S21.E03: Down Low in Hell's Kitchen

[dttruman]

Episode description from Googling "Law and Order SVU season 21 episode 3, Down Low in Hell's Kitchen"

A serial predator targeting men in gay bars proves difficult to catch, until a celebrity comes forward with his story.

Credits from Fandom:

Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson

Kelli Giddish as Detective Amanda Rollins

Ice-T as Sergeant Odafin Tutuola

Peter Scanavino as A.D.A. Dominick Carisi, Jr.

Ryan Buggle as Noah Porter-Benson

Zuleikha Robinson as Bureau Chief Vanessa Hadid

Demore Barnes as Deputy Chief Christian Garland

Stephen Wallem as Rudy Sondergaard

Guest cast

Joshua Morgan as Seth Aron

Matthew Cárdenas as LGBTQ Counselor

[dttruman]

This source from Spoilertv.  says Curtis Armstrong (Booger) is also starring.

"LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT"

"DOWN LOW IN HELL'S KITCHEN"

ORIGINAL

10/10/2019 (10:00PM - 11:00PM) (Thursday) : A serial predator targeting men in gay bars proves difficult to catch, until a celebrity comes forward with his story. Starring Mariska Hargitay, Ice T, Kelli Giddish and Peter Scanavino. Guest starring L. Steven Taylor, Demore Barnes, Zuleikha Robinson and Curtis Armstrong.
 

Source:

NBC

[WendyCR72]

8 hours ago, dttruman said:

Curtis Armstrong

Wow, Booger (Revenge of the Nerds)! Or, if a Moonlighting fan as I was, Herbert Viola!

[Fellaway]

9 hours ago, dttruman said:

Stephen Wallem as Rudy Sondergaard

Who, or what, is a Rudy Sondergaard, that he's listed with the regulars and recurrings?

9 hours ago, dttruman said:

This source from Spoilertv.  says Curtis Armstrong (Booger) is also starring.

Booger!  My one and only celebrity encounter!  He came into the bookstore where I used to work - Twice! - when he was doing a play at our local playhouse.  He looked a lot smaller in person.

[Xeliou66]

I’m not excited for this episode, it looks like a direct ripoff of the Jussie Smollett hoax and I’m afraid it will go one of 2 ways - either it’s yet another male “victim” that isn’t really a victim, which gets really tiresome with how everytime there’s a male victim somehow they are the bad guy, or they will make the Smollett character sympathetic, which would be outrageous and a blatant political statement. I’m afraid we’re in for a heavy handed, preachy, St Olivia saves the world hour, plus Noah is back in this episode, which I dread.

[wknt3]

47 minutes ago, Xeliou66 said:

I’m not excited for this episode, it looks like a direct ripoff of the Jussie Smollett hoax and I’m afraid it will go one of 2 ways - either it’s yet another male “victim” that isn’t really a victim, which gets really tiresome with how everytime there’s a male victim somehow they are the bad guy, or they will make the Smollett character sympathetic, which would be outrageous and a blatant political statement.

I'm not sure at all that it would be a blatant political statement to have the accuser actually be a victim. Hhaving the "shocking twist" (TM) in a "ripped from the headlines" (TM) episode be that the flimsy defense of the famous person they are portraying (although not really, because they are entirely fictional even if they are inspired by actual events) actually is what happened is a long standing franchise tradition dating back at least to the mothership's "The Serpent's Tooth".

Quote

I’m afraid we’re in for a heavy handed, preachy, St Olivia saves the world hour

So in other words you think they're going to air an episode of SVU? I'm not "afraid" so much as "expecting" at this point. I mean if you have no hope you can't be disappointed right? Although I do have one hope - given the title I hope they manage to work in Fin saying "Don't look at me, I just know stuff." Of course at this point they might actually have Liv explaining African-American culture to Fin, but I would forgive that if they had Benson giving us that explanation...

[atlantaloves]

I had to turn it off after thirty minutes, it was so damn awful. What happened?

[Xeliou66]

9 minutes ago, atlantaloves said:

I had to turn it off after thirty minutes, it was so damn awful. What happened?

This episode hasn’t aired yet. 

