S23.E22: A Final Call At Forlini's Bar

[WendyCR72]

This episode also marks the final call for Season 23 and Warren Leight as EP. Airs May 19, 2022:

Quote

The SVU provides help and protection for a longtime domestic violence victim, but when she winds up at the defendant's table in court, Rollins surprises Carisi with a formidable opponent at trial.

 

[Xeliou66]

To be honest I’m not thrilled about the sound of this - I know Barba is returning for this episode and while it’s always a pleasure to see him, I really hope he doesn’t spend the whole episode begging Benson’s forgiveness for representing Wheatley, which is what I’m afraid will happen. Barba became Benson’s little puppet in the last part of his time with SVU, it’s been nice seeing him get his balls back as a defense lawyer, but I’m worried this will just be a soap fest between Benson/Barba.

Also, I’m sick of the SVU squad undermining Carisi, this will be the second time they’ve brought Barba in to represent someone they found sympathetic behind his back, they wouldn’t dare disrespect Barba or Peter Stone like that, but since Carisi used to be an SVU detective the super mommies think they can boss him around still. Only thing that might make this good is if Carisi gets pissed and dumps Rollins for going behind his back, that would make everything worth it, but they won’t do that.

And I’m still pissed Fin didn’t get a single episode this year to take center stage in.

[Spartan Girl]

The preview where Barba asks why she isn’t madder at Stabler irks me. Dude, you helped get a guy off for murder. Yeah it was your job, but you knew he was guilty, at least own up to it without finger pointing.

[dttruman]

On 5/15/2022 at 2:17 PM, Xeliou66 said:

To be honest I’m not thrilled about the sound of this - I know Barba is returning for this episode and while it’s always a pleasure to see him, I really hope he doesn’t spend the whole episode begging Benson’s forgiveness for representing Wheatley, which is what I’m afraid will happen. Barba became Benson’s little puppet in the last part of his time with SVU, it’s been nice seeing him get his balls back as a defense lawyer, but I’m worried this will just be a soap fest between Benson/Barba.

Do you think Barba will make another grand gesture and sacrifice a part of his career for Benson's sake again? I am trying to figure out how much he will sacrifice for Benson, because Esparza is going to be busy making a movie and a mini-series now. Will this sacrifice keep him off the show for a whole season?  I myself thought there would be a Big Soap Opera Moment for this season's finale. I figured Barba and Stabler would be having some kind of chat at a bar, each expressing their undying love and devotion for Benson and she suddenly walks in

[dttruman]

On 5/15/2022 at 2:17 PM, Xeliou66 said:

Carisi used to be an SVU detective the super mommies think they can boss him around still. Only thing that might make this good is if Carisi gets pissed and dumps Rollins for going behind his back, that would make everything worth it, but they won’t do that.

I was hoping there might be a crossover with SVU and L&O Reboot for the finale. I thought a good plot might be that Maroun gets so frustrated with Price, that she walks out and runs into Carisi (who's also frustrated because of Rollins), so they go out drinking. Rollins shows up to forgive Carisi for his childish behavior, but finds them in bed together. Maroun's character gets a kick start for development and Rollins gets a major soap opera moment to lead into next season

[wknt3]

11 hours ago, dttruman said:

I was hoping there might be a crossover with SVU and L&O Reboot for the finale. I thought a good plot might be that Maroun gets so frustrated with Price, that she walks out and runs into Carisi (who's also frustrated because of Rollins), so they go out drinking. Rollins shows up to forgive Carisi for his childish behavior, but finds them in bed together. Maroun's character gets a kick start for development and Rollins gets a major soap opera moment to lead into next season

I think if we are sticking with established characterization it is far more likely for Rollins to end up in bed with Maroun. She will probably somehow end up pregnant too...

[WendyCR72]

Just saw the commercial for the finale, and I barely recognized...

 

Spoiler

Barba, with the full salt and pepper beard he has going.

Looked good on him, though.

[dttruman]

1 hour ago, wknt3 said:

I think if we are sticking with established characterization it is far more likely for Rollins to end up in bed with Maroun. She will probably somehow end up pregnant too...

Didn't see that at all, but I wouldn't put it past the producers

[Spartan Girl]

A charger? That’s why she broke the restraining order?! Couldn’t she just buy another?

