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I love this description. It makes the show sound like a classic fake story or validation post on reddit's r/AmITheAsshole

The only good things about this episode were the scene of the Aunts discussing placements, and the complete lack of the Waterfords. Beyond that, I've got nothing.

It reminded me of watching a Giada de Laurentiis cooking show. Speaks with nothing but an American accent except when she's got to show off her Italian roots so she's making SpaghEETTEE with PAHN chet TA and MOE ZAH RRRRE LLAH.

I was so annoyed by that ending I completely blanked until now on the other things that had me ranting at the tv during this episode, regarding the therapist and his office. First, the bit about the one patient seeing and commenting on his instagram post. I'm sorry, but have any of these writers actually BEEN to see a therapist? At least mine made it clear early on that "no contact via social media or otherwise outside of the office" was part of our privacy agreement. Like if she even thinks someone is searching for her on Facebook let alone commenting on a public post that she would not respond and then block. So I was side-eyeing that pretty hard. And also, I work front desk in a medical office. That receptionist should not have even let Rollins & Carisi glimpse over at the appointment book. That's HIPAA violation right there. Heck, we're not even supposed to say a patient's full name out loud where other patients/individuals may here it let alone see a long list of them in a book. (And I don't even work in a particularly sensitive medical field.) I get it that realism is not this show's strong suit but when the errors hit too close to things like this it makes me lose my ability to suspend disbelief for drama pretty quick.

It doesn't make sense. And how sad is it that even Stabler was more pro-choice in retrospect than Liv has become? (I was remembering a classic episode last night, where Stabler told one an anti-abortion protestor "When God gives you a uterus, maybe we'll listen to your sermon." It was Season 18 bad, which is a pretty damn bad. Yeah, it's frustrating and I do agree - there have been some very good episodes in the second half of this season that felt very old school SVU (I also really liked "Part 33"). And the Carisi & Fin partnership has been refreshing. But episodes like this one make it really hard to keep watching with much enthusiasm. It's now several days since I watched it and I still feel actively ANGRY about how it ended.

SVU becoming pro-life propaganda? I think I may very well be done with this show after this season (if not after this episode, period) with Winchester leaving and all. I said I'd stick with it as long as Ice-T stayed on the show but I'm not sure I can take it after the trash that was this right here.

No, and that was one goof that really bugged me about this episode. There are "Weed World" trucks in Manhattan promoting selling marijuana edibles, but they ONLY contain CBD/hemp oil (if that at all...) CBD is legal in New York but THC-containing products? For recreational use? No. These vans are a total con job floating around a number of cities. So I was really scratching my head when they were going on about the "Alcohol and THC" in Sophie's system when she wouldn't have gotten and THC from the edibles on the Weed van. Not unless the van guy was selling REAL THC-containing edibles on the side or she got high in some other fashion. (And uh, yeah...this might be a subject I'm a bit too passionate/interested in myself. Carry on...)

It is awesome, and actually the entrance isn't as bad as it looks. Or rather, you get pulled through it so quickly and there are typically so many other boats around distracting you that it's not as scary as it seems. Honestly the most interesting part of this season for me has just been spotting the places I've been in Naples and the surrounding area. It's a wonderful part of Italy and Naples has a really unique character to it that I love. But as far as this crew goes the only ones getting any love from me right now are Colin and Jamie.

Just looked up Brooke's instagram and darn it, didn't realize she was an Arbonne hun. :( Guess she's gotta work that side-hustle mlm when not yachting? Good way to lose all her tip money real quick...

Another episode where I felt like SVU did the same/similar subject matter so much better in the past (in this case, Season 6's "Charisma".)

Not perfect, but fun. I'm always happy when there's a break from the white-woman-rape-cases...though having two missing teen girl cases two weeks in a row? (Though actually I'll happily erase last week's episode from my memory if not actual existence as I hated it so much.) Anyway, things I liked: Ken! Alejandro! Finally seeing Fin's grandson and finding out his name! I do wish that we'd gotten more of all of them (and I was expecting more, with the hint that they haven't actually spent a lot of time together.) But oh well. I knew we were getting Ken but that they brought back the actor who played Alejandro after so long, even briefly, made this Fin fan here absolutely delighted. Benson actually letting her detectives take the lead and staying in the precinct, like an actual CO. It's so rare and I'm delighted every time it happens. A nice twisty/crazy/old-school cracky SVU plot that definitely kept us guessing (and awake) in this house. I really thought it was going to be something with the father, how they kept mentioning him being in sanitation. Was not ready for the surprise GSA twist even if it seemed a bit...much? More Peter info and just, well, give me more Peter. I'm sorry, I'm shallow, but damn Philip Winchster is fine and I will happily take every moment he is on my tv screen. And I'm not sure what it is, but I've actually found Benson a lot more tolerable since Stone showed up. I even am surprised and shocked at myself for sort of shipping them. I don't know what's wrong with me, but they do seem to have an interesting and unexpected onscreen chemistry. Also, have to say the cinematography seemed a step up from usual, especially in the interrogation scenes. All in all, a decent episode I will not mind rewatching at all.

