S21.E19: Solving for the Unknowns

[dttruman]

 This description is from Googling "law & order: special victims unit season 21 episode 19", Solving for the Unknowns

"The SVU struggles to find a serial predator who uses a date rape drug that leaves no evidence behind; Rollins receives some good news".

Cast info from Fandom "Solving for the Unknowns"

Main cast

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.

Jamie Gray Hyder as Detective Katriona Tamin

Recurring cast

Erin Anderson as Defense Attorney April Andrews

Guest cast

Susannah Flood as Rebecca

Mark A. Keeton as Scumbag Perp

[Xeliou66]

Apparently they’ve pushed this episode back a week and it will air next week. 

More Rollins personal crap?! I’m really sick of the focus on Rollins this season, she’s been shoved down our throats and has had a ton of personal stories, it’s beyond tiresome. 

I’m hoping the case is good - it would be really nice to have an episode where we don’t immediately know who the perp is and what happened, I get tired of how in most episodes we immediately know who the perp is. 

[dttruman]

On 4/6/2020 at 2:49 PM, Xeliou66 said:

More Rollins personal crap?! I’m really sick of the focus on Rollins this season, she’s been shoved down our throats and has had a ton of personal stories, it’s beyond tiresome. 

Yeah, we get to see the memorable Rollin's meltdown again where she professes her one way street of communication. She literally yells at Carisi for not being their for her, and that he should be more attuned to her emotional plight even if she says nothing. All Benson did was tell them to keep it down. Cragen would have had them both in his office to straighten things out.

[Xeliou66]

1 hour ago, dttruman said:

Yeah, we get to see the memorable Rollin's meltdown again where she professes her one way street of communication. She literally yells at Carisi for not being their for her, and that he should be more attuned to her emotional plight even if she says nothing. All Benson did was tell them to keep it down. Cragen would have had them both in his office to straighten things out.

Are you talking about Rollins’ meltdown in At Midnight In Manhattan, the episode which is being re aired tonight? Yeah that was pathetic, Carisi’s life doesn’t revolve around Rollins and Rollins needed to shut up and quit whining that Carisi had the nerve to take a different job. Although I’m glad Benson didn’t react more strongly because Carisi doesn’t work under Benson anymore and I would’ve been pissed if Benson reprimanded Carisi since she has no business acting superior to him since he’s an ADA now. Benson should’ve reprimanded Rollins for her behavior though. 

I’m just really sick of Rollins, she’s gotten a boatload of screentime in most of the episodes this season and a lot of personal plots. 

[dttruman]

Is this episode suppose to be something special, because it appears they are trying to keep it as secret as possible. They have only let out one essential promo for the episode. In the past it's usually 2,3 or even 4 promos to get us talking about it.

[Xeliou66]

7 minutes ago, dttruman said:

Is this episode suppose to be something special, because it appears they are trying to keep it as secret as possible. They have only let out one essential promo for the episode. In the past it's usually 2,3 or even 4 promos to get us talking about it.

I don’t know about that, most episodes I just remember one or two promos or sneak peeks for. They released photos from the episode today. 

This episode sounds like it has the potential to be interesting, I would really like an episode in which we didn’t know who the perp was immediately and that required more investigation, we’ve had only a few of those over the past few seasons.

 I’m not happy about the line in the synopsis about Rollins receiving good news, why do we continue to have Rollins subplots shoved down our throats. It’s one of the most blatant cases of a character being a writers pet that I can ever recall, it seems like about half of the episodes this season have had a Rollins subplot-personal involvement. The writers love Rollins, almost as much as they love St Olivia, and I’m sick of it, Rollins is one of my least favorite characters in the entire L&O franchise. 

[ChristiKRN]

I have a feeling this is just a filler episode; I hope I’m wrong.  The episode description has potential;  hope springs eternal.   More Rollins stuff...my guess is she’s being promoted up to the next detective grade from where she is.  There was a mention earlier this season about how she has not advanced in her career since arriving at SVU.  Whomever promotes her needs to be fired for bad judgment/insanity.  It is a better, albeit slightly,  alternative than she is pregnant with baby #3 by baby daddy #3. 

[Xeliou66]

16 minutes ago, ChristiKRN said:

I have a feeling this is just a filler episode; I hope I’m wrong.  The episode description has potential;  hope springs eternal.   More Rollins stuff...my guess is she’s being promoted up to the next detective grade from where she is.  There was a mention earlier this season about how she has not advanced in her career since arriving at SVU.  Whomever promotes her needs to be fired for bad judgment/insanity.  It is a better, albeit slightly,  alternative than she is pregnant with baby #3 by baby daddy #3. 

Yeah I think you’re right about Rollins, but it’s an absolute joke if she gets promoted, she is a train wreck who should’ve been fired a long time ago. This season Rollins has been pushed to the forefront and has gotten a boatload of screen time, she’s definitely a writers pet and it seems like they are trying to establish her as the #2 character behind Benson. Meanwhile Fin gets next to nothing and they frequently don’t seem to know how to write for Carisi.

[dttruman]

8 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

, she’s definitely a writers pet and it seems like they are trying to establish her as the #2 character behind Benson. Meanwhile Fin gets next to nothing and they frequently don’t seem to know how to write for Carisi.

