is the number 1 scripted drama on NBC and Peacock (yes, yes bar so low it's on the ground etc.) and they did realize after Season 18 that they needed to provide a variety of plots even if Mariska had a certain focus on particular types of sexual abuse and power dynamics that she wanted to portray almost exclusively. The biggest limit on her creative influence is the showrunner and the budgetary constraints. Chernuchin and especially Leight have strong track records and influence on their own and pushed back a bit. Without that we find that it's all Benson all the time. As far as budget is concerned - budgets are not really her concern and don't seem to interest her except in being the highest paid actress on network television. Which is why it is one of the few real limits to her influence - budgets get tighter and her salary keeps rising which meant for example KG had to go even if Mariska wanted her to stay. And that they can't do too much to make Benson into an action hero. Dick Wolf is not going to spend his own money to keep Mariska happy. And money is the reason that no matter what we will not see a significant decrease in her screen time. She simply gets paid too much to sit on the bench (insert Mets joke here) and they don't really have any alternative unless Meloni ends up free...

Just came across this again. Truly a reminder that when it comes to this show to be careful what you wish for...

But now they have - twice! The squad has an FBI agent plus they have Rollins as a brilliant criminal profiler. That's just as good. Right? Right? Why are you all giving me that look?

The Good: Bruno! It's a shame that budget fuckery is keeping us from getting Kevin Kane full time. Both the character and the actor make every episode better than those without him. The COTW. A solid story with a good old school team investigation. Nothing flashy, but nothing too overdone or repetitive. Carisi. It is nice to see an ADA who is not the bad guy for wanting to be able to prosecute the offenders and to have him as an ally, but independent. Separate yet equally important if you will. No therapy scene! Are we finally done with Maddie? The Bad: Speaking as we were about budget fuckery - it's an all hands on deck situation with "forced OT" but Velasco is MIA? Especially on a case where a Latino presence would be useful? And they can't even bother to give us a "Munch is in court" line of dialogue to explain? Or give the new girls something more substantial to do? It would seem from a creative and budget standpoint we'd be better off with Velasco this week and maybe bring in the replacements for another episode. Mariska. Boy was there a lot of whispered platitudes and constipated faces this week. All in the service of Benson as savior once again who can turn cure mental illness with just the power of her empathy. Speaking of BS (Benson Stuff) that ending was vomit inducing and did a lot to squander the good will that built up. If it wasn't bad enough that we had to be sure everyone knew that Benson healed everyone we had to suffer through her blathering about angels and how art is turning your suffering into beauty? Overall this was another meh episode. A lot of solid bits, but also a lot of wasted potential as they were too busy servicing the star's ego to actually tell the interesting story that was there. It served mostly as a reminder that nobody is bothering to even try to reign in Mariska and that Hate Crimes would be much better than what they are putting on the air and deciding to pick a fight over casting and issues based story telling with Dick Wolf is a monumentally stupid idea.

Chase Bank to SNL: Thanks But No Thanks

But then you would need more therapy. It's all about building customer loyalty...

Unfortunately as much as I would love the idea of a grand sendoff next year I think it is more likely simply a matter of incompetence and ego. This is still the top scripted drama on NBC and Peacock (yes it's damning with faint praise, but still..) and there doesn't seem to be a successor in place with Organized Crime still in turmoil and the mothership being forced to become more like the zombified corpse of SVU. If they seem to be setting up Meloni coming back or actually put Hate Crimes into production I'd be thinking endgame, but this feels to me more like there nobody left able or willing to standup to Mariska when she comes up with ideas like "we should really explore Benson's psyche this season." and say "We have explored it already. Mapped and charted. Established settlements. Committed ethnic cleansing against the natives. Had our claims recognized by treaty and international conference. Dealt with the independence movement and decolonization years ago." and moved on to something actually new. If next year is the final season it will mean that NBC can't come to an agreement on a new contract with Mariska and I doubt Dick Wolf would allow them to start laying the groundwork already.

While I agree with you it is unfortunately not going to change as it is one of those elements that is almost certainly being imposed from above to "modernize" the show (like showing the crime more often than not and all those foot chases) and make it more like present day SVU which also does the same thing with the background music in the sound mix as do a number of other current procedurals. I would also bet that they do it because beating the viewer over the head with the musical cues lets you cut corners in a lot of other areas. Why use time and money you don't have any more for transitions and another edit when you can just turn up the volume on the music?