Xeliou66

Pretty good episode - I didn’t think it was going to be at the start, with the overly long opening, but it had good twists in it and was an interesting premise. Plus I liked the squad and their dynamics - it felt fresh and it was nice to have a full squad. I did miss Fin and Carisi, but Curry and Sykes fit in well in this one and I like Bruno and Velasco. The St Olivia worship was kept to a minimum which was good. It was a good twist that it was the third suspect who raped the girl at the start of the episode and not one of the two other guys, and the premise of them preying on females from around the world and collecting DNA was interesting. The investigation was good. I liked Velasco/Bruno playing good cop/bad cop with the suspect, and the squad dynamics felt natural here and I liked the interactions between everyone. Things felt more like old school SVU in that regard which was nice. This was probably the best episode of the season so far actually - no glaring flaws that I caught, less St Olivia worship, an interesting case and good work from the whole squad. Impressive that they managed to deliver a good episode even without Fin and Carisi.

Tonight had a strong first half and a subpar second half. I liked the intensity of the first half and the manhunt for the shooter, the detective side of the show is well done, but the show lost its steam in the second half as has been the case several times on the revival. McCoy’s absence was felt - I kept wondering what he would say about the case - I did like that they acknowledged his absence with Price saying it’s the end of an era - indeed it is. But once again Price/Maroun seemed to get caught flat footed at trial with a sudden change of plea by the defense - wouldn’t the defense have to give notice that they were pleading insanity? That was never mentioned. The judge seemed biased towards the defense. Also I really wish they would bring on a new psych expert to consult with the DAs/police, I miss Skoda/Olivet terribly whenever there’s a psych issue on the show now - we needed to hear from a prosecution expert and see them evaluate the defendant as well. The defendant was sympathetic to a degree but he didn’t deserve a free pass for murder because of his tragic story, the DAs were willing to take his backstory into consideration when they offered a plea and he should’ve accepted. The jury got the right verdict, he wasn’t legally insane at the time, and the doctor didn’t deserve to die just because he made a mistake. The defendant could’ve filed a wrongful death suit if he felt the doctor was negligent, but instead he chose murder and he deserved to be convicted for it. The callback to Shaw being racially profiled last season was nice continuity, and Shaw was in a tough position here, Mehcad Brooks gave a stellar performance as usual. Riley was correct though when he said that you have to testify truthfully - I had little doubt that Shaw would. Shaw/Riley have a nice dynamic and I like watching them work - and I liked the intensity of the manhunt in the first half. I did like the scene where Maroun and the hospital attorney argued to the judge about whether to release the tape, that felt like classic L&O. But something just felt missing from the second half, I’m not sure if it was because of the absence of a DA character, or if it was once again the prosecutors seeming to get caught off guard at trial, or if it was the dialogue being kind of clunky at times, or what exactly - but the detective part of the show is clicking well while the show frequently loses steam in the legal side, and this was especially true without Sam/Jack tonight. Hopefully the addition of Goldwyn/Baxter will give the legal side a new spark in the next episode, because I just felt the episode lost steam and was lacking something in the second half tonight. A mixed bag overall, I liked some parts and disliked other parts, but my main takeaway is that the legal side needs more energy while the detective side clicks well. Jack was sorely missed as I expected, but hopefully the new DA will give the legal side a new spark and some intrigue coming up.

Season 17 is on today - Beauty Queen drags down the episodes in this season, but I love Connie on the legal side, she added a spark to the show. Home Sweet is a decent episode, kind of predictable but with some good moments - Arthur at the sushi restaurant was great, he got that ridiculously biased judge to recuse herself from the case and then when asked if he was eating he replied “we like our fish fried”, that made me laugh. I liked seeing Arthur flex his muscles and get that judge off the case. It was an interesting stunt that Jack and the defense lawyer pulled off at the end to get the guy to admit he blew his own house up, they were lucky it worked. I liked how Connie realized the truth about the case. Fear America is Robinette’s last appearance, and he was more different than ever in this one, accusing the police and DAs office of inventing charges against the defendant because he was Muslim. Robinette was totally unlike himself when he returned as a defense lawyer - he was like a totally different character. I did like Jack in the episode and how he fought for jurisdiction of the case, and it was an interesting plot seeing the DAs have to battle federal bureaucracy to get their conviction - Arthur throwing the US Attorney out of his office when he was accusing Jack and Connie of leaking the motive to the media was good. Jack’s closing was strong as usual. Compelling episode but Robinette was more OOC than ever, they really didn’t do a good job writing him back in when he returned. Public Service Homicide is a decent episode, I like how Jack never stood for vigilante justice or people taking the law into their own hands and held the show accountable for encouraging it.

