S22.E14: Post-Graduate Psychopath

[formerlyfreedom]

Rollins must revisit an old case when a child sent to juvenile detention is released after his 18th birthday.

Airing Thursday, May 20, 2021.

[Gigi43]

I've been looking forward to this one. I hope they don't let us down. Henry was a memorable character and it's a good premise to really examine if rehabilitation can be achieved by an 18th birthday time frame. I'll be thrilled if Haung would pop in being the one who diagnosed him but maybe its not possible. Though I did see BD is hosting a Haung-centric marathon on USA this Sunday and I imagine Born Psychopath could be a part of it.

 

What was Arturo's sentence in Blood  Brothers? Did we know? That was another kid one I liked. 

[Cristofle]

I am really looking forward to this episode, because Henry was so incredibly creepy the first time around. I still remember feeling chilled by the interview scene with Wong. I hope he doesn't kill his poor sweet little sister but my hopes aren't high given the level of aggression he kept showing towards her. 

[melon]

Which previous episode was connected to this one?

[Gigi43]

3 minutes ago, melon said:

Which previous episode was connected to this one?

 

Born Psychopath from s14. Parents were suspected of physically abusing their daughter only to find out it was their son, Henry, who Haung diagnosed as a childhood Psychopath. 

[Xeliou66]

I’m looking forward to this episode because I liked Born Psychopath and I like the continuity that the writers remembered the episode and are following up years later on the story. I hope it delivers a solid episode, but I’m always hesitant to get my hopes up about modern day SVU. 

And why does the description for the episode single out Rollins as being the one to follow up? Benson and Fin were around and worked on Henry’s case as well. I hope it isn’t too heavy on Rollins. 

[wknt3]

On 5/16/2021 at 9:59 PM, Xeliou66 said:

I’m looking forward to this episode because I liked Born Psychopath and I like the continuity that the writers remembered the episode and are following up years later on the story. I hope it delivers a solid episode, but I’m always hesitant to get my hopes up about modern day SVU. 

And why does the description for the episode single out Rollins as being the one to follow up? Benson and Fin were around and worked on Henry’s case as well. I hope it isn’t too heavy on Rollins. 

Well to be fair Benson is CO now and we can't expect her to be out in the field doing basic investigative work acting like she's still a detective can we?

Edited May 19, 2021 by wknt3

[Cherrio]

Henry scared the crap out of me.  

Legally, if he is deemed still dangerous they can commit him to one of those never get out of places.  The government did it to Kevin Coe, the Spokane serial rapist.

[dttruman]

Why does there have to be a soap opera moment at the start of this? I hope it doesn't intertwine with the plot of the grownup kid.

Edited May 21, 2021 by dttruman

[dttruman]

Is it me or are they making Henry look too guilty? Why is Tamin acting so squeamish, in this episode, I thought she spent a lot of time with vice and that should prepare her for anything? Wow, Rollins breaks protocol again! Who could have seen that coming?

 

Edited May 21, 2021 by dttruman

[Spartan Girl]

Oh for the love of Pete, they should have just shot the fucker at the funhouse. We get it, show, creepy evil white boy goes on a murder spree and still gets due process because he’s white.

[wknt3]

The Good:
Strong concept. This was a good episode from a bad period of the show and following up was an interesting idea.
Good acting from the guest cast.
I didn't like a lot of the Rollins stuff (see below) but making her the focus did mean that Benson was actually leading while the squad did the actual detective work.
It was nice to see them actually bringing in an psych expert to discuss this case, I've always liked Bill Irwin even if I've hated some of the plots he's been featured in.0
And speaking of which it was nice to see them actually using legal scenes to explore the larger issues at play and the tension between the law and mental health system. It was a nice reminder of what the franchise can do at it's best.
The preview for next week looks potentially interesting. At least they are trying to keep a good mix of different kinds of cases.