I could buy, possibly, one or two cases where that happened. But the idea that this doctor could get away with it 30+ times? Before getting caught? That she handled that many cases where a child died (presumably while already in surgery so that organs could be immediately removed) and arrangements could be made on the fly to get those organs to a waiting matched recipient? Did she do screening on every child that came under her care to be ready "just in case"? Even as a 19-year long viewer of SVU, this one went beyond my ability to suspend disbelief.

For me this was the worst episode in a long time...well at least since the bulk of last season. As someone who works in the medical profession (and is married to a doctor) I just could not roll with the suspension of disbelief enough to stop screaming "WTF" at the television screen. I just...I'm still boggled. We're really supposed to swallow that 30+ other families didn't notice that their dead child's organs were harvested without their permission? None wanted to see their child's body after death and before transport to the morgue/funeral home? No one at the hospital wondered or noticed, perchance, why the treating physician was also the one harvesting the organs (which I believe is a violation of federal law?) No other nurses or staff present noticed that something wasn't right? Forget jail time, this doctor would have her ass handed to her by losing her license and facing multiple civil lawsuits - the hospital as well - for what happened here. If the doctor was so adamant about the importance of organ donation for waiting children she realistically could have been advocating for that to the parents as a possibility for them to consider. But this? This was ludicrous bullshit that legitimately made me ANGRY to watch, especially once it got into the heavy-handed moralizing that somehow the doctor was in the ethical *right*. Ugh. I feel like I lost several IQ points just sitting through that one to the end.

I agree with most of what you said here. This was probably my favorite episode in a long, long time because it was so refreshing to see Stone and Cassidy calling out Benson for some of her crap. Stone is definitely the kind of ADA that SVU needs, and I just hope they don't "soften" him up too quickly and ruin his character the way they did with Barba. Honestly, this show has always been strongest when there is a crew shake-up and someone new comes along to challenge the status quo. The sense of edginess that brings, the fresh perspective...and I also think the acting was a step up across the board compared to what we've been seeing for too long. I hope that too will continue for the rest of this season and that they weren't just bringing the "A game" to win over people skeptical about having a "new guy" come on board. I do disagree on Holiday—I had no problems with her attitude and not wanting to see SVU "mess up" her case. Whether race actually had anything to do with the situation, it could certainly be seen that way to an outside point of view after what happened in court. Couple that with a dispute over whose case it was at this point and her response was not unwarranted, from my perspective. In fact I thought it brought a nice touch of complexity, reminded me a bit of how shows like Homicide LOTS and the original L&O used to deal with racial tension both within the police force and when dealing with the community.

Agree with all of the above. I thought it was excellent, the closest to an old school episode we've had in quite a while. Made me think of "Mercy" in particular, and also "Painless" and "Parts". There were/are no easy answers to these topics and for me the best SVU (and L&O in general) episodes brought that home. My S.O. also agreed—it was the first SVU episode he hasn't fallen asleep half-way through since last season's "Know It All". Seeing Waterston made me all nostalgic and made me realize just how much I missed McCoy. The only bad parts for me were the continued Praise of St. Benson, but that's basically inescapable at this point of the series, alas. Now I only hope they don't turn Stone into Benson's lapdog too quickly.

I think you're misremembering a lot of that storyline (in "Venom" and "Screwed"). Yes, Fin was protective when first Ken looked suspicious. But it was Teresa who didn't want to testify (and have it come out that Darius was her son via rape). Fin didn't even know about that until she finally admitted to it on the stand, and he didn't want her to run. Anyway, about "Info Wars": I had a hard time fully concentrating on the episode as I found it so over-the-top, trying to cram in every reference possible to current alt-right vs. social justice liberal battles. It was like someone was playing Mad Libs while scrolling through reddit in one browser tab and Tumblr in another. I kind of wanted a bingo-card to play along at home. That's what I thought, too. For me actually the actress playing Martha was the one high spot of this episode. Unlikable yes but spot-on in capturing that particular "type". And in a way it was weirdly refreshing seeing a female victim rebutting Benson's whispery platitudes and ~sympathy~. I thought the second half of the episode in the courtroom was much more engaging than the first, although like others I couldn't believe it that there wasn't an immediate mistrial after the juror outburst, or at least that juror being dismissed. Or that that whole line of questioning had even been allowed. But then again the judge looked so completely sick-of-this-whole-thing that maybe he was just waiting for them all to hang themselves. I don't know. Bring on McCoy and Stone, that's all I can say right now.