Pretty good episode, and I wonder how OA’s story with his new girlfriend will continue, OA never let on that he saw them at the club or that he knew what happened with Kate getting shot. I liked the undercover action at the club, particularly how they got the suspect’s fingerprint. Kate was epically stupid and I felt no sympathy for her, she would’ve been safe if she had just run away but no she comes running back to her scumbag boyfriend and apologizing for working with the feds. Not as much of Jubal and the agents in the command center in this one, but I always like those scenes. Enjoyable hour and I wonder what will happen with OA’s love interest and when they’ll come back to it. Sometimes OA annoys me in episodes where he is personally involved, but I liked this one.

That scene was awesome. Melnick should’ve been disbarred back in season 13 and it was beyond time she got called out for putting herself above her clients and behaving in a slimy manner. The rest of the episode was just average but it was great to see Melnick get called out. I get that Fontana was a very old school cop who came from a different time, but he should’ve known his actions could come back to bite him in the ass. Fontana was just not likable to me usually - he came off as a bully much of the time and he was borderline unethical, and Green even hinted at it saying he didn’t know if Fontana was a wiseguy or a cop in his first episode.

Season 7 has so many great episodes, saw a nice run of them on BBC America this week Matrimony is a strong plot with interesting suspects - it was a good twist that the young wife’s mom was the killer. The trial scenes were good, and it’s interesting that it was one of the few times they brought an innocent person to trial, and the jury got the right verdict by acquitting. Arthur Gold did a good job defending his client, he was smug but a very effective and smart attorney, a worthy adversary for Stone in earlier episodes and McCoy in this one. It makes me laugh when the wife calls Briscoe and Curtis “Leonard” and “Rey” casually when they come to talk to her. And the killer mom’s rant at the end about how they might have to go back to Arkansas and be a “dancing naked idiot family” was funny. Working Mom is a great episode as well, really good investigation and trial. It was an interesting case about the hooker housewives. I didn’t buy the killer’s claim of rape and I’m glad the jury didn’t either, as Jack said in his closing this was a case of a woman executing her blackmailer, not defending herself from an assault. The victim was sleazy but he didn’t deserve to be murdered, he used blackmail to get sex but he never used violence. It was clear that Hillary would go to any length to hide her secret life from her family and friends. Jack gave a strong closing and he exposed the husband as a liar in his cross. A very good and in-depth investigation as well with Briscoe/Curtis tracking down the credit card charges. Both Matrimony and Working Mom are great episodes, most of season 7 is fantastic.

I liked the case last night, interesting mystery and I liked how they diffused the hostage situation by talking to the girl in French. I don’t like the romantic subplot, Powell came off as a douche, and I don’t want a Raines/Vo romance next. I like the new female agent who worked with Forrester at headquarters last night. I would also like an update on Tank the dog, maybe he’ll make a cameo soon.

Very good and creepy episode. AI is scary shit. Very fascinating plot, couldn’t tell where it was going, I liked the twists it took and how they identified the perp. Good roles for the entire team in this episode. The killer was off his rocker but I felt a bit sorry for him at the end, he just went crazy after his wife’s death and the AI bot made things worse. It was a compelling story, this show has good cases. I also wondered about Hana’s new roommate, and I kind of expected her to be involved with the case in some way. I wonder if something will happen with her. I liked the acknowledgment that Hana’s apartment has basically become a boarding house for FBI agents, Kenny lived there, then Ortiz, now Ray and now this new agent.

I honestly am fine with them adding in more recurring characters, at least the squad will feel more complete, I just wish they would do it in a realistic way instead of having an IAB Captain and an FBI agent basically make lateral moves to work for St Olivia - I find that absurd, and it’s just more Olivia worship that the show can’t get enough of. What happened to Churlish? Just when I started to warm up to her, she disappeared with zero explanation. I really wish they would bump Bruno up to the main cast, best new character since Carisi, and he’s in just as many episodes as Fin, Velasco and Carisi - only MH is in every episode - so it’s weird how Bruno isn’t in the main cast yet.

I think this show has the best cases of the 3 FBI shows - I find the cases to be usually the most suspenseful and interesting of the 3 shows, they have a lot of good twists and investigation. FBI original has my favorite characters and the cases are usually entertaining, but I think MW’s cases are a bit more compelling. International is definitely my least favorite of the FBI shows, but it has grown on me since it’s start. I like both Jess and Remy, but neither of their personal lives are very interesting to me - Jess’ kid got way too much screen time at the start of the show, and I didn’t care for the story about Remy’s brother last season.

