devious455

So they ruined Rafael Barba’s character to justify bringing failed Chicago Justice’ golden boy to the board and they expect us to care for him? He even got emotional backstory in his first episode. They could easily write him in without destroying Barba. If Barba will be acquitted and suspended for a while, would he really come back and work in the DA’s office under supervision of 35-old, less experienced guy who just arrived? Would he be so desperate? He could easily find job in private sector. I don't want Barba to go but if they'll continue to ruin his character so another bland white guy can shine, I'm done.

Surprisingly, I liked the episode. Minus Benson and Sheila drama and Rollisi road trip. The case was actually interesting and it was quite well done. I liked the twist and it had courtroom scenes where Barba looked like a competent lawyer. Good use of Fin and Benson wasn't sanctimonious as always. But do we really need "a mysterious man kidnapped Noah" storyline? I dread the next episode already. The biggest disappointment of the episode was that Carisi wasn't punched in his dumb face in the bar fight. He totally deserved it. He was trying to sleep with a drunk partner on a work trip and acted like entitled jealous idiot when she hooked up with somebody else. Really? And from what I read on Facebook, people are blaming Rollins for breaking his heart. Oh, poor little puppy. I can't with this character and some people. He can't do wrong. It bothered me that they wrote the scene where Carisi walks into bar where Barba and Benson discuss the case and he brings the evidence that saves the case. Again. That happened like 4 episodes ago. These writers don't watch the show. It's obvious now. Could Fin save the day for once or it always needs to be the wonder boy? Just a rhetorical question. Anyway, this episode gave me hope case-wise that it's possible to write an interesting story. Too bad it was overshadowed with stupid personal drama. If it's necessary to have personal stories I would like to see if Barba goes outside his office and Forlini's bar or he lives in one of those places. It's 5 years and we still don't know.

It's interesting therefore it will never happen. It was two showrunners ago so it's forgotten but I was thinking that Munoz could be behind those death threats too. Too bad that we most likely won't find out who was originally behind this.

Yes they shouldn't have mention this in the episode information and then cut it. But it wasn't the wrong choice that it was deleted in my opinion. It didn't move his character by an inch in terms of development. He was reckless but as always he didn't face any consequences at all. Once again, nothing lasting happened to him. I'm tired and annoyed by him. They give him too many scenes where he has the brilliant idea that saves the case, where he put extra effort into looking for clues. When was the last time Fin was given an opportunity to show that he is the most experienced detective and save the case? I will never like Carisi because I can't take him seriously. He talks like a cartoon character and he brings nothing to the show because we already have a flawless individual in Benson and we see how boring she is. With him we have two tiresome characters with most of the screentime. No wonder people are not excited by the show anymore. And no, male lead doesn't have to be angry catholic with family issues to be interesting. He just has to be multi-faceted character with flaws and depth. That would actually make the whole thing worthwhile. Because he could be affected professionally. But personally, from what we saw he showed more emotion when spaghetti were mentioned than that his most likely serious relationship has probably ended.

I watched all those deleted scenes to see what you all complaining about. Carisi´s love life redux in one minute is what really interest you? The whole thing was a waste of time and it didn't fit to the tone of the episode at all. They gave him an extremely idiotic scene where he carried that dead girl and then cut, he is dealing with his relationship problems? I get that, you guys are angry that there is a Benoah drama in every episode and I'm too. Other characters also deserve a time to shine. But watching Carisi yelling at his girlfriend on a street without giving her a chance to explain herself, then inevitably being dumped while looking completely unaffected by it.. like they didn't date for 1/2 year or something. That's not what this show desperately needs. If they want to tie up some loose ends from previous seasons I would recommend looking at Barba's death threats. Far more interesting story than Carisi showing how immature he is.

QueenMab, I don't want to offend you or anything but I'm not sure what show you are watching. Clearly not SVU. Because there is literally no sex happening. Definitely anything we can see. Not a lot is implied either. Benson didn't have sex with Barba, Langan or Amaro. And based on lack of excitement she had around Tucker their sex life wasn't very rich. Sure, you hate Benson but be little realistic. Even though her quest to find suitable BF is boring, that's for sure. There is no chemistry, spark or tension between most characters on that show. Barba interacts only with Benson, Rollins only with Carisi, Fin is somewhere in the middle doing mostly nothing. They just coexist in the same place without having any meaningful relations. I think the reason is that some characters simply don't fit and they should be replaced. I wouldn't mind if they fire the blond duo and bring new people. Their stories are repetitive and they are annoying. Too bad they wasting money on guest stars instead of dealing with terrible detective situation.

Why on Earth they won't address the real problems this show has? Like Benson constantly being in the field because SVU is short-staffed. Like Carisi doing 90% of detective work because Fin's part was reduced and Rollins is busy being Carisi's cheerleader and insecure mother. Why not introduce a new detective who would bring something fresh to the show? The first part of most episodes is weak because characters are flat, boring, there is no excitement or humor. It's stale. So what they'll do? They bring the new ADA and some character related to Benson, either as family or she will want custody over Noah or some other BS. What the hell is this?

IMO the show desperately needs a new detective, not a new ADA. Barba doesn't have enough screentime nor is in every episode. Not every episode needs an ADA to be present and when they will rotate two ADAs, I think Barba's time will go down. It doesn't make any sense to me but clearly somebody just wanted to have that actor working in the Wolf's franchise again. I never watched Chicago Justice so I don't know if he is interesting or not but I'm not happy about less Barba. If it's about Raúl slowly wanting out then so be it but I'm worried that they just want to push him out for a new shinier boy to replace him altogether. Again, a new detective would make much more sense. We don't even have two pairs of partners with Benson being a CO. That's ridiculous. Plus they brought Cassidy back from a TV grave for no reason. I'm starting to have a bad feeling about upcoming season.

