S21.E08: We Dream of Machine Elves

[Acapella]

Since everybody is commenting on inconsistencies in the story line, I thought I'd add mine.  Nobody Ever  took 100 times the recreational dose of DMT by smoking it. It would have to be injected.

[tvfanatic13]

On 11/15/2019 at 7:16 PM, TzuShih said:

Er...um......after emphasis on how all the drugged young ladies were still psychologically unstable, WHY oh WHY was Olivia pushed to drive solo - with no backup - the young Swedish victim on a "city tour" of her torturous, psychedelic memories?!?  (I can't possibly be the ONLY viewer finding this nonsensical.) ☹️

LOVE your screen name!! Proud owner of one 😊

[TzuShih]

21 hours ago, tvfanatic13 said:

LOVE your screen name!! Proud owner of one 😊

Thanks!  Aren't Shih Tzu the BEST!  ☺️

[ChristiKRN]

Oh my...not sure what to say about this episode.  Not enough carisi.  I am noticing that Kat tends to go off track very easily.  Rollins was true to self about wanting to take the side of Adler over what is happening with his practice.  I still find it reprehensible that this show, which is all about female empowerment, continues to present women as unpredictable/untrustworthy/labile; Fin, Carisi and the new deputy chief seem to be the only level-headed figures.  I was seriously hoping that Kat would be presented as a smart, empathetic, and level-headed SVU squad member.   

[dttruman]

8 hours ago, ChristiKRN said:

Oh my...not sure what to say about this episode.  Not enough carisi.  I am noticing that Kat tends to go off track very easily.  Rollins was true to self about wanting to take the side of Adler over what is happening with his practice.  I still find it reprehensible that this show, which is all about female empowerment, continues to present women as unpredictable/untrustworthy/labile; Fin, Carisi and the new deputy chief seem to be the only level-headed figures.  I was seriously hoping that Kat would be presented as a smart, empathetic, and level-headed SVU squad member.   

I think it's their intent to keep Benson as the one who is "smart, empathetic, and level-headed. Otherwise they will assume that the viewers will think that there is someone a little more righteous than Benson.

Rollins may have been true to herself, but how can she defend a guy who was complicit in drugging, kidnapping, and promoting rape as a way of therapy? I think she has forgotten what the"SV" stands for in "SVU". I think her priorities are in the wrong place. She even took some of that drug when she went undercover and we even saw some of the effects she was going through. I  just wish the writers had made this more clear. They left a lot of stuff unanswered and this. This is the conclusion I came up with anyway.

[12catcrazy]

On 11/17/2019 at 11:10 AM, zoey1996 said:

Harks back to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? a novel by Richard K. Dick (968).  

I believe the thing about "Machine Elves" comes from Terrance McKenna.  He was a "ethnobotanist" who went to South America with his brother in the 1970s to research and partake of the plant based potions (drugs) the native people used in their rituals.  

I read all of McKenna's books and remember his talking about the "machine elves" which he seemed to think of as some inter-dimensional form of life that may be tied to Planet Earth.  Been a while since I read the books but I think the Machine Elves thing is talked about in DMT research.   And from the desciptions, I've read about, they look NOTHING like the refugees from Tron we saw in the victim's hallucination.  

Edited December 5, 2019 by 12catcrazy

[Joe Hellandback]

On 11/16/2019 at 3:35 AM, SarahPrtr said:

The title reminded me of something from Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Apparently MJH was high on ecstasy for most of the filming which must have made it all much more realistic for her?

[Joe Hellandback]

1. So we just jump to the conclusion that she's been drug/gang raped before even hearing the facts of the case? Not that she took the drugs willingly and then had sex whilst they were all blitzed? But then this is Olivia Benson.

2. Miss Gale from Kansas? Come on, be a bit more inventive, call her Miss Baum or Garland or something?

3. When the Prof mentioned gambling addiction I thought we'd at least get a reaction from Rollins but I guess we've forgotten that character trait?

4. Dissention between the members of the SVU, refreshing! I like that Rollins breaks the group think once in a while. 

5. Equally Carisi seems to be acting more and more like a DA now and less like a cop which is very welcome. 

6. New girl in the titles, guess she's going to be hanging around after all?

7. Boy I wish I had the rights to White Rabbit, every psychedelic scene ever uses it. 

8.  Fin and new girl on the doorstep is ultra dumb, why tip your hand? Also seems pretty stupid that they give her friends such a hard time, who never had a wild night out where someone branched off to do their own thing? 

9. Why exactly does Hector say the chiefs are paying attention to all of this? A couple of OD's who don't even die?

10. You wonder why Benson goes alone in her drive around with the one Swedish girl who isn't blonde? Nice touch though that she goes back to Sweden, very realistic. 

11. The scene in the asylum isn't as nihilistic as some make out, the daughter's mother will probably never snap out of it but at least she can have some relationship with her?