It’s great to see Arthur Branch interact with Carver in this episode - I love when he tears up the original warrant and replaces it with one with his name on it - “it’s not enough to do good, you gotta be seen doing good” And Goren provoking “Hot Tub Harry” into confessing to rape is one of my favorite Goren scenes.

In The Wee Small Hours is starting now on Charge, my all time favorite CI episode. So much to love about this 2 parter - love seeing Goren/Eames work with Logan/Barek and Carver in court.

I was watching some of the SVU Saturday marathon on ION today, and I’ll say again - season 15 is when SVU started to go downhill into the 100% St Olivia circle jerk that it’s become today - particularly Cragen and Munch leaving is the start of what sent the show downhill. And it could’ve still been good after their departures, even with Benson as squad leader, if they had actually let Benson grow as a character and become more objective and aware of her biases and work on her adjusting them to be a good squad leader. But Mariska’s ego wouldn’t allow it - instead Benson became MORE biased and used her position as squad leader to engage in activism and agenda pushing, and it was also the start of portraying Benson as a beacon of light and wisdom, with countless people thanking Olivia for speaking out for them and telling her how great she was - that rarely happened before season 15. And of course Benson wasn’t allowed to be wrong about anything anymore. Mariska becoming a producer is what ruined the show - it stopped being SVU and became the St Olivia hour. Some people say that the show went downhill when Stabler left, I disagree, seasons 13-14 were much getter than the last 3 or 4 Stabler years actually, it was season 15, when Mariska became a producer and Munch/Cragen retired, that the show started going downhill. And it’s a travesty what they did to Barba, SVU’s best ever ADA, I was watching episodes like Military Justice and Jersey Breakdown where he was so good, and it’s shameful how they castrated him, had his character go off the rails and then just become lovesick for Benson. Disgusting.

All 5 Falacci episodes are good ones IMO, Senseless and Lonelyville are the two best but I like all 5. Too bad they went back to Wheeler.

Season 7 is on Charge tonight. Watching Lonelyville, this is a good episode, I liked the complex investigation and the reveal that the lawyer was the murderer. I liked how Logan suspected the writer was being framed and he got to the bottom of it, too bad the writer killed himself before he was cleared, he was somewhat sympathetic even though he was a kind of sleazy. I like Falacci, really wish she had stayed as permanent partner instead of the dull Wheeler. The blackmail ring was an interesting plot. The marathon continues with the last episode airing tonight being Offense.

Oh god please don’t make the new DA fall in love with Benson the way almost every other man has. I’m glad Jack McCoy went out without ever becoming a Benson bot the way so many became. I am disappointed we never got a McCoy/Carisi scene though. It will be interesting if the new DA is ever mentioned on SVU, McCoy was name dropped a couple of times since the revival.

I never thought of that. This franchise has had certain names they’ve liked to use a lot.

That scene could’ve been done more clearly, but after Jack finally got motive out of the mayor’s son by forcing him to admit the defendant called the victim an “uptight bitch” and that there was beef between them, the defense lawyer had no choice but to try to impeach his credibility and make the jury doubt what he was saying since he had just provided motive evidence.

Sam/Jack and Jerry/Lennie are the 2 faces people associate most with L&O, and understandably so - two icons who can’t be replaced. Sure the show can be good in episodes without them but they can’t be replaced.

Jack went out a hero and a on a literal win, not as a loser. He personally got one more conviction of a murderer and delivered justice to a victim one final time, and by retiring when he did he got the better of the mayor and prevented the chance of the mayor’s puppet running the office, now the mayor would have no reason to run a puppet candidate against a new DA he doesn’t even know, and he ensured his office would continue to function with integrity. And it’s clear he had been thinking about retirement for a while. It was a very strong sendoff for Jack. And I’m glad they didn’t bring back any characters from the past, especially after how they crapped on Jamie in the revival’s premiere. It would’ve taken the focus off of Jack and the story. This episode delivered what it needed to deliver - sending Jack McCoy into the sunset as a hero and giving him a fitting exit.

Agreed completely with this, the therapist refusing to testify was just a plot device, I imagine most patients would want their therapist to speak up for them if they were murdered, so that didn’t really click for me that patients were concerned about her testifying. Jack is most certainly an iconic character and I’m happy and relieved that he went out a hero in fitting style, delivering justice once more and ensuring the integrity of his office even after he’s gone. I was worried they would smear Jack in some way or send him out under a cloud, but they gave him a great exit overall, one of L&O’s best exits, right up there with Briscoe’s and Van Buren’s. Tony Goldwyn has been cast to play the new DA, named Nicholas Baxter. His first episode will be on March 14. So next week there won’t be a DA character, I’m curious as to how they handle that. Goldwyn/Baxter has impossible shoes to fill, there’s no replacing Sam/Jack, but hopefully the character will be solid.