[Gigi43]

FFS we can't have Ken without Noah popping  up?! That's just wrong. 

Happy to see Ken though. 

[SarahPrtr]

The title sounds like something from Daredevil.

[Gigi43]

So I always hate that the show doesn't hold actual liars accountable but that's not specific to this case. Even though I would have preferred Finn not going to the guys house it was damn refreshing that it wasn't Liv. And Carisi got a scene doing ADA work without monitoring!  I liked PS a lot in the scene. Hopefully we get more of that.

Noah's interests are going to be whatever the episode case needs it to reflect.  Whatever. 

I didn't hate the episode. The first half seemed to drag then by the time it got good time was wasted. Over all this mirrored what they did with the Michael Jackson episode of a real crime and then the opportunist, which was probably the best way to go i guess. I did laugh when they said the brother bought a teaser on a store card because I still find the fact that Smollet gave the Ossundairo (sp?) Brothers a check, at all, to be mind blowing. 

[ShortyMac]

I don't care about any kid taking dance, but, it's annoying how Noah is just used to fit with an episode. Not long ago, there was that thing of "Will Noah's DNA make him a bad guy?" because of Johnny D/his biological father. And now it's, "Noah might be gay."

[WendyCR72]

13 minutes ago, SarahPrtr said:

The title sounds like something from Daredevil.

That had better writing.

[dttruman]

The investigation was better than I thought, a lot more objectivity than I thought Benson would be. But there were some inconsistencies and some outright "Why did they do this".

Why does Noah, after trying to catch up with his baseball buddies does he suddenly have an epiphany to tell Benson he doesn't like baseball, wants to drop it immediately, and take up dance? Trying to catch up with his friends, suggest to me he stills enjoys the comradery of the  game.

Why did they (writers and producers) make Fin suggest Garland become a decoy? Usually the new head of the squad (or any squad) would probably not get involved this soon.

I can't believe Benson would condone fake reports of hate crimes, for some one's demand for anonymity. Those choosing to keep quiet are only hurting themselves and others for future hate crimes, but Benson chose not to address how much damage can be caused by reporting fake hate crimes.

They sure are making Hadid a real heavy here. Chalk up another plea deal to Carisi.

Edited October 12, 2019 by dttruman

[HunterHunted]

48 minutes ago, dttruman said:

I can't believe Benson would condone fake reports of hate crimes, for some one's demand for anonymity. Those choosing to keep quiet are only hurting themselves and others for future hate crimes, but Benson chose not address how much damage can be caused by reporting fake hate crimes.

I can believe it. The way this was different from Jussie is that the cops knew about repeated assaults with no witnesses willing to come forward. And while the men were assaulted for being Black and queer. No one knew that they were queer and it's quite likely that the perpetrator was going to continue to escalate. In a number of jurisdictions if you don't include the special hate crime charges, it's not actually recorded as one. The thing that this show frequently forgets is that you take the case you can win and there was nothing winnable about their case. This was probably the most realistic the show has been in quite a while.

[Xeliou66]

I liked this episode. It was much better than I expected. 

I liked how the investigation played out, and I liked that Mathis was lying about his attack, but there actually was a sex crime to be solved. It was nice to see a case with male victims and non white victims. I liked how there was a rapist to catch but there was a false allegation also. 

We got a heavy dose of Fin which was nice, I really liked the Fin/Carisi scenes that we got, and I liked Carisi at the end working out a plea deal, Carisi is doing really well as the ADA, I still don’t like how we don’t have as much of him now that he’s in that role and I miss him as a detective and the squad is very short handed, but Carisi as ADA is working. We got to see him in court doing an arraignment which was a plus as well. 

It was nice to see Ken again and I liked how he was able to assist on the case. But my god the scenes with Noah were beyond horrible and forced, were they supposed to be implying that Noah might turn out to be gay? That’s the only thing I could think of, it didn’t fit with the rest of the episode at all and felt like an excuse just to show Noah again. I did notice they mentioned Stone. But those 2 scenes were horrible. 

