S22.E09: The Return Of The Prodigal Son (1)

[candall]

Ugh.  Go back to Rome, Elliot.

[SunnyBeBe]

10 hours ago, dirtypop90 said:

^I would say Olivia and Elliot were absolutely having an emotional affair, and it came to a head seasons 7 and 8. They didn't sleep together...that's it. Which is why he had to cut her off cold turkey. She was barely living life when he was around. She absolutely fell for Elliot. Now, a huge part of it was her daddy and abandonment issues. Her feelings were never healthy. He had a crap marriage he fell into too young and paired with a younger, hot, perpetually single partner who sometimes looked at him like he hung the moon. If they continued to be "friends" after they no longer worked together that would've increased the risk of them crossing THAT line. 

Yes. A better return of Elliot would have been Kathy discovers that he and Olivia are back in touch online....she decides to take care of Olivia once and for all.....I mean TALK to her and convince her to stay out of her husbands life.  Kathy returns to NY on a mission, unbeknownst to Elliot.  My vote would be that she accomplishes her mission, escapes without detection as Elliot hunts down the killer.....deep inside he knows who did it!  He and Kathy adopt Noah and live happily ever after.  I like my version better than theirs so far. Lol

[GodsBeloved]

1 hour ago, Gigi43 said:

I'm glad they went in the direction of a mob, even though the crime part was very backburner to the soap of Elliot and Liv. The first half was standard "SVU getting it's political plots from twitter" by how much they mentioned Antifa, boogaloo, Jan 6th. Sorry, I don't think they're good at the political stuff plus I hear enough of it during the day.

I stopped watching SVU some years ago but I thought oh they're still doing the preaching and its still forced.

Edited April 2, 2021 by GodsBeloved

[Cristofle]

1 hour ago, Gigi43 said:

There's a time and a place for things. Kathy being in the hospital was not the time for Liv to go on about how important Elliot was to her. 

I went back and watched that scene; I maintain that conversation going to that place was on Elliott. Olivia kept the conversation to Kathy until then and even when he started to apologize, she started to say that he didn't need do that until he kept staring at her with teary eyes. It probably wasn't the place, but he wanted to make it the place. Granted, that generally goes along with my long-standing impression that even though they never crossed the line to a physical affair, the emotional affair was mutual. And that's part of why I'm not sure killing off Kathy was the best way to handle the whole mess, because her in the hospital with catastrophic injuries was not enough to stop Elliott from wanting to acknowledge that connection with Olivia. And in that case, maybe he was right that he could not have gotten out and salvaged his marriage if he'd spoken to Olivia one more time, but that's...an interesting take, and while Kathy was in the other room dying too.

[tennisgurl]

The long awaited return of Stabler is finally here, after MUCH hype from the marketing people, and for the most part it went pretty well. I have pretty mixed feelings about Stabler as a character, but Christopher Meloni really is a compelling lead and fit right back into this role like he never left. I haven't decided if I'm going to watch the spin-off quite yet, but I will probably at least give it a try at least. I am curious about what a Stabler ten years after we saw him is like, now that his old school cop hijinks are less acceptable. Right now he seems like he hasn't changed a whole lot, but considering this was his wife maybe he just reverted back to old habits and is usually a bit more restrained? This was a pretty good return for Stabler, although I wish they hadn't killed Kathy off. I wanted more of him interacting with the new squad and more exploration of his old school tricks in a newer world, and less of It Being Personal, but I am at least intrigued enough to follow up with the new show. 

Poor Kathy. The show rarely had much for her to do and Stabler family drama was never one of my favorite parts of the show, but she really got the short end of the stick here. I hate when franchises bring back characters after years just to kill them, it often feels mean spirited and needlessly depressing, and to make matters worse, Kathy's one scene before her offscreen death was just to talk up Olivia and Stablers oh so amazing connection and how "in synch" they are, even after ten years of radio silence. So this either means less family drama if Kathy is dead and maybe the family goes off to do their thing, or even more angst where the kids all blame Stabler for her death like a bunch of immature shits, despite being adults now. Most of the episode was all about the relationship between Olivia and Elliot, which I get. They left their years of partnership on such a weird note when Elliot left without even saying goodbye, so I guess this can some sort of closure for them. I think him leaving was for the best for her, as she had clearly spent up so much of her emotional energy on him while he still has a whole family (albeit a dysfunctional one) and life outside of her that the relationship started to feel uneven, but he really should have said goodbye to her. That was a crappy thing to do, I don't even really like Olivia and I think she deserved better than that. The two of them did have a very close relationship that was very emotionally intense, but I do find it rather over the top that they are acting like they were each others soulmates or something. They haven't so much as texted in tens years, if they were just so ridiculously close you would think one of them would have reached out. Its not like its hard to find people, even when they're abroad, it seems weird that they never even thought to call each other. So all of the dramatics are all under this cloud of "its been a decade you guys". When Olivia say him she acted like she had seen a literal ghost, it was all just such drama. 