Okay, Liv being so dismissive of the DA relating how she didn’t kill her own abusive husband because “assumed (she) had more resources” is just infuriating. You think a so-called domestic abuse expert would be mindful NOT to make assumption. Not the Hypocrite Queen.

Edited May 20, 2022 by Spartan Girl

[dttruman]

Oh my god! There is just too much Benson and she has become too much of an advocate now and is extremely prejudicial in favor of the victim. This episode is all about Benson from the beginning and it looks like it's all about her to the end. If she testifies at the trial, I am going to call this a full blown Diva episode of "you know who".

[Spartan Girl]

It pains me greatly to side with Liv after how unbearably sanctimonious she was this episode but FFS Barba! You claim that you know how Liv feels about Stabler, yet you can’t get why she’s mad at you and not Stabler when you helped acquit his wife’s killer?! You used to be smarter than this!

[Diana Berry]

 

So let me get this straight.

Barba loves Liv.  Liv loves Elliott.  Elliott loves himself.

Carisi loves Rollins.  Rollins loves Carisi.

Fin loves his lady.  His lady loves Fin.

The John Travolta lookalike wants to know what love is.

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by Diana Berry

[Ms Blue Jay]

Why should Olivia be mad at Stabler?  Not being sarcastic, just trying to grasp Barba's reasoning.

I really liked the episode though.  But when the therapist started in on the "You love Stabler" stuff I was really really rolling my eyes.

How is Maroun involved with this show?

Edited May 20, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[dttruman]

3 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

How is Maroun involved with this show?

Anything you read about Maroun was nothing but pure "crap" and only meant to entertain the readers with wild speculation of what might occur if they had a L&O Reboot and SVU Cross over.

[Xeliou66]

This episode was soapy dog shit - I hated the vast majority of it - I’m so sick of the St Olivia personal drama, everyone falling in love with her, the set up of a soapy love triangle between Benson/Barba/Stabler, her constant whining about her personal life, I don’t give a rat’s ass about any of it. The Everybody Loves Olivia show is so tiresome, and this show feels like more of a soap opera than a crime procedural. Add in the fact that Carisi has officially been castrated by Rollins, I mean Rollins betrayed him and went behind his back and instead he tells her he loves her, nauseating, I was holding out hope that he would dump her for going behind his back but of course they won’t go down that route, this is fairy tale lovey dovey land now, and I hated this episode. 

The case was crap as well - it was obvious it was self defense on the part of a battered wife, no suspense, of course she wouldn’t go to jail, everything ends happily in SVU land now. So a boring case plus a ton of soapy shit equals an awful season finale.

There were only a few parts of the episode I liked - the best part was Fin playing his video game while waiting for Phoebe, we know Fin loves gaming and it was nice to see that again. Velasco/Carisi playing basketball was good as well. And I liked seeing Barba’s zealous defense of his client in court, he showed off his passion like he usually does and that was great, it’s too bad the scenes with Barba outside of court with Benson sucked so much. And I liked seeing ME Truman again testifying. Other than that, this was shit. 

Fin/Velasco got nothing to do while the super mommies dominated the screen time, I get so sick of that. And I’ll repeat I hate how Carisi has had his balls chopped off, I can’t stand him and Rollins together and it’s becoming where his relationship with Rollins interferes with his judgment.

Overall this was a terrible episode, a lousy way to end an up and down season and an episode that makes me dread season 24. I’m tempted to quit watching, since original L&O is so much better and leaves me with a good taste in my mouth after watching it, while this show leaves me feeling nauseated. But I guess I like pain so I’ll probably continue watching next season.

[dttruman]

5 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

It pains me greatly to side with Liv after how unbearably sanctimonious she was this episode but FFS Barba! You claim that you know how Liv feels about Stabler, yet you can’t get why she’s mad at you and not Stabler when you helped acquit his wife’s killer?! You used to be smarter than this!

This seems really stupid, Barba must have the "Olivia Oh My God Syndrome" where certain guys some how with out warning or explanation fall madly in love with Benson. Tucker, to some extent Deputy Chief William Dodds and now Barba. This subplot is so stupid and unnecessary that it was only put in to give the Benson character a personal drama that leads into next season.