 

8 hours ago, ChristiKRN said:

More Rollins stuff...my guess is she’s being promoted up to the next detective grade from where she is.  There was a mention earlier this season about how she has not advanced in her career since arriving at SVU.  Whomever promotes her needs to be fired for bad judgment/insanity.  It is a better, albeit slightly,  alternative than she is pregnant with baby #3 by baby daddy #3. 

My prediction for Rollins happiness is that her mother will come live with her to help look after the kids. More family drama concerning Rollins that can pop up during any episode.

As for the investigation, a new undetectable date-rape drug has possibilities. This will make a lot of female viewers apprehensive when they go out on dates now, if this is the writers (and producers) social message for this episode.

[SarahPrtr]

On 4/14/2020 at 2:56 PM, Xeliou66 said:

Yeah I think you’re right about Rollins, but it’s an absolute joke if she gets promoted, she is a train wreck who should’ve been fired a long time ago. This season Rollins has been pushed to the forefront and has gotten a boatload of screen time, she’s definitely a writers pet and it seems like they are trying to establish her as the #2 character behind Benson. Meanwhile Fin gets next to nothing and they frequently don’t seem to know how to write for Carisi.

Okay, I know that this is just a TV show, but if it were real, would any of us want someone like Rollins on the NYPD squad, let alone for SVU????  You need to be both tough and sensitive.  You're dealing with kids and sex crimes, ffs!!!!!  After you've been attacked, would you want someone like Rollins to be anywhere near you??  I'd actually want Olivia!  So congratulations, show.  You Win.

[dttruman]

On 4/15/2020 at 8:14 AM, SarahPrtr said:

On 4/14/2020 at 12:56 AM, Xeliou66 said:

Fin gets next to nothing and they frequently don’t seem to know how to write for Carisi.

Okay, I know that this is just a TV show, but if it were real, would any of us want someone like Rollins on the NYPD squad, let alone for SVU????  You need to be both tough and sensitive.  You're dealing with kids and sex crimes, ffs!!!!!  After you've been attacked, would you want someone like Rollins to be anywhere near you??  I'd actually want Olivia!  So congratulations, show.  You Win

Fin saw the writing on the wall and that his participation would not be very extensive. He probably asked Wolf, Hargitay, and Leight, if he could work on one of his own projects. They agreed and Fin got to produce, host, and narrate his own show, "In Ice Cold Blood". His series has a never ending supply of material to last as long as SVU. It looks like a quality crime documentary, like "Snapped"

[Gigi43]

This level of trollery! "The YEAR" Rollins had?! This woman hasn't had a year where she shouldn't be fired.

 

Will I make it til 11?

[dttruman]

Well we know what Rollins surprise is, and I am not surprised. What a "freakin" joke! It's the Fantasy World of Benson, women can be purposely irresponsible and get promoted.

Well Benson did it again. It looks like her screw up is going to make it tough for Carisi to prosecute. How many times have we seen this happen. You'd think they would have design the new squad room, so this would never happen. But I guess they need to keep using this scenario to create more drama.

When Benson goes on tv to ask about other victims, is she allowed to use the perps names? I thought they could only do it if the perps were in the news a lot like Weinstein and others. Otherwise, any woman that had a bad date or just wanted to stick it to any man in that area could claim they were raped.

Edited April 17, 2020 by dttruman

[WendyCR72]

In WHAT universe would Amanda Rollins, fuck-up extraordinaire, get a promotion?!

How I long for the days of these detectives getting real consequences like Logan did on The Mothership where he ended up in Staten Island for punching a bigwig (granted, said bigwig was scum, but still! And of course, Chris Noth was leaving...) or Goren being suspended for ignoring orders and having rules to follow for getting said job back on Criminal Intent.

But then, this was back when the franchise was not some sort of sad joke. Rollins being promoted is proof that this show has been on far too long - and sadly will be on fumes of fumes after three more seasons.

[dttruman]

This episode I thought was going to be a tough one for Carisi to prosecute, but it didn't even come to a court battle. That is why I was disappointed in the way it was made. Benson and the team used the old reliable "wire" to get the goods on the perps. How many times have they used this gimmick this season?  I was looking forward to an interesting confrontation in the courtroom. Is Fin showing less and less objectivity when it comes to these investigations now? But overall, it was on par with their low budget episodes without any outrageousness in the plot line.  The writers suckered me into believing that there was going to be that scenario where the victims meet in the squad room and the accused were going to get off on a technicality because of it.  I thought the original victim was too overzealous as usual.

7 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

In WHAT universe would Amanda Rollins, fuck-up extraordinaire, get a promotion?!

I am surprised Tamin hasn't been promoted over Fin.

Edited April 17, 2020 by dttruman

[Xeliou66]

I thought this was a pretty good episode overall. 

I liked how it wasn’t immediately obvious what happened or who the perp was, it actually required some investigation which was good, I’ve said in the past I want more episodes like this instead of episodes where it’s immediately obvious what happened. 

Everyone got a nice role and it wasn’t all about Benson, and even at the end everyone got to have scenes with the victims, not just St Olivia, which was very nice. 