I liked the new chief up until the end when he suddenly backed off of charging Mathis after a brief sermon from St Olivia. I have no idea why St Olivia doesn’t care about false allegations, they do a lot of harm to real victims as they make it harder for them to be believed, and I wish the chief had shown a backbone and told Benson to arrest Mathis anyway, up until then I liked the chief. And wouldn’t the DA’s office make the final decision on whether or not to indict Mathis? 

This was a good episode overall, minus the Noah scenes and the chief bowing to Benson. But I’m already dreading next week’s episode, it looks like a politically heavy handed shitfest. 

[CrystalBlue]

To save Noah from potentially growing up to be a rapist because of bio daddy's DNA, they've turned the storyline of Noah's journey through life in the Big Apple to potentially be gay, because he suddenly doesn't like boring baseball and is inspired to take up ballet.  Are they freaking kidding us?

[LotusFlower]

Why does a boy who shows interest in dance indicate that he’s gay?  I didn’t like the connection or inference.

[SarahPrtr]

47 minutes ago, CrystalBlue said:

To save Noah from potentially growing up to be a rapist because of bio daddy's DNA, they've turned the storyline of Noah's journey through life in the Big Apple to potentially be gay, because he suddenly doesn't like boring baseball and is inspired to take up ballet.  Are they freaking kidding us?

Especially since Benson also has her father's DNA, but she's doing just fine.

[dttruman]

2 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

To save Noah from potentially growing up to be a rapist because of bio daddy's DNA, they've turned the storyline of Noah's journey through life in the Big Apple to potentially be gay, because he suddenly doesn't like boring baseball and is inspired to take up ballet.  Are they freaking kidding us?

I don't know about anyone else, but I didn't sign on to watch a member's kid of the SVU grow up dealing with his (or her) problems. I didn't like it with Stabler, thank Heavens those episodes were few and far between. But with this being Benson's kid, will he probably become a regular feature and we'll lose another detective?

Edited October 11, 2019 by dttruman

[wknt3]

The Good:
The main story. It was an actual sexually based offense, investigated from beginning to end including the legal side with everyone playing a role and it stayed on track. Plus it felt like something different which is sorely needed.
Fin. Lots of good stuff character wise this week. Some non-soapy family stuff with him and Ken, we got to see him and Carisi working together, and he actually got to be the one to have a cathartic moment with the guest star at the end!
Carisi. I really liked the scene with him bluffing/blackmailing his way to a plea bargain, as well as in the bar. PS did a really nice job with the reaction in the bar when Fin reminded him he wasn't a cop any more.
The guest cast. The new chief is interesting and everyone else did a good job. As a fan of The Closer/Major Crimes it was nice to see Curtis Armstrong again. I like to think Peter Goldman got disbarred in CA and used his LA connections to get a new gig in entertainment management using a new name.

The Bad:
Benoah. How is the kid supposed to be a dancer when he can't even fit into the episode gracefully? The heavy handed clumsy thematic link was like an elephnat trying to pirouette.
The lack of cast members was still glaringly apparent. When you need to put the chief and the ADA in the field to have enough bodies that's bad. Even if I loved the Fin and Carisi scene.
The promo for next week. Abortion is an issue this entire franchise has a bad track record with so I'm really not looking forward to seeing what SVU Season 21 does with it. I'd almost rather see another young rich white girl abused by a rich businessman being persuaded to come forward by Benson. Almost.

Overall the good outweighed the bad and this was a solid, but unspectacular episode with a lot of nice little moments and some glaring weaknesses that fortunately passed pretty quickly. I would probably say a solid B/B+ given that we're grading on the later years SVU curve.

[tennisgurl]

I guess if they really wanted to do the Jussie Smollett case (which is so ridiculous and full of twists it almost seems more like a plot in a show than real life) this was probably the best way to go about it. Yeah the Jussie Smollett character was lying, but the other victims were real, so it wasnt just "male victims are lying liars" exactly. And the case did have some actual police work that actually made some real world sense, and it was just great to actually see people on this show who arent pretty white women victims and evil rich white guys as villains! We even got some nice Carisi and Fin moments, which are always appreciated. We even got to see Ken, which was a nice surprise. Its just great to get a case that isnt another "He said/She said" assault case. 