I liked the chat between Finn and Stabler a lot more, it felt very much like old co-workers catching up, especially as Finn is the only person around who even knew Stabler. Again, CM really does seem like he was just here. I wanted a bit more interaction between the cast and Stabler especially Garland. Garland is such a professional and has so little time for cowboy cop antics, I imagine that he would have matched Stabler's Stabler tendencies hit for hit. I also would have liked to see him more with Kat, as Kat has always struck me as a bit Stabler-ish just from the other side politically and less kicking the shit out of suspects. 

I did find it kind of funny when the conspiracy guy was asking Elliot why he wasn't with his dying wife. Point to the violent creep I guess. Olivia letting Elliot in with that suspect was a terrible idea, at least she didn't repeat it again later. Stabler might be a very flawed character, but at least he's a consistent one, Olivia as a lead so often just comes off as incompetent, no matter how much the show tells us that she's the best cop/person ever. 

[lakin1013]

Letting Kathy die was sooooo predictable!  Think of the storylines that open up when Stabler becomes a widower:

-give Stabler depression

-give him romance

-give him romance with Olivia

-make one kid be harmed in some way, for a case of the week

-make one kid do drugs, for a case of the week

-and so on.

I am not saying any of these are good plot pts, but with the mundane killing off of Kathy, I believe we can expect them, or stories like them.  I was not too impressed with Organized Crime.  Just my two cents.

[GodsBeloved]

3 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Yes. A better return of Elliot would have been Kathy discovers that he and Olivia are back in touch online....she decides to take care of Olivia once and for all.....I mean TALK to her and convince her to stay out of her husbands life.  Kathy returns to NY on a mission, unbeknownst to Elliot.  My vote would be that she accomplishes her mission, escapes without detection as Elliot hunts down the killer.....deep inside he knows who did it!  He and Kathy adopt Noah and live happily ever after.  I like my version better than theirs so far. Lol

They live happily ever after until the kids find out he married her (and in the process forgot all about them and parades around like he's Olivia's kid's dad). They kill Olivia, Elliot has no idea who did it because it was the perfect murder, He's left alone with no one and that's the end of SVU lol

Edited April 2, 2021 by GodsBeloved

[DB in CMH]

It seems like they finally gave up the ghost on COVID, and I'm glad. Watching the dance they did with masks was infuriating.

[dirtypop90]

6 hours ago, GodsBeloved said:

This is what I liked about Eliot and why I was so very happy to see he and Kathy were still married. 

Even though they weren't on display, I do believe they were "in love" and their love is what I would call a mature love. We found out they knew each other since they were 13 and 14. They build a life together. Yes they had their problems but neither one quit and I like that and it's one of the reasons I think they were "in love".

I have a different definition of "in love."  Commitment to a marriage has nothing to do with it.  My grandparents were married until one died and birthed 13 children and were not "in love." In fact, they hated each other by the time I was borne, and my mother said their marriage was so bad it convinced her to never marry. They were religious and committed to marriage and building. That is Elliot and Kathy. Elliot did what he believed was right. And we don't really know Kathy but she was a stay at home mom with five kids and limited options. She left but came right on back once seeing what was out there. Stabler married her after knocking her up at a young age because it was the right thing to do and that's why he stayed.

 

Elliot and Kathy were still written as emotionally disconnected despite being away. She didn't trust he wasn't lying about not talking to Olivia. He was lying about how complicated his job was. And spent more time away from her bed than was necessary after she was blown up.

Edited April 2, 2021 by dirtypop90

[Jenny1234]

Christopher Meloni really showed how amateurish this current cast is. Peter Scanacini especially needs acting lessons. Yikes. He is walking white privilege. If he weren’t white, he would not have a career. Meloni is a truly brilliant actor with natural charisma and presence. If I were Scanacrapi, I would quit after being shamed by Meloni like that. Scanashitti needs to quit the show and give up acting. Honestly though, how does he have a career?

