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This was a really good episode after a few clunkers. I liked that they actually used the amazing ensemble case they've assembled instead of just an hour of the Frank and Danny Show. And it was exactly what I want and expect from this show - a well shot, well acted, hopelessly old fashioned, clumsily written drama that you can really enjoy as long as you don't think about it too much.

The thing is that Benson as protagonist and CO is a mistake. It just doesn't work for any number of reasons. If you don't want to change the formula at all ( for the millionth time go back and watch Jack McCoy as DA to see how it's done if you want your lead to stay more involved when taking over the senior role, but not ruin your story structure and realism) than don't. Keep Benson as Sgt. bring in a new CO and tell Mariska that she can't have everything she wants.

The Good: Rollins and Carisi and her baby. Resolved the "cliffhanger" right away, didn't try to set up new personal drama, and was very cute. Robert Sean Leonard's performance. Ice T's facial expressions. The Bad: No Barba. I understand the budget issues and RSL did a great job, but I still missed him and can't believe that it really saved that much money. The Dodds scene. It was clunky and unbelievable. And for the millionth time - why not bring him in as Lt./Captain? This is just one of the many many scenes that would work better if he was the CO. The boss might be a bit of an insensitive jackass about working mothers to Benson, but an ambitious underling? Really writers? The script was competent, but dull and used way too many overdone SVU tropes. A couple of seasons ago I would have been quite happy to see an episode like this, but the downside of getting your mojo back is that adequate isn't enough anymore. You've proven you can do better. The trailer. Let's hope the promo monkeys are faking us out again. Overall this was almost completely forgettable. Except for Robert Sean Leonard and Carisi holding the baby I don't think there was anything memorable at all, good or bad.

True, but it's not just using an opening crawl. It's an opening crawl in that font with the music (especially the music), the Jedi robes and lightsaber and other elements of Star Wars. At a certain point it goes beyond an open and shut parody and without Disney and Lucasfilm being on board it would become a very expensive legal matter. They have a great relationship with the BBT folks though and have worked with them in the past so it's not really an issue. As far as the show itself? After getting my chance to see the movie last night I'm just happy that I'll be able to watch the reruns without the after movie scene in the theater being completely unbelievable and throwing me out of the episode.

The creators of Batman openly acknowledged the Zorro influence and it's also been a story element in the comics and cartoons. And the whole discussion ignored a lot of crossover between various types of heroic characters. But Larry has always claimed to be a nerd and there is perhaps no better validation for that claim than making a sweeping statement about genre fiction and dismissing all counterarguments by defining your terms to include only what supports your thesis.

In the interest of fairness I have to give Ricky Velez credit - he was good on the panel last night. Maybe he is finally learning that you don't have to be an ignorant fool in the discussion just because you play it in your bits? You would think that watching Rory Albanese all this time he would have figured that out a lot sooner, but I'll take what I can get.

Did anyone else think that Johnny Galecki really seemed to be channeling Simon Helberg during the bit about how his voice goes up when he lies? The line delivery and facial expressions just really reminded me of him stylistically.

Because St. Benson truly cares. She understands the issues, and truly knows what victims need and how to punish the guilty. And our corrupt world can't tolerate that so TPTB will do everything they can to discredit her from the Chiefs at 1PP putting up roadblocks in her path to defense attorneys tearing her down in court. Or because it's something that Mariska finds interesting so Warren Leight is happy to beat us over the head with it like anything else she's wanted to do actingwise these last few seasons no matter how much sense it makes either internally or storywise...

The Good: Barba! Barba AND Carisi! Fin's facial expressions talking about and dealing with the auxilliary cop. Barba!! The acting from the guest cast and the returns of Wong and Sizemore. Barba!!! The Bad: I wasn't sure if Liv was supposed to be overreacting and handling this badly or if that was unintentional and just overplayed by Mariska. They really should have used Huang more. It would have been great to see him really smack her down in the elevator. The more the show keeps piling on the melodrama the less I care if Amanda's baby lives or dies. This was a really strong episode. It's good to see that they were saving Barba for something special.

It's always been there, but it wasn't every week and they used to mix in some naive fools who might have been idiots, but were at least well meaning. Witht the exception of African American clergy of course. I guess we should be grateful that they're not showing us officers being killed every week, because they aren't allowed to violate civil rights willy nilly.