I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said. For me the 70% of a problem is Peter's lack of acting skills. He is unable to fake an NY accent so he chooses to speak like a village idiot instead of just dropping it altogether. His mannerism is over the top for a serious show and he has no charisma. He seems like a nice guy so I don't want to trash him but he makes the show practically unwatchable for me. I'm so annoyed by him that I can't focus on the story. The writing doesn't help either. The character needs to have flaws to be believable. I'm not sure why they make him into cheap version of Barba. He wears the same clothes, wants to be prosecutor, meddles into cases, even though he lacks any experience he tells Barba what to do. He explain basic things to other characters like they are idiots. They are making him shine on expense of others and that's a bad writing. I really hope the new show-runner tones him down a lot or I won't be able to enjoy the show. I wasn't fan of Amaro or Stabler but he is the worst in terms of being insufferable and obnoxious.

I love how every time when Carisi does something wrong people are finding reasons to defend him and explain that it wasn't actually his fault. And Benson didn't train him, but it's so popular to blame her for everything. Even if you are just joking. He isn't a rookie. He is basically a lead male character who is doing most of the investigation and interrogation besides Benson every week. He is written like a golden boy who knows everything, always saves a day and is perfect in every regard. They finally wrote him few mishaps and make him slightly more human. Yet people can't accept it because precious Carisi can't do anything wrong. If Rollins did the same thing people would crucify her. I don't understand blind adoration. That's not against you but it's very typical for Carisi's fans for some reason.

They could go to a different bodega. Or he should not let him to go anywhere. Yusef was in danger yet they went for a walk like nothing was happening. He was supposed to protect him, he failed, the guy is probably dead. Carisi is incompetent. He didn't want to be killed because of his orientation but he dared to criticize his niece's clothes so he kinda deserved it, right? The hell? He wasn't perfect but who is? I felt sorry for him.

It didn't feel like a season finale. One episode would be enough for this case. There were many unnecessary scenes and plot lines and the storytelling lacked. I would expect that the finale would bring some change, that something significant would happen. I guess the new showrunner can start with a clean slate now. Unlike Eid who had to deal with Benson's ridiculous relationship and Mike's death. But I would expect him to go with more of a bang. That disappointed me. I still don't know how to feel about Barba's change from very ethical person to means justifies the end' kinda guy. I guess his job and all the injustice took a toll on him. How many times did Benson lie on the stand or did something unethical yet she draws a line in case like this? Sure. Rollins was a badass and I like her more and more. Fin was great too. But he should act more commanding instead of reporting his findings to Carisi. Like what the hell? And why did Carisi let Yusef go to the protest when he was supposed to protect him? I can't help but he is such a incompetent moron. This and the season opener combined, he indirectly helped like 4 people to get killed. Great job. Also why is Scanavino speaking like he has no teeth? I could understand actors who played immigrants better. That's not acting that just obnoxious. Kirk Acavedo will forever be Eddie Garcia for me. Season 15 didn't happen 10 years ago. What were they thinking? To sum the season up. I liked that there was much less pandering the the delusional fans from twitter therefore less personal drama in the show. I hoped that trial part would get stronger but it got even weaker. Barba seemed like less than average lawyer who can't win the case without Benson. The characters weren't true to themselves too many times and some plots were awful. Lots of lazy writing but that's not new. Season 17 was awful too. So let's hope for some quality in the next season. I wish I could be excited to watch the show again. Now it feels like a chore.

I don't think that. Carisi acted superior to Amanda and Fin lately, now he thinks he knows better than Barba. He become smug know-it-all. I hope we are not supposed to believe that Carisi was right and Barba is an idiot. Carisi acted like only he cares about victims so he can show his frustration in such manner. How about some respect to senior colleague? Even if he thinks his idea was better there is no way he had a right to yell at Barba in front of others. He continues to be irritating jerk that ruins the show for me so I skipped most of the episode. No Fin, Benson and Noah drama and Carisi in every scene is not what I need to watch. Barba was great though. Benson acted normal around Barba and there is 99% chance that she knows his secret. So if she is ok with it why should Carisi lose respect for Barba? I don't think it's related, they probably just wanted to give some tension to the characters.

I absolutely agree on this. The show need some strong character who can oppose Benson in her crusades. Somebody in the squad who would have a different opinion and who would be able to insist on it. And Benson would actually respect it. They could bring that detective Perry from homicide who was in the Motherly Love episode. He will be in the next episode and I really hope it means he will get transferred to SVU soon. He had a strong presence and looked and acted like a cop. Unlike that weak greasy parody of a cop we have on the squad right now. I agree that the show needs strong characters with distinctive personalities, not Benson's minions. So a new character is needed. Preferably somebody who won't beat suspects and could balance Benson out a little bit. That's pretty low bar but here we are.

The episode was predictable but well made. And very disturbing. The legal side was missing again. Barba still keeps being underused this season for no good reason. There are five regular characters and they continue to develop only two. Benson and Carisi. I don't care for Carisi and more they're going to add stuff to make him more popular more I'm going to dislike him. Also I'm tired of his slow transformation into Barba 2.0. He now has his own bullying story. And it was some story. Barba only had kids stealing his lunch money, his upgraded clone has his face smashed through the glass. As people pointed out, he would have deep scars so it didn't make any sense. He needs to became more human with flaws not getting sob stories. Him lecturing Rollins about abuse didn't help either. Things like that are very distracting because their only purpose is to make Carisi look better on expense of another character. They do it since he joined the squad. Where is the new detective character they were supposed to bring? We are in the middle of the season. It could seriously help the show because the chemistry between squad is lacking.