The show tries to show what victims go through, and try to express what victims need such as social workers and therapists, but has anyone noticed that the social worker or therapist are involved superficially until Benson gets involved. I didn't like how the writers threw the regular cops under the bus when they couldn't defuse the situation with Delia going nuts and almost shoot her. It was Rollins who calmed her down and got the other officers to stand down. All this just so Rollins get some mock heroic time. Then a few things happen and Benson gives Delia a couple more exaggerated inspirational speeches on how she doesn't have to be afraid anymore, which should be told to the victim by a social worker or therapist. Benson and Rollins talk about her suffering and being alone, but I always thought they had women's groups for that. What sets the whole cruel series of events into motion is something unrealistic as a charger for her phone. I thought it was lame, because I can understand (to a point) she doesn't know how to get another, but she could have easily have called her social worker or walk into a store and ask for help. But what takes the cake is Benson testifying at the trial and tells what a victim goes through, when it should actually come from a social worker or a therapist. Bringing in at the end some new information to change the perspective of the case is low quality writing, just to fit the narrative. It seems like Benson, Stabler, and Barba conflict will start out the fall season

[WendyCR72]

1 hour ago, Diana Berry said:

 

So let me get this straight.

Barba loves Liv.  Liv loves Elliott.  Elliott loves himself.

Carisi loves Rollins.  Rollins loves Carisi.

Fin loves his lady.  His lady loves Fin.

The John Travolta lookalike wants to know what love is.

 

Aging myself here, but this has put "Love Stinks" by the J. Geils Band in my head:

You love her,

But she loves him,

And he loves somebody else,

You just can't win!

Are we sure SVU is not supposed to be a prime time soap?

[Amazee-Dayzee]

Not sure where to post this so I figured I would do it here.

Warren Leight is leaving as a show runner again. Do we know who is gonna replace him?

For the love of GOD, do not let it be Michael Chernuchin. When I watched his season, not only did the squad (sans Olivia of course) turn nasty, make comments that were just wrong or committed ACTUAL police brutality (looking at you Rollins), but he took a perfectly good DA in Stone and sacrificed him at the altar of Olivia.

[Diana Berry]

7 hours ago, Amazee-Dayzee said:

Not sure where to post this so I figured I would do it here.

Warren Leight is leaving as a show runner again. Do we know who is gonna replace him?

For the love of GOD, do not let it be Michael Chernuchin. When I watched his season, not only did the squad (sans Olivia of course) turn nasty, make comments that were just wrong or committed ACTUAL police brutality (looking at you Rollins), but he took a perfectly good DA in Stone and sacrificed him at the altar of Olivia.

I really liked Stone.  Wish he would return and do the reboot L&O

Edited May 20, 2022 by Diana Berry

[wknt3]

The Good:
We actually had everyone together in the episode. And everyone got some good moments. Unfortunately Fin and Velasco got short changed a bit since the show was more interested in soap than procedural police drama, but it was still nice to have an episode that didn't require bringing in someone from outside to try to make it feel like we have a cast.
Barba. Yeah his story was mostly more navel gazing and shipper baiting for Benson put Raul played the hell out of what he was given and we actually got some pretty good courtroom scenes.
Carisi. Much like Barba he was given too much soapy nonsense, but also got some solid legal material and did great with everything he was given.
The guest cast was great as usual. Of course it was stacked from top to bottom with all-star old pro character actors, so the show itself didn't have to do everything to make them look good (and didn't!) but they elevated a mostly pedestrian script.

The Bad:
The COTW. It was a solid idea that was never actually given the attention it deserved. I thought the CTE angle was particularly interesting and unexpected, but they never seemed interested in going anywhere with anything beyond using it for personal melodrama. What a waste.
The script. We got all of Warren Leight's bad tendencies like his obsession with family drama and therapy and his pet characters and none of the good such as thoughtful exploration of social issues. Plus it kept trying to sell us on it being a resolution of sorts, but they ignored basically all of the actual season threads (what happened to the Chief of D-Bags?) to reset Liv back to being all at sea, but suffering gracefully.
Benson. Evrryone was in love with or in awe of her (or both!) and they kept trying to tell us how great she is without actually showing us anything special. I kept hoping they would end on a cliffhanger where the DV victim shot her. Just for a little temporary catharsis even though I know the aftermath would be worse. I guess I am in an abusive relationship with this show.
No actual police work. I guess because that is now all done by Fin and Velasco, and they didn't have any soapy personal anguish to show.

