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The Good: Carisi. After being largely wasted last week he got some good stuff this week. Including being the only one in the courtroom scenes to actually understand what the job of the system was. The squad outside of Benson. They did not get enough time so we could focus on how the world revolves around Liv, but the little we got was pretty good. The ending. They did a pretty good job of polishing this turd, plus it meant that this slog was over. The perp and defense attorney. It's a shame that these good performances were wasted, but they made things more tolerable and I hope the actors get more work in better shows based on this. The Bad: Benson, Benson, Benson. It's like they vaguely remember some of the great episodes of the early years and are trying to recreate it, while forgetting that one of the things that made them great was that the acting, direction, and story made it clear that that the detectives were human and even sometimes WRONG. What we saw on screen was an overworked and traumatized investigator on the verge of a breakdown, but we were being told we are seeing a noble martyr. And a terrible leader as well- Cragen or Van Buren would have their officers create a perimeter and wait for the backup to arrest everyone instead of making speeches calling for nonviolence while watching their squadroom get trashed. The victim. The only way to make Benson look reasonable and wait is to create a portrait of White Liberal Guilt that Fox News would think was completey over the top and unrealistic. The Maddie storyline. It was bad enough last week, but worse that it was dragging down an episode that already had enough problems of it's own. Benson again. Special mention for the terrible acting and writing at the end when we were supposed to believe that her whispered words of wisdom saved the day. Let it be Liv, let it be. Overall this was a decent idea for the COTW bogged down by Benson worship and Mariska's ego and scenery gumming (she tried to chew the scenery, but couldn't pull it off). It was like a bad attempt at self parody. A B- idea with D- execution (and D- only because of great work by the main cast outside of Mariska along with the perp and his lawyer) and a subplot that was even worse. At least we know that the writers' room followed all of the strike rules. It's obvious nobody was doing any work or even thinking about plots and story during the hiatus!

If this tech CEO is a stand in for Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg I hereby withdraw my objection to showing us the crime instead of a cold open with the body being discovered. Please go full SVU with a 10 minute depiction of the crime set to music. And feel free to get very very graphic...

SVU pretty much has bipolar disorder locked up within the franchise...

This is an example of (probably unintended) realism with the police being uniquely vulnerable to fentanyl - https://www.npr.org/2023/05/16/1175726650/fentanyl-police-overdose-misinformation

Yes they said Fordham previously. I am surprised their lawyers allowed it, because Fordham is a solid school and having Rollins teach there could be construed as defamatory towards their academic hiring standards... Hudson wouldn't have her. They may hire rapists, murderers, ethically challenged researchers, corporate cronies, and criminals and accomplices of all kinds, but they do require you to be an academically qualified monster unless you have an obscene amount of money. They might (just might) accept Rollins into their MA program or let her be a guest speaker, but they would never ever hire her as faculty. People put up with all of the crime because you are learning from the best minds in the world, not someone who wasn't even the best profiler on a 4 person squad...

I would actually bet the legal grief is pretty minor all things considered. I think we have to remember a couple of things - John is pretty self-deprecating, I don't think there would be any danger of cancellation if they didn't win - the show is a money maker, based upon everything we know about online monetization and the streaming viewership. I am sure he gets a lot of grief from various execs - for the programming types they have to deal with people in the industry they want to work with being offended by his jokes. The higher ups have to deal with grief from various investors and their rich asshole friends who are the ones making money from his featured stories more often than not. But the bottom line is the bottom line. As long as the show keeps making money Zaslov and company will keep it on the air. If it stops making money they will cancel it if wins the EGOT and makes all the crtics Best Of lists.

The mothership actually cares about reflecting reality to some degree and it is true that especially in urban areas CCTV is a huge part of investigations even compared to a decade ago as cameras have improved and storage has gotten cheaper and easier. Also the mothership uses it as a tool to save money on extras and location shooting - what the first run had discovered through canvassing is now found by reviewing the footage. On this series it's not a worry as they have filled the time that would have been spent on canvassing scenes with Benson monologues and have replaced the step by step investigations with her genius and magic whispering just uncovering the truth without any boring plot mechanics required. Again actually addressing it (even if is just a conversation about how everyone on her friends list and the parents of guests is squeaky clean and didn't have any file sharing malware that they could find) would take away time from showing us how much Benson cares about the victims. It's the kind of thing the show used to care about when it was about elite detectives investigating sexually based offenses instead of Benson's personal experiences.

