S23.E18: Eighteen Wheels a Predator

[WendyCR72]

Airing April 14, 2022:

Quote

Rollins and Fin investigate an assault in Kentucky that has striking similarities to that of a victim found in Central Park. Benson receives intel that turns the case upside down.

 

 

[WendyCR72]

I hope to God the description is worded poorly and Rollins/Fin are actually NOT the detectives investigating a crime in Kentucky.

Connecting it to the NYC victim? Fine, I get that. Cross referencing and such, but if they are actually investigating a crime not in their jurisdiction...well, head, meet wall. I really hope it's just touching base.

I miss when this franchise at least pretended to adhere to the realities of police procedure and jurisdiction, etc.!

[CrystalBlue]

At least it's not Rollisi.  More Fin on the way!

[dttruman]

On 4/9/2022 at 9:26 PM, WendyCR72 said:

Rollins and Fin investigate an assault in Kentucky that has striking similarities to that of a victim found in Central Park. Benson receives intel that turns the case upside down.

 

On 4/9/2022 at 9:33 PM, WendyCR72 said:

I hope to God the description is worded poorly and Rollins/Fin are actually NOT the detectives investigating a crime in Kentucky.

Connecting it to the NYC victim? Fine, I get that. Cross referencing and such, but if they are actually investigating a crime not in their jurisdiction...well, head, meet wall. I really hope it's just touching base.

I miss when this franchise at least pretended to adhere to the realities of police procedure and jurisdiction, etc.!

I am confused also. Which crime came first, the Central Park crime or the Kentucky crime? If they are just checking on the details of the Kentucky crime, all they need to do is skype with the detectives in Kentucky. They don't have to fly over there to interview, or to make it even less plausible, they "Drive". If it's the eastern part of Kentucky it's a 10 hour drive.

[marceline]

Fin in Kentucky could be comedy gold.

Maybe their car will break down and he'll ask if they have Car Shield.

Edited April 14, 2022 by marceline

[dttruman]

Looks like they are bouncing McGrath's personality back and forth again. He is back to being a raving loon, worried about the perception of the crimes to the news media and wanting immediate results. I wish the writers would actually be a little more consistent with his personality. It's office politics again with the mention of 1PP.

[dttruman]

With all do respect to Fin, how does Fin and Rollins get to run point on this case when the FBI should have taken over immediately on this. I still don't understand how they were left out completely and are only slightly mentioned by Benson along with other state law enforcement in the capture. I am really getting tired of Benson and her sanctimonious testimonials and how she acts like she is the only one who cares about these victims and that a lot of these cases get swept under the rug.

The only reasonable part of this episode was the twist they seem to be putting in at the end of their episodes along with a touch of a Perry Mason moment when the suspect cooks his own goose and his counsel starts talking about a plea

[preeya]

1 hour ago, dttruman said:

With all do respect to Fin, how does Fin and Rollins get to run point on this case when the FBI should have taken over immediately on this. I still don't understand how they were left out completely and are only slightly mentioned by Benson along with other state law enforcement in the capture. I am really getting tired of Benson and her sanctimonious testimonials and how she acts like she is the only one who cares about these victims and that a lot of these cases get swept under the rug.

↑THIS↑ You beat me to the comment.

Where is the FBI?? This guy is an interstate serial rapist.

[Xeliou66]

This was probably the best episode of the season, it’s rare that I say a modern day SVU is good, but this was a genuinely good episode.

A good, classic serial rapist case, with some good detective work and even some decent misdirection with the bartender. Each character got a nice role, Fin got some good lines and was great as always, Benson and Rollins weren’t annoying, Carisi was good in his role, and while McGrath is pretty one note this was the best they’ve handled him this season.

The villains were both effective and reminded me more of classic SVU villains than the typical rich douchebags SVU has had a lot of lately.

No soapy personal stuff at all was very nice.

My only complaint is no Velasco, with such a high profile case they should’ve had him there along with everyone else, the main cast is never all in the same episode now it seems.

Overall this was good - good case with a good role for everyone and no major flaws. 

[preeya]

2 hours ago, dttruman said:

Looks like they are bouncing McGrath's personality back and forth again. He is back to being a raving loon, worried about the perception of the crimes to the news media and wanting immediate results. I wish the writers would actually be a little more consistent with his personality. It's office politics again with the mention of 1PP.

Yeah, all he worries about is the media and headlines. The guy is a total jerk.

[The Wild Sow]

On 4/13/2022 at 8:34 PM, dttruman said:

 

I am confused also. Which crime came first, the Central Park crime or the Kentucky crime? 