The Bad:.
The whole Rollins personal nemesis thing was pointless, except as a lazy short cut so the squad didn't have to do any - what do you call it?, elite detective work for figure out Henry was the perp. Other than that it was just pointless melodrama.
And WTF is up with another SVU detective violating protocol in a hostage situation???!!! I mean you would think after one of their own actually died they might learn their lesson. The only good part was ESU telling Benson to shut up and piss off.
Another pointless Stabler reference jammed in for no good reason.

Overall this was a solid episode. One of the better episodes of this season and definitely better than most at living up to it's potential (drop the hostage situation and expand the rest of the investigation and the psych eval/trial and it could fit in with the first half of Season 17). 

Edited May 21, 2021 by wknt3
fix typos

[dttruman]

I thought this was going to be a good who done it, but it just turns out to be a social issue concerning what does the judicial system do about the criminally insane. It wasn't a bad episode, but they took a liberty or two to get the plot to lead to the destination that they wanted. For future reference, Rollins probably has just got her version of Benson's nemesis William Lewis.

 

Edited May 21, 2021 by dttruman

[dttruman]

3 minutes ago, wknt3 said:

The whole Rollins personal nemesis thing was pointless, except as a lazy short cut so the squad didn't have to do any - what do you call it?, elite detective work for figure out Henry was the perp. Other than that it was just pointless melodrama.

Did they throw the shrink that was treating Henry under the bus or what? Lindstrom just comes right out and calls that lady shrink (don't recall her name) who said she has never been fooled by a patient, so incompetent? Now is she just so over worked she missed it, poorly qualified that she is so inept, or is Henry just that good at working the system?

Just out of curiosity, if someone kills almost his entire family and a couple of others, you'd think he would be handcuffed or restrained severely so as not able to do harm to anyone especially at his competency hearing?

[SuzieQ]

I actually enjoyed this episode.  It wasn't perfect but at least entertaining.  I rarely watch this show live, so I can fast forward through the silly crap, but glad I did.  It's interesting to see what happened to an old case. 

But as someone said, it looks like this guy is the William Lewis in Rollin's life.  More drama to come I'm sure....................

[dttruman]

2 minutes ago, SuzieQ said:

looks like this guy is the William Lewis in Rollin's life.  More drama to come I'm sure....................

From what I see of Henry, the kid playing this character is doing a very good job playing a sinister psychopath, that is well deserving to be in the same category of William Lewis.

[Xeliou66]

This was one of the season’s better outings - I liked the first episode with Henry and this follow up delivered as well for the most part. Henry is pure evil and a compelling villain, and this episode was a chilling and intense one.

The investigation and hunt for Henry was good and well paced. Fin was good as always, and Kat wasn’t irritating. I initially thought the episode would be bad when Rollins daughter appeared, but at least they tied that into the plot. However Rollins annoyed me once again - she made the idiotic decision to go into the hostage situation after Fin wisely told her to wait for backup, she constantly makes stupid decisions like this and then barely gets a reprimand, and is constantly portrayed as some great detective despite her constant fuck ups. And visiting Henry at the end and threatening him was stupid as well, Henry might tell his lawyer and it could hurt the prosecutions case. I do not like Rollins and make no secret of that, and I feel she constantly makes dumb decisions and rarely faces the consequences. And the hostage situation fuck ups irritate me as well, I was glad the ESU guy told St Olivia she wasn’t in charge.

Not nearly enough Carisi!! At least he got some action in at the end, but I’m sick of Carisi being sidelined like he’s been lately.

Nice to see Lindstrom again, I always like having a psych expert and I liked his balanced evaluation of Henry and how they at least touched on the shades of gray in the legal system regarding mental health. It was nice to get an update on him still seeing Benson as well, I wondered if they were still in contact after what happened last season, and so I was glad they clarified that they were still in touch, even if they did have to shoehorn in a Stabler reference.

Garland was predictably MIA.

It was so nice seeing Cragen and Huang in flashbacks, I really miss them.

Overall this was a good episode, and Henry is a compelling, evil villain, it was an intense and entertaining hour. SVU has been on a downward skid after starting strong, and let’s hope they finish the season on a high note!!

