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

[GHScorpiosRule]

9 hours ago, Pearson80 said:

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..

It's been awhile since I watched any repeats, but I'm pretty sure it was Olivia who said that to Elliot. They were sitting outside on his porch when they had that conversation.

[Pearson80]

3 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

It's been awhile since I watched any repeats, but I'm pretty sure it was Olivia who said that to Elliot. They were sitting outside on his porch when they had that conversation.

He said it as well in the squad room when they were discussing marriage and relationships because of a case.  It got very heated and he blurted it out in front of everybody.  Ellliot knew how to call her out on her BS. Nobody has done that since he left the show. 

[Amazee-Dayzee]

Is it obvious to anybody else that the only reason they killed off Kathy was so that they could tease Benstabler together for the next few months? I have no doubt that when NBC calls time on SVU, they will be together because when that happens I don't think Organized Crime will be on anymore if it makes it past 3 seasons.

I really hope I'm not the only one annoyed that this is where they are heading. A blind monkey can see it. As much as people disliked Kathy, I liked the fact that Stabler was married and I'm sure seeing Kathy blown up in a car bomb was every Benstabler fan's dream come true. UGH.

I KNEW from the moment they said Stabler had to deal with a personal tragedy that they were killing Kathy off.

[linger]

Haven’t watched SVU since Stabler left. He came back so I thought I’d give it and OC a shot. I’m glad I did. I never watched L&O shows for the case of the week or the mystery, though those were fine. I mainly watched for the interactions & relationships. Otherwise for me it’s just another dead body found in the bushes/alley (seriously, these shows make you paranoid to jog or walk your dog). I enjoyed the E/O partnership & all its messiness, so am looking forward to seeing how the shows handle them working through them navigating the fallout from 10 years ago. 
 

About that - I have to disagree that Olivia needs/needed to get over it. Twelve years is a long time to spend 50-60 hours/week with someone. Much less someone you are trusting with your life & with whom you have experienced a lot of trauma. It would have seemed awfully strange to me to see him walk into her life again and for her not to be disoriented & for the elephant in the room not be addressed. Elliot was the one pushing that issue and I’m on board for them to rebuild trust, however the two shows do that.

[DrewPaul2010]

On 4/5/2021 at 7:51 PM, linger said:

Haven’t watched SVU since Stabler left. He came back so I thought I’d give it and OC a shot. I’m glad I did. I never watched L&O shows for the case of the week or the mystery, though those were fine. I mainly watched for the interactions & relationships. Otherwise for me it’s just another dead body found in the bushes/alley (seriously, these shows make you paranoid to jog or walk your dog). I enjoyed the E/O partnership & all its messiness, so am looking forward to seeing how the shows handle them working through them navigating the fallout from 10 years ago. 

About that - I have to disagree that Olivia needs/needed to get over it. Twelve years is a long time to spend 50-60 hours/week with someone. Much less someone you are trusting with your life & with whom you have experienced a lot of trauma. It would have seemed awfully strange to me to see him walk into her life again and for her not to be disoriented & for the elephant in the room not be addressed. Elliot was the one pushing that issue and I’m on board for them to rebuild trust, however the two shows do that.

I tuned in just to see the reunion. They should have worked in the real reason he left...not enough money. I wonder if as a guest star he gets more now? I suspect when he left he couldn't have imagined the show would be on another 10 years. 

The show seems to be running on fumes. All the actors looked tired and bored.

In hind site you could say this show has reached its jumping the shark moment and they did it poorly to boot. Where was some emotion when these two ex-partners saw each other in 10 years? This was a man who was her right hand man for all those blood and guts years in the trenches. Maybe crazy forgiveness scene or pounding his chest with anger then breaking down and him breaking down not only over this reunion but his wife also. Its like the writers have given up being creative. Maybe whisper this to Elliot. I know schmaltzy cheese ball but I fall for it. 

The other night dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms
But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
So I hung my head and I cried.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

[catlover79]

Chris Meloni really did slide right back into Elliot's shoes. I always thought of Stabler/Benson as Siamese twins, never as a romantic pairing, but the chemistry between CM and MH is still there. MH has been phoning it in for so long that it was nice seeing her back with her best acting partner. No one has really challenged her since Raul Esparza left.