The beginning where they flashed the "This is not based on real people or events" sign I cracked up, because its so obviously based on something thats real. I mean, its not literally everything that happened, but come on! You've been advertising as Ripped From the Headlines all week! I do have to say, it is...interesting that when its this guys story that doesent fully line up, or when he acts suspicious and hiding things, the team instantly starts doubting his story and asking him again and again if he is lying, when we have basically seen that from countless other (white female) victims over the years, which just leads to Saint Olivia speeches about believing victims and having the victim vindicated. I mean, yeah we all know that he is lying, but the characters dont know that, and considering how few male or POC or LGBTQ victims we have on this show anymore, its not a great look to have THIS be the person who isnt automatically believed no matter what. Especially after last week and Olivia's "you were raped I just know it!"  If they normally had a more diverse pool of victims and characters, like they did in the first few seasons, this wouldn't really bother me, but with this, it kind of looks like the only reason they even included these victims is because they wanted to do a Ripped From the Headlines story and they HAD to, and that they treated this victim with more suspicion than they treat their "usual" victims. 

This show is certainly interested in its closeted down low black men huh? I know this did a whole episode about this awhile ago, and I feel like there were more? I might be remembering it wrong. 

I liked the new captain, but then he had to fall for a Saint Olivia speech, of course. I also liked him at the gay bar, that was pretty fun. "Captain pulls them in." 

I hope that they arent saying that because Noah is taking ballet that he must be gay now. Thats just ridiculous, your hobbies have nothing to do with your sexual orientation, and I hope thats not what the show is trying to say.

[CrystalBlue]

10 hours ago, LotusFlower said:

Why does a boy who shows interest in dance indicate that he’s gay?  I didn’t like the connection or inference.

I didn't like the connection and the inference either, which is what I believe the show was trying to "show" us.  Basic stereotype and all that jazz--I mean, ballet.  But you know that's what they're going for and didn't you just want to slap that mug of St Olivia/Mommy Of The Century with her sappy smile as she ponders the future of her little boy being a sweet and innocent gay angel instead of a big bad wolf rapist?  I did.

10 hours ago, SarahPrtr said:

Especially since Benson also has her father's DNA, but she's doing just fine.

The rape gene either skips a generation or doesn't get inherited by girls.  😉

[CrystalBlue]

8 hours ago, dttruman said:

I don't know about anyone else, but I didn't sign on to watch a member's kid of the SVU grow up dealing with his (or her) problems. I didn't like it with Stabler, thank Heavens those episodes were few and far between. But with this being Benson's kid, will he probably become a regular feature and we'll lose another detective?

Maybe Noah will grow up to be a gay SVU detective.

Edited October 11, 2019 by CrystalBlue

[meatball77]

2 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

I didn't like the connection and the inference either, which is what I believe the show was trying to "show" us.  Basic stereotype and all that jazz--I mean, ballet.  But you know that's what they're going for and didn't you just want to slap that mug of St Olivia/Mommy Of The Century with her sappy smile as she ponders the future of her little boy being a sweet and innocent gay angel instead of a big bad wolf rapist?  I did.

The rape gene either skips a generation or doesn't get inherited by girls.  😉

My theory is that it's going to hit on a future ripped from the headlines piece based on the NYCB scandal (which really goes so deep it's even a little much for SVU).  Noah dancing at the studio will make it easier for Olivia to jump into the story.

https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/2018/09/19/nyc-ballet-sex-scandal-lawsuit-new-details/1349505002/

I'd heard that they were going to have Noah taking ballet.  My daughter took a class from one of the actor's teachers who told the class all about how he was teaching the kid who plays Noah ballet privates so for his role on SVU.  I can't imagine this is a one off if the kid was taking dance classes to prepare for his role.
 

[wknt3]

12 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

The beginning where they flashed the "This is not based on real people or events" sign I cracked up, because its so obviously based on something thats real. I mean, its not literally everything that happened, but come on! You've been advertising as Ripped From the Headlines all week!