[shapeshifter]

Has any real life, violent, guilty-as-hell fugitive ever ducked into a Mirror Fun House to confuse the pursuing police?

[mamadrama]

7 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Oh for the love of Pete, they should have just shot the fucker at the funhouse. We get it, show, creepy evil white boy goes on a murder spree and still gets due process because he’s white.

Your first sentence sold the episode to me. 

[Gigi43]

11 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Oh for the love of Pete, they should have just shot the fucker at the funhouse. We get it, show, creepy evil white boy goes on a murder spree and still gets due process because he’s white.

 

Unless I missed a line that mentioned race, I didn't get any hints of saying something about white kids. The social issue was about the insane and if they should get treatment or prison. Which, actually, I would like to see that trial where the lawyer argues that the facility he was in failed  him. But we'll never get Carisi having to do a trial like that because they can't be bothered to do a case that would go to a jury for a verdict anymore.  I think there's something wrong with anyone who is an adult is attracted or would be violent with children, but I still want them in prison. Henry needs to be locked away forever, whether it's a mental facility or prison. 

 

It was a good episode. The flashbacks were good. I was in suspense as to whether or not Henry would get to the sister to kill her. Rollins going into the hostage situation and then threatening Henry at the end wasn't good. If Henry was understanding and tells his lawyer and there's either a sign in log or footage of Rollins being there, that's bad.  I wasn't please with another courtroom outburst. I think every court scene this season involved one. Damn, a pencil to the ear, though. That was unexpected. 

 

My father stopped watching new episodes on his own a while ago and the new ones but we watched this one together and his take was "if they still made episodes like this I'd watch these new ones more."

 

We almost went the full episode without a Stabler mention. I would have loved to see Haung weigh in on where Henry should go but at least we got Lindstrom. I really hope Henry doesn't keep getting out and becomes William Lewis 2.0 Once was enough, don't ruin it, show! 

 

Jesse hugs strangers (if Henry was telling the truth) and takes gifts from them? She doesn't know about stranger danger? Rollins is an SVU detective too boot, Fix that, Rollins! 

Edited May 21, 2021 by Gigi43

[shapeshifter]

20 minutes ago, Gigi43 said:

I really hope Henry doesn't keep getting out and becomes William Lewis 2.0 Once was enough, don't ruin it, show! 

Meh. If the show is still on in another 7 years, I could see them revisiting the actor in this role once more --hopefully with something new to say. Maybe comparing what happened to him with a person of color who had the same psychological profile. IDK. I'm not sure that is a real psychological type. It seems a little over the top.

[Spartan Girl]

5 hours ago, Gigi43 said:

Unless I missed a line that mentioned race, I didn't get any hints of saying something about white kids. The social issue was about the insane and if they should get treatment or prison.

It didn’t mention race, not explicitly. But some people can read between the lines. That’s all I have to say.

Edited May 21, 2021 by Spartan Girl

[preeya]

11 hours ago, dttruman said:

From what I see of Henry, the kid playing this character is doing a very good job playing a sinister psychopath, that is well deserving to be in the same category of William Lewis.

Ethan Cutkosky. He played Carl Gallagher on Shameless, where he was also a bit of a psychopath.

[balmz]

kinda meh to me, i disliked them making henry a rapist, i liked it far better when he was just a creepy evil psychopath, it showed that svu can do interesting stories that don't involve rape or sexual assault and there's more ways to show evil then that or domestic violence

also when i first read the upcoming descriptions i thought it might be more like the episode mad dog on the original series, the svu unit is at his release hearing and tries to argue against it

also the rollins bit and ending was stupid as hell not to mention illegal but that seems to be the norm with her in general

[853fisher]

I like it when they feature characters, plots, and settings from past seasons, even though I don't always like what they end up doing.  I wonder if that's coming from the producers or the writers.  I didn't find this episode especially compelling, but they've done a lot worse in recent memory.  Carisi getting stabbed got my attention.  Since we're near the end of the season and I hadn't looked up whether the whole cast was expected to return, I did wonder for a second.

3 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

It didn’t mention race, not implicitly. But some people can read between the lines. That’s all I have to say.