The Central Park rape came first.  When he called to take "credit" for Central Park (because he was apparently miffed that they arrested Dustin), he did it from the Kentucky victim's cell phone while he was still with her!

[SunnyBeBe]

I must have watched too much of this show over the years.  As soon as the sister volunteered information to the detectives, as she came out of the bar, I just knew there was some motivation behind it.  Lol. 

Edited April 15, 2022 by SunnyBeBe

[Toonces464]

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I must have watched too much of this show over the years.  As soon as the sister volunteered information to the detectives, as she came out of the bar, I just knew there was some motivation behind it.  Lol. 

I texted my friend right after that and said "The sister did it!"

[marceline]

This was actually a decent episode. Solid police work, a minimum of personal drama, and I liked how the cops in Kentucky were portrayed as professional and sympathetic instead of backwoods hicks. The one cop saying state police were busy with a school shooting was a nice aside. Sadly, that's the kind of world we live in now.

Finding out the brother was raping his sister reframed his behavior at the beginning telling the guys in the bar to keep their hands off her. At first it looks like brotherly concern but now we see it as something far more sinister.

The blitz attack on the first victim was brutal.

Edited April 16, 2022 by marceline

[tennisgurl]

I wish we had gotten to stay in Kentucky for a bit longer, even if I am sure the fake southern accents would have distracted from the actual case, but I liked this one. A creepy serial rapist was a lot better than the smug rich white guys we have gotten so much of in the later years of SVU, some real police work, no personal drama, minimal Benson speeches, and a halfway decent twist at the end. It wasn't surprising, I called right away that something was up with the brother and sister and that she planted the evidence, but at least it was some kind of twist, one that made sense and closed up a loose end. Way too many episodes just leave minor characters and plot threads forgotten by the wayside, but this one seemed to mostly tie everything up. Those attacks were pretty brutal too, like last weeks episode they really did sell the horror of what was happening, it wasn't as neat and clean as the show has gotten. 

The guest cast was all solid, the rapist was creepy, the asshole brother was easy to hate even after we realized he wasn't the rapist, even minor characters like the Kentucky sheriff and victim did a good job with their short scenes. I would normally say the woman playing the Kentucky victim's accent was a bit much, but if that took place in the rural Appalachian part of the state, I would say its not too inaccurate. Kentucky accents, like a lot of border states between the south and midwest, are all over the place. 

McGrath is still pretty one note, but while I know he's an asshole for obsessing about the NYPD's PR, that is a part of his job, even if it shouldn't be put above actual police work, and this episode he at least seemed more like a real character, not a cartoon villain. 

It was a bit strange having no Velasco in such a high profile case, but I guess they wanted to give him a break after so much focus in the last one. Just about everyone else got some good scenes, plus some solid Finn lines. Not a lot of huge complaints with this one, other than it seeming a bit contrived to send Finn and Rollins all the way down to Kentucky instead of the feds or someone handling a possible serial case, even if they did give a reason for why they needed to be there. Not quite a classic, but one of the best episodes of the season so far. After a string of pretty boring episodes, this one and the last one give me some hope for the season going forward. 

Edited April 15, 2022 by tennisgurl

[wknt3]

Experienced some technical issues, but better late than never right?

The Good:
A nice old fashioned violent serial rapist is a refreshing change of pace. How often can you say that? Seriously though it was nice to have a clear bad guy (2 actually) with the issues raised being in the background.
Fin. Ice-T was engaged this week. I could have used a little more cynical snark, but he got some solid material.
Carisi. He was solidly in charge of the legal side and no Rollisi soapy nonsense.
The script. Very little excess or sloppiness and everything flowed well. Most of the flaws seemed to be either in the DNA of the show or a result of Dick Wolf's penny pinching short sightedness. This felt like a season 7 episode with the budget cut by 1/3 for both good and ill.
The ending. It was nice to see Benson sharing some credit.

The Bad:
So I guess they aren't really doing an arc with the chief, but more of a "he's whatever we need for the lot this week" thing?
No Velasco. It would have been nice to have gotten a least an explanation for him not being there for an all hands on deck situation. And I would have liked to have seen him doing some of the investigating instead of Carisi and Benson who should have been doing their own jobs instead of his.
Benson's outfit in the casino. Seemed to be going for some sort of symbolism. Mariska is a star? Benson encompasses the universe? Liv is America? In any case it just didn't work for me in a distracting way.
Could have used some moments of comic relief. This was where the episode really pales in comparison with classic SVU.

Overall this was really good. An A- that is probably a solid A if we are grading on a curve. As I've already said it was a solid effort all the way around and most of the flaws or moments that fell a little flat are a matter of either budget cuts or the show simply being on the air too long (and at this point I'd rather see them retreading old ground rather than trying to shock us with twists that don't make sense. More of this please.