Edited April 2, 2021 by Jenny1234

[Vella]

That was a mess.  A weird, nonsensical mess.  Even if I believed that Olivia and Elliot didn't talk for 10 years, I don't believe that Olivia wouldn't have tried to talk to Elliot. She absolutely would have called, texted and come to the house. She would have called Kathy. Kathy would have reached out to Olivia too.  There's no way Kathy wouldn't pick up on the abruptness of Elliot leaving SVU. She would have talked to Olivia. So Kathy being surprised they hadn't talked in 10 years was laughable. Kathy would have known.  She cared enough about Olivia that she would have done the decent thing and tried to explain things from Elliot's POV, to try and ease Olivia's confusion, anger and pain at being left like that.  THAT would have been an interesting beat, that Kathy was the one to help Olivia let Elliot go.

I also don't believe that neither took any interest in what the other was doing for a decade. I don't believe Elliot wouldn't have, every year or so, quietly reached out to any of the zillion people he knew in the NYPD to find out how Olivia was doing.  So he would have known about Noah and he would have known about her becoming Captain and he would have certainly known about Tucker.  Maybe her getting a kid made him consider reaching out finally and maybe her relationship with Tucker made him decide against it because it meant Olivia had changed, maybe she wasn't the same person he knew.

I don't believe Olivia wouldn't have kept tabs on Elliot, at least until Noah came into her life. At the very least, she would have stalked the Stabler kids social media. She would have realized they'd moved to Rome at some point. These two are detectives! They would have known!

Which is why the Fin/Elliot conversation was so odd.  It was odd that Fin is the one to tell Elliot about Noah, and it was super strange that Elliot didn't have a bigger reaction to the news. Elliot would have KNOWN how big a deal that was, how deeply it meant to Olivia to have a child of her own. Also, Fin wouldn't have talked about her romantic life, he would have talked about her becoming Captain and taking on leadership.  It was weird to hear him talk about Olivia like she was Elliot's ex-girlfriend and it was weird that the only thing Elliot asked about wasn't her kid, but who the boyfriend had been.  Also strange? That he didn't talk to Fin about....Fin and how he was doing. They were friends too.

The whole episode was so weirdly wrapped around the idea of Elliot and Olivia being almost boyfriend/girlfriend and how they were SO good together that even in the hospital, Kathy brings up their perfect matching, despite not talking in a decade, instead of asking about where her kids were or wanting to see pics of Noah and bonding with Olivia over being a mom. The episode and writing acted like Elliot and Olivia had broken up a year ago and they were in the 'awkward exes seeing each other for the first time' phase of a non-relationship. Olivia should have been way more reserved and standoffish, there was no reason for Elliot and Olivia to have their breakup talk. That could and should have waited. Olivia and Elliot were not star crossed lovers kept apart by circumstance.They were great partners, who both strayed into the emotional affair zone who's partnership and friendship abruptly ended ten years ago.

Ugh. It was a mess. A weird, boring mess.

[Demian]

Quote

lord I wish Dicky had shaved

Dude, seriously.  I'm watching it now, and I'm, like, "When did Dickie Stabler turn into the Unabomber?"

[Chit Chat]

1 hour ago, Vella said:

There's no way Kathy wouldn't pick up on the abruptness of Elliot leaving SVU. She would have talked to Olivia. So Kathy being surprised they hadn't talked in 10 years was laughable.

I agree with this, and I didn't even watch the episode!  I was going to, then I looked ahead at the description of the next episode (maybe the other SVU?) and it said something about Stabler coming to terms with a tragedy, so I  that Kathy would probably die, and I just didn't want to see that happen.

I always liked Kathy.  Elliot's Mom once told Olivia that she could see why Kathy was "scared to death" of Olivia (in terms of their relationship),  but I think that Olivia had enough respect for Kathy that even if she wanted to, she didn't pursue a relationship with Elliot because of that.  When Elliot & Kathy separated for a while, he was seeing someone else in the department.  A side note:  I always thought that being separated meant that 2 people were taking time to figure things out, not taking time to go bang someone else, but hey,  what do I know?  I think that Kathy dated during that time, but it didn't seem to be as intense as the relationship Stabler had with his other woman.  

It would've been tough being Kathy.  She was home with the kids, and Elliot was busy with his job, then he'd come home and be angry and sullen from what he'd seen that day.  Then his daughter had emotional problems and that caused some issues for the family.   They had their problems like everybody else.

FWIW, I never thought that Olivia & Stabler had some burning passion for each other.  They were really close, and I think many of the audience would've liked for them to have a relationship, but they kept things professional, considering how emotionally & physically close they were on the job.  Okay, I'll slink back over to my corner of the world and observe this show from the forums.  I gave up on SVU many years ago. 

[Bastet]

This was pretty meh.  I never liked the show, for all the reasons I hate 99% of cop shows, but I liked the "El and Liv" partnership, so sometimes I'd watch early season episodes.  I'd read about some big developments in later seasons, including how he left, which I thought was a total dick move, so when this reunion was so hyped, I figured I'd waste an hour of my life (I didn't realize Olivia was going to be in the first episode of the new show, or I'd have gone ahead and wasted two hours to see more of their dynamic).