Carisi was good in his role, they didn’t try to have him do detective things instead sticking to the legal side of stuff, although I would still like more courtroom scenes, I did like the opening scene in court with Fin and Carisi.

Fin had some nice moments, I loved his “pizza pizza pizza baby” line. And Benson and Rollins didn’t annoy me which was nice. 

I liked seeing a CSU tech at the apartment getting dialogue, they rarely are shown now. 

No Noah + No Hadid/no trashing of the DA’s office always makes for a better episode. 

The stuff I didn’t like - I agree that it’s ridiculous Rollins is getting a promotion, as we’ve all talked about she should’ve been fired a long time ago. I also didn’t like the commentary about misogyny and the rapists “leveling the playing field” it felt very awkward and like they were trying to force in a feminist message, it was unnecessary. 

Oberall this was definitely one of the seasons better episodes, a case that required investigation with a nice role for all of the characters and no glaring flaws. 

 

[wknt3]

Quick takes -

The Good:
Any time Rollins and/or Benson weren't on screen. Fin, Kat, Carisi and the guest cast were all good.
An actual investigation of a sexually based offense. Yes it was formulaic, but it was the classic SVU formula and that's good enough for me. They didn't show us everything in the opener and we got to follow the case along with the squad. Plus they actually remembered how to properly execute "the witness you thought was an exposition character was actually a perp"!
They actually found a way to make use of the way they've had to keep using Carisi in the field due to the shortage of cast members and Leight's lack of interest/skill/whatever in writing courtroom scenes. Yes they should fix that, but it was realistic that people are having a hard time seeing him in a new role and fully accepting the transition.

The Bad:
A PROMOTION FOR ROLLINS??? For what? Has she broken a single case this year? Was this just so Benson could deliver the line about persisting? Because if you want to troll the MAGA crowd be my guest, but there are better ways of doing it that don't require us to ignore everything we've seen including the new chief being a smart and savvy guy who knows what's up?
General sloppiness in the staging and editing. For instance the scene where the two victims had an interaction was a fine idea, which is why it has been done so many times, but it should have been set up better so it didn't look like they were being completely negligent in how they were conducting the lineup. Also no way in hell does that news conference get carried live and the phones start ringing immediately. That was an appropriate place for a montage, where they show the story on TV, social media, etc. and show the quad at their desks waiting for calls to come in and answering it. Also it would be nice to have some extras there as well to nod to the real world where the DAs office, DCPI, etc. would be there and Benson doesn't speal for the whole criminal justice system.

Overall this was a solid B/B+ episode. It might have been an B+/A- except for the not so divine or secret antics of the "yeah, yeah" sisterhood of Benson and Rollins dragging things down. I do like that they really do seem to be trying to do more classic style episodes. It was evident under MC, but WL seems to be going in that same direction. It's definitely the way they need to go if they are going to be on until network television finally collapses. On to next week and the season "finale"...

[Gigi43]

This turned out better than I thought. The back and forth between Ash and Luke and the home pharmacy was enough to keep it from being completely standard. 

 

The girl who had the stroke was sad and they should have gotten more time for that. I'm not trying to diminish the other girls at all but her life is physically changed forever and she could have died. 

 

Carisi will never get decent courtroom scenes. The confession is this shows favorite out. I miss regular trials. PS could handle it acting wise. 

 

Next week looks worrying but good. Of all the cases to be brought back that's actually a good choice, the little boy in that episode was heartbreaking. But now I'm worried about Finn going under a bus. If Finn does something dumb while Rollins' life of Should Be Fired gets her a promotion I'll flip. 

Edited April 17, 2020 by Gigi43

[dttruman]

On 4/17/2020 at 7:51 AM, Gigi43 said:

Carisi will never get decent courtroom scenes. The confession is this shows favorite out. I miss regular trials. PS could handle it acting wise. 

I don't want to see a courtroom scene every week by bringing up this subject, maybe just one a month or every 6 weeks. I would just like to see Carisi at work. But it seems that when there is a case taken to court, Benson is there to make an inappropriate speech or giving improper testimony.

On 4/17/2020 at 7:51 AM, Gigi43 said:

Next week looks worrying but good. Of all the cases to be brought back that's actually a good choice, the little boy in that episode was heartbreaking. But now I'm worried about Finn going under a bus

I wonder if that ever so helpful sister (of the battered wife (or girlfriend, I'm not sure)) will be making another appearance?

I don't mean to sound insensitive to the victims, but did Benson's speech on TV give every lady who used that dating service (True Heart) an excuse to sue the service? From what I get from this is that any lady who had a bad date, can now claim she had the same drug effects that Benson just mentioned, and can allow her to sue (probably class action) with others.

[Xeliou66]

5 hours ago, Gigi43 said:

This turned out better than I thought. The back and forth between Ash and Luke and the home pharmacy was enough to keep it from being completely standard. 

 

The girl who had the stroke was sad and they should have gotten more time for that. I'm not trying to diminish the other girls at all but her life is physically changed forever and she could have died. 

 

Carisi will never get decent courtroom scenes. The confession is this shows favorite out. I miss regular trials. PS could handle it acting wise. 

 

Next week looks worrying but good. Of all the cases to be brought back that's actually a good choice, the little boy in that episode was heartbreaking. But now I'm worried about Finn going under a bus. If Finn does something dumb while Rollins' life of Should Be Fired gets her a promotion I'll flip. 

