S02.E01: The Man With No Identity

[WendyCR72]

And we're almost off for the Season 2 premiere. Airing on September 23, 2021:

Quote

After taking down Wheatley's drug empire and discovering his wife's killer, Det. Stabler must infiltrate a notorious crime family aiming to take over New York City’s cocaine trade. Sgt. Bell is forced to work with a rival colleague when their investigations collide.

 

[WendyCR72]

Without going into specifics, the tone of this premiere off the bat feels more in line with Chicago PD than Law & Order with the physicality. Me no likey.

[WendyCR72]

I think one of the issues I am having with Stabler here is...this is still him. What I mean is, he had rage/physical issues as a cop and it is just...the same on steroids here.

[WendyCR72]

The blonde dude with Stabler...the actor seems familiar to me. But I can't place him. And while Chris Meloni looks awesome for 60, I think being totally bald shows his age more. Hope he grows it back (what there is!).

[WendyCR72]

And the preview looks DREADFUL.

[Medicine Crow]

57 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

The blonde dude with Stabler...the actor seems familiar to me. But I can't place him. And while Chris Meloni looks awesome for 60, I think being totally bald shows his age more. Hope he grows it back (what there is!).

It's "Bunchy" from Ray Donovan ... aka Dashiell Raymond Mihok.  I agree with your assessment, but will give the show a little leeway because I love Stabler.  We'll see ....

[Xeliou66]

I liked the season premiere - this case is more compelling than the supervillain Wheatley case, it seems much more realistic and I look forward to seeing how this storyline about the drug dealing organizations plays out. This was a compelling hour, it could be hard to follow at times as we were thrown into the story right in the middle of it, but I liked it once I figured the basics out.

It seems like there should be a lot more people on the OC squad, instead it’s empty.

I still don’t like the storyline of Bell’s wife suing the NYPD, it adds nothing to the show. It does appear that the Congressman who wants to meet with them is involved in the drug dealing, so that could be interesting.

On the bad side, the preview for next week looks god awful, a full blown soap fest that will likely end in a Benson/Stabler hookup. Not looking forward to that at all, it feels like the only reason they brought Stabler back and created this show was so they could pair him up with Benson. It’s too bad because I find Stabler compelling and I just don’t want romance between the main characters. 

 

 

 

[Spartan Girl]

So Angela survived but now she’s getting squirrelly about testifying? And apparently she’s still pining for Stabler. Ugh, lady, you were an accessory to his wife’s murder. And if Wheatley goes completely free if you don’t testify, that won’t help things either.

Honestly I turned this off halfway through. I would have been fine if this was a Stabler solo because I love Meloni, but I cannot stomach an Olivia hookup. No, no, no, a million times no.

[milkyaqua]

I don't know if Angele is squirrely about testifying against Wheatley or the show wants us to believe that her memory may have been affected by her injury based on all the other clues they were giving.

Also not interested in Bell's wife lawsuit and the possibly crooked congressman.  Of course Mykelti Williamson is playing a bad guy.

So Stabler is undercover (which is fine) but as long as he was a cop even out of the country, no one he put away would have no idea who he was or NYC is that big you'd never run into a familiar face who might blow your cover?  A couple of folks already suspect him of something so that'll be interesting.  I'd much prefer they follow a Wiseguy scenario than what ever soup this show is cooking up which leads me to...

Yeah, that preview.  Good grief, no, no, no and why?  Just leave it alone but if anyone read Meloni's interview a few weeks back he in as much alluded to the show going down this path.  Ugh!  I hope they don't spend much time on it, drop it, and then forget like a bad dream...

 

[TooMuchRealityTV]

I thought this episode was okay. The Wheatley storyline was kept to a minimum and they've finally moved on to a new case. (I'd be okay with them dropping Wheatley entirely, but I'm guessing that is not going to happen.) I liked Stabler deep undercover. The new case seems more interesting than Wheatley to me already.

I don't know if I'm going to be able to watch all of next weeks 2 hour episode. I am not shipping Benson/Stabler at all. I'd rather they just be friends and I hate the constant Liv appearances on this show. Also, Stabler was married for over 20 years and hasn't been a widower for an entire year. It seems rushed.

