jb1183

Agreed. It does feel like we're supposed to sympathize with her, but her endless pity party for herself and blaming other people for her life choices does not make for a likable character. She's honestly doing Chuck a favor by leaving him.

I feel like they did Chuck a bit dirty here. He's had very little screentime so far, but we hadn't seen anything up to this point to imply that he was a blithering idiot with no business sense. It's been consistently portrayed that Margaret and Todd both really like him and that he has been a loving, if not super exciting, husband to Allison. The writing for him in this episode felt like a retcon designed to make Allison's decision to divorce him more sympathetic. Also, Allison needs some antidepressants. She is so relentlessly mopey, miserable, and whiny that it's actually unpleasant to watch given how upbeat and lively the rest of the show is around her.

Long time lurker to this thread. Finally had to log in and vent. Mariska should have her Emmy from 15 years ago repossessed because of that ridiculous scream. I felt secondhand embarrassment for her, but I think she sees it as award-worthy acting. It's hard to believe this is still the same show that used to be so strong, capable of giving us complex, creepy, disturbing, and usually very well-acted and emotionally involving crime drama. Any bit of nuance and complexity went out the window quite a while ago and, at this point, the show has nothing new or interesting to say and has no other reason for continuing to exist other than that it still makes money for Dick Wolf and the network and because it is Mariska Hargitay's personal vanity project. The show has suffered tremendously from Mariska's ego and her apparent insistence that everything remain focused on Olivia at all times and that Olivia gets to be the hero at all times.

I want to echo the appreciation for the forum. More so than any show or movie I've watched in recent memory (and possibly ever) I really needed to hear other thoughts and perspectives to help me process what I was seeing. The conversation in these threads has been very thoughtful, intelligent, and respectful even in the face of differing viewpoints regarding complex and difficult subject matter. I really think this season is a text worthy of an in depth scholarly criticism. There's just been so much to analyze here. After sitting with the finale the past few days, I'm even more inclined than ever to declare the season a television masterpiece. And, yes, the public school and Sebastian subplots were mostly distractions and the season could have been stronger and tighter without them. But in the end, we got one of the most powerful, thought provoking, challenging, and haunting shows I've personally ever watched, and my minor quibbles seem very small in comparison to all the greatness. If I'm left with any disappointment it's my realization that, in this era of peak TV and the additional disadvantage of their youth and lack of name recognition, Connor Jessup and Joey Pollari will have a hard time getting the acting nominations that they both so richly deserve.

Well, whichever one of the actors your friend's son is, he did an incredible job!

This was pretty much the ending I was expecting and, although it was a bit more rushed than I would have liked, I'm satisfied. All season long, I wanted ANSWERS DAMMIT, but in the end I appreciate the ambiguity. This wasn't the strongest note to end on compared to the tremendous power of some of the earlier episodes, but I agree with Paul Quinn that this season deserves heaps of awards when the time comes.

I haven't ruled out Michael dying at some point, but I doubt it will be this season. I remember after the first five or so episodes of the series one of the entertainment sites had a poll "who do you want Jane to end up with?" and the results were approx. 65% for Raphael and 35% for Michael. That was back when everything was almost entirely slanted toward Jane/Raphael. Even with how Jane/Raphael heavy the rest of the season was, I have a feeling those numbers shifted to be much more even by season's end. I just don't see the show getting rid of Michael at this point. Personally, I'm an unabashed Jane/Michael shipper. I think they're better suited for each other, have much better chemistry, and I think Brett Dier typically acts circles around Justin Baldoni. Meanwhile, I don't think Baldoni is ever better than in scenes with Yael Grobglas, so I'm also rooting for Raphael/Petra. But, of course, the relationship merry go round is going to keep spinning.

The beginning of this promo shows Eric being led away by police while his father protests.

Since this was suggested in a post I happened to see earlier: If there's one thing that I think the audience can accept conclusively at this point it's that Taylor is not being (and has not been) intentionally deceitful regarding what he experienced at the party. Whether there are other truths he is not aware of is still an open question, but to have Taylor suddenly be revealed as a liar would contradict everything we have seen of his story so far and does not seem like a direction this socially conscious show would go in. As to whether Taylor should be questioned on whether he wanted to have sex with Eric and/or was attracted to him, we already know the answer is "yes" to both questions. In fact, I think part of why this was so painful for Taylor (besides the obvious trauma of sexual assault) is that he seems to have had real feelings for Eric. Between his "Eric made me feel safe" remark to the police, the look on his face when Eric called him to lure him to the rec center and then him immediately going over there despite that not being an especially wise choice, it's clear there was a strong pull on Taylor's end that went beyond casual hookup. I don't think it makes Taylor hypocritical or lessens the traumatic impact on him that he simultaneously feels abused and violated while continuing to struggle with feelings for the person he believes to be his violator. I rewatched some scenes from earlier episodes today and I found myself fixating on the detail of Eric having driven Taylor and Evy home from the party. It reminds me of one of those seemingly minor details in mystery stories that gets put out there a few times and not dwelt on too much that ends up being very significant later. Because it's not really a necessary part of the story. They could have just as easily written Evy as having called a cab or something to get them home. It seems to imply some level of care and concern on Eric's part. We'll see. I just hope lingering questions like that are adequately addressed in the finale rather than spending the whole hour on whether Kevin and Becca end up facing repercussions for their misdeeds.