The Good: I liked the little tribute to Munch in the opener. It was a rare moment of restraint and I am glad that they let Fin be the one to bring it up. The squad except for Benson. Everyone else got some quality material and contributed to the investigation. They found an interesting twist for the COTW - it takes some doing to find an angle that brings any sense of something different, and it's a shame they wasted it on this soapy sop to Mariska's ego. The out of town detective. I liked the character and the actress. It's a shame that said ego won't let any new younger actresses get any sort of focus for more than a few scenes. It was played like she is a potential new addition, but I hope it doesn't happen. I would rather they stick with the current rotating recurring characters and maybe bring in some non-Rollins specialists more often. The Bad: Benson. The overwhelming mediocrity of this episode starts and ends with her. Literally. We get. She Takes!It!Personally! and the weight of the world is on her shoulders. Every cop wants to be her and every man wants her. Did the writers really think that we forgot all of this during the strike? Or that the problem with the show was too MUCH subtlety? Rollins. Speaking of forgetting did they forget that we have spent years watching Rollins and know that she really doesn't have any special insight to offer Benson here. Of course based upon the Jack The Ripper lecture they also seem to have distressingly little knowledge of forensic psychology and current theories and research for people who do what they do for a living. I mean this is something that in the old days they would have knocked out of the park with Huang. Carisi. Not any fault of him or PS. Just that they never bothered to come with anything for him to do other than be Rollins' husband and sit there looking appropriately happy, stern, concerned, etc. Benson again. A separate and special entry for the narration. What made them think we needed Benson as the voice of God? And they couldn't even be bothered to come up with a decent framing device? A shrink. Or at the end show her at Munch's grave telling him the story? Overall this was a resounding thud of an opener. Not a complete train wreck, but yet another example of a good idea for a case done badly. Hopefully this is not actually an agenda setting season premiere, but a (somewhat) shiny object designed to distract Mariska and get her stans back watching and posting online (on other platforms of course. Not talking about the discerning, intelligent, and good looking fans here who are much to sharp to fall for such a thing!) while they try to build upon having developed a workable creative model for the new budgetary reality and maybe actually develop some momentum. I worry that after Chernuchin and Leight 2.0 that they have given up on the idea of adult supervision for Mariska and we are sliding back towards the nadir of Season 18.

I really wonder how anyone could be convicted for murdering the president of Hudson University? I mean I would think any defense attorney who was halfway competent could have come up with reasonable doubt by linking the MO to one of the 987 other recent violent crimes connected to the school recently? Or by showing how many people had stronger motives? Oh well - being President of Hudson is like being drummer for Spinal Tap. You know the risks when you accept the gig.

It's an honor to have you joining us Mr. Scollins!

Yep. Franchise extension is nothing new. Even spin offs of spin offs with increasingly peripheral characters has a long and distinguished history. Especially with sitcoms. If the spin off is good we tend to forget that it started as a cash grab and if it's bad we tend to forget it ever existed. After all for every Fraiser there is at least one Tortellis... And since this is the media thread here is a very relevant news story to this conversation reinforcing @shapeshifter's point. Chuck Lorre to Receive Inaugural Norman Lear Award at Variety Showrunners Dinner

Well said. There is a difference between the show being centered on a star, and the show building up the lead by shoving anyone else down. Criminal Intent vs. SVU. Heck even Organized Crime which was designed as a Meloni vehicle from the start and lacks any other reason to exist has done more to have an actual ensemble, with the shedding of characters and cast having more to do with a lack of sustained coherent vision and characters having natural endpoints to their story. They even kept the original male co-lead who took focus from the lead around loooong past the natural endpoint to his story...

Yep - it's one of those show business terms like "Executive Producer" or "actively developing" that can mean anything or nothing. And as far as those initial departures are concerned I think you are oversimplifying a bit. Dzundza hated everyone from Dick Wolf down to the craft services team...

I agree that the new episodes are lacking in the legal area, but I don't know if it's a lack of knowledge since I've noticed a fair number of OG writers and producers involved. My guess is that it's more about a dilution of the writing talent pool due to the rise of streaming, along with the budget and running time cuts increasing the difficulty of doing it well (i.e. being required to do in hallway exposition what would have been done in the courtroom with extras and guest cast previously).