 The PR and legal departments of the network have been doing this since the beginning of the mothership. Actually the disclaimers have gotten better over time. In the beginning they used to be like whole paragraphs.  Take "Indifference" for example -


I think that the lawyers now realize no court is going to accept that the audience doesn't know what the franchise is doing. Plus you would be laughed out of court arguing that anybody thinks current SVU reflects reality at all...
 

Quote

This show is certainly interested in its closeted down low black men huh? I know this did a whole episode about this awhile ago, and I feel like there were more? I might be remembering it wrong.

21 years in this show has done just about every variant of sexuality multiple times so I don't think that it's really fair to say that the series is particularly interested in closeted black men. Rich white women on the other hand...

Edited October 12, 2019 by wknt3
typo

[txhorns79]

19 hours ago, LotusFlower said:

Why does a boy who shows interest in dance indicate that he’s gay?  I didn’t like the connection or inference.

I really didn't like the implication they made.  I think they wanted to show that Liv is a good mom who is open and accepting of anything, but the reality was they just seemed to try to use a stereotype to make a point, and it was all very klunky. 

[breezy424]

I would like to think that rather than TPTB were implying that Noah was somehow gay for taking dance/ballet lessons, they were implying since Prince George was taking lessons because he liked it, it was okay.  See Lara Spencer.  Okay, I could very well be wrong.  i do hope. 

[SarahPrtr]

Of course! A gay boy wants to spend all of his free time being around girls with perfect bodies!  Yeah, I hate those stereotypes and it's an absolute insult to male ballet dancers who have spent years and years perfecting their craft and suffering countless injuries.  People who say shit like that have no clue what incredible athletes these dancers are. 

It's 2019, SVU writers!!!  Get with the effing program!!!

[HunterHunted]

3 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

I really didn't like the implication they made.  I think they wanted to show that Liv is a good mom who is open and accepting of anything, but the reality was they just seemed to try to use a stereotype to make a point, and it was all very klunky. 

I wasn't particularly happy with that either. If you have any familiarity with those communities, you know that straight ballerinos can and will just tear through a company like a tornado. They will fuck and fuck with every ballerina they can. Being a dancer doesn't mean a man is gay; it means he's an athlete with rhythm. Tiny straight rage monster Rahm Emanuel was a ballerino.

[dttruman]

15 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

Maybe Noah will grow up to be a gay SVU detective.

Over the years I was waiting for something like that to occur, where a regular cast member (one of the detectives) would come out. I also thought it would happen during Leight's time as a showrunner, because it sounds like something he would do.

[preeya]

21 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

Maybe Noah will grow up to be a gay SVU detective.

God forbid, if the show lasts that long. I can just picture Granny St. Olivia as the police commissioner running to crime scenes with her walker. Thanks, but no thanks! I'm just about ready to pack it in now.

[atlantaloves]

At least I got through this episode without having to turn it off like I did last week. Yeah, I would lie to pack it in as well, but I am loyal to a fault with this series. 

[observer]

Edited October 14, 2019 by observer

[Kel Varnsen]

On 10/11/2019 at 1:16 PM, tennisgurl said:

I hope that they arent saying that because Noah is taking ballet that he must be gay now. Thats just ridiculous, your hobbies have nothing to do with your sexual orientation, and I hope thats not what the show is trying to say.

It's stupid but I kind of hope they are implying that. Only because it will be terrible and I want to see Olivia making some hilarious Homer Simpson style assumptions about her son. Maybe she will see Noah in a Hawaiian shirt, and then decide she needs to take him to a steel mill or something.

[SarahPrtr]

7 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

It's stupid but I kind of hope they are implying that. Only because it will be terrible and I want to see Olivia making some hilarious Homer Simpson style assumptions about her son. Maybe she will see Noah in a Hawaiian shirt, and then decide she needs to take him to a steel mill or something.

The whole thing is as embarrassing and clichéd as a homohobic dumb jock from the 80s making 'gay jokes'.  SO stupid.  After twenty freaking seasons, THIS is the bullshit we have to deal with???

[ShepardRahl]

>He’s an ally

>She doesn’t want him triggered

How very woke of the writer.

>False reports are extremely rare

LOL No they’re not. Also false reporting is a felony. The person should be charged no matter what. It should also be noted that the people who do this shit and get away with it are the same ones that lecture you about your privilege.