I couldn't stand Stabler's family, but I'm so tired of women being killed off just to create man pain for the main character to chew on.  If Elliot needs to be single for this new series, just have them be divorced.  It would make all the sense in the world, since they only got married in the first place because she was pregnant and only got back together when they'd been a signature away from divorce because they had comfort sex and she got knocked up again (at least, that's what I understood from what I've read over the years).  With the kids all grown, they finally went their separate ways.  Killing her off was ridiculous (as was making me imagine Elliot Stabler living in Rome).

I nearly sprained my eyeballs rolling them at all the talk about how Stabler is no longer a shitty cop, none of them are, they've all learned their lessons, and this is now an NYPD that respects people and the Constitution.  Please.  I don't need to watch the show to know that's probably a bunch of BS.

I liked the scene between Elliot and Fin, since Fin is the only other character I knew (no Munch?!), but Elliot's incredibly subdued reaction to learning Olivia has a kid felt off to me.  All that time he spent talking down to her as if she couldn't understand things because she wasn't a parent, you'd think he'd be happier to learn she was able to become a mother.

And I liked seeing Elliot and Olivia together again, and glad she got to say to his face that just disappearing without a word when he was the most important person in her life (and he knew that) was the wrong move.  It was all just fine, though; I know the actors adore each other, so it's nice they got to work together again, and it was nice to see them together, but it definitely didn't live up to the hype. 

And as much as I like Christopher Meloni, Elliot Stabler does not need to be back on TV.    

[wanderingstar]

Quote

I know people don’t like the Stabler family but come on, Kathy didn’t deserve this. And that last scene with Eliot hugging his kids broke my heart.

I'm not a fan of Stabler's family, but yeah, they didn't need to do Kathy like that. 

This episode was fine. The reunion was good, but I wish they'd waited till near the end of the episode to have the why-did-you-leave-me conversation between Liv and Eliot. Nice to see Fin and Eliot catching up.

ETA:

What was Olivia thinking letting Stabler into the interrogation room with a suspect? 

Edited April 3, 2021 by Gillian Rosh

[Xeliou66]

15 minutes ago, Gillian Rosh said:

I'm not a fan of Stabler's family, but yeah, they didn't need to do Kathy like that. 

This episode was fine. The reunion was good, but I wish they'd waited till near the episode to have the why-did-you-leave-me conversation between Liv and Eliot. Nice to see Fin and Eliot catching up.

ETA:

What was Olivia thinking letting Stabler into the interrogation room with a suspect? 

Benson routinely makes poor command decisions and lets her emotions cloud her judgement, we’re supposed to believe she’s some great leader but she isn’t. At least this time Garland reprimanded her, all too often Benson has gotten off scot-free regarding her lousy decision making. 

[preeya]

57 minutes ago, Gillian Rosh said:

What was Olivia thinking letting Stabler into the interrogation room with a suspect?

Like always she was thinking she is St.Olivia who can do no wrong and do as she pleases.

ETA: Why did we need to see Twat Benson's smug mug through the window at the chapel in the last scene? Oh, yeah, St. Olivia strikes again.

[wknt3]

1 hour ago, Gillian Rosh said:

ETA:

What was Olivia thinking letting Stabler into the interrogation room with a suspect?

I'd imagine her thoughts went something like - "Yeah it's terrible police procedure, bad leadership, not good for my old friend who is emotionally traumatized and not thinking clearly, and it goes against a direct order from my CO, but it's GREAT television, better let him go ahead!"

Edited April 3, 2021 by wknt3

[TzuShih]

9 hours ago, lakin1013 said:

Letting Kathy die was sooooo predictable!  Think of the storylines that open up when Stabler becomes a widower:

YES!  Oh yes!!!  Kathy's demise was "a sure thing" -- even BEFORE the car blew up! 😜  With Stabler launching a a new series, Production just HAD to ensure that there would be 'amorous' plotlines aplenty.   Ooooh the possibilities!  (Olivia, better get in line!  There will no doubt be 'potential competition' galore!)

 

[candall]

3 hours ago, Gillian Rosh said:

...

What was Olivia thinking letting Stabler into the interrogation room with a suspect? 

But he promised he'd be good, so what's the problem? /s

[Steph Sometimes]

14 hours ago, faithie said:

3.  Rollins seemed really skeptical that Olivia and Elliott were "just" partners. 

It's Rollins. Rollins is never "just" partners with her partners. And her daughter's father is her former Lt.

