MyrtleGroggins

Sorry to go off on a bit of a tangent, but a question has been bothering me recently. Where are Tyrion Lannister's bastard children? Why haven't we heard of *any*? The only other (male) characters that seem to have as much sex as Tyrion were Robert Baratheon and Oberyn Martell, and they both have LOADS of random kids running around, some recognized, some not (both in book and show). I can see a few possibilities as to why we haven't been introduced to Tyrion Jr., but none are wholly satisfactory to me: 1. Because he's a dwarf, and thus hated generally by society (sad, but true in Westeros), anyone who might become accidentally pregnant would be sure to abort the fetus lest it also be a dwarf (which is not at all how genetics works in the real world, of course, but clearly nobody would be expected to know that given the story's setting). 2. At this point, Tyrion has only had sex with prostitutes . (Is this true? I can't remember if any non-brothel-related shenanigans are mentioned...) If a child had resulted from a liaison with a higher-born woman, perhaps there would be greater impetus to recognize (though probably not legitimize) the child, in part to take advantage of the wealth and opportunities that the Lannisters could theoretically provide. (Though, by that measure, I would expect at least one or two instances of pregnant prostitutes trying to get some support from the Lannisters, but who knows, maybe that did happen and we just didn't hear about it.) 3. For whatever reason, Tyrion is infertile. Sort of a boring reason, but heck, could be true. Granted, one could argue against that given the discussion between Tywin and Tyrion about the latter's ability to provide a new Lannister heir when married to Sansa Stark. 4. Given his low-ranking position in the family, any bastard children wouldn't be recognized unless he becomes the family's sole heir or the head of Casterly Rock, etc. I'm not sure that this holds water, as characters more removed from the monarchy (such as Roose Bolton/Ramsay Snow, , and various other Flowers, Waters, and such that I can't remember off the top of my head) crop up with moderate frequency. There are even a couple of Hills (the name for Lannister bastards, IIRC) that show up, so it's not a "Lannisters don't play the bastard game" thing. 5. There is/are bastard child(ren), and they may later come into play in the plot. Because we clearly need more characters. Anyway, weird musings about the character, but since the topic struck me, it's been bothering me! I'd love to hear people's theories on the subject! Apologies if this has already been discussed someplace, but I didn't find it in my searches of the boards... P.S. Sorry for the weird spoiler tagging - I tried to tag things that were in the books but differed from the direction of the show. P.P.S. I feel like I've written a really angry post, given the frequency with which I typed "bastard"! :D

Loved the episode for the most part (Andre Braugher is awesome!!), and in theory, I like an ambiguous ending. However, in the specific case of What Happened That Evening In Question, the (probably coached) 6 year-old Michelle's testimony is that her father attempted intercourse with her (followed by digital penetration) and it "hurt a lot." Yet, there is nothing presented from the doctor's testimony that would indicate vulvar/vaginal trauma, and THAT fact didn't ring true to me if she were assaulted that evening. If it had been digital penetration only, then I could see discomfort without overt signs of trauma, but there were no further mention of abnormalities found during the pelvic exam, and I find it difficult to believe that there would be no evidence found given the allegations as presented. ::climbs off medical soapbox:: Or maybe the doctor subscribed to the same "Let's be as awful at our jobs as humanly possible" newsletter that the father's original lawyer publishes. I guess I would've found it a more plausible ambiguous ending (...that sounds weird) if it were fairly clear-cut that on THAT NIGHT, the father hadn't done anything, but perhaps he or some other party (the shady detective, perhaps?) had assaulted her, and she had difficulty remembering what exactly happened when. I'm surprised that we didn't see testimony (or at least an evaluation) by a psychiatrist/psychologist, who might have shed light onto Michelle's memory, and whether some component of her waffling at the end was truly just her predilection for being a people-pleaser, or if she truly had doubts about the veracity of her story. Also, bonus opportunity to see either B.D. Wong or J.K. Simmons!!