[WendyCR72]

2 hours ago, TooMuchRealityTV said:

Also, Stabler was married for over 20 years and hasn't been a widower for an entire year. It seems rushed.

I know we all have issues with Stabler's kids. But in this particular case, I would be more than all right if they had issues with their father hooking up with his former partner when their mother has barely been cold in her grave. I almost look forward to it. Anything to derail what TPTB seem to have planned as far as a romance goes.

[Xeliou66]

10 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

I know we all have issues with Stabler's kids. But in this particular case, I would be more than all right if they had issues with their father hooking up with his former partner when their mother has barely been cold in her grave. I almost look forward to it. Anything to derail what TPTB seem to have planned as far as a romance goes.

I completely agree. I would totally get Stabler’s kids being angry if he hooked up with Benson, his wife hasn’t even been dead a year. But they won’t, because no one is allowed to criticize anything about St Olivia or get upset with her now, and the writers are going to portray this as some grand love story. BLAH.

Edited September 24, 2021 by Xeliou66

[Cristofle]

21 hours ago, Medicine Crow said:

It's "Bunchy" from Ray Donovan ... aka Dashiell Raymond Mihok. 

It was nice to see him, and he seemed excited on Twitter to be working with Meloni.

I'll be the minority - I've felt like Stabler and Olivia's obvious emotional affair was just this elephant in the room for all these years that was never going to be addressed and it's been kind of satisfying for me as a longtime LO viewer to have something I definitely saw but always seemed to be bubbling below the surface actually put into writing. I don't know if these two will ever actually have a successful relationship, but I want to see it acknowledged after all this time. 

I got the impression last season that Kathleen was aware of how her father felt, and maybe has been for a long time and has decided to make her peace with it because she feels like Olivia can get through to him, but I'm less clear on the other kids. I could see Eli in particular getting upset. 

[Raja]

On 9/24/2021 at 9:32 AM, milkyaqua said:

 

So Stabler is undercover (which is fine) but as long as he was a cop even out of the country, no one he put away would have no idea who he was or NYC is that big you'd never run into a familiar face who might blow your cover?  A couple of folks already suspect him of something so that'll be interesting.  I'd much prefer they follow a Wiseguy scenario than what ever soup this show is cooking up which leads me to...

Yeah, that preview.  Good grief, no, no, no and why?  Just leave it alone but if anyone read Meloni's interview a few weeks back he in as much alluded to the show going down this path.  Ugh!  I hope they don't spend much time on it, drop it, and then forget like a bad dream...

 

Well he has been in Italy for a decade and working Special Victims in Manhattan for a decade before that. He should be as safe as anyone except the rookie with the faked failure of academy training 

[preeya]

On 9/24/2021 at 9:32 AM, milkyaqua said:

Yeah, that preview.  Good grief, no, no, no and why?  Just leave it alone but if anyone read Meloni's interview a few weeks back he in as much alluded to the show going down this path.  Ugh!  I hope they don't spend much time on it, drop it, and then forget like a bad dream...

I didn't see the preview or CM's interview, but I think you're alluding to a Benson hookup. If so, I'll be totally pissed and if it extends I'll be GONE!

[Morrigan2575]

I was fine with everything in this episode but the damn Benson/Stabler shit. 🙄

[CrystalBlue]

I'm more interested in the Albanian mob and family than I am about the Wheatleys.  I do not look forward to any Benson/Stabler soap, unless between The Letter and Liv being pissed that Elliot ghosted her yet again for three months (as the preview shows) the impending romance/hook-up is called off.

[Cristofle]

2 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

the impending romance/hook-up is called off.

I don't think their getting together is imminent, actually. Elliott does not remotely seem to be in the kind of headspace for it, heh. But I think it will keep...circling. It's fairly obvious from the writing of this show how the head writer feels, and I imagine SVU and OC writers are at least trying to stay on the same page where that's concerned.

[Tachi Rocinante]

They are making it seem like Angela definitely has brain issues.  Not knowing the word "alarm"? Her bunched-up hand?

Unless she's faking it and playing a really looong game.

[SuzieQ]

5 minutes ago, Tachi Rocinante said:

They are making it seem like Angela definitely has brain issues.  Not knowing the word "alarm"? Her bunched-up hand?
 

That scene made me laugh so hard and it wasn't supposed to be funny.  I was yelling "ALARM" at the tv before she said it.