So she may have a skewed opinion of things.

Edited April 3, 2021 by Steph Sometimes

[MrsWitter]

8 hours ago, ChitChat said:

When Elliot & Kathy separated for a while, he was seeing someone else in the department.  A side note:  I always thought that being separated meant that 2 people were taking time to figure things out, not taking time to go bang someone else, but hey,  what do I know?  I think that Kathy dated during that time, but it didn't seem to be as intense as the relationship Stabler had with his other woman.  

Tell that to Ross Geller! ( #teamrachel and #teamkathy, FWIW)

[WendyCR72]

4 hours ago, Steph Sometimes said:

It's Rollins. Rollins is never "just" partners with her partners. And her daughter's father is her former Lt.

So she may have a skewed opinion of things.

True story.

[Neiman]

I was glad to see Stabler’s return. Never was a fan of the Stabler family, though. The actor playing his son sort of surprised me as he was not what I pictured Stabler’s grown son to be. Hope the kids are not a big part of his new show.

I wanted to see the look on Stabler’s face when he found out about Olivia and Tucker, but I guess that’s something to do on another episode.  

I found it difficult to understand why SVU was the lead on a bomb investigation. I thought their area of expertise was domestic violence and rape. Did NYPD bomb squad go on vacation or something?  Olivia allowing Stabler in the interrogation room proved she was not the one to lead this.

[wanderingstar]

Quote

And as much as I like Christopher Meloni, Elliot Stabler does not need to be back on TV. 

Agreed! I've enjoyed watching CM in other roles (he was great in both Underground and Pose). Stabler is a character that should have stayed retired.

[dirtypop90]

20 hours ago, Jenny1234 said:

Christopher Meloni really showed how amateurish this current cast is. Peter Scanacini especially needs acting lessons. Yikes. He is walking white privilege. If he weren’t white, he would not have a career. Meloni is a truly brilliant actor with natural charisma and presence. If I were Scanacrapi, I would quit after being shamed by Meloni like that. Scanashitti needs to quit the show and give up acting. Honestly though, how does he have a career?

OMG I thought it was me.

 

the lady who plays Amanda was totally unbelievable as a cop when she was interrogating the suspect. The fact that she is second lead is mind blowing

[faithie]

9 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

True story.

LOL about Rollins and her poor judgment.  Back on New Year's, Carrisi was in her apartment playing Daddy with her kids. 

 

I try to imagine my son saying "I have a new girlfriend" with this profile:

1. A substance abuse problem.

2. A gambling problem that almost got her killed by bookies

3. Two kids close in age by two different guys, neither of whom she "loved".

4. An overbearing, manipulative, narcissist for a mother.

5. A batsheet-crazy addict sister that will steal anything thats not nailed down.

Nice catch, Carrisi.

[Cotypubby]

On 4/2/2021 at 9:27 AM, wknt3 said:

but Karisi and Kat are appealing characters that have obvious crossover potential

Oh God hell no!! There is nothing appealing whatsoever about Kat. Both the character and actor are terrible. Putting her into a new Law & Order would be the quickest way to make sure I never give the new one a try! Having her and Benson leading SVU have pretty much made the show unwatchable.

On 4/2/2021 at 12:35 PM, DB in CMH said:

It seems like they finally gave up the ghost on COVID, and I'm glad. Watching the dance they did with masks was infuriating.

Except they still have all the background people wearing masks. Just do what “Prodigal Son” did and pretend the pandemic is over! Having the main characters never masked when everyone else is is just stupid and makes no sense.

[Gigi43]

2 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

Oh God hell no!! There is nothing appealing whatsoever about Kat. Both the character and actor are terrible. Putting her into a new Law & Order would be the quickest way to make sure I never give the new one a try! Having her and Benson leading SVU have pretty much made the show unwatchable.

 

OC got off to a decent start, the last thing they need is Kat yelling at another ADA for following the law, not wanting teenagers go on trial for crimes they didn't commit and pointing out what the defense will go with since everyone is entitled to a trial, even if she doesn't believe in that. I thought she was okay in the very beginning but she's been such a flop this season. 

[Neiman]

If they had to ditch one character, I would vote for Kat. She adds nothing to the show.

[Xeliou66]

10 minutes ago, Neiman said:

If they had to ditch one character, I would vote for Kat. She adds nothing to the show.

Agreed - I was okay with Kat last season but she’s just been awful this season - extremely obnoxious and unpleasant. As I’ve said before, Kat was put on the show for sex appeal and to have a minority that spouts woke dialogue in order to appease some loudmouths on social media. She’s a favorite of the very vocal SJW SVU social media people. But I agree she’s been awful this year, at best she’s wooden, at worst she’s nasty and unpleasant, and none of the other characters seem to like her much, and with good reason. This was about the first episode of the season that Kat didn’t annoy me in. 