Sorta following from the topic of how insane the Nathan Fillion/Alan Tudyk Indiegogo campaign has become... Seamus Dever *also* has an Indiegogo project in the works, called "The Extraordinary Farewell": https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-extraordinary-farewell/x/10129529 It's a movie to be filmed (this summer, I believe) about a magician (Dever) and a reporter and her son, and what sounds like the culmination of a Faustian bargain that the magician made many years ago. I tossed a few bucks at it and hope that it gets made (they have three or four more weeks left, and they've raised about half of their goal thus far). Seamus is posting updates once or twice a week, which is pretty fun (: ETA: Or, y'know, I could post a FUNCTIONAL link. Sigh.

ONLY if it comes with a selection of fancy suits, a yachting outfit (...not HIS yacht), and a cup of coffee permanently attached to his hand! :D

I agree, the episode was...fine. Not spectacular, by any means, but happily, not a total trainwreck. And I'd much rather have a solidly OK episode to close out the season than yet another dreadful "dramatic" cliffhanger in a desperate attempt to keep viewers interested over the summer! You know, until you mentioned this, it didn't strike me, but it was a totally cruddy thing to do to Liv to basically press-gang her into being a foster mom by asking her in the courtroom if she was willing to do so - how would it look if she just said "no, thanks"? The judge didn't know for sure what Liv's plans were, and it would have been much more sensitive to bring up the subject in chambers. It all worked out fine because Liv was actually interested in fostering the kiddo, but yikes! And I am 100% in agreement with your list of requests for next season, Desperately Random! Particularly as regards Barba and Fin, and I'd add in a few guest appearances from Munch, and maybe a quick visit from Cragen! (: One thing that I worry about is whether TPTB might get it in their heads to bring back Stabler (and I do hesitate to reopen THAT can-o'-worms-y topic) in a guest spot as a way to boost ratings next season. Though that would absolve them of having to put yet another detective in peril for a ratings spike. A return of Stabler could be really interesting, but might be written very very poorly. Also, I have no idea if Meloni has any ongoing projects right now that would compete.