I agree with everyone else that the diner scene with Stabler and Fin catching up was the highlight of the episode. The references to Cragen and Amaro were great, and I'm glad we had the brief flashback of Olivia with Kathy in the ambulance in labor with Eli. It reminded me yet again of how much better SVU was when it was a true ensemble and not the Saint Olivia Show.

[love2lovebadtv]

On 4/1/2021 at 10:21 PM, CSunshine76 said:

I love SVU (actually all L&O in general). I ignore the writing flaws and ridiculous stories because I just love the characters and always have. I was so happy to have Elliott back, and it broke my heart they went and killed Kathy immediately. The scene with El hugging the kids brought tears to my eyes.  Can’t say it was a good episode, but I’m happy to have Elliott Stabler back on my screen.

I stopped watching SVU a couple of years ago but I came back to see Elliott Stabler and I was grinning the whole time. I always liked him AND I liked him as Olivia's partner.

On 4/1/2021 at 11:27 PM, dirtypop90 said:

Let me tell you something...My expectations were low...I'm shocked they managed to put an interesting block of tv together. Also, chemistry is just there or it isn't. Meloni felt more natural to this show than anyone else but Mariska and it's been a decade. He made the others, except Finn, of course feel like strangers. It's nuts. They really did Mariska no favors by not finding her a capable male lead (or female. Sorry Amanda fans). I guess they tried but none brought the energy Stabler does.

It's been a decade and this man slid back in like it was nothing! WOW

And Mariska actually decided to act this episode. But again your scene partner can pull it out of you.

Yes, the chemistry is real plus I just think he's a good actor. 

[wanderingstar]

But wait...how was this ever an SVU case?

[Raja]

45 minutes ago, Gillian Rosh said:

But wait...how was this ever an SVU case?

All I got was when the "10-13" call went out Captain Benson was close and she was a Captain and thus grabbed the case until her boss forced her off of it.

[TV Anonymous]

Simple question. Why does SVU handle this case? There is no sex crime aspect in the case, no minor is involved, and no actual SVU personnel is involved. This should have been the case for Major Crime Squad, i.e. Lt. Eames and whoever her current partner is, now that Goren is no longer with the NYPD.

[CrystalBlue]

2 hours ago, TV Anonymous said:

Simple question. Why does SVU handle this case? There is no sex crime aspect in the case, no minor is involved, and no actual SVU personnel is involved. This should have been the case for Major Crime Squad, i.e. Lt. Eames and whoever her current partner is, now that Goren is no longer with the NYPD.

Just the fact that the victim's husband is the former partner of the SVU Captain should have been enough to pull them out of the case.

[WendyCR72]

3 hours ago, TV Anonymous said:

Simple question. Why does SVU handle this case? There is no sex crime aspect in the case, no minor is involved, and no actual SVU personnel is involved. This should have been the case for Major Crime Squad, i.e. Lt. Eames and whoever her current partner is, now that Goren is no longer with the NYPD.

Except Lt. Eames is now with the Anti-Terrorism Unit and no longer with Major Case, either. That's the sector she was in when she made her guest appearances on SVU. So I guess we could assume that Zack Nichols/Serena Stevens from MCS could investigate. (As S10 with Goren/Eames never said what happened to them; so it could be assumed they are still there. Shrug.)

[TV Anonymous]

1 hour ago, WendyCR72 said:

Except Lt. Eames is now with the Anti-Terrorism Unit and no longer with Major Case, either. 

Anti-Terrorism Unit investigating this case is order of magnitude more appropriate than the SVU.

Edited April 13, 2021 by TV Anonymous

[SnarkyMcSnarkerson]

On 4/2/2021 at 8:09 AM, cloudy71 said:

After watching last night’s episode, I now remember why I had to take a break from this series.  I know this may sound so trivial, but Melissa H. and Kelli G. hairstyles (or lack of) drive me absolutely crazy.  They look like they just rolled out of bed!!!   I find it very distracting.

It's so interesting how differently people can view that - I notice their casual hair and love it lol! I like that they look like me and my friends just going to work and not like models wearing cop clothes. Different strokes! 

[SunnyBeBe]

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. 

And all the while Olivia pretended that she so inspired by Elliot’s marriage. She threw in comments about Kathy, his family, his marriage, etc.  Fake admiration imo.  I really don’t want to see her with Elliot.  However, they’ve written it so that he seems to not be able to quit her.  🙄