[dirtypop90]

The only thing I can say about Kat is she is somewhat believable as a cop. Rollins stuck out to me like a sore thumb. Carisi did too when I tried watching in the past. 

[StaceyNotStacie]

The tone of Elliott’s daughter when she arrived at the hospital and noticed that Olivia was there was interesting. She seemed more annoyed than surprised that Olivia was at the hospital with her father. It makes me wonder if the kids heard their parents arguing or their mother complaining about Elliot and Olivia’s work relationship in the past. 

[Snazzy Daisy]

I stopped watching SVU after Barba left. Rollins & Carisi aren’t likeable characters, both actors who play them are terrible actors too. Nick Amaro was okay but they ruined this character. The best ADA were Barba & Alex, while Carisi as ADA is a joke!

I watched this episode because I wanna watch the OC. Olivia was being overly dramatic on Elliot being the most important person in her life.. 🤮 Yes, Elliot & Olivia are in-sync or whatever, as partners. I see zero romance chemistry between them, so stop forcing the “Ellivia” on us! 🙄

I have finished binge-watch SVU season 1 & 2, currently on season 3. OMG, there’s huge difference between old SVU & current SVU. The cases were so much better, love seeing Captain Cragen acting as a captain, and no Saint Olivia! 

[LittleIggy]

I stopped watching after Barba left (such a crap ending for a great character), too. With no Raul Esparza to counteract St. Olivia, I was through. I hated Carisi too. As much as I love Chris Meloni, I couldn’t make myself watch this episode. Just came to look at the comments.

15 hours ago, Gillian Rosh said:

Agreed! I've enjoyed watching CM in other roles (he was great in both Underground and Pose). Stabler is a character that should have stayed retired.

Watch him on OZ! Eamonn Walker from Chicago Fire was on OZ, too. And JK Simmons. Awesome series.

[WendyCR72]

44 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

Watch him on OZ! Eamonn Walker from Chicago Fire was on OZ, too. And JK Simmons. Awesome series.

I swear the casting director for the franchise used Oz to fill roles in the franchise. Not only did Chris Meloni play a prisoner, so too did Kathryn Erbe (Det. Alex Eames) of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, a Susan Smith type that killed her kids. I read that Rita Moreno, who would also later pop up on Criminal Intent as Goren's schizophrenic mother, played a nun in that series, too.

Funny how so many that played detectives in this franchise played bad/dangerous on Oz.

I also know Lee Tergesen, who did a guest role on CI, and maybe the Mothership, not sure, had a thing with Meloni's Oz character.

Seems to be a lot of overlap.

[Bliss]

Watched SVU and then OC in one sitting. Now I can't distinguish between which show had "the letter" reveal... I wanted to read the letter Stabler gave to Benson.

[LittleIggy]

Re: OZ, yes, Rita Moreno played a nun. I believe Lee Tergesen guested on SVU as well.

[Spartan Girl]

On 4/2/2021 at 7:46 PM, Xeliou66 said:

Benson routinely makes poor command decisions and lets her emotions cloud her judgement, we’re supposed to believe she’s some great leader but she isn’t. At least this time Garland reprimanded her, all too often Benson has gotten off scot-free regarding her lousy decision making. 

This. Also she was the one dumb enough to let Jenna aka the girl Elliot had to shoot in his final episode into the room to see that they got all the people who killed her mother and thus triggered the whole shooting in the first place, but Elliot was the only one who had to be looked into just because it was his sixth good shooting and he only did what any other cop was expected to do in that shooting?! Olivia as always seemed to conveniently forget her own role in that mess.

It would have been nice had they discussed Elliot’s feelings of guilt and why it drove him to leave instead of making it all about Liv and her feelings of betrayal. Ugh.

[ww92]

I quit watching SVU sometime during the Peter Stone season. I couldn't take all of the Saint Olivia squinting and whispering anymore. She got worse and worse every season after Chris Meloni left. I did and do like Stabler/Meloni and plan to watch OC so I did watch this SVU episode. So many things made no sense. Why was Olivia called to the car bombing to begin with. What does a car bomb have to do with her job as captain of a sexual offense unit? Why were the suspects held and questioned at SVU when the crime had nothing to with with a sexual offense? Why was Olivia, who at that point had a clear personal relationship with the victim (Kathy) allowed anywhere near the case? Don't even get me started as to why Elliot, as the husband of the victim, was allowed anywhere near the case. And the mask situation was ridiculous. The background actors all had them on but none of the main ones did. Wouldn't masks be required in the SVU office, in the courtroom, in the prison, in the freaking hospital?