Another steaming turd to add to the pile that is this season. It's slightly better than last week I guess, but that's not saying much. I don't expect much from the writing. I've always watched because it's well crafted, has a great cast, and sometimes it's nice to turn off your brain for an hour and watch something uplifting. But now we don't even have that. The serial killer mastermind seems like he wandered in from another show. Danny has always been a jerk, but now he's a complete asshole and the show seems to know and not care. Police critics used to be occasionally misguided and able to be persuaded of the error of their ways. Now they are always hypocritical zealots and it's an every week thing. And even when they have a potentially interesting and different plot like Jamie and the sergeant they seem to botch it as often as not. What started out as an interesting conflict ended up as bad melodrama and they missed the obvious chance to tie it in to Danny's issues with authority and taking unnecessary risks. The only bright spots for me were seeing Kathryn Erbe and Nikki's hair.

Unfortunately after the first few seasons they've been unable to tell the difference between showing a good cop adapting to the unique challenges of SVU and a blithering idiot who lacks many of the skills or traits needed to succeed in what's supposed to be an elite unit. They also seem to only define 2 or 3 character traits at most and run them into the ground. Apparently they think that we need to reminded that Sgt.Dodds is Chief Dodds son 3 times an episode or we'll forget. Exactly. If the network execs/producers/Mariska's ego can't handle going the Sam Waterston route and being more involved than previous squad leaders but not in the field or in every scene anymore they should have kept her a Sgt. and brought in a new CO. It's not only unrealistic it's bad from a storytelling POV. You lose opportunities for exposition when the detectives give progress briefings, to shorthand that a case is really important or politically sensitive (when Cragen or Van Buren showed up at a crime scene you knew it was special), for conflict (if Liv is at every interview and crime scene it's not realistic for her to have different ideas for how the case should have been pursued) etc. It's just a bad idea.

The Good: No Rollins and barely any mention of her pregnancy. Minimal Noah despite the preview. A solid (relatively) straightforward plot, well executed without trying to add too many twists. Carisi. The confession scene at the end. The Bad: No Barba. The parents. Not sure if it was the writing or the acting but they just didn't do it for me. They still haven't figured out Dodds. Part of that is probably just the usual SVU growing pains where nobody outside of the squad is knowledgeable or empathetic and they beat us over the head with one character trait for a season or two until they remember nuance and realism (if Carisi can graduate from grating goofball to awesome there's hope for Dodds) but it's still noticeable and a problem. Maybe just a few small adjustments like going an episode without "my dad says"? Once again why promote Liv and keep her in the field all the time? Another solid if unspectacular episode. Let's hope that the promos are just as misleading as last week's since an hour of St. Olivia and the Sledgehammer of Angst really doesn't thrill me. Even if Huang is back.

Why Ricky Velez why? This wrestling piece should be gold. The piece was still funny thanks to the guests, but if you can't be funny here you can't be funny anywhere. It's time to move on.

I think it's because Kevin Sussman does hangdog so well that they've gone a bit overboard. And given the size of the cast now there's been less of a need to do something else and realize it works which is how character development seems to happen on the show - they take what works and run with it until something else happens to score and then they pursue that.

I honestly think they don't care that much as they've had a lot worse said about them by people they care a lot more about. The benefit to the local industry of a highly rated network series filiming there is worth far more to them than any minor PR headache. And the show depicts the city as safe and the center of the world too which is also a lot more important. That would require a level of basic competence that the writing has yet to achieve this season. Leaving aside the issue of if Tom Selleck was willing to do it.

I think they had him say that for the audiences benefit. Sort of a hidden public service announcement. Yeah it's pretty common on SVU and rather annoying because it ends up making every new squad member look like an idiot. We just went through this with Carisi. And now it's Dodds turn. I really wish they'd find a new way, but I guess they figure that it's worked for 17 seasons so far...

The Good: Good acting from the guest cast. Carisi keeps being awesome. From fashion to police work to being the voice of common sense he's got it all covered. And he's good with kids too! The Bad: Why do they still insist on playing up the pontental conflict with new characters and beating us over the head with one or two character traits? Is this some sort of Dick Wolf edict? And speaking of Sgt Dodds. If Olivia is still going to be out in the field all the time why not bring in a new CO? The Amanda pregnancy plot continues to be both boring and overwrought somehow. The preview for next week? A whole episode focused on Noah? Really? I mean maybe we'll get lucky and he'll be brutally murdered but I doubt it. Overall it's a solid addition to the SVU renaissance - a well done ripped from the headlines story that doesn't try to do too much and just focuses on executing well.