Only if Liv dresses up as Officer Pain for the encounter :D In all seriousness, Liv/Barba would feel a wee bit soap-operaish to me (in the manner of "let's throw together these two, we haven't tried that pairing yet" storytelling). That's not to say I wouldn't watch the heck out of Sassy Relationship Drama if that's the direction that the writers take next season, because I unabashedly love me some SnazzTacular Barba and his Suspenders of Power*. Also, it's not exactly the greatest time to start a new romantic relationship when you're suddenly learning how to deal with baby-related antics. But, if the writers can handle the balance without sending Liv into a raging power-bitch slash weepy overwhelmed high-profile female boss death spiral, I'm totally on board the Tugboat of Barson Love (but, knowing the writers, I won't hold my breath). Barson? Benba? Ew, not Benba, that sounds like a tropical disease. Heh, Rolivia! For my part, my wee discussion of "friends who have sex with each other and that's it" wasn't specifically in regards to Bensidy, just a general observation of life. And I fervently hope that those who are in long-term relationships consider their partners their friends! The alternative is depressing! Similarly, most humans have many people in their lives whom they love without being in love with them. Every good childhood/school friend, the coworker that you always giggle with, your totally crazy extended family, even the cherished family pet - these are all individuals that, to some degree, you love (you must love them all a little, to keep on putting up with their inevitable annoying quirks for so long!). And in the best-case breakup scenario, this can happen too - people still love and value their former partners, but no longer want to share every aspect of their life with them. Back to specifics, I don't think the most recent iteration of Bensidy was ever meant to be "friends with benefits" in the traditional sense. However, I did not appreciate any evidence of great love or romance developing in the relationship. Looking back to Season 1, both were basically new kids on the block (as was the show!), but Liv was the more "hardened" of the two, shutting down the idea of the relationship before it really got off the ground. Cassidy, meanwhile, was written as the more innocent, sensitive, and naive of the two, and this sensitivity prompted him to leave the unit because of the stress of the caseload. Fast forward to Season Whatever-teen** when he returns. Suddenly, Cassidy has been transformed from the sweet, sort of bumbling guy into a street-wise tough guy, seemingly sporting emotional callouses from all his time doing undercover/narcotics work. Liv's characterization varies depending on the phase of the moon and whether she's supposed to like the victim that week, so it's a little hard to pin down. Interestingly (to me), Liv is still the instigator here; while in the S1 scenario she shut down the idea of the relationship, in SXtina she was the one to make the first move towards re-booting Bensidy. Personality-wise, the fit is still a little wonky, but we don't see enough of their non-work time for me to make any sort of accurate assessments of their home life. Both have pursued career advancement (Liv working towards Sergeant, Cassidy taking undercover assignments), but their personal goals are strikingly different (Liv wanting family, Cassidy wanting to be unshackled from familial responsibilities). That's not to say that the Bensidy relationship was in any way invalid; as many have articulated, it appears that the principal driving force in rekindling the relationship was support through trauma. However, that can be a shaky foundation as the scars from the traumas heal, if there is no further basis for the relationship. To me, it was never really portrayed that a great love was brewing. They looked to each other for comfort when they were at their lowest points, but as time moved on, it seemed as though they got less invested in the relationship. We spent a minimum amount of time with Cassidy, so I don't have a great handle on his perspective, but from what we saw from Liv's side (the phone arguments, the total lack of compromise on weekend activities that will inevitably be cancelled due to finding a dead body, the lack of trust when Cassidy was undercover dealing with prostitutes and the reciprocal lack of understanding why Liv just MIGHT have a little problem with listening to her SO receiving oral sex from a third party) all culminated in a foundering relationship. Furthermore, I didn't see any spark of a more sedate love (hard to portray on TV, perhaps?) characterized by devotion, loyalty, intimate knowledge*** of all the details - great and small - of each other's life stories, unfailing steadiness as the touchstone in each other's lives when the rest of the world is chaotic, and unquestioned security. There may be no great passion in that sort of love, but it is a form that can bind more irrevocably than a standard fairy-tale epic romance. From what I saw, the relationship had run its course; their goals were too different in life to warrant further pursuit. And, in some ways, that's a measure of love as well - if demanding a fundamental change of one's character/beliefs/goals is the only way to ensure that a relationship may survive, it is a far more emphatic declaration of, if not love, at least sincere respect, to mutually end the relationship so as to not force one or both people to make sacrifices that may cost them their happiness. Dang, I got wordy again. Well, he IS Mayhem, after all. Crashing is sort of his forte. Like all things, Mayhem lives on in the vast Internet wasteland: http://www.allstate.com/mayhem-is-everywhere.aspx EVERYWHERE... * I have this Rare Disease that makes me Capitalize Words Inappropriately. There is currently no Cure for this disease; however, with Proper Treatment, I may avoid progression into Full-Blown CAPSLOCK RAAAAAAAAAAAGE. ** I am too lazy to actually look up the season, and yet wrote this footnote. *** I swear that I don't mean to innuendo-ize these things, but sometimes my brain has a mind of its own!