Agreed about next week, the domestic violence case from At Midnight In Manhattan was compelling and is a good one to bring back, but I will be furious if they throw Fin under the bus. 

Apparently there will be multiple cases going on in next weeks episode, given the episode description. 

[MorbidPet]

I loved that scene with Benson and Rollins in the opening. Yay for Rollins. You go girl. And Benson remembered she's Annie Oakley. I like consistancy. 

And I guess we now know Kat swings both ways. Nice to put that in subtle show. You're usually not good at subtle so good job. 

Too bad this season was cut short. I was really looking forward to seeing Declan Murphy back on the show 😞 Hopefully Donal Logue will be available next season instead. Curious to see how they wrap this season up and what edits they did - if any - to make this a finale instead of just a regular episode. 

[Iguessnot]

Does Jill really drive her cupcake truck to late night dates? It was hard for me to stop laughing after that.

[dttruman]

On 4/17/2020 at 3:53 PM, MorbidPet said:

I loved that scene with Benson and Rollins in the opening. Yay for Rollins. You go girl. And Benson remembered she's Annie Oakley. I like consistancy. 

If these ladies are such good shots, why do they more often than not surrender their firearms to the perps when there is a confrontation? It seems like they would rather drop their sidearms and try and talk rapists and murderers into surrendering.

On 4/17/2020 at 3:53 PM, MorbidPet said:

Too bad this season was cut short. I was really looking forward to seeing Declan Murphy back on the show 😞 Hopefully Donal Logue will be available next season instead. Curious to see how they wrap this season up and what edits they did - if any - to make this a finale instead of just a regular episode. 

Is this going to be a 2 hour finale?

On 4/17/2020 at 1:17 PM, Xeliou66 said:

Agreed about next week, the domestic violence case from At Midnight In Manhattan was compelling and is a good one to bring back, but I will be furious if they throw Fin under the bus. 

I hope not, but there is no telling what they will do concerning Fin. I see Ice-T is now a spokesperson for a car warranty company. I wonder if we will see that very helpful sister of the battered wife.

[Xeliou66]

1 hour ago, dttruman said:

If these ladies are such good shots, why do they more often than not surrender their firearms to the perps when there is a confrontation? It seems like they would rather drop their sidearms and try and talk rapists and murderers into surrendering.

Is this going to be a 2 hour finale?

No it’s just a one hour finale. 

1 hour ago, dttruman said:

I hope not, but there is no telling what they will do concerning Fin. I see Ice-T is now a spokesperson for a car warranty company. I wonder if we will see that very helpful sister of the battered wife.

SVU doesn’t hesitate to trash characters, but I’m really hoping they don’t have Fin cross a line, as Fin is the most rational and level headed of the squad. I will be furious if they trash Fin. I’m very curious about the finale and how it will all play out as from the episode description there will be several cases. 

[dttruman]

7 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

SVU doesn’t hesitate to trash characters, but I’m really hoping they don’t have Fin cross a line, as Fin is the most rational and level headed of the squad. I will be furious if they trash Fin. I’m very curious about the finale and how it will all play out as from the episode description there will be several cases. 

I am taking that commercial as a harbinger of doom for the Fin character. Considering the last two episodes of SVU, Fin has slowly but surely become more frustrated and opinionated in an accusatory way. Most of the time it's with sarcasm, but not in the last two.  I think he may inadvertently do something bad that may get him removed from the SVU.

[wanderingstar]

Honestly, when I saw Daniel London's (Ash) name in the credits, I just figured his character would end up being involved in the crime.*

Solid episode. Liked the Fin scenes we got. Since I watched this episode online, I didn't see a preview for the finale, but now the posts I'm seeing here are making me nervous for Fin in next week's episode.

 

*The fact that I just saw him play a CIA bad guy in The Report probably helped.

[tennisgurl]

Oh yeah, give Rollins that promotion, why not? She only spends half her time flailing about breaking rules skirting regulations and dragging her horrible family into her work place stuff. 

The case of the week was alright, the chemistry stuff made it a bit more unique than another "attractive white woman he said/she said" story, even if I kept waiting for other things to become more important, like the two victims meetings each other, or going into more detail about the chemistry, but the stuff we got was alright. The two bad guys were obvious "say all the bad evil creepy guy stuff" villains, and its not too surprising the evil chemist found a bunch of losers who are into his zombie date rape. Its the SVU universe, where two random guys in an Uber can not only both agree to rape a random women in there with with no hesitation, they can also call up two buddies for a random Friday night rape. Not a bad episode, but pretty typical of this stage in SVU. 

I also love that this artisanal roofie (hah!) hipster creep is basically some kind of low level supervillain who somehow wandered into an SVU episode. He was kicked out of school due to his twisted experimentations, so now he is continuing his evil research out in the world! Give him a dumb costume and Daredevil will probably show up to kick his ass. 

So did the first victim drive her cupcake truck to the bar? Does she not have a normal car, or can get a taxi? Isn't having to drag that thing around town kind of a pain in the ass, where does she park? Does it double as a food truck? I have a lot of questions about this cupcake enterprise!