This was horrid - full blown St Olivia worship at its worst, and a plot that I didn’t give a flying fuck about - I’m so sick of Maddie and I’m just relieved this storyline is over. Part of it may have been that I was so invested in the Mothership episode before it saying goodbye to the legendary Jack McCoy that I wouldn’t have been able to get into the SVU episode no matter what it was about, but it was bad regardless. I am so sick of St Olivia taking it personally and always saving the day, complete with MH’s awful overacting and facial expressions, and that’s all this episode was. Plus agent Sykes was unlikable, she had no right to jump down Carisi’s throat just because Carisi dared to point out they needed evidence, that was a Benson-like move, and I’m not thrilled that Sykes will be joining SVU. Plus Curry joining SVU is just ridiculous, why would a captain basically take a demotion to work under another captain as an investigator? I guess St Olivia is just so awesome everyone wants to work for her, but it’s absurd. And Fin was an OOC jackass to Curry at the start for no reason. Plus no Bruno sucked. Really the only part of the episode I liked were Carisi’s scenes, and I’m just happy the Maddie storyline is over, that way we don’t have St Olivia brooding over it all season. And it’s nice that McGrath has been written out, good riddance. But overall this was really weak and I didn’t care one iota about it.

Oh I agree 100%, it was just a plot device used so the DAs office would have to bring in the mayor’s son to introduce the rape. The therapist deserved to be jailed for contempt - it was absolutely legal for her to testify and her refusal warranted a contempt citation.

Farewell, Jack McCoy, you are a legend and will be missed. This was overall a strong exit for Jack, some of the flaws that have been present in the revival were present, but it was an awesome treat to see Jack back in the courtroom, and like Nolan said at the end he hasn’t lost a step. I loved seeing Jack take a strong stand for justice one final time and not give a damn about who a defendant is or what connections they have, Jack has always had the courage to take on the powerful who abuse the system, and it was great to see him do that one final time. It was fitting that Jack, who’s dedicated his whole life to the pursuit of justice, delivered it one final time despite great opposition, and managed to protect the integrity of his office and ensure that his office would continue to be honorable even without him as DA. Overall this was well done, and I’m thrilled that Jack went out as the hero he’s always been and didn’t get dragged through the mud. And it’s clear he had been thinking about retirement for a while, and if anyone has earned it he has. May Jack enjoy his retirement. I loved Jack’s closing argument, even though I would’ve liked a bit more detail about the murder in it, Jack still delivered a passionate argument and it was a treat to hear one final closing from him. Also great was him confronting the mayor’s son on the witness stand and finally forcing him to give damning testimony against the perp. So glad they got Jack back in the courtroom for his farewell, no one will ever match Jack’s ability to prosecute a case. The weaknesses were that it seemed there was a bit missing from the legal side, like there frequently has been on the revival - I would’ve liked to have had a bit more evidence presented, maybe some kind of piece of forensic testimony linking the perp to the murder, or get an ID from the maintenance worker and hear his testimony. And it was very predictable they would have an issue with the therapist, and frankly the therapist should’ve been held in contempt for refusing to testify. So it just felt like there should’ve been something more on the legal side, and they also rushed immediately to arrest the perp when it was revealed he raped the victim years earlier, I think a scene where the detectives searched his residence, found a piece of evidence linking him to the murder, then arrested him would’ve added a lot. It was interesting that they added in a new fictional mayor for the first time, much like they added in fictional governor Shalvoy in the original run as an antagonist. It was nice that Jack got the upper hand on the mayor at the end and I’m sure the mayor’s close friend and donor being convicted of murder would be a big black eye to the mayor. Shaw/Riley/Dixon were good as usual - nice call by Riley to realize the logo was Princeton’s logo and zero in on alums. The detective side just flows smoother and works better than the legal side right now. Overall a nice farewell episode for Jack - he went out in true Jack McCoy fashion, delivering justice one last time and ensuring that justice will continue to be served going forward. Glad the final shot was him exiting and gazing up at the courthouse one last time. There were a few flaws with the plot as there frequently are on the revival, but they did a nice job of sending Jack into the sunset and that’s what mattered most in this episode. Farewell Sam Waterston/Jack McCoy, you’ll be missed.

From season 12’s Slaughter - Lennie to the perp who was a supervisor at a meat plant, when comforting him with the evidence and the guy looked worried, Lennie quips “what’s the matter, you look like you’re about to have a cow”, that was funny given the episode was about improper handling of beef. And when he arrests the fast food guy and the guy demands a lawyer, Lennie responds “you want fries with that?”. Lennie had the best lines and his delivery was awesome.