It's always Mom, off in the corner, running the show! It would be nice for her plotline to come back again, perhaps mid-season, once we've forgotten about her a little bit. Y'know, just as long as she doesn't leave a dead hooker's dead baby in Liv's bed, that would be a bit too morbid (and SO 2012, though I don't know if the writers remember previous seasons, based on the current season's writing...) How awesome would it be if they copped to it: "Since we've just doomed you to die a grisly death (now that we've given you our assurances that you/your family/your spoon collection is totally safe), shall we just save some time and angst and shoot you now?" For all we know, Liv's had a slew of relationships that were just never featured on screen. Or she had a long-distance thing going for a while. Or she decided that she wanted to take a break from dating for a while. Or she was dating a lady and didn't want to deal with harassment at the office. Or she moonlights as a dominatrix under the pseudonym of Officer Pain. I don't take the lack of focus on or discussion of relationships as evidence that they're NOT ongoing, except when it's explicitly stated. So, for Liv, it's true that her longest relationship was with Stabler (as she stated) - but that doesn't mean (to me, anyway) that she didn't have (a) relationship(s) with someone who was simply unremarkable and unnecessary to the part of the life that we see - perhaps the person wasn't affiliated with the legal or orderly systems, didn't have a sixth cousin serving a sentence at Rikers for drug dealing, and worked 3rd shift, so couldn't hang out at most social events. You know, boring, and regular. As a parallel, we almost NEVER see or hear about the personal lives of the DAs over the years (except for Jack McCoy on the mothership...) but that doesn't mean that they don't exist. The only one I remember off hand from SVU was the implied relationship between Casey Novak and Chester Lake, but I can't recall any details from any of the others. I sometimes wish that they never featured home/intimate relationships at all in this type of program (i.e. police-procedural and their ilk), except in the most vague and minor ways, like Munch cracking jokes about his bevy of ex-wives, Stabler grousing about how much school supplies cost, an off-hand comment about a blind date here or there, and that sort of thing. I like that the detectives are (sort of) portrayed as real people, but I want to see how their interpersonal work relationships play out; I'd rather they leave the family stuff at home and stick to the cases and the friendships (or animosities!) between the principal players. When the coworkers start seeing each other, it gets muddier, but that's true of real life as well. The timing really could just be a coincidence. Also, time is awfully fluid in the SVU-verse - Bensidy might have been broken up for a month or two by the time Baby Doe/Noah was bequeathed unto Liv. She's been following his case throughout the season, but I doubt that the family court judge had some sort of Bensidy Bat-Signal that indicated when the relationship was done and the time was right to foist the kid off onto Liv. Also, sometimes friends do have sex (once, many times, and everywhere in between*) and remain just friends. Not always, and it takes a lot of communication to make sure that all parties are on the same page, and it's definitely not for everyone, but it does happen, and can be perfectly normal and functional. In some ways, the wee bairn is going to give Liv completely pure and unconditional love - to a baby, its parental figure is basically its whole world. Granted the baby is also going to give unconditional crying and a seemingly inhuman amount of bodily fluids and poop, as well. Also, I hope that the writers are clued in enough to either allow Liv and the baby to bond and have a happy life (and figure out the work/life balance thing), OR that if they plan to pull the rug out later in the series and take the baby back for some reason (CrispyMama is still actually alive, alien invasion, whatever), that in the time leading up to that, Liv is smart and guards herself as much as she can to not get too attached to the kiddo. I just don't want to see baby-induced anguish as the next season's "dramatic" overtone - Liv has had enough cruelty inflicted on her by the writers over the years. It's time for her to be content for a while. Keep the sadness to the victims' stories, writers! Hmm. Apparently I had a lot of words about this. AND ON THIS DAY, BREVITY DIES. * Upon re-reading, that sounded much more salacious than I had intended it to! Nudge nudge, wink wink

Well, since it's been strongly implied that they're sleeping together (unless Amaro makes it a habit of hanging about his coworkers houses half naked, and we've only just recently seen it), I'm glad she at least seems to like him, and they aren't just using each other for sexytimes. Not that there's anything wrong with that (if both parties are into it), but to go to all the trouble of hiding a workplace relationship, I'd hope they were at least a bit fond of each other. It's awfully mean of me, but I hope that if Donal Logue's new show isn't spectacular and life-changing, that it gets cancelled early in the season and he comes back to SVU. /I'mAHorriblePerson

...and your totally stylin' Selling-The-Lonely-Irishman-Look Undercover PowerSweater. Lots of loose ends entangled together, if not exactly tied up in this episode. I did like the return of TallDude McLawyerPants, though they seemed to lay it on a little thick with the whole overly concerned/he's-totally-into-Liv bits. The Return of Munch was great. I would be delighted to have a soupçon of Munch every couple of episodes next season, just to add a bit of snark and levity to the gang. Happy Ending Babycakes was fine, if—like Sars said—it means an end to the ticking of the biologic doomsday plot device. It was a nice change of form compared to last year's psycho cliffhanger finale. The only thing I didn't like: the gratuitous lack of Barba in the episode! Why make him a regular character if he doesn't show up as much as he did last season? They couldn't flash him by in a polka-dot tie for three minutes to make us all happy? Le sigh.