Overall after a mostly solid season (after a bumpy start) Leight ended not with a bang, but a whimper. An hour of Benson navel gazing and everyone worshiping at her altar while a really interesting idea is ignored. And instead of handing off the show in a good place it seems to be saying that Mariska has won and we are going back to all Benson all the time with an occasional break for Rollisi. Blech.

[pertho]

All I want is for Liv to be happy and something has to happen with Stabler, but I also want Barba to be happy, damn it all. Also I'm very confused why people decare their love for someone in the most inappropriate of places, in the middle of court? Dude, Barba, not the place

[dttruman]

1 hour ago, wknt3 said:

I thought the CTE angle was particularly interesting and unexpected, but they never seemed interested in going anywhere with anything beyond using it for personal melodrama. What a waste.

Totally agree on that! The only thing wrong with it was they sprung it on us so unexpectedly at the end and the trial was like, OK it's over. It seem like in the "Writers Room", they discussed how to have a short case and end it abruptly so they can have more time for Benson to suffer through her little but emotionally filled meeting with Barba

[dttruman]

8 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

The case was crap as well - it was obvious it was self defense on the part of a battered wife, no suspense, of course she wouldn’t go to jail, everything ends happily in SVU land now. So a boring case plus a ton of soapy shit equals an awful season finale.

I didn't like the way they made it look like SVU was the only one that cared about the victim. Yes they did show the social worker sparingly, but Delia's excuse to get a charger was just to far-fetched for me. What about women's support groups or calling the case worker. The writers left out so much or made the scenario so lame, just to get in their soap opera moments.

[illdoc]

Did anyone else reach for a barf bag during that "OMG you are so wonderful. Everyone should kiss your feet. You are God's gift to the world." speech the therapist gave to Olivia at the beginning?!!!!

[preeya]

My only good take from this crapfest was fond memories of Forlini's.

Back in the day (1980's) I imbibed quite a few martini's there.

[preeya]

11 hours ago, dttruman said:

What sets the whole cruel series of events into motion is something unrealistic as a charger for her phone. I thought it was lame, because I can understand (to a point) she doesn't know how to get another, but she could have easily have called her social worker or walk into a store and ask for help

She did say her phone was at 1%. I'm thinking that she could have called 911 with a 1% battery.

I don't know for sure, but I suspect it could (might) be done.

[Spartan Girl]

Barba’s excuse that he took on Wheatley to protect Benson actually makes him look worse because I’m pretty sure that counts as a clear conflict of interest.

The old Barba would have said something like, “All right, I know Wheatley was guilty. I knew he was a scumbag and I hope he’s in hell. The fact that I helped him get off and he went on do to all that shit makes me sick to my stomach. But it was my job to defend him and I can’t just throw cases and cherry pick my clients for your approval.” Had he said something like that I would have at least respected him for it.

[tennisgurl]

What a shame to see the season end on such a sour note. This episode just plain sucked, even with the return of Barba and his pepper and salt hair which I am very much digging. The case of the week was boring, there was way too much damn relationship drama, and the whole episode was just a big Olivia worship fest. I knew what we were getting into with that cringy intro where her therapist tells her how she deserves every happiness and that she's the most awesome cop/mom/friend/hero ever, but it just got worse and worse. 

We all knew how the case of the week would go, the only possibly interesting element was that the domestic violence victim had brain damage, which would at least explain why she went to her abusive ex to get a phone charger instead of just going to the store, but that was hardly even explored. In which case, its hilarious that Olivia used that as a legit reason why she would go to see her abuser even after getting a restraining order, acting like that was a totally reasonable thing to do. That lady had brain damage, what's Olivia's excuse? We had to cut anything actually interesting so that we could spend more time listening to endless smug Olivia speeches, for she is St. Olivia the victim whisperer (who only speaks in whispers) who is the only person in New York who can stand up for the poor huddled masses of victims begging for her to save them. The amount of Olivia shilling was over the top even by this shows standards, it felt like the majority of the episode was all just speeches, either Olivia giving speeches about properly helping victims of abuse or people giving speeches about how awesome Olivia is. The only time she was remotely stopped was when the judge said that she was also a victim of abuse and managed to not kill anyone. She looked shocked, but of course plowed on assuming she had "more resources" than this woman, in that judgmental way that she does. Only Olivia speaks for victims. 