I may be conflating the Evy aspect with other things that were said, but I thought a big part of the choice to hook up at the party was the risk and thrill factor. Maybe Evy's presence wasn't specifically part of the "thrill," but I feel comfortable in categorizing bringing her there as a reckless disregard for her. If the planned encounter hadn't gone in a catastrophically wrong direction, would he feel as bad about it as he does now? I don't know. But my heart absolutely goes out to Taylor. No foolish or selfish decision justifies what has happened to him. When I saw the previews at the end of last week, I thought Mrs. Sullivan was going to Anne out of a crisis of conscience. That character arc seems more appropriate given how her character has been developed so far, so I was definitely surprised by how that played out instead. And, yes, it's one of the few character moments throughout that hasn't rang true.

Evy can be a bit much at times and I think the actress overacts a tad, but I don't fault her for still holding a lot of anger at Taylor, even with all that's happened. Even if we give him somewhat of a pass for being an insecure teen struggling with his sexuality, bringing her to the party for the thrill of having sex with a guy right under her nose was an astonishingly callous thing to do. Sure, it's uncomfortable to see Taylor have more things heaped on him than he already has at this point, but I get where she's coming from. She's been hurt and betrayed a lot worse than half the other characters throwing themselves pity parties on this show. I'm looking at you, Dan Sullivan and Eric's mom. In the end, I think Anne is really the only character I take no issue with and who has done or tried to do the "right" thing at every turn. As much as other characters and Taylor himself keep bringing up Anne "leaving him", it sounds like she had mental health issues that needed to be treated and she placed him in the care of people she trusted until she got herself stable. She didn't abandon him on a street corner to fend for himself, so it bugs when people act like that was anything other than responsible and loving parenting.

Well stated and I agree with a lot of it. Honestly, though, the show has purposely muddied the waters throughout to such an extent that I'm not sure I will be able to accept Eric's guilt definitively without a similar statement from him.The term "reasonable doubt" comes to mind frequently when watching this show. I've wondered since a few episodes back if what the show was going for was a situation where both victim and accused completely believe their version of events, even though, of course, both can't be true. In some ways, I think I'm playing right into the writer's hand in acknowledging that I don't WANT Eric to be guilty, for reasons that you stated very articulately above. The writers have basically invited us to hope Eric isn't guilty, which is what society basically does in the case of accused rapists. I have resisted all along thinking Taylor lied about the rape (because why in the world would he? He's lost more than anyone in all of this.), but Eric's innocence would pretty much depend on Taylor having lied. I actually think it's to the credit of the social consciousness of the show to portray a (possible? likely?) rapist in the three dimensional way they have because thinking of rape and sexual misconduct as something only evil bogeymen could ever possibly be capable of really hinders honest and constructive conversation on how to dismantle rape culture and address issues of consent. So if Eric is definitely guilty, I hope this will be clarified in no uncertain terms in scenes with him before the final fade to black.

Oh yes, definitely. I actually resented how much time was taken up with that story in this episode with so many other threads of greater interest still unresolved and with so little time left in the season. I wholeheartedly agree with whoever wrote in the last episode thread that Elvis Nolasco should have been cast as Kevin's father, as he's an overall stronger actor than the one playing the dad, and the principal subplot could have been dropped to provide more time to dig deeper into the main storyline.

Joey Pollari is just KILLING IT as Eric. Connor Jessup seems to be getting most of the (richly deserved) critical raves, but I think Pollari has been every bit his equal in what is in some ways a more difficult role. Eric very well may be a rapist (though I hope not and I seriously doubt we'll ever know for sure), but I truly care about him, deeply flawed as he is, and that's all because of Pollari's performance. And the fact that Eric, a very possible rapist, is easily one of the top five most likable characters at this point really indicates how far into the gutter all the rest have descended.

I've grudgingly accepted that we're never going to get full clarity on what happened at the party, however much we may want it. For this show, the emotional fallout and impact is more important than the cold, hard facts. It's a shame because, as bold a move as the shooting was and as brilliantly executed and marvelously acted as the fallout has been, the questions and issues surrounding the rape accusations were the most compelling aspect of the season and I'd have preferred the focus remain there. These misgivings don't stop me from continuing to be in awe of the writing and performances and from thinking this season has been some of the finest TV I've watched in a very long time. But I do wish I was more confident that we'd end the season with even slightly more answers about what happened that night than when we started. And if the season really does end without Taylor and Eric ever once occupying the same frame, my TV viewing life will forever feel incomplete. But it's looking less and less likely with every passing episode.