You mean "not explicitly."  Ordinarily it seems churlish to correct someone, but I'm sure you wouldn't like to be sending out superior vibes with an inaccuracy on your end. ;)

FWIW, we know how the writers think, and I'm sure that was something they would've liked us to think about.  I'd say it was an implicit factor, to be considered by the viewer, or not.  By this show's standards, I'd even say it was subtle.  It definitely didn't seem like a hitting-us-over-the-head gratuitous inclusion to me, but that's just my opinion.

[dttruman]

15 hours ago, wknt3 said:

The whole Rollins personal nemesis thing was pointless, except as a lazy short cut so the squad didn't have to do any - what do you call it?, elite detective work for figure out Henry was the perp.

 

14 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

The investigation and hunt for Henry was good and well paced. Fin was good as always, and Kat wasn’t irritating. I initially thought the episode would be bad when Rollins daughter appeared, but at least they tied that into the plot.

I must be getting too suspicious of the writers.  I thought it was too obvious, convenient, and too early in the show to kill his family. That made  me think it would be a who-done-it and I thought it was going to be his sister and her friend, Charlotte. Charlotte looked like she had tied herself up in the bathroom or Holly did it, and they would turn out to be tandem serial killers and frame Henry. I should learn that the simplest plot is the most likely here unless it involves Benson.

[Spartan Girl]

@853fisher thanks I will fix it!

[illdoc]

5 hours ago, Gigi43 said:

Jesse hugs strangers (if Henry was telling the truth) and takes gifts from them? She doesn't know about stranger danger? Rollins is an SVU detective too boot, Fix that, Rollins! 

Furthermore, I get the feeling that, in another situation, the person with Jesse would have held her, and had Jesse yell "Mommy" when Rollins was calling for her, and Rollins would have left the baby alone in her stroller in the empty park while running toward Jesse and an accomplice just would have taken the baby. What a lousy mother! Especially for a SVU cop!

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, balmz said:

i disliked them making henry a rapist,

Would it be a terrible pun if I said making Henry a rapist was "overkill"?
Apparently Henry's evil plot to get attention was to create an SVU crime that would get on Rollin's radar, steal a stuffed toy from the victim, and then get Rollin's little girl to accept the victim's stuffed toy as a gift from a stranger.
IRL --at least in *my* real life-- things that complicated never go off without a hitch. But then my complicated things involve moving across country during a pandemic in the middle of winter, not killing people for fun and revenge
--maybe Killing For Fun and Revenge is easier?

Edited May 21, 2021 by shapeshifter

[Gigi43]

22 minutes ago, dttruman said:

 

I must be getting too suspicious of the writers.  I thought it was too obvious, convenient, and too early in the show to kill his family. That made  me think it would be a who-done-it and I thought it was going to be his sister and her friend, Charlotte. Charlotte looked like she had tied herself up in the bathroom or Holly did it, and they would turn out to be tandem serial killers and frame Henry. I should learn that the simplest plot is the most likely here unless it involves Benson.

 

My father and I had the same reaction! When they showed the sister alive we were saying how maybe he's a patsy for maybe the sister snapped or someone he was locked up with, or something because there was so much of the episode left to go. But nope, just a hostage situation. 

[melon]

17 hours ago, wknt3 said:

...

The only good part was ESU telling Benson to shut up and piss off.
...

1. I enjoyed the above also, because it showed a limit to her perceived authority.

2. They bashed in the door of the perp's girlfriend and searched her home without her permission and without a warrant.  I am confused to how the 4th amendment rights don't apply, but we discussed this during a previous episode when cops went door to door looking for the white supremecists.   IRL, a NJ judge recently decided that friends with benefits would also have their homes protected by the 4th amendment, which is confusing because I thought those homes were always protected. 

https://nypost.com/2021/05/20/nj-judge-legally-recognizes-friends-with-benefits/

3. I have been an apologist for Rollins, but that's over.  After the perp was remanded and drugged up, she had to threaten to kill him in the unlikely event he would be set free one day.  So not only does Rollins like to assault perps after they're in cuffs, now she likes to threaten them while their locked up.  Cops get a bad enough rap these days without these scenes, but I'm here talking about it, which is what Wolf probably wanted. Anyway, I'm hoping that karma deals her a tough blow in the upcoming episodes- where's Kim these days?  She seems to be her kryptonite.