Of course we finally get to see Barba, and its just for more Olivia worship and to feed the Stabler/Benson shippers. There was so much relationship talk it felt more like a teen drama than a cop show, except maybe a teen show could have made these relationships interesting. Barba had to bow and scrape for Olivia's forgiveness for daring to do his job while she just spent the whole episode looking at him like something she stepped on, its just sad seeing what was once such a great character reduced to another Olivia lapdog.

The only good parts were at the start when we saw Carisi and Velasco playing basketball and Finn playing a video game while calling Phoebe. The guest cast was also good, with what they were given to work with. What a disappointing end to what has been a pretty decent season.

[wknt3]

22 hours ago, Diana Berry said:

So let me get this straight.

Barba loves Liv.  Liv loves Elliott.  Elliott loves himself.

Carisi loves Rollins.  Rollins loves Carisi.

Fin loves his lady.  His lady loves Fin.

The John Travolta lookalike wants to know what love is.

 

 

20 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Aging myself here, but this has put "Love Stinks" by the J. Geils Band in my head:

You love her,

But she loves him,

And he loves somebody else,

You just can't win!

Speaking of musical references if Warren Leight wasn't so invested in the "clever" conceit of 23 letter titles "What Is Love" would have been a better title for this episode and might actually make us think there was a coherent theme here. And now I can set my request for next season to music -  Benson don't hurt me. Don't hurt me no more.  Yeah, yeah. Whoa, whoa, oh. Whoa, whoa, oh!

 

Quote

Are we sure SVU is not supposed to be a prime time soap?

We are. Unfortunately. Mariska, NBC, Dick Wolf, Warren Leight and Julie Martin don't share our certainty.

Edited May 21, 2022 by wknt3
ducking autocorrect

[Tachi Rocinante]

I thought Jordana Spiro gave a strong performance.  I miss her mob doctor show.

[pertho]

I don't mind the drama of it all, it's one of the reasons why I like the show. My problem with this episode was that the actual police bit plot was not great.

[LotusFlower]

Sorry if I’m being dense, but when Barba spoke of unconditional love, was he referring to himself and Olivia?!  That can’t be right, right??!!

[dttruman]

18 hours ago, wknt3 said:

Speaking of musical references if Warren Leight wasn't so invested in the "clever" conceit of 23 letter titles "What Is Love" would have been a better title for this episode and might actually make us think there was a coherent theme here. And now I can set my request for next season to music -  Benson don't hurt me. Don't hurt me no more.  Yeah, yeah. Whoa, whoa, oh. Whoa, whoa, oh!

If this happen, I would be expecting to see Stabler, Barba, and Stone going to some bar and doing this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwVh8pmOot4

 

[dttruman]

1 hour ago, pertho said:

I don't mind the drama of it all, it's one of the reasons why I like the show. My problem with this episode was that the actual police bit plot was not great.

The real reason "that the actual police bit plot was not great" was because there was all that soap opera drama concerning Benson.

I am also thinking that besides Stabler and Barba giving testimony on how Benson is so great, we need to add one more name to that list. I would say Dr. Peter Lindstrom is going to throw his hat into the ring also

Edited May 21, 2022 by dttruman

[preeya]

Over on TVinsider they are having a love-fest, or should I say "Barf Fest" re: St. Olivia's true love. 

"‘SVU’ Ponders Benson’s Love Life: Are You Team Stabler or Barba?"   Here:  https://tinyurl.com/y2hgv5tq

Most of the comments are cringe-worthy.

Edited May 21, 2022 by preeya

[Xeliou66]

13 minutes ago, preeya said:

Over on TVinsider they are having a love-fest, or should I say "Barf Fest" re: St. Olivia's true love. 

"‘SVU’ Ponders Benson’s Love Life: Are You Team Stabler or Barba?"   Here:  https://tinyurl.com/y2hgv5tq

Most of the comments are cringe-worthy.

Truly nauseating - I thought this show was a crime procedural, not a soap opera about love. It’s sickening how the writers have gone full blown soap opera and are pandering to the shippers, the show is more like a bad romance fanfic than actual SVU now. I’m so tempted to quit watching.