The poor girl who had the stroke, and her poor mom. 

[wknt3]

On 4/17/2020 at 6:19 PM, Iguessnot said:

Does Jill really drive her cupcake truck to late night dates? It was hard for me to stop laughing after that.

I have no serious problem with it. Yeah it was basically just a cheap way to make the scene visually interesting and distinctive, but it's easy enough to believe that she came right from work to the date and didn't have time to get the truck to wherever she parks it.

 

22 hours ago, dttruman said:

If these ladies are such good shots, why do they more often than not surrender their firearms to the perps when there is a confrontation? It seems like they would rather drop their sidearms and try and talk rapists and murderers into surrendering.

 

12 hours ago, dttruman said:

I am taking that commercial as a harbinger of doom for the Fin character. Considering the last two episodes of SVU, Fin has slowly but surely become more frustrated and opinionated in an accusatory way. Most of the time it's with sarcasm, but not in the last two.  I think he may inadvertently do something bad that may get him removed from the SVU.

It's been well established that all of the SVU squad are crack shots (except for Kat who hasn't had a chance to show off her unbelievable (literally) marksmanship). It is equally well established that except for Fin (most of the time) and Kat (again it's too soon to tell with her) they have ZERO tactical sense which they need that marksmanship to get them out of. Unfortunately it often gets other people killed (RIP Mike Dodds).

 

On 4/17/2020 at 2:17 PM, Xeliou66 said:

Agreed about next week, the domestic violence case from At Midnight In Manhattan was compelling and is a good one to bring back, but I will be furious if they throw Fin under the bus.

 

22 hours ago, dttruman said:

I hope not, but there is no telling what they will do concerning Fin. I see Ice-T is now a spokesperson for a car warranty company.

 

20 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

SVU doesn’t hesitate to trash characters, but I’m really hoping they don’t have Fin cross a line, as Fin is the most rational and level headed of the squad. I will be furious if they trash Fin. I’m very curious about the finale and how it will all play out as from the episode description there will be several cases. 

 

12 hours ago, dttruman said:

I am taking that commercial as a harbinger of doom for the Fin character. Considering the last two episodes of SVU, Fin has slowly but surely become more frustrated and opinionated in an accusatory way. Most of the time it's with sarcasm, but not in the last two.  I think he may inadvertently do something bad that may get him removed from the SVU.

 

I don't think they will deliberately trash the character or write him off. I can totally see them having him cross a line and trashing the character accidentally, but he will be back and they will just forget it and expect us to as well if they do. I really don't think we have to worry about them dumping Fin. Ice-T has said he's there to the end and I haven't seen anything to make me believe differently. And as long as he's willing to keep going in what is basically an Emeritus status, reminding us of the glory days while spending more time on his personal projects than his "day job" he stays.

Edited April 18, 2020 by wknt3

[SarahPrtr]

19 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

No it’s just a one hour finale. 

SVU doesn’t hesitate to trash characters, but I’m really hoping they don’t have Fin cross a line, as Fin is the most rational and level headed of the squad. I will be furious if they trash Fin.

Well, they threw Cragen down the bus TOILET, so I don't think any character is safe.  I'm still so pissed off about that, even after all these years.

 

I know bits and pieces about ratings, but has it been so solid that it is set for at least 3 more seasons?  I wonder what and how they decided that was a good idea.

 

Does anyone know when SVU seasons finish filming?  Because I saw photos of PS and MH in March, whilst they were shooting an episode.  I guess they finished the season before lockdown?  I mean, it's New York, which has been hit the hardest in the US.

[Xeliou66]

8 minutes ago, SarahPrtr said:

Well, they threw Cragen down the bus TOILET, so I don't think any character is safe.  I'm still so pissed off about that, even after all these years.

 

I know bits and pieces about ratings, but has it been so solid that it is set for at least 3 more seasons?  I wonder what and how they decided that was a good idea.

 

Does anyone know when SVU seasons finish filming?  Because I saw photos of PS and MH in March, whilst they were shooting an episode.  I guess they finished the season before lockdown?  I mean, it's New York, which has been hit the hardest in the US.

They didn’t finish the season before lockdown, SVU was going to have 24 episodes this season, they are only having 20 instead. 

I don’t think they smeared Cragen as badly as you do, yeah they didn’t make him look good but he was exonerated of any wrong-doing. It’s Barba and Stone who got the worst treatment IMO, I’m still pissed about how both of those ADA’s were trashed. No character is safe I agree, and I will be royally pissed if they tarnish Fin’s reputation next week. Fin isn’t going anywhere, I fully expect him to be on the show until the end, but if they make him look bad that will really leave a bad taste in my mouth. 

[dttruman]

On 4/18/2020 at 12:37 PM, tennisgurl said:

So did the first victim drive her cupcake truck to the bar? Does she not have a normal car, or can get a taxi? Isn't having to drag that thing around town kind of a pain in the ass, where does she park? Does it double as a food truck? I have a lot of questions about this cupcake enterprise!

From what I have seen in movies and tv shows with Manhattan as a backdrop, they have always had parking problems there.