 

 

[shapeshifter]

16 minutes ago, melon said:

2. They bashed in the door of the perp's girlfriend and searched her home without her permission and without a warrant.  I am confused to how the 4th amendment rights don't apply, but we discussed this during a previous episode when cops went door to door looking for the white supremecists.   IRL, a NJ judge recently decided that friends with benefits would also have their homes protected by the 4th amendment, which is confusing because I thought those homes were always protected. 

I don't watch regularly anymore, but in this case, the girlfriend said, "Don't you need a warrant?" to which Olivia did reply: "Actually, no. Exigent circumstances," which did seem fair in this case since he was on a killing spree.

I wanted to see the moment when the girlfriend realizes that yes, her boyfriend is still like that.

Edited May 21, 2021 by shapeshifter

[melon]

7 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I don't watch regularly anymore, but in this case, the girlfriend said, "Don't you need a warrant?" to which Olivia did reply: "Actually, no. Exigent circumstances," which did seem fair in this case since he was on a killing spree.

I wanted to see the moment when the girlfriend realizes that yes, her boyfriend is still like that.

Thanks, your explanation makes sense.

[tennisgurl]

I was excited about this one, as Natural Born Psychopath was a really good memorable episode back when this show had a lot of those, and I really like when the show revisits old cases and characters, and this was a good episode to get a sequel to. The original episode even sounds a bit like its angling for a sequel when they talk about how they'll evaluate him again at eighteen, and Ethan Cutkosky is still acting, it works out pretty perfectly, so kudos to them for taking advantage of a good opportunity. I thought that this was a good follow up, if a bit predictable and mixed in a lot of issues that this show has had lately, but it was intense, had a lot of good guest actors, especially Ethan Cutkosky, and they brought up some interesting issues about mental health in the prison system without getting too preachy, keeping the focus on the case at hand. 

A few good moments with Finn, Kat, and Carisi, although I thought it was a bit weird how shaken Kat seemed by everything, you would think she would have seen things like this in Vice. I guess she's gotten used to the cleaner version of SVU that we have gotten the last few seasons than we had back in Natural Born Psychopath was on. This show used to have cases that were so disturbing and emotionally affecting they stayed with me for days, and while we still get a few of those now (and this season has actually been better than a lot of past seasons) most cases don't really stick like the old ones, even the good episodes. 

The whole episode kind of reminded me of some kind of weird Law and Order version of the original Halloween, with Henry as Michael Myers, a deranged born psychopath and force of evil returned home after a lifetime stay in a home for the criminally insane after a violent act against his sister as a child, now on a killing spree as he makes his way back home. The therapist who's daughter was raped was basically Dr. Loomis saying how he was an evil dead eyed murder child no matter what she did for him, that he could never be cured, and being all "how could you let him out?!" when he started his spree. You imagine her telling Olivia that he's the Boogeyman as they dramatically cut to his latest crime scene. 