Okay, the line from Sars's recap that still has me giggling? "But it's Amaro, so nobody really listens to him, and overall that's fine by me." Heh, awesome. Anyway, the episode was interesting, but—pardon me a wee rant for a moment—are TPTB allergic to showing the closing arguments these days? They could've cut two minutes of ANYTHING else and just shown highlights of Barba's and Cohen's final statements so we weren't going into the verdict blind. Y U NO WRITE SUMMATIONS, SVU WRITERS? I WANT TO BASK IN THE GLORY OF BARBA'S SNARK AND SPIFFY SUITS! ::incoherent sounds of rage:: As for Murphy's discussion with Rollins about authority figures, I took it to mean that he thought she had a blind spot because she looked up to them (and thus was predisposed to presume their innocence...which, granted, should be done of all potential suspects, but whatever), not because she had intimate relationships with them. Meanwhile, the second the "ugly duckling" sister came on the screen, I was all "Okay, what is her role? Did she coach the kid? How does she fit into this mess, because clearly she can't just be an innocent bystander." Oh well, I suppose they don't have the luxury of introducing lots of superfluous characters to mask those who are actually important and add a minor air of mystery. Le sigh. If nothing else, I'm excited for all the guest stars next week! And BD Wong is back!! GLEE!!

A follow-up on the issue of restitution brought up in this episode. As of now, it looks as though a victim cannot claim the full amount of assessed restitution from a single defendant (presumably unless agreed to in a plea deal). Glad the episode came out when it did - I'm not sure they could've reworked it (or they would've had to write a much sadder ending!)

The brothers were going to commit insurance fraud by killing the herd of cows (in, quite frankly, the *stupidest* way possible, in terms of getting caught and unnecessarily risking human lives). The previously incarcerated anarchist brother (Eugene) had conspired with the farmer brother (Bart) to destroy the herd to collect about $2 million in insurance money. Eugene had planned to double cross his known anti-government friend (Joe Bay) who was under the impression that he and Eugene were getting the anthrax to send to the government. Then, when the sample of anthrax was intercepted and was all over the news, Bart killed his brother to set him up to take the blame for the whole thing. Unfortunately, Bart was a bit of an idiot and hid the excess anthrax in his mother's attic (!?!) for future cow-poisoning purposes. Yep.

Sherlock also mentioned to Joan at one point that he was trying to figure out why, after so long, Alistair relapsed. In part, I think, so his logical mind could try to come to terms with the tragedy, but (I can't remember if he said this out loud or if it was just implied) so that he could avoid falling into the same trap. Sherlock's sobriety is young, compared to Alistair's, and I think Sherlock was hoping that the daily realities of sobriety might become more normal and habituated as time goes on and that his risk for relapse would concurrently decrease. Alistair's return to drug use likely caused a frisson of realization on Sherlock's part that he will always be a recovering addict and never truly be safe from the possibility of relapse, and that was not something he had previously considered. I really, really liked the scene at the graveside. The way JLM's voice catches as he says "...and I wanted you to know that you'll be missed" is just ... right. ::wibbles::

Twitter is media, right? Sure it is! So, I find it kind of fun to watch a new episode when writers, producers, and actors are livetweeting - the experience is somewhat like a terribly organized and moderately repetitive episode of MST3K. However, Warren Leight and co. are promoting a campaign at the moment to get fans to livetweet during the reruns for the next two weeks, which I find interesting - apparently, "trending on twitter" carries some weight in the world of renewals, so if they can get interest, good for them. And then just a little bit ago, he posts a-like so: No, Warren, I wasn't keeping score. I get wanting to promote one's creation and rally support, but these seemed a little mean-spirited to me. In the first, does he expect another network to pick up his show? Neither of those are NBC's! And in the second, way to throw your lead-in show and entire network under the bus. Oy.

Aw, I would totally visit Sociopath Disney World! So, I wonder whether they're going to leave the Is Chilton Alive Or Dead Door open. There's a few ways in which they could slam it shut: if he undergoes an autopsy (unless this turns into the X Files when Dr. Du Maurier reappears), or if people just come right out and say "Oh, hey, he's still alive...should we send him a card or something?" Will had a line of dialogue that was not hopeful for his survival, but not conclusive, I suppose (something along the lines of "Miriam had to take his life in order to reclaim her own," though he could be speaking conceptually rather than definitively. I suppose if they just don't say anything one way or another for a while, it might be a surprise if he pops back up again, but it would be weird to me if Chilton were the subject of a pretty serious investigation and nobody mentions whether or not he's, you know, breathing. Maybe they'll just stick him in a Convenience Coma until they decide whether they want to keep using Chilton in the story. I can buy the Homicidal Orderly still being alive and just not coming up in conversation, since his story was mostly clear by the time he was shot. ETA: I read "Hannibal's Magical Feats" as "Hannibal's Magical FARTS" twice now, and it has made me giggle inappropriately both times. Maybe that's how he subdues everyone prior to hacking them to bits! :D