On 4/18/2020 at 3:04 PM, wknt3 said:

It's been well established that all of the SVU squad are crack shots (except for Kat who hasn't had a chance to show off her unbelievable (literally) marksmanship. It is equally well established that except for Fin (most of the time) and Kat (again it's too soon to tell with her) they have ZERO tactical sense which they need that marksmanship to get them out of, Unfortunately it often gets other people killed (RIP Mike Dodds).

 

I have to admit, no one drops (or surrenders) their firearm faster than Benson and Rollins during hostage situations.

[jabRI]

I love Donal Logue, I hope he's back in any iteration

[Xeliou66]

28 minutes ago, jabRI said:

I love Donal Logue, I hope he's back in any iteration

He won’t be back this year, maybe next year. I like Murphy, but I hated that they made him Rollins baby daddy, it reduced his role to being nothing more than a tool for more Rollins drama. 

[Kel Varnsen]

I liked the idea for this episode and thought it was mostly good, although when the bartender got the extra line about how he was freelance I knew he was in on it.

Also why couldn't the episode have ended with the stroke victim actually giving her impact statement rather than a speech from Benson?

[tvfanatic13]

On 4/17/2020 at 4:53 PM, MorbidPet said:

I loved that scene with Benson and Rollins in the opening. Yay for Rollins. You go girl. And Benson remembered she's Annie Oakley. I like consistancy. 

And I guess we now know Kat swings both ways. Nice to put that in subtle show. You're usually not good at subtle so good job. 

Too bad this season was cut short. I was really looking forward to seeing Declan Murphy back on the show 😞 Hopefully Donal Logue will be available next season instead. Curious to see how they wrap this season up and what edits they did - if any - to make this a finale instead of just a regular episode. 

What did I miss with Kat?

On 4/17/2020 at 8:51 PM, dttruman said:

I hope not, but there is no telling what they will do concerning Fin. I see Ice-T is now a spokesperson for a car warranty company. I wonder if we will see that very helpful sister of the battered wife.

Didn’t see a promo (Hulu). What case are they revisiting?

[Xeliou66]

1 hour ago, tvfanatic13 said:

What did I miss with Kat?

Didn’t see a promo (Hulu). What case are they revisiting?

I have no idea what the poster was talking about with Kat.

The promo showed them revisiting one of the cases from At Midnight In Manhattan, the domestic abuse case that Fin worked on. The episode description says they will be dealing with several cases again with several previous perps and victims appearing. 

[ChristiKRN]

2 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

I have no idea what the poster was talking about with Kat.

The promo showed them revisiting one of the cases from At Midnight In Manhattan, the domestic abuse case that Fin worked on. The episode description says they will be dealing with several cases again with several previous perps and victims appearing. 

Kat insinuated that she was bisexual when talking about meeting up with people on a dating app.  She said something along the lines of when she used an app, she didn’t know what he or she was really going to be like. 

[MorbidPet]

On 4/20/2020 at 2:29 AM, tvfanatic13 said:

What did I miss with Kat?

 

On 4/20/2020 at 6:33 AM, ChristiKRN said:

Kat insinuated that she was bisexual when talking about meeting up with people on a dating app.  She said something along the lines of when she used an app, she didn’t know what he or she was really going to be like. 

What Christikrn said. They've posted that scene in multiple forums after the episode aired so I might take that back about being subtle, feels like they want to rub it in a little after all. Episode was subtle, TPTB not so much. 

[CrystalBlue]

On 4/17/2020 at 9:32 AM, dttruman said:

I don't mean to sound insensitive to the victims, but did Benson's speech on TV give every lady who used that dating service (True Heart) an excuse to sue the service? From what I get from this is that any lady who had a bad date, can now claim she had the same drug effects that Benson just mentioned, and can allow her to sue (probably class action) with others.

Using a dating app will be covered under all kinds of disclaimers of the legal variety which exonerates an app software company from any legal liability.

On 4/18/2020 at 5:40 AM, dttruman said:

I am taking that commercial as a harbinger of doom for the Fin character. Considering the last two episodes of SVU, Fin has slowly but surely become more frustrated and opinionated in an accusatory way. Most of the time it's with sarcasm, but not in the last two.  I think he may inadvertently do something bad that may get him removed from the SVU.

Fin couldn't possibly do anything worse than Rollins, and she "finally" got a promotion!  If I didn't know better, I'd think that SVU in NYC is an affirmative action-sponsored outfit that promotes women regardless of their performance.  😉😉

Piper, the young lady who had the stroke, broke my heart.  Dr. Evil Chemist Bartender needs to pay big time for that.  I hope Piper can sue him and get all his money while he rots in prison; the prison sentence is not long enough!

[SarahPrtr]

On 4/19/2020 at 8:33 AM, Xeliou66 said:

They didn’t finish the season before lockdown, SVU was going to have 24 episodes this season, they are only having 20 instead. 

I don’t think they smeared Cragen as badly as you do, yeah they didn’t make him look good but he was exonerated of any wrong-doing. It’s Barba and Stone who got the worst treatment IMO, I’m still pissed about how both of those ADA’s were trashed. No character is safe I agree, and I will be royally pissed if they tarnish Fin’s reputation next week. Fin isn’t going anywhere, I fully expect him to be on the show until the end, but if they make him look bad that will really leave a bad taste in my mouth. 