Jessica Williams is something special and I don't think we can reasonably expect other young performers to be at her level. But it's not unreasonable to expect a greater maturity and a willingness to grow and change and develop your skills and voice. Like Jordan Klepper and other young Daily Show correspondents. I find it impossible to believe that there isn't another young latino commedian out there who could contribute more and be more willing to learn.

I miss the actors and what the characters started out as more than what he characters ended up as before they left, with the possible exception of Munch. I especially miss Cragen and think his departure did the most damage to the show. As hard as they tried to destroy his character and his status as an authority figure in the later years, they need someone filling the CO role to make the plots and the character dynamics work.

The Good: A more routine episode after the big opener and tbe run of heavy "Issues" episodes. Carisi's great season continues. Police work, fashion, everything seems to be firing on all cylinders for him. It was nice to see more Fin this week. And while he was hilarious as always ("I'll do it") it was good that he had other stuff to do too. The Bad: Rollins' tortured personal life is boring and has long since ruined the springs on my suspension of disbelief. No Barba. I'm not sure they have a real idea about the Sgt Dodds character beyond being the chief's son. Overall it was a perfectly competent episode, but not as well done as the last few weeks. Part of that is probably that there was a lot of housekeeping to take care of. And part is just the law of averages. If this is the quality of the off weeks I can definitely live with it.

Shooting to incapacitate doesn't work. Very very few are good are enough shots to accurately hit a non-lethal area, the situation is usually moving too fast for those who are or there are other obstacles (it's why they're always telling snipers on shows that they can shoot "if you get a shot") and even if you hit them there's often still a good possibility they can respond with deadly force. Police are always trained to aim for center mass and only when lethal force is justified because of this. It's one of things that the mothership handled a lot better - I remember the episode when Lupo & Bernard shot a suspect and Van Buren told them only 4 of their shots hit the perp. As far as the officer that only fired three times I believe they were inspired by actual shootings where there is sometimes a tendency to keep firing if others are and they were trying to introduce another shade of gray by bringing the issue of trigger discipline in to the mix. Basically it. Not a lawyer either, but have edited and fact checked articles on the law. Also I've watched just about all of L&O's 5000 episodes centered on proving intent ;-) In excessive force or self defense it's the difference between demonstrating that you should have known and acted recklessly and proving that you did know and intentionally harmed someone. I intended to shoot him and kill him if necessary because he was reaching for a gun vs. I intended to shoot/kill him knowing he posed no threat with some other motivation.

Have to agree with everyone that focusing on the likable characters made for a good episode. Don't know what was up - maybe Donnie Wahlberg was off working on one of his other projects or maybe he was home with Jenny and the kids (I hear they keep getting sick for some reason), but I hope it's not a one off. It would have been better if they could have found a way to work Len Cariou in to the FDNY plot, but it was still an enjoyable hour of television that made staying home with a sick dog a little more tolerable.

The more I think about it, the more I don't like the ending. After trying so hard to make both sides sympathetic, it seems dangerously close to endorsing the idea that real accountability for police leads to cops getting killed. I think finding out that the attacker had struck again or just leaving it open ended at the bar would have been a better finish and the extra minute or two from getting rid of the hospital scene could have been used to give the parents more time to explain why a "good kid" might run from the police or giving Fin a POV or adding another wrinkle or more depth somewhere.

I really wasn't worried that we were going to see this plot take over the show like Noah. And I was pleasantly surprised that the "mystery" was resolved this episode. The comparison was more that it's a running plotline that I have less than zero interest in - although I am slightly more interested now that it gives us a reason to see Declan come back. With you 100% although I prictured Noah and Ice T grilling a pimp in an alley. L&O: ABCs anyone? Maybe a summer series? Or Netflix? And I thought they were trying really hard not to lecture the audience this week or give us a clear take. The show has always had a tendency to be a bit didactic and became more heavy handed over the course of the run, but I think they've made a real effort to go away from that this season. It's almost felt like the early seasons of the mothership in trying to present multiple POVs and good and bad people on both sides. I do think they've made a mistake in giving us three "Issues" episodes in a row and not mixing in a straight up case of the week. I thought each of them was good, but it's a bit much and I'd like to see the same improved writing with something a little lighter.