I kept waiting for there to be some kind of plot twist, I thought for about half the episode that it would turn out that Henry's sister was setting Henry up in revenge for everything he did to her and that's she a psychopath as well, or that the two of them were secretly working together to kill their family. Henry just being a psychopath is fine too though, it does seem like the inevitable ending for him based on what we saw in his last episode, being manipulative, violent, lacking in empathy, vindictive, a really good performance by the actor for a second round, the guy is just as creepy and dead eyed now as he was as a kid. Henry also brings up an interesting debate when it comes to mental health and the legal system, is he fully culpable for his actions? Henry does know that what's he's doing is wrong (or is at least illegal) and doesn't care at all, and will just keep doing horrible things until he's physically stopped, and is horrifying in what he will do and with absolutely no remorse and reason beyond "because I wanted to" as to why he does these things. At the same time, its clear that he was born like this, he knows that what's he is doing is illegal and other people think its wrong and will upset them, but he himself only understands that intellectually, not emotional or morally, he's been like this since he was a little kid, you could pretty easily say that its not really Henrys fault he is the way he is, he was just born like this. Its actually kind of sad, its not like he choose to be a psychopath, and I know that there is a lot of talk about how a psychopaths brain works and how people become psychopaths (or whatever the term) and if they are born that way or if they can be treated and learn empathy, but it seems like with Henry, this is just how his brain works and there is no way to treat him that allows him to function in society the way you can with many mental illnesses. You could say its unfair that he is being punished for being the way that he is, but its really the only option. Can you even really punish a person who has no idea what a conscience is the way you could punish someone who has one but ignored it?  Interesting ideas to bring up. No matter what though, he just needs to be locked up, this is a person who should never not be locked up, even if its unfair. 

Sadly, this episode was also a Rollins episode, and those really tend to get bogged down in Rollins drama. First of all, her messing around on her phone while her kid is playing just seems like a recipe for disaster, as is the fact that her daughter talks with random strangers, hugs them, and takes presents from them. Every heard of teaching your kids about stranger danger? That's bad for anyone, especially an SVU detective living in a major city. I also majorly rolled my eyes at Henry having to throw out a line about how Rollins is so pretty up close, oh my God show we get it your super hot for Rollins, this is just getting embarrassing. Rollins is a lovely woman and all, but, not to be mean, she isn't at all the super sexy knockout that the show wants us to think she is. Especially by TV standards, she's pretty but she isn't even the most gorgeous woman on the show in my opinion, but she's the only one we keep getting this build up for. She also showed endless unprofessionalism, taking over the hostage situation to sit around chatting with the killer, stomping around ranting to the therapist like an idiot, and then if course threatening to murder someone if he ever gets out of jail. If Henry tells his lawyer about that or if that was on camera, she could (and should) get in big trouble or Henry's lawyer could use that as an excuse to prove that the arresting officer was biased against him, what a shitty stupid thing to do. Even though Henry is a psychopathic killer who stalked her kids, Rollins is a cop who should be holding herself to a higher standard, especially after this show has lectured us for ages on how the cops have to do better now. It also had to have a stupid and pointless reference to Elliot, and while I was happy to see Lindstrom again and get a psychiatrists perspective on everything, I wish that they didn't have to bring Elliot into this again. Ugh, I do not care about this never ending Stabler/Benson drama, can they just let it go?

Honestly when they brought up Henry possibly going after Rollin's family, I was like "not even Henry deserves to be stuck dealing with those jackasses." 

[EtheltoTillie]

9 hours ago, preeya said:

Ethan Cutkosky. He played Carl Gallagher on Shameless, where he was also a bit of a psychopath.

Yes so creepy. Has he ever played a normal character?  I think I would be scared of this actor if I ran into him in real life. 

[Wizardpatch]

So Psycho Kid's parents didn't think to mention that he watched a playmate and his mom drown in the original episode? 

[shapeshifter]

22 minutes ago, Wizardpatch said:

So Psycho Kid's parents didn't think to mention that he watched a playmate and his mom drown in the original episode? 

He didn’t see them drown. He said he wished he had seen them drown, and that was how he knew he was “different.”

[wknt3]

17 hours ago, Gigi43 said:

Jesse hugs strangers (if Henry was telling the truth) and takes gifts from them? She doesn't know about stranger danger? Rollins is an SVU detective too boot, Fix that, Rollins! 

No matter where you stand on the whole nature vs. nurture debate it is pretty much expected that Rollins' child would know it's a bad idea and still do it anyways. I mean risking your life because you like a stuffed animal is pretty much the most Rollins thing ever...

[Devonte Huntley]

I too was hoping this episode would have some sort of twist like Henry wasn't actually doing the killings and was being framed. I truly did want to see him rehabilitated. I actually was more convinced of this when the cops popped in on the girlfriend and she was pleading how much of a gentle soul he was. I figured, he's being framed and that person probably abducted Henry and has him somewhere. 