Yeah, you're right, I guess I'm still just pissed that they got Cragen off the show.  There's definitely no coming back for Barba, I don't think even the most talented writer could turn it around.  Why tf did they need to DESTROY a character like that?!!  What was the point of that??

[dttruman]

On 4/22/2020 at 11:14 PM, CrystalBlue said:

Using a dating app will be covered under all kinds of disclaimers of the legal variety which exonerates an app software company from any legal liability.

I thought there were a couple of dating sites that have been sued in the past because the guys have misrepresented themselves and stole money from (and maybe harmed) the women? I saw one on a crime show a while back. I think it was that "Harmony" app or website.

It just seems like every sleezy lawyer would jump at a chance like that and no disclaimers written that basically says "use this app at your own risk" can absolve the company.

On 4/23/2020 at 2:29 AM, SarahPrtr said:

Yeah, you're right, I guess I'm still just pissed that they got Cragen off the show.  There's definitely no coming back for Barba, I don't think even the most talented writer could turn it around.  Why tf did they need to DESTROY a character like that?!!  What was the point of that??

If they wanted him back, they wouldn't even need the most talented writer. They could use the lamest excuse in the world to bring him back, because they would force the viewers to accept it, like they have a couple of times on SVU over the years.

[SarahPrtr]

8 hours ago, dttruman said:

If they wanted him back, they wouldn't even need the most talented writer. They could use the lamest excuse in the world to bring him back, because they would force the viewers to accept it, like they have a couple of times on SVU over the years.

Maybe have St. Olivia 'rescue' him back into the squad.

[dttruman]

39 minutes ago, SarahPrtr said:

Maybe have St. Olivia 'rescue' him back into the squad.

I believe the whole team of writers would be canned if they didn't do it that way.

[CrystalBlue]

9 hours ago, dttruman said:

I thought there were a couple of dating sites that have been sued in the past because the guys have misrepresented themselves and stole money from (and maybe harmed) the women? I saw one on a crime show a while back. I think it was that "Harmony" app or website.

It just seems like every sleezy lawyer would jump at a chance like that and no disclaimers written that basically says "use this app at your own risk" can absolve the company.

eHarmony has been sued in the past, for refusing to offer its services to gays, lesbians and bisexuals, and for misleading customers about their billing practices and subscription fees.  Oh, and some guy who was married sued because they couldn't find him a date.

All the dating and hook-up sites and apps have their asses legally covered for dates that went wrong and they have no obligation to provide background checks on their members.

[wknt3]

On 4/18/2020 at 6:20 PM, SarahPrtr said:

I know bits and pieces about ratings, but has it been so solid that it is set for at least 3 more seasons?  I wonder what and how they decided that was a good idea.

 

We discussed this in the media thread at the time it was announced. It wasn't about ratings it was about larger business concerns - NBC really needs the Chicago shows which were also renewed at the same time as well as the franchise for Peacock and NBCUniversal wanted to renew their deal with Dick Wolf who might be willing to consider leaving now that he has a successful relationship with CBS. Where ratings come in to play it was basically that they are strong enough that given all other considerations (the budget being cut to the bone, the fact that they have commitments for cable and overseas already, etc.) they could throw in the renewal and be comfortable that they wouldn't lose too much money if they did the multi-year commitment as a sweetener. Basically they could pay more money or give Dick Wolf some assurance that there would still be a possibility of launching new Law & Order spinoffs and that his precious longevity record won't be broken by NCIS. The renewal makes no sense on it's terms given the quality and the ratings, but in context it makes perfect sense as part of a larger deal. I really wish they had given him a multi-year commitment on a new series and announced that next year would be the final season, but that would have been a risk and the suits preferred the no upside, low downside choice to making a bet on the unknown.

[WendyCR72]

3 minutes ago, wknt3 said:

I really wish they had given him a multi-year commitment on a new series and announced that next year would be the final season, but that would have been a risk and the suits preferred the no upside, low downside choice to making a bet on the unknown.

To be fair - minus a multi-year commitment option for the new series and one last season for the known series- this is what NBC did in 2010 with the Mothership [no final season; the existing season would be the end!] and Law & Order: Los Angeles.

And seeing how it blew up in NBC's face, with the unknown show it took a chance on being a colossal failure, when the tried and true was ended without ceremony and just missed ol' Dick's desire for breaking the Gunsmoke record, I can see why NBC chose to play things safe this go-round, even if I have been vocal in saying - and still believe - that SVU as it exists now doesn't deserve such a lengthy renewal. But it is what it is.

[Zoe]

Oh my god, it's the guy who did Stiffler's mom. I feel so old.

[Joe Hellandback]

1. Yay, we finally have a suspect who when told he needs to come downtown says no, about bloody time. 

2. Eddie Kaye Thomas, no American Pie joke?

3. How come all tv cops are such great shots? Mary Beth Lacey is the only one I can think off who's not Annie Oakley.

4. Yeah Carisi, convince the judge of your search warrant by saying it's your "cop's instincts"? Because that's how the legal system works, at least in L&O world. 

5. Come on, at least have one false accuser jump on the bandwagon? Public appeals will always generate some. 

6. So Rollins gets promoted for doing what exactly? Good to be friends with the boss, huh?

7. Interesting and very true point on the whole designer drug side of things, it's a constant race to catch up. Finally some computer files the NYPD can't break. 