I haven't watched the OC episode yet but don't intend to watch anymore SVU unless there is another crossover with Stabler. I'll watch that just so I'll know what's going on.

[wknt3]

On 4/3/2021 at 9:01 AM, Neiman said:

I found it difficult to understand why SVU was the lead on a bomb investigation. I thought their area of expertise was domestic violence and rape. Did NYPD bomb squad go on vacation or something?  Olivia allowing Stabler in the interrogation room proved she was not the one to lead this.

There were a few lines of dailogue about how there were multiple bombings and the protests so the other units were overwhelmed. It was another example of the return to classic SVU formulas over the last few seasons where the squad investigates offenses that are totally not sexually based and they just handwave it away. As opposed to the nadir of the series where they didn't bother to explain it all. Or to try to give viewers any variety.

 

On 4/3/2021 at 3:09 PM, Cotypubby said:

Except they still have all the background people wearing masks. Just do what “Prodigal Son” did and pretend the pandemic is over! Having the main characters never masked when everyone else is is just stupid and makes no sense.

I thought about mentioning it in my review, but I actually was less bothered by the masks this week as there was actually story logic to the wearing or not wearing of masks. I can live with the main characters not wearing masks most of the time as long as they are not having them put them on and take them off at random. I can suspend my disbelief if there is at least some sort of pattern even if there is no basis in reality.

 

23 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Quote

Oh God hell no!! There is nothing appealing whatsoever about Kat. Both the character and actor are terrible. Putting her into a new Law & Order would be the quickest way to make sure I never give the new one a try! Having her and Benson leading SVU have pretty much made the show unwatchable.

Agreed - I was okay with Kat last season but she’s just been awful this season - extremely obnoxious and unpleasant. As I’ve said before, Kat was put on the show for sex appeal and to have a minority that spouts woke dialogue in order to appease some loudmouths on social media. She’s a favorite of the very vocal SJW SVU social media people. But I agree she’s been awful this year, at best she’s wooden, at worst she’s nasty and unpleasant, and none of the other characters seem to like her much, and with good reason. This was about the first episode of the season that Kat didn’t annoy me in. 

I agree that she has been poorly written this season, Perhaps Leight has been distracted by trying to het the new spinoffs launched? I think there is still a lot of potential there and they haven't completely gone off the rails yet. And I think Hyder has done well when they've given her anything to work with. When she's just there to spout left wing talking points while Rollins goes all MAGA nobody would be watchable.

 

15 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

I swear the casting director for the franchise used Oz to fill roles in the franchise. Not only did Chris Meloni play a prisoner, so too did Kathryn Erbe (Det. Alex Eames) of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, a Susan Smith type that killed her kids. I read that Rita Moreno, who would also later pop up on Criminal Intent as Goren's schizophrenic mother, played a nun in that series, too.

Funny how so many that played detectives in this franchise played bad/dangerous on Oz.

I also know Lee Tergesen, who did a guest role on CI, and maybe the Mothership, not sure, had a thing with Meloni's Oz character.

Seems to be a lot of overlap.

Oz  was a Tom Fontana/Barry Levinson production and as we've discussed before they draw from the same NYC/East Coast based talent pool as Dick Wolf productions. Same with David Simon. I'm pretty sure The Wire has at least a high a percentage of L&O alumni as Oz.

[dttruman]

On 4/2/2021 at 11:54 AM, Cristofle said:

Granted, that generally goes along with my long-standing impression that even though they never crossed the line to a physical affair, the emotional affair was mutual. And that's part of why I'm not sure killing off Kathy was the best way to handle the whole mess, because her in the hospital with catastrophic injuries was not enough to stop Elliott from wanting to acknowledge that connection with Olivia. And in that case, maybe he was right that he could not have gotten out and salvaged his marriage if he'd spoken to Olivia one more time, but that's...an interesting take, and while Kathy was in the other room dying too.

I hate to bring this up, but how much have we seen where Kathy's passing actually happen? Could they have faked her death so no more pressure would be put on the family?  If so would her fake death be kept from the family except Elliott himself, so he can go full bore after these Organize Crime Families?  After all they faked Alexandra Cabot's death for a certain amount of time. I can seem them doing the same thing here with Kathy.

[Xeliou66]

9 minutes ago, dttruman said:

I hate to bring this up, but how much have we seen where Kathy's passing actually happen? Could they have faked her death so no more pressure would be put on the family?  If so would her fake death be kept from the family except Elliott himself, so he can go full bore after these Organize Crime Families?  After all they faked Alexandra Cabot's death for a certain amount of time. I can seem them doing the same thing here with Kathy.