[dttruman]

3 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

3 hours ago, preeya said:

Over on TVinsider they are having a love-fest, or should I say "Barf Fest" re: St. Olivia's true love. 

"‘SVU’ Ponders Benson’s Love Life: Are You Team Stabler or Barba?"   Here:  https://tinyurl.com/y2hgv5tq

Most of the comments are cringe-worthy.

Truly nauseating - I thought this show was a crime procedural, not a soap opera about love. It’s sickening how the writers have gone full blown soap opera and are pandering to the shippers, the show is more like a bad romance fanfic than actual SVU now. I’m so tempted to quit watching.

Either the shrink got some bad information from somebody else or Benson blatantly lied to him, but where did he get the idea that "her coworkers’ stable relationships and her lack of one" isn't good. Rollins and Carisi can go into crisis mode at anytime considering their families. Is Benson required to have a stable relationship considering her situation. She is a captain of a SVU who's also raising a child and she doesn't have all the time in the world. I would like to get a real shrink's opinion on Lindstrom's evaluation of Benson. It sounds like Lindstom wants Benson to live happily ever after and it I have a feeling it might be with him.

[Spartan Girl]

On 5/20/2022 at 5:04 PM, tennisgurl said:

The only time she was remotely stopped was when the judge said that she was also a victim of abuse and managed to not kill anyone. She looked shocked, but of course plowed on assuming she had "more resources" than this woman, in that judgmental way that she does. Only Olivia speaks for victims. 

She can fuck all the way off for saying that. Just because a victim doesn’t have “resources” doesn’t mean they have a free pass to kill. And judging from that judge’s response, I’m willing to be that she DIDN’T have resources. And even if she was slightly better off, so the fuck what?! That doesn’t minimize the amount of trauma and desperation and fear she went through. But St. Olivia has made it clear, over and over, that she’d rather cherry pick which victims deserve her empathy.

[Xeliou66]

8 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

She can fuck all the way off for saying that. Just because a victim doesn’t have “resources” doesn’t mean they have a free pass to kill. And judging from that judge’s response, I’m willing to be that she DIDN’T have resources. And even if she was slightly better off, so the fuck what?! That doesn’t minimize the amount of trauma and desperation and fear she went through. But St. Olivia has made it clear, over and over, that she’d rather cherry pick which victims deserve her empathy.

It wasn’t a judge who said that, it was the Division Chief ADA, Lorraine Maxwell, Carisi’s immediate boss. And I found that revelation about Maxwell weird, so Maxwell has been in both an abusive relationship and was date raped in college (she revealed that in an earlier episode) - that seems strange, I know people can be victimized multiple times, but both of these revelations about Maxwell - a character we otherwise know nothing about, seemed to just further the plot along and give her a reason for doing the things she is doing and felt very forced in. Another example of the writers not really doing a good job writing the show. And as for St Olivia, yeah she can fuck off, she believes that if a woman has been victimized in any way they should get a free pass to kill/break the law. She’s been saying that for years and it’s one of the things I dislike the most about her.

[Jaded]

I've been keeping up with this show for years by reading episode threads here. Just reading the posts makes me a bit annoyed over what this show has become compared to the way it started out and maintained itself until it didn't. It went from being a diverse ensemble show about a Special Victims Unit to a show that revolves around one of two characters who've been on the show the longest. Now it sounds like the show has two former male main characters both attempting to slobber all over St. Olivia. I think I lasted a couple seasons after they got done trashing Amaro so he could get written off without many people missing him. The number of longtime characters who have been written off or been brought back to be trashed and written out of character in various ways to prop St. Olivia is mind boggling at this point. 

[Iguessnot]

On 5/20/2022 at 11:24 AM, preeya said:

She did say her phone was at 1%. I'm thinking that she could have called 911 with a 1% battery.

I don't know for sure, but I suspect it could (might) be done.

As soon as she plugged it in, she could have used the phone as she pleased. Anyway, how did she know where to find her husband? They had just driven him to an Airbnb. Per the show's logic she calls her husband at maybe 2%, to determine the whereabouts of the one charger they have between them. With this quickly dying battery she gets his address, figures out the location and heads to wherever it is late at night to get this precious charger. At this point I was kind of done with her. The CTE was an explanation, but I just didn't care about her anymore.