8. They should bring back the chemist guy at some point, maybe still operating from prison, he seems a worthy opponent. 

9. Way to go with the stereotype of the drug rapists, did like Rollins' line to Fin on the subject. Would have been a nice twist if one of the guys they'd tracked down would have turned out to be engaged to one of his victims as they'd genuinely hit it off.

7/10

On 4/6/2020 at 11:49 AM, dttruman said:

 This description is from Googling "law & order: special victims unit season 21 episode 19", Solving for the Unknowns

"The SVU struggles to find a serial predator who uses a date rape drug that leaves no evidence behind; Rollins receives some good news".

Cast info from Fandom "Solving for the Unknowns"

Main cast

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.

Jamie Gray Hyder as Detective Katriona Tamin

Recurring cast

Erin Anderson as Defense Attorney April Andrews

Guest cast

Susannah Flood as Rebecca

Mark A. Keeton as Scumbag Perp

Scumbag perp? There's a role to have on your resume!

On 4/16/2020 at 9:27 PM, dttruman said:

Well Benson did it again. It looks like her screw up is going to make it tough for Carisi to prosecute. How many times have we seen this happen. You'd think they would have design the new squad room, so this would never happen. But I guess they need to keep using this scenario to create more drama.

I liked that, it shows how they screw up, makes them more human but they telegraphed it too much. 

On 4/17/2020 at 7:51 AM, Gigi43 said:

This turned out better than I thought. The back and forth between Ash and Luke and the home pharmacy was enough to keep it from being completely standard. 

The girl who had the stroke was sad and they should have gotten more time for that. I'm not trying to diminish the other girls at all but her life is physically changed forever and she could have died. 

Carisi will never get decent courtroom scenes. The confession is this shows favorite out. I miss regular trials. PS could handle it acting wise. 

Next week looks worrying but good. Of all the cases to be brought back that's actually a good choice, the little boy in that episode was heartbreaking. But now I'm worried about Finn going under a bus. If Finn does something dumb while Rollins' life of Should Be Fired gets her a promotion I'll flip. 

You see I didn't like her, they needed a victim who had suffered more than just rape and that's a common SVU trait so people don't go "Oh well he/she didn't actually suffer that much"

On 4/17/2020 at 3:53 PM, MorbidPet said:

I loved that scene with Benson and Rollins in the opening. Yay for Rollins. You go girl. And Benson remembered she's Annie Oakley. I like consistancy.

And I guess we now know Kat swings both ways. Nice to put that in subtle show. You're usually not good at subtle so good job. 

Too bad this season was cut short. I was really looking forward to seeing Declan Murphy back on the show 😞 Hopefully Donal Logue will be available next season instead. Curious to see how they wrap this season up and what edits they did - if any - to make this a finale instead of just a regular episode. 

I missed that, where do we establish Kat is bi?

On 4/18/2020 at 3:04 PM, wknt3 said:

I have no serious problem with it. Yeah it was basically just a cheap way to make the scene visually interesting and distinctive, but it's easy enough to believe that she came right from work to the date and didn't have time to get the truck to wherever she parks it.

It's been well established that all of the SVU squad are crack shots (except for Kat who hasn't had a chance to show off her unbelievable (literally) marksmanship). It is equally well established that except for Fin (most of the time) and Kat (again it's too soon to tell with her) they have ZERO tactical sense which they need that marksmanship to get them out of. Unfortunately it often gets other people killed (RIP Mike Dodds).

I don't think they will deliberately trash the character or write him off. I can totally see them having him cross a line and trashing the character accidentally, but he will be back and they will just forget it and expect us to as well if they do. I really don't think we have to worry about them dumping Fin. Ice-T has said he's there to the end and I haven't seen anything to make me believe differently. And as long as he's willing to keep going in what is basically an Emeritus status, reminding us of the glory days while spending more time on his personal projects than his "day job" he stays.

Fin I can accept as both a crack shot and unarmed combat expert due to his military background but why are the rest so invincible?

On 4/22/2020 at 11:34 PM, CrystalBlue said:

Piper, the young lady who had the stroke, broke my heart.  Dr. Evil Chemist Bartender needs to pay big time for that.  I hope Piper can sue him and get all his money while he rots in prison; the prison sentence is not long enough!

I liked how they both got fairly mild sentences, very realistic. 

Edited April 29, 2020 by Joe Hellandback
Rollins line

[wknt3]

12 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

Fin I can accept as both a crack shot and unarmed combat expert due to his military background but why are the rest so invincible?

Because they are elite detectives of course! Or because of lazy bad writing. Take your pick.

[dttruman]

23 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

. I really don't think we have to worry about them dumping Fin. Ice-T has said he's there to the end and I haven't seen anything to make me believe differently. And as long as he's willing to keep going in what is basically an Emeritus status, reminding us of the glory days while spending more time on his personal projects than his "day job" he stays.

I checked Ice-T out on IMDB, and he was listed with three projects at the moment (one finished and the others in progress). I would say as long as other projects don't require much of his time, he'll be with SVU until he starts collecting his Social Security.