The identification of the Ripper was one general concept that I found interesting, because Mads Mikkelsen sounds like nobody else on the show; though maybe he has linguistic powers to mimic other accents and intonations that they haven't shown us thus far (I didn't think he sounded any different when he spoke through the door to the FBI). Didn't Chilton accuse Hannibal of saying very little during their discussions about psychic driving (implying that Chilton spoke a lot) - perhaps Hannibal took the opportunity to record Chilton saying the exact words that he would later use on Miriam! Also, as to the Homicidal Space Wizardry Whilst Wounded, Hannibal's wrist wounds, while likely painful, should just need to be bandaged well to keep the sutures intact during heavy lifting. The skin of the forearms doesn't move much during the motion of lifting/carrying/setting up beautiful tableaux of dead persons, as long as you can avoid torquing the skin through friction on the objects being carried. Wounds over joints or in other high motion areas (along the sides of the chest or abdomen, for instance) are areas much more likely to be prone to increased tension on sutures through more routine motions or exercise. Try it - pinch the skin on your inside forearm and then flex your elbow, then do the same thing with the skin over the back of your hand and wiggle your fingers see the difference in force! Depending on the extent of Chilton's wounds, however (particularly on how much damage was done to the abdominal muscles during his abdominal exploration or the subsequent repair), he might not actually have the strength to lift heavy objects if his abs are still healing.

I actually thought this was great. Frequently, those we care about experience sadness with which we can sympathize despite not having the same connection with the involved parties. We didn't need to love Alistair like Sherlock did to be able to keenly appreciate his grief and frustration at the loss of his friend. I felt like I was watching two separate episodes - the anthrax plot was just so silly compared to Sherlock's drama! Seriously, like Julian mentioned in the recap, cows dying of anthrax wouldn't cause people to "not blink an eye," it would be a big flipping deal! Also, for that may animals to be affected in that manner, there's no way it wouldn't be considered an act of domestic terrorism, miring the farm in endless investigation. And the Obviously Evil Brother didn't strike me as the brightest knife in the deck, so that sort of works with the not-well-thought-out details of the nonsensical plot.

Okay, upon first watching this I missed the full glory of the guy on the table sporting every pointy object from Chilton's kitchen drawers: Also, he managed to get quite a bit bloodier between that shot and the next time we see him: And why is his hand so bloody? Did Hannibal hide Chilton's car keys next to the transverse colon of the disemboweled agent? o.O

Based on this article and a number of Bryan Fuller's tweets tonight, I'm not writing Chilton off completely. I am now holding out hope that he will be the Lazarus of the series, coming back sometime in the next season or two (once Hannibal has been caught) with one kidney and a wicked scar on his cheek to twist the proverbial knife while Hannibal is incarcerated. FYI, the linked article contains details from today's episode and brief, mild spoilery-type musings about the rest of the season.

Also, where did Chilton think he was successfully escaping to with only, what $430 in cash? New Jersey? I admit, I laughed out loud at the audible disdain with which his personal effects were enumerated during his intake. I am also looking forward to how these sessions transpire - one giant game of cat and mouse!

Somewhere in the middle of this episode I decided it was wiser to just go ahead and abandon my concept of reality and enjoy the pretty. I am now totally convinced that Hannibal is a super ninja time-manipulating wizard from space. Did he just go ahead and answer Chilton's door all bedecked in his murderin' garb, invite the nice FBI fellas in for tea, and then hypnotize all of them so he could leisurely kill and disembowel them? Why is Chilton's house so intensely white? That just invites horrific murders to better highlight the arterial spatter patterns! Why is Chilton's guest room in the basement, and how did he not notice the giant truck outside that must have been present for Hannibal to outfit all the nice incriminating details? (Wait, space wizard, right.) But seriously, guest bedroom in the basement, across from the ... wine cellar? Did he keep his houseguests moderately chilled? I can understand Miriam's anger towards Chilton, given her implanted memories (nice going, space wizard!), but HOLY HELL that was a one-in-a-million shot, and through glass, no less! Chilton, you were the unluckiest son-of-a-gun ever. Meanwhile, Will reuniting with his dogs may have been the sweetest thing ever (at least in the realm of the Hannibal-verse).