[catrice2]

I am glad Wheatley is in the background. Cannot wait to see where the new story goes.

Could care less about Bell's wife but always happy to see Mykel T!

At this point there will be a letter or something with his wife giving them her blessing saying she knew all along. That is what makes it especially icky toh me that she trusted them both. Wasn't Liv with her when she had a child? This was always a show that should be showing that a man and woman can work together and care for each other in a non sexual way. But ugh.

[Cristofle]

13 hours ago, catrice2 said:

This was always a show that should be showing that a man and woman can work together and care for each other in a non sexual way. But ugh.

 I have to say, I never saw these two as the ideal for this as it was consistently indicated they were attracted to each other, despite not acting on it. Particularly circa S7-S8 of SVU, I would not have said these two had no sexual feelings for each other - they just were never shown to act on them. There was a lot of dialogue about how overly attached to each other they were. Whatever the ideal is for a non-sexual male and female partnership, it's not these two. 

[hookedontv]

16 hours ago, catrice2 said:

Wasn't Liv with her when she had a child?

IIRC, Liv was driving Kathleen to the hospital for an appointment (I don't think she was in labor yet) and they got into a car accident and she ended up having the baby at the hospital. Named him Elliott aka Eli. 

[wknt3]

On 9/24/2021 at 2:04 AM, Xeliou66 said:

It seems like there should be a lot more people on the OC squad, instead it’s empty.

It actually makes sense from both an in-universe and meta standpoint. What we are seeing is not the entire unit, but those currently assigned to this particular operation. And given that it involves crooked cops it would make sense to keep it on a strictly need to know basis. From a story telling POV given that there are already a lot of new faces and a fairly large ensemble with their own plot lines that need to be serviced sticking to the strongest characters from the debut season and waiting to bring in anybody else is a smart move.

[Raja]

Aster watching SVU morph into The Closer/Major Crimes with Chiefs all over the place thinking about single crimes and not running thousands of officers it was strange to see the Sergeants in charge but no cutout intermediate officers, Lieutenants and Captains, as they were in conference with all the big brass Chiefs.

[tennisgurl]

I am really glad that Wheatley is in the background for now and we are focusing on a new case, which I am already interested in. The team up between two gangs already seems a lot better than supervillain Wheatley, and I like the idea of Stabler going undercover. This episode in general was mostly good...but now with the looming specter of awkward Benson/Stabler melodrama is really hurting my enjoyment of the show. I don't mind the occasional scenes with Benson, it would make sense for them to still see each other, but focusing so much on them is just sucking time away from the interesting stuff. The Benson stuff is so over the top that even old Albanian grandmas can see it coming in tea leaves. 

I am already bored with Bell's wife's lawsuit and the crooked congressman. They just seem like padding. 

[KittenPokerCheater]

Unpopular opinion:  I'm okay if Stabler/Olivia have an on-again/off-again thing  I feel like it's been teased for so long, they might as well Go There.

[Girl in a Cardigan]

Finally caught up on this a month later, but I liked it. Still not sure how/why Stabler is the guy going undercover when he's got a high school kid at home (I guess he must live with one of his sisters?) and was in the front row of a high profile RICOH case just two months before, but okay. I guess the goatee must make him seem like a totally different person? It also seems odd that he's totally fine just rolling up to his old neighborhood to see his kid while he's under?

Totally not interested in Bell's wife's nephew's lawsuit, but interested to see how the dirty Congressman plays into this whole thing. I have a feeling that Bell gets a divorce before this is all over because your wife's family suing your workplace has got to be a marriage killer.

What happened to the dumb kid who wasn't dirty in the last operation? I guess he just goes back to being a cop? Or did I forget and he got fired or something?

I still like Benson and Stabler as a couple in theory, but I feel like that ship (LOL) sailed back in season 7/8 of SVU when Stabler got Kathy pregnant with Eli and went back to her. So now it feels like 15 years too late, especially given all the shit that Olivia went through while Eliot was gone and that Kathy's been dead for like five minutes (and he's clearly still having anxiety issues given the hand thing in the car in the cold open). I get that the actors love each other and they are trying to tie the two shows together, but without a major discussion that doesn't fit within the plot of either show, I don't know how/why they are going to make their "hookup" believable.