Oh, that's a good catch about the badges, you're right! And not recognizing them, come on. I've served on juries before, and yeah...no way an prosecutor or defense attorney is not going to recognize the jurors, especially if we're talking near the end of trial. That was weak. Otherwise—and despite some other weak spots—I still have to say this was probably my favorite episode of the season (as low as the bar has become over the last couple years, heh.) I got some actual old school L&O feels in the writing/story progress like I had first expected when Chernuchin came on board. (Or maybe I should say, it felt a bit like a Chicago Justice episode? In one bad way, down to the sudden outburst confession on the stand which was overused on CJ as a cheap plot device.) Having Dr. Warner and Dr. Olivet show up was great even if it only reminded me of how much the show is lacking, not having these kinds of recurring outside experts involved on a regular basis any more. I enjoyed seeing personal interactions and moments focused on more than just Liv. The Sonny and Amanda exchange, Amanda with Jesse at the end (though girl, please. Coming from a screwed-up family situation of my own that resonates so much with Amanda's history, it's well past time for her to go No Contact with her mom and sister already! Just do it before they mess up your life again!) I didn't even mind the Amanda & Liv and Rafael & Liv scenes because they were at least focused on discussing the case and ethical issues, not just St. Olivia's life. (Though man, those "nightmare" flashbacks were cringe-inducing.) Fin being acknowledged as second-in-command made my heart happy, and it showed how he could be a calm and rational leader of the unit—UNLIKE Benson—because he doesn't have to take everything personally. In my mind I see how he would be a leader much more like Cragen in that regard. Pity we'll probably never see that again. For sure Barba threw the case on purpose and it was a weak, sloppy way to do it. He could have just offered a deal. But maybe that was to set up for Stone coming in as now we've got both the ADA and SVU being so sloppy? Well, however it's going to happen I just can't wait for Stone to get here already.

I know we've had this discussion/debate here before, but personally, I don't have any issue with this. Some people (in real life) just end up on a faster/more high profile career path than others. Stone was, after all, the son of Ben Stone, so it's easy to imagine that his father's reputation and connections could help grease the wheels and ease the path toward fast promotion. He was trying high profile cases in Chicago, not just a "sex crimes ADA" like Barba (who also wouldn't have the connections that Stone does.) If there's anything I've always found (since being a Chicago Justice fan) hard to swallow about Peter Stone it was that he was supposedly a major league baseball player before getting into law. But then again, that "name factor" could also have ended up helping his ascent in law, too.

I was disappointed they went the utterly obvious route with having Sheila behind the kidnapping. From the moment they first introduced her character my significant other was yelling at the tv, "You know she's going to end up trying to steal the kid", and yep, that's just what happened. I would have much preferred it being some former perp or whoever with a vendetta, and using it as a chance for Sheila and Liv to come together, but nope. Can't have anyone else in Mama Benson's life to steal the spotlight. Sigh. I did appreciate the break in format, though—and in a way that was action-driven, unlike the snooze-fest of "Something Happened". It was nice seeing Fin acting like a real senior officer as he deserves...though I have a dreaded fear they are going to set him up for some kind of fall with the chief, falling on his sword to protect Benson when the sh!t hits the fan, and I'm going to be beyond upset if that happens. I also found myself liking Barba for the first time in ages—I wondered how they would fit him into the story line, but it was nice seeing that more human side to the character again, trying to be supportive yet a bit awkward about it. That's a Barba I could actually be a fan of. I also liked his scene confronting the other lawyer, as for a brief moment it felt like a flash of what I'd first expected when Chernuchin came on the show. The bad—Rollins and Carisi going way overboard with the suspect and daughter. I felt like I was watching Chicago PD for a moment, not SVU. And then Liv going off on her own to confront Sheila? Again with this kind of stupidity? Did I miss something between when she told Fin to drive her and then she showed up at the cabin on her own. That. Made. No. Sense. Well except in the idiotic way SVU keeps doing that. Overall I hope this just means the end of the Noah-centric drama for the rest of the season. And I guess the questionable behavior of the whole unit, here, is how they're going to set things up for Stone to try to get things back in line?

I think my problem with getting any enjoyment out of this episode (well besides the obvious) is I know that in no way is it going to stand up to better written, and (far) better acted episodes of other shows which have taken on a similar premise before. Thinking specifically of the absolute classic Homicide episode "Three Men and Adena", for instance. Or, hell, I don't even expect it to be as good as Season 6's "Rage", which at least had Matthew Modine guest starring (and at least a little trade-off and back and forth between Stabler and Benson.)

I'm already debating skipping this one entirely--isn't this the one they were hyping up as taking place mostly all in the interview room, just Benson and the victim (almost) all episode? I don't think there is any way I can take that much of MH's "acting" in one night.

Even my 80-year old father-in-law commented this week on how he didn't get all of this focus on Noah and the grandmother drama. "What does this have to do with solving crimes?" he said with complete bewilderment. So they're losing not just some of the more dedicated loyal fanbase but regular, more casual viewers who watch for interesting cases, not the Olivia Benson hour.

I seem to recall one interview with Chernuchin, right before the start of this season, where he said he watched some/select episodes of SVU before starting in, but not all of the series. But certainly Julie Martin has been around the show long enough she should be familiar with this previous episodes.

This. I would have liked it FAR better if they'd acknowledged that earlier case. Maybe have Olivia's initial doubts when Carisi is sure it's Emma tied in to her remembering and recounting the events of "Stranger". But then, we couldn't have had this idiot plot, could we? *sigh*

It was a rehash of Season 10's "Stranger", yep. I was hoping for at least SOME other twist, but no, it even went with the-sibling-did-it, only adding in one of the parents helping. God help me, I think I was actually more interested in the Benoah plot by the end.