But if we were going to make Henry the killer, I'd like to have more Criminal Intent-esque scenes where we see him commit crimes like in the first episode "Born Psychopath" where there's moments without the main characters where he cut his mom's hand and had his sister tied up while he set a fire. Too much was happening off-screen and it's a treat when we get scenes without the main characters besides the opening build-up before the credits.

I find it baffling how well he tricked those people after eight years and apparently is the first one to do so. I think a more reasonable angle would be him escaping after being denied a release. That way, no one could say they let him out before he was ready. OR, the person who did let him go is corrupt and WANTED Henry to commit revenge murder so it wasn't truly about him being better but aiding his goal. I would have preferred that angle too. 

And they really couldn't bring back Hope Davis to play the mom? What was the point of even having her die years earlier, especially when they introduce this stepmother who was then killed off and barely had a role or any lines. That might as well have been Henry's mother. 

Edited May 23, 2021 by Devonte Huntley

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Devonte Huntley said:

And they really couldn't bring back Hope Davis to play the mom? What was the point of even having her die years earlier, especially when they introduce this stepmother who was then killed off and barely had a role or any lines. That might as well have been Henry's mother. 

Yeah, I'm not sure if that red herring was accidental or on purpose.

[misstwpherecool]

They could've made a two parter out of this but the pace worked.

It was straight forward although was waiting for the twist of the gf helping or doing it for him. But they did go out of their way remind us how much of a psycopath he was.

I almost thought the last part of the show would be Carisi going for the shrink's license or charge her with negligent homicide. Maybe they left her unscathed to bring her and the kid back helping him escape or find out she was like a pedophile teacher having relations with her patient instead. I kept on thinking about the L & 0 epis with the corrupt coroner and the pyscho who went to Chicago.

There were a lot of threads they could've pulled on opting to use Rollins instead.

[mamadrama]

I found it weird that when a stranger gave her kid a stuffed dog named Snowball Rollins immediately thought of Henry and the dead dog. That was 10 years ago and, unlike us, she presumably didn't get a recap right before it happened. 

[Devonte Huntley]

3 hours ago, mamadrama said:

I found it weird that when a stranger gave her kid a stuffed dog named Snowball Rollins immediately thought of Henry and the dead dog. That was 10 years ago and, unlike us, she presumably didn't get a recap right before it happened. 

Just goes to show how strong the case was. Henry was like no other child she dealt with and he would surely stick as with everything related to him such as that dog, which was a friend's dog but still, it was a heinous kill and I'd probably remember that too.

Edited May 23, 2021 by Devonte Huntley

[dttruman]

On 5/22/2021 at 11:36 AM, misstwpherecool said:

They could've made a two parter out of this but the pace worked.

It was straight forward although was waiting for the twist of the gf helping or doing it for him. But they did go out of their way remind us how much of a psycopath he was.

Good Call! It would have been a good way to finish off this season and then start off next season or they could make it a 2 hour season finale and give us some kind of resolution. I just wish that this whole plot line involved Finn, Carisi, Tamin, or even Garland.

[dttruman]

22 hours ago, mamadrama said:

I found it weird that when a stranger gave her kid a stuffed dog named Snowball Rollins immediately thought of Henry and the dead dog. That was 10 years ago and, unlike us, she presumably didn't get a recap right before it happened. 

Thank you for that one! Chalk up another convenient abnormal sequence that pits Rollins against Henry, I am still having a tough time figuring out why Henry chose her to identify with, Rollins chose to proceed w/o backup and why Rollins chose to give herself up as a hostage (even though the writers will tell us, it wasn't technically a hostage situation). All this just so those two can have a confrontation and see who will blink first or have the last laugh.

Edited May 23, 2021 by dttruman

[Devonte Huntley]

17 minutes ago, dttruman said:

Thank you for that one! Chalk up another convenient abnormal sequence that pits Rollins against Henry, I am still having a tough time figuring out why Henry chose her to identify with, Rollins chose to proceed w/o backup and why Rollins chose to give herself up as a hostage (even though the writers will tell us, it wasn't technically a hostage situation). All this just so those two can have a confrontation and see who will blink first or have the last laugh.