12. Bit of a odd ending, Carisi wants to charge them all but how will that work out? If everyone is under the influence of drugs how is anyone responsible? 

7/10

[SunnyBeBe]

I don’t find Benson particularly sensitive to victims. After the traumatized girl pointed out the house, she turned to leave as she got scared, but Benson grabs and holds her from getting back into the car. Why?

Rollins looked rough in this episode. I haven’t been watching much.

Edited June 26, 2020 by SunnyBeBe

[dttruman]

18 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I don’t find Benson particularly sensitive to victims. After the traumatized girl pointed out the house, she turned to leave as she got scared, but Benson grabs and holds her from getting back into the car. Why?

Rollins looked rough in this episode. I haven’t been watching much.

There were a couple of episodes where Benson was uncomfortably sensitive and also maybe  unprofessional with a couple of victims that were pregnant. I can't think right off which ones this season, but she was giving unsolicited advice to both (she should let a therapist do that) and even touching one of their bellies.

It will take me time to find them, but there a couple of people in this group that can name them right off the bat

[incandescent]

 

37 minutes ago, dttruman said:

There were a couple of episodes where Benson was uncomfortably sensitive and also maybe  unprofessional with a couple of victims that were pregnant. I can't think right off which ones this season, but she was giving unsolicited advice to both (she should let a therapist do that) and even touching one of their bellies.

It will take me time to find them, but there a couple of people in this group that can name them right off the bat

Dearly Beloved and The Good Girl from season 21 come to mind. She was also weird with Rollins that whole season too.

[dttruman]

24 minutes ago, incandescent said:

Dearly Beloved and The Good Girl from season 21 come to mind. She was also weird with Rollins that whole season too.

Many thanks!

[Xeliou66]

40 minutes ago, incandescent said:

 

Dearly Beloved and The Good Girl from season 21 come to mind. She was also weird with Rollins that whole season too.

From season 20 you mean. Yes those episodes were very weird, her behavior in Dearly Beloved was especially despicable and nauseating with her trying to manipulate a clearly unstable woman into giving birth to her rapists child. I’m not sure what was up with Benson in those episodes, she was behaving wildly OOC. 

[dttruman]

2 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

From season 20 you mean. Yes those episodes were very weird, her behavior in Dearly Beloved was especially despicable and nauseating with her trying to manipulate a clearly unstable woman into giving birth to her rapists child. I’m not sure what was up with Benson in those episodes, she was behaving wildly OOC. 

Thank you for giving a better detailed account of Benson's overzealousness or almost criminal behavior.

[Joe Hellandback]

On 6/25/2020 at 9:49 PM, SunnyBeBe said:

I don’t find Benson particularly sensitive to victims. After the traumatized girl pointed out the house, she turned to leave as she got scared, but Benson grabs and holds her from getting back into the car. Why?

Rollins looked rough in this episode. I haven’t been watching much.

Because it's never been about the victims for Benson, it's about revenge on the rapist father she never knew. If he was alive she'd probably end up banging him. 

On 6/26/2020 at 6:24 PM, Xeliou66 said:

From season 20 you mean. Yes those episodes were very weird, her behavior in Dearly Beloved was especially despicable and nauseating with her trying to manipulate a clearly unstable woman into giving birth to her rapists child. I’m not sure what was up with Benson in those episodes, she was behaving wildly OOC. 

It doesn't take Freud to work it out, she was a child of rape herself? 

Edited July 2, 2020 by Joe Hellandback

[wknt3]

On 6/26/2020 at 7:24 PM, Xeliou66 said:

From season 20 you mean. Yes those episodes were very weird, her behavior in Dearly Beloved was especially despicable and nauseating with her trying to manipulate a clearly unstable woman into giving birth to her rapists child. I’m not sure what was up with Benson in those episodes, she was behaving wildly OOC. 

OOC? Benson manipulating victims to advance her personal agenda and work through her own personal issues has been a central aspect of the character for the last 5 years!

[dttruman]

On 7/3/2020 at 7:32 AM, wknt3 said:

On 6/26/2020 at 7:24 PM, Xeliou66 said:

From season 20 you mean. Yes those episodes were very weird, her behavior in Dearly Beloved was especially despicable and nauseating with her trying to manipulate a clearly unstable woman into giving birth to her rapists child. I’m not sure what was up with Benson in those episodes, she was behaving wildly OOC. 

OOC? Benson manipulating victims to advance her personal agenda and work through her own personal issues has been a central aspect of the character for the last 5 years!

Manipulation seems to carry a little bit of "intention" with it. Does anyone else think that it's a misguided intention? I am thinking it wasn't to advance her own personal agenda, but to advance the agenda of the writers (and producers). I still have a respectful regard for Benson, but if the writers (and producers) keep going off on a tangent with Benson's behavior, there is less and less to respect.

Bottom line, give us back the old Benson!

Edited July 4, 2020 by dttruman
Added extra line