It was cute of them to bookend this episode about gay bashing by virtue signaling how they are going to make Noah gay.

Considering how this is NBC I’m surprised they had enough self-awareness to portray this Jussie Smullett episode with some semblance of truth. But then again at the end they had to tell him that his lying was a good thing because they ultimately caught…. somebody.

I like Benson's interactions with the new DA. It serves to remind her she's not master of the universe and the way she gets furious when the DA shuts her down is hilarious to me.

[observer]

Quote

So, season 21 was big for record-breaking reasons, but how’s it doing in the ratings? Well, it’s early days right now, but they’re not looking good. So far, 21 has seen a 0.73 rating in the 18-49 demographic, from 3.64 million viewers. Compared to season 20, that’s a fairly big drop – by 15% and 13%, respectively.  source

Edited October 14, 2019 by observer

[observer]

CBS Sunday Morning: Mariska Hargitay, the avenging angel of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"

[WendyCR72]

53 minutes ago, observer said:

So, season 21 was big for record-breaking reasons, but how’s it doing in the ratings? Well, it’s early days right now, but they’re not looking good. So far, 21 has seen a 0.73 rating in the 18-49 demographic, from 3.64 million viewers. Compared to season 20, that’s a fairly big drop – by 15% and 13%, respectively. 

This show should just thank its lucky stars it made it to S21 to break the Gunsmoke record, blah blah blah. But declining ratings - as I said in a prior post - are inevitable. The show is ancient. And, really, I doubt NBC will yank it 'til it is no longer financially sound.

And even then, I bet Dick Wolf will plead with NBC to put a S22 on Peacock.

[Sake614]

It wasn't an awful episode. And at least Olivia didn't do ALL the investigating herself. Glad to see Fin get some screen time and it's always nice seeing Ken.

Ugh with the foreshadowing that Noah is gay just because he wants to dance.

[dttruman]

I found a recap and review of this SVU episode on Youtube. The language is explicit so I didn't want to put the direct link up in case it offended some people. His review is a little graphic but more or less agrees with us concerning the quality of the episode.

If you paste this phrase is the search box of Youtube,

"Law & Order SVU: Jussie Smollett Edition Roast & Recap"

You will find a video by Alexander Rodgers

[wknt3]

20 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

This show should just thank its lucky stars it made it to S21 to break the Gunsmoke record, blah blah blah. But declining ratings - as I said in a prior post - are inevitable. The show is ancient. And, really, I doubt NBC will yank it 'til it is no longer financially sound.

And even then, I bet Dick Wolf will plead with NBC to put a S22 on Peacock.

I suspect that we are fairly quickly approaching the point of "no longer financially sound" unless Mariska is willing to take a big pay cut. I mean you look at how much they've had to trim to get it to this point and there simply isn't much left. Also all indications are the ancillary revenue streams are drying up as well since it seems like there is a smaller audience purchasing the new episodes and watching it on USA. That said unless we see a decline to say .5 or lower before the end of November there will be a Season 22 although it may be on Peacock and/or shortened. I would bet even if we see a decline that far there will be an announced final season. Dick Wolf has made them so much money they can afford a small loss and given that they are negotiating to purchase his whole catalog (which would be a huge get for the new service) and could essentially look at it as a sweetener for that deal, and that they will want to provide closure to the audience they aren't going to cancel it without an announced final season unless something completely bonkers happens like Ronan Farrow revealing that Mariska has been sexually harassing Peter Scanavino for the last 5 years.

Edited October 14, 2019 by wknt3

[CrystalBlue]

1 hour ago, dttruman said:

I found a recap and review of this SVU episode on Youtube. The language is explicit so I didn't want to put the direct link up in case it offended some people. His review is a little graphic but more or less agrees with us concerning the quality of the episode.

If you paste this phrase is the search box of Youtube,

"Law & Order SVU: Jussie Smollett Edition Roast & Recap"

You will find a video by Alexander Rodgers

Thanks for my daily laugh!  Too funny.  Alexander is a hoot.

[dttruman]

10 hours ago, wknt3 said:

hat said unless we see a decline to say .5 or lower before the end of November there will be a Season 22 although it may be on Peacock and/or shortened.