[853fisher]

If nothing else, I would've expected Velasco to be called into the station while 2 of the 4 or 5 SVU officers in all Manhattan were sent out of state!

It was a nice surprise to see Petri Hawkins Byrd, the longtime bailiff on "Judge Judy," as the Kentucky sheriff.  I never thought he added as much to that show as others did, but I felt bad when I read that he learned from the news that Judy had replaced him for her new show, after 25 years of working together.

[Route66]

I wish they hadn't had Fin draw his weapon when arresting Wes. The casino was full of cops. You wouldn't have a firearm out like that with so many civilians around.

I hate writing this, but while Mariska is gorgeous, Wes obviously raped women in their early or mid twenties. He wouldn't have flirted with a middle aged lady in a bulky sweater. Throughout the series, she's always been shown as a potential undercover babe even when it's inconsistent. (The worst was in "Starved" where she traps Mike at speed dating. Mike also pursued women who were significantly younger.)

[Zoe]

On 4/14/2022 at 8:23 PM, dttruman said:

Looks like they are bouncing McGrath's personality back and forth again. He is back to being a raving loon, worried about the perception of the crimes to the news media and wanting immediate results. I wish the writers would actually be a little more consistent with his personality. It's office politics again with the mention of 1PP.

He just comes off as incompetent to me. I could accept his character if he were just an asshole, but half the time he's on the screen, he's flailing around asking Benson what he's supposed to do. 

[MarylandGirl]

Agreed that this was a really good episode. I was engaged from start to finish. Well, aside from some eye rolls with Benson chatting up the perp in the casino. And the case definitely should have gone to the FBI.

[SunnyBeBe]

I guess the killer didn’t recognize Benson’s voice from when he talked to her on the phone. 

[dttruman]

13 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I guess the killer didn’t recognize Benson’s voice from when he talked to her on the phone. 

Damn, I can't remember. when he called and talk to Benson to let them know that they had the wrong guy, did he ask for Benson? If so, then he should definitely know Benson's voice and recognized it when he talked to her at the casino.

[CrystalBlue]

Demmy was the victim of a long-standing incestuous relationship and Dustin tried to blame her for having started it.  Very dysfunctional.  I knew something was up when Demmy reacted to the suggestion by the cops that she might have taken a guy over to their place, and also when she told Fin and Amanda that she wasn't allowed in her brother's room.  Since Dustin was not the rapist of the park victims (just his sister - yikes!) it could have only been Demmy who planted the pink wallet in his bedroom.

A serial rapist and incestuous siblings all in one episode.

Very interesting storylines and good, solid guest acting.  I noticed Petri Hawkins-Byrd's name in the opening credits and was happy to see him as the Kentucky sheriff.

[shapeshifter]

On 4/15/2022 at 6:20 PM, wknt3 said:

The Good:
A nice old fashioned violent serial rapist is a refreshing change of pace. How often can you say that? Seriously though it was nice to have a clear bad guy (2 actually) with the issues raised being in the background.
Fin. Ice-T was engaged this week. I could have used a little more cynical snark, but he got some solid material.
Carisi. He was solidly in charge of the legal side and no Rollisi soapy nonsense.
The script. Very little excess or sloppiness and everything flowed well. Most of the flaws seemed to be either in the DNA of the show or a result of Dick Wolf's penny pinching short sightedness. This felt like a season 7 episode with the budget cut by 1/3 for both good and ill.
The ending. It was nice to see Benson sharing some credit.

I just caught this rerun last night, having not seen it (or most of recent seasons' episodes) previously. 
I thought I might start watching again if they had gotten rid of the soap opera elements and if it was portrayed as more of a team effort now, but it sounds like this was a one-off in those respects?

Anyway, when Olivia realized they needed to find the "overlooked" victims "who got away" over the decades, I was a little startled, because that's my story. I too managed to escape and run away. When Olivia told her she was brave, it occurred to me that nobody had ever suggested I was brave.
In my case they actually caught the guy right after I escaped my attack because of my description, but they couldn't prove anything because I had managed to not get raped.
This was before the internet, but now I wish I knew the guy's name. I'm sure he was a serial rapist, and in hindsight I feel bad that I didn't pursue it more so others wouldn't have become his prey. I like to think he soon crashed on the road and died, but probably not. Or maybe when he next pulled his knife, a girl pulled her own knife and mortally wounded him.
I did start carrying a knife for a while after that. I eventually met a gentle woodworker who taught me how to carve a spoon with it.