No Kathy’s death certainly wasn’t faked, there’s no way they could do all of that and the writers wouldn’t do that because the whole premise of the OC show is Stabler finding out who murdered his wife. 

[Cristofle]

1 hour ago, dttruman said:

I hate to bring this up, but how much have we seen where Kathy's passing actually happen? Could they have faked her death so no more pressure would be put on the family?  If so would her fake death be kept from the family except Elliott himself, so he can go full bore after these Organize Crime Families?  After all they faked Alexandra Cabot's death for a certain amount of time. I can seem them doing the same thing here with Kathy.

Oh, I'm a soap fan. Onscreen death or I forever doubt it. And even then. LOL. I've considered it, definitely. 

[WendyCR72]

1 hour ago, dttruman said:

I hate to bring this up, but how much have we seen where Kathy's passing actually happen? Could they have faked her death so no more pressure would be put on the family?

I'm betting she's dead-dead, since Law & Order: OC has Elliot as the lead and I'm guessing - since Dick Wolf seems to have gone a bit soft with his other franchises with relationship crap as a side venue - that TPTB want to leave options open for Elliot.

Still, he and Kathy could have just been divorced. I guess TPTB wanted to make sure the coffin was nailed shut (pardon the pun) on the Stabler marriage so the new avenues would go largely unimpeded (except for his spawn).

[Pearson80]

On 4/2/2021 at 12:13 AM, dirtypop90 said:

^I would say Olivia and Elliot were absolutely having an emotional affair, and it came to a head seasons 7 and 8. They didn't sleep together...that's it. Which is why he had to cut her off cold turkey. She was barely living life when he was around. She absolutely fell for Elliot. Now, a huge part of it was her daddy and abandonment issues. Her feelings were never healthy. He had a crap marriage he fell into too young and paired with a younger, hot, perpetually single partner who sometimes looked at him like he hung the moon. If they continued to be "friends" after they no longer worked together that would've increased the risk of them crossing THAT line. 

I remember when Olivia and Elliot were butting heads over a case and he told her that he was the most stable relationship that she had ever had a with a man. It was very blunt on his part but now I see that Elliot was right. He was truly her rock and she was unmoored after he left..   I think Olivia became intolerable after Elliot left, he pushed back on her and she would the same as well..

[RoxieBear73]

On 4/3/2021 at 2:44 AM, MrsWitter said:

Tell that to Ross Geller! ( #teamrachel and #teamkathy, FWIW)

Haha, Love that scene with Ross and his "We were on a break...!"  

[ladle]

On 4/2/2021 at 12:00 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

And her HAIR! Did she just roll out of bed?

I was confused by this as well.  

[ladle]

I was an ardent fan of SVU for years and years.  I kept watching after Stabler left, but the show was never the same.  At some point I just stopped tuning in.  Like others, I came back to the show for the Stabler return.  

And I have to say, as much as I wanted Stabler to come back to this show, it's just...a weird freaking time to do that.  Not only because of Covid (which seemed to spottily exist/not exist in this episode) but also because we're going through a national reckoning with police brutality.  And Stabler is complicit in that.  And while the show isn't totally tone-deaf, and recognizes how problematic that is, it seems to want to fix the issue with a hand-wave and a few lines about how Stabler "isn't like that anymore"... except, um, he totally is, because he's still rolling up his sleeves and lunging toward suspects in interrogation rooms?  But maybe that's the point-- that he hasn't really changed?  Or that he's struggling with change?  I don't know... maybe I'm expecting this one episode to do too much, and there's a more interesting arc in store in OC?  I just think, for a lot of people right now, it's not going to be escapist fun to watch a cop with an anger issue.   

Also, I'm surprised by how much hate there seems to be on the board for Stabler's family.  I do admit to having found Kathy annoying at times during Stabler's reign on the show, but I thought his kids were at least tolerable.  (And the "Protect the goal"/"Dad, I'm a virgin, okay!" scene with his younger daughter will never not be a classic.)  I think it helped that SVU was much more of a straightforward procedural back then, and the family stuff always connected somehow to -- or paralleled -- the actual cases (versus, ugh, the tedious Noah drama which came later.)

[Neiman]

I really don’t want to watch a show that goes on and on about Covid. And I’m glad for Stabler’s return. The season opener of SVU was a turn off for me. I didn’t watch any other episodes until last week and it was only because of this crossover event. 

Glad there is no Kathy character to distract from the storylines and hope they quickly solve the murder so Stabler can do other things. Curious to see if he and Olivia explore their relationship.