But surely Hannibal must know that Chilton can't keep his trap shut about his theories and thus will have confided his suspicions to Jack. Therefore, he would be wise to lay low and play the psychological game for a while, undercutting Chilton's threat by making him appear (more) foolish and discrediting his theory. If Chilton were to disappear mysteriously, followed by Hannibal inviting Jack over for steak-and-remaining-kidney pie with a side of feisty tongue, Hannibal would simply be asking for a more thorough investigation of his person and premises. If, however, he can somehow convince people that Gideon has escaped with an accomplice (instead of being abducted), perhaps he could craft a story where Gideon seeks his pound of flesh from Chilton for his treatment during his incarceration, and quietly take Chilton out of the picture that way...

The character of Chilton has grown on me more and more this season - I appreciate his moments of snark to inject a bit of levity into the beautifully grim mood the show establishes. So perhaps I'm biased because I don't want Chilton to die (yet), but I wonder if the overhyping of Chilton's Imminent Death in the recent promos is just a red herring to get us worried and throw us off the track of the real victim! As much as I adore Gillian Anderson, my gut is telling me that she might be on the chopping block this season (and clearly I've been watching too much Hannibal, because I can't stop making food/cannibal puns).

I haven't watched this season in a while, but man, "Badlaa" gives me the heebies just thinking about it now! The general premise is total bugsqueak insanity, of course, but just the concept of Deep Roy crawling inside corpses and using mystical legless beggar powers to briefly reanimate them? ::shudder:: The rest of the season was pretty solid for me, but that one - oof. I still get a bit shifty-eyed when I hear a set of squeaky wheels and don't immediately recognize the source. The other ep of the season that also creeped me out more than others was Roadrunner ... scary cult (check), Ceti Eel variant (check), middle of flippin' nowhere (check) - okay, time to hide under the quilt!

I am going to presume that we can now talk about the ending of this ep without spoiler tags. So, I honestly don't get why Lewis shot himself. He's been consistently portrayed throughout his arc as a sadistic sociopath, and as a person who is very much pro-self and able to talk his way out of anything in order to succeed. He did have that moment of goading Liv to shoot him when he was handcuffed to the bed, but that seemed more in tune with expertly reading Liv's fragile emotional state and knowing that she would (very likely) not actually kill him. So why did he shoot himself in their final standoff? Given his track record, I'm actually a bit surprised that the gun didn't jam or misfire, allowing him to survive yet again. He looked a bit as though he was setting up a shot that would kill both of them, but clearly that didn't happen. But why take his life at all? He didn't appear to be the martyr type - if he had killed Liv (or she had shot herself during the russian roulette standoff) he could play the "she shot herself out of guilt for perjuring herself and getting caught" card, which (particularly if Liv had shot herself) might just possibly be grounds for reasonable doubt. With what we saw of Lewis and his general enjoyment of d*cking people around at his last trial, I would think he would relish the opportunity to represent himself at his trial for Liv's murder. He would have loved to continue his tradition of fabricating grandiose tales in the courtroom and would have reveled in the palpable anguish such a trial would cause Barba and the SVU squad. Now, of course, there would be about seventeen pounds of DNA evidence against him from his rape and murder spree, but his luck should allow a radioactive pigeon to fly into the crime lab and taint the evidence or somesuch nonsense. Also, unless MH was planning to leave the series, this plot line clearly wouldn't work, so there's that (: One last thought about Lewis - we never really got to see why people were so sharply divided on loving and trusting him, or (justifiably) despising him. Rollins had her "bad feeling" about him, and Barba and the Squad soon agreed that he was hinky, but I would actually have liked to see him interact with some of the people he had convinced to be on "his side" to see the magic unfold. I get that he's great at reading people and could focus his efforts on those who were less confident or more malleable in order to sway them to his side, but his allies included doctors and lawyers, who - due to the nature of their jobs - are usually both hyper-rational and have decent radars for creepazoids. ANYway, enough about Lewis. I don't follow enough entertainment news to have heard details about Donal Logue's new project, so I'll just hope that he can keep on coming back to SVU for a while!