Well read my comment and try to figure out an understanding. As for why he chose her to identify with, because well in the Season 14 episode he kind of felt gentle with her during the scene where he went to eat those strawberries. 

[dttruman]

4 minutes ago, Devonte Huntley said:

Well read my comment and try to figure out an understanding. As for why he chose her to identify with, because well in the Season 14 episode he kind of felt gentle with her during the scene where he went to eat those strawberries. 

I don't know about that, because he could blame Rollins just as much for putting him in the loony bin. I am assuming Rollins testified against him or didn't for him when he was put away until he was 18, and it could be Rollins and her family getting slaughtered right after Henry took care of his own family.

[Cristofle]

On 5/22/2021 at 6:10 PM, mamadrama said:

I found it weird that when a stranger gave her kid a stuffed dog named Snowball Rollins immediately thought of Henry and the dead dog. That was 10 years ago and, unlike us, she presumably didn't get a recap right before it happened. 

It was probably a little convenient but I can see how that case would have stayed with Rollins. Henry was and still is utterly chilling, and it has to be shocking to be in the same room with him (especially when he was such a young child). I remember Huang saying in the original episode that in his entire career, only two other criminals had ever had "given him such a chill" (both serial killers). To see such depravity come from a child...I can see how it would haunt her. 

I'm relieved his sister survived (thus far - the end suggests to me we have not seen the last of Henry). I am unsurprised his father met his end at the hands of the son he refused to accept was so dangerous; I remember him being the most firmly in denial the last time. I was having kind of a hard time figuring out what Benson's shrink wanted to happen or felt like should happen, though. He seemed to be implying his brain is wired wrong, which is a consistent argument about Henry, but did he think he should just keep getting treatment? Henry clearly doesn't respond to treatment and he's masterful at manipulating the system.

[853fisher]

Something that may interest a few or no one: Erin Anderson, who played (I think) the attorney representing Henry, is the daughter of Gail Farrell and Ron Anderson. Gail was ubiquitous on “Lawrence Welk” from about 1970 until the end in 1982. Her trio with Sandi and Mary Lou broke up when Sandi retired to be a more dutiful Mormon mother, so her husband Ron joined with a friend to form a new trio.

I’m sure the Venn diagram of champagne music aficionados and 2021 SVU viewers is far from a circle, but aside from the corny links and especially heinous skits, some of their musicians were pretty talented. I enjoy a lot of it unironically to this day, and Gail was always a special favorite, in no small part because she often seemed closest to telling them all to go to hell and starting a boozy cabaret engagement somewhere. Apparently the daughter has done four episodes as defense attorney April Andrews, but this is the first time I’ve noticed. Wunnerful, wunnerful!

Edited May 24, 2021 by 853fisher

[dttruman]

15 hours ago, 853fisher said:

Something that may interest a few or no one: Erin Anderson, who played (I think) the attorney representing Henry, is the daughter of Gail Farrell and Ron Anderson. Gail was ubiquitous on “Lawrence Welk” from about 1970 until the end in 1982. Her trio with Sandi and Mary Lou broke up when Sandi retired to be a more dutiful Mormon mother, so her husband Ron joined with a friend to form a new trio.

I’m sure the Venn diagram of champagne music aficionados and 2021 SVU viewers is far from a circle, but aside from the corny links and especially heinous skits, some of their musicians were pretty talented. I enjoy a lot of it unironically to this day, and Gail was always a special favorite, in no small part because she often seemed closest to telling them all to go to hell and starting a boozy cabaret engagement somewhere. Apparently the daughter has done four episodes as defense attorney April Andrews, but this is the first time I’ve noticed. Wunnerful, wunnerful!

I have very vague memories of the Lawrence Welk Show, but I am sure my dad would definitely appreciate this little fun fact. He loved the show especially Bob Rolston. So let me leave you with this