Is it possible that SVU could be sold to like Netflix, Hulu, or some other company for it to continue? (I maybe way off on this conjecture, I also don't know about the legalities also)

Edited October 15, 2019 by dttruman

[observer]

22 hours ago, observer said:

CBS Sunday Morning: Mariska Hargitay, the avenging angel of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"

Finally had time to watch this entire interview.  I am sputtering at SVU creator Dick Wolf saying that Mariska is the "mother of Me Too."   I am not disputing her work in sexual assault and untested rape kits, but she is NOT the mother of the Me Too movement.

Quote

The ‘me too.’ movement was founded in 2006 to help survivors of sexual violence, particularly Black women and girls, and other young women of color from low wealth communities, find pathways to healing. Our vision from the beginning was to address both the dearth in resources for survivors of sexual violence and to build a community of advocates, driven by survivors, who will be at the forefront of creating solutions to interrupt sexual violence in their communities.

In less than six months, because of the viral #metoo hashtag, a vital conversation about sexual violence has been thrust into the national dialogue. What started as local grassroots work has expanded to reach a global community of survivors from all walks of life and helped to de-stigmatize the act of surviving by highlighting the breadth and impact of a sexual violence worldwide.  source

Quote

Tarana Burke (born September 12, 1973) is a civil rights activist from The Bronx, New York who founded the Me Too movement. In 2006, Burke began using the phrase "Me Too" to raise awareness of the pervasiveness of sexual abuse and assault in society, and the phrase developed into a broader movement, following the 2017 use of #MeToo as a hashtag after the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations. source

And another thing, since Mariska is moved to tears by the effect Olivia Benson has had on her life, it doesn't surprise me that the hoarse whisper has insinuated itself into her real life persona.

[WendyCR72]

24 minutes ago, dttruman said:

Is it possible that SVU could be old to like Netflix, Hulu, or some other company for it to continue? (I maybe way off on this conjecture, I also don't know about the legalities also)

That is what Peacock is, a new streaming service owned by NBC. So I think if it goes anywhere if it leaves TV, it will be there.

[SarahPrtr]

1 hour ago, observer said:

Finally had time to watch this entire interview.  I am sputtering at SVU creator Dick Wolf saying that Mariska is the "mother of Me Too."   I am not disputing her work in sexual assault and untested rape kits, but she is NOT the mother of the Me Too movement.

And another thing, since Mariska is moved to tears by the effect Olivia Benson has had on her life, it doesn't surprise me that the hoarse whisper has insinuated itself into her real life persona.

To be honest, considering what has become of the Me Too movement, that is not something a person who has any pride would be proud of.  I'm all for believing and helping the victims, but that is not what Me Too has done.

If Mariska wanted the quality of the show to remain somewhat the same and have the show continue, she would take a paycut, but I don't believe that she cares that much at this point.  Too much arrogance.  The other cast members are just there to do their job and get a paycheck now.  If there's another season, great, they keep getting paid, if not, then time to start auditioning again.  Hopefully they'll get some residuals from the reruns and DVD sales.

[wanderingstar]

I always like seeing Ken, and Ken/Fin scenes, so I dug this episode.

I feel like they did the predator-targets-closeted-gay-men episode several seasons back, but obviously this had the Jussie Smollett angle. And I surprisingly didn't hate it. I liked that while Mathis turned out to be lying, Fin still recognized that he had some trauma that he had to deal with. I also liked Demore Barnes as the new deputy chief. I even liked him going undercover ("The chief can pull"), though not sure how realistic that was. I mean, wouldn't his appointment have made the news?

Nice seeing Carisi in court.

Anything Noah-related makes my eyes glaze over, and this episode's Noah scenes were no different.

[dttruman]

8 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

That is what Peacock is, a new streaming service owned by NBC. So I think if it goes anywhere if it leaves TV, it will be there.

My bad! I didn't know exactly what Peacock was. Thank you for updating me and the only other person in the whole world who didn't know that, when he (or she) reads this.

I just thought it was NBC's library of videos or something.

Edited October 15, 2019 by dttruman