I'm not too worried about it. It's PR after all and many of the characters have had backstories and dynamics that were either adjusted or ignored as necessary. I mean if they were doing the same sort of story about Lennie Briscoe back in the day you would have probably had the same reservations and that turned out not too bad. Now here I agree completely! As most of us have said if they wanted to shake things up a bit they should have gone with the legal side. Maybe have Maroun get killed and then a disillusoned Shaw goes to work for the DA's office while one of the more popular characters from one of the other series in the franchise transfers to the 2-7. I mean how could that sort of thing NOT work?

I agree and thought they did a great job - I am not an expert in the language or culture, but grew up in the Mohawk Valley and have been exposed to quite a bit both reading and in person and thought they did a much better job than usual as far as being accuarate and respectful. I was a bit confused about why the Europeans were conquistadors instead of English, Dutch, or French though. My guess is that they wanted to tie in the lake to the Fountain of Youth so in this universe the Spanish ventured much further north. Or perhaps there was a more practical motivation such as having more ready access to Spanish voice acting talent than Dutch, or being wary of depicting the actual historical conflict. Has anyone seen any explanation for this from the creative team?

I just feel like there was so much potential that was wasted on trying to generate interest in his relationship with Benson and they never really rose to the challenge of writing a defense attorney who was also a good person respected by everyone involved. Adding him got me to watch during a period I had mostly checked out of the show, but it just never really clicked for me and I've enjoyed him more in just about everything else I've seen him in. To me making him try to elevate subpar dialogue with a useless scene partner over half of the time is a waste of his time and ours.

Not hard at all to believe you forgot. One of the worst crimes of later day SVU was utterly wasting Andre Braugher. I liked the idea and there were some good moments, but the writing was so often dull and Mariska was simply dreadful in just about all of her scenes with him. I mean it is hard not to have chemistry with Andre Braugher, but she managed. I mean when it comes to police shows on NBC in this decade, he had a better scene partner in a small dog than someone who thinks she should still be getting Emmy attention...

Some actual good news - ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’ Writer Shares Potential Streaming Update Following Andre Braugher’s Death

Yes it was a fictional character. Not sure if Colin was aware or not though. Some other sites have identified her as an occasional SNL extra. It threw me to as I had not heard of her and am reasonably familiar with both SNL and Civil Rights Movement history and had never heard of her, but the makeup, wardrobe, etc. was great plus the performer did a great job of not overplaying it in either direction (either taking offense or being to into it). Che does have a lot of abilty when he chooses to actually make an effort.

Camden Toy, ‘Buffy the Vampire’ Star, Dies at 68

Most likely it was not the writers, but the lawyers or the network weasels who changed the name. Or at least made the policies that changed the name. In general the rule is the name is kept if it's just a reference to add a dash of realism or instant relatability, and changed if it is related to a crime or other negative activity. With the notable exception that they don't bother coming up with fictional names for semi-failed states that harbor criminals such as Russia. Or New Jersey.

It won't be the first time that they have only had 4 main characters though. And it is definitely the way things are trending as this graphic reminds us - The cast shot from opening titles. Still version. 23 years of SVU And at least they seem to have a workable plan this time, with recurring cast in place who do not threaten Mariska's ego. Much better than just sticking Carisi in the surveillance van or interview room or having the Captain doing everything on her own. As far as what they are doing with Rollins I am pretty sure they are going to keep trying to convince she is some sort of high powered forensic psychologist despite everything we have ever seen on screen for years and having her do a few guest spots a year. All part of the overall plan to keep muddling along on the current course until Mariska quits/dies/demands so much money NBC cancels the show or network television completely collapses.

I think it's a little bit of both (unplanned absences and the desire to avoid creating a possible succession controversy) although I would like to point out that Jimmy Kimmel has used guest hosts. I do wonder how much of the move away from guest hosts, especially for unplanned breaks comes from the shift away from linear broadcast to internet clips of segments often tied strongly to the regular host? And many fewer live viewers meaning that there is not the same motivation to avoid reruns and lower ratings?

Stephen Colbert cancels ‘Late Show’ episodes after suffering ruptured appendix Somebody should tell Stephen that just because they won the strikes doesn't mean he HAS to use all the health insurance money this year...