I guess the whine session at the start of the episode soured the episode.  I haven't watched the crossover so I don't know the status of Olivia's and Elliot's relationship. However the doctor's ship suggestion to Olivia was rather jarring to me. Given that Elliot is a widower and Olivia is unattached and they have a long friendship, what is happening on the other show that has Olivia all twisty and angsty? I don't care one way or the other about the relationship, but why is it so dramatic at this time?

 

[WendyCR72]

23 minutes ago, Iguessnot said:

Given that Elliot is a widower and Olivia is unattached and they have a long friendship, what is happening on the other show that has Olivia all twisty and angsty? I don't care one way or the other about the relationship, but why is it so dramatic at this time?

Drama for the shipper base.

[Xeliou66]

Just now, WendyCR72 said:

Drama for the shipper base.

Yep, there was nothing that really caused the St Olivia angst at the start of the episode or anything that had changed in her relationship with Stabler, it was just inserted to give the rabid shippers some personal drama that they love so much. This whole episode was so terrible, had a lot of SVU’s worst qualities with none of the redeeming ones.

[Iguessnot]

2 minutes ago, Xeliou66 said:

Yep, there was nothing that really caused the St Olivia angst at the start of the episode or anything that had changed in her relationship with Stabler, it was just inserted to give the rabid shippers some personal drama that they love so much. This whole episode was so terrible, had a lot of SVU’s worst qualities with none of the redeeming ones.

But what's happening on the other show that she's all woe is me? The doctor seems to be saying that Olivia is maybe obsessing over Stabler, yet not pursuing the relationship that's open to her.

Barba's declaration of unconditional love was truly embarrassing.

[Xeliou66]

27 minutes ago, Iguessnot said:

But what's happening on the other show that she's all woe is me? The doctor seems to be saying that Olivia is maybe obsessing over Stabler, yet not pursuing the relationship that's open to her.

Barba's declaration of unconditional love was truly embarrassing.

Nothing has happened on the other show, St Olivia hasn’t even been on it much, all that happened on the OC finale was Stabler and his task force took down the dirty cop ring and Stabler received a medal - Olivia didn’t even appear. Cragen made a cameo though, that was nice.

Barba’s “I love Olivia” speech was cringeworthy, it’s such a shame what they did to the once great Barba, chopping his balls off, making him a baby killer, and turning him into Benson’s bitch boy. It’s really a joke how many characters they’ve thrown under the bus and how many characters fall in love with Olivia.

Edited May 22, 2022 by Xeliou66

[yankeefan]

I couldn't get over the amount of time the squad spent on this case before it was even a case.  Don't NYC detectives have enough crimes to solve?  They have time to play social worker too?

[dttruman]

33 minutes ago, yankeefan said:

I couldn't get over the amount of time the squad spent on this case before it was even a case.  Don't NYC detectives have enough crimes to solve?  They have time to play social worker too?

Are you sure you are at the right Law & Order series? You just describe Law & Order SVU and the person who has time to play social worker is Olivia Benson

[yankeefan]

37 minutes ago, dttruman said:

Are you sure you are at the right Law & Order series? You just describe Law & Order SVU and the person who has time to play social worker is Olivia Benson

This is the SVU thread.  Maybe you're in the wrong place?

[dttruman]

5 minutes ago, yankeefan said:

This is the SVU thread.  Maybe you're in the wrong place?

My most sincerest apologies, I have been jumping back and forth between the discussions of SVU and ReBoot and I am extremely befuddled. Please, no hard feelings. Well there is one thing I know for sure, I would  make a terrible Administrator.

Edited May 22, 2022 by dttruman

[linger]

15 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

And as for St Olivia, yeah she can fuck off, she believes that if a woman has been victimized in any way they should get a free pass to kill/break the law. She’s been saying that for years and it’s one of the things I dislike the most about her.

This woman wasn’t just victimized. She was victimized and terrorized for years. It’s not like she and her husband had a fight one day and she decided to murder him. Battered woman syndrome is real. Not to mention this particular woman’s medical/psychological damage from repeated head trauma. How does putting this woman in jail accomplish anything? And beyond this specific victim, under what circumstances is a battered person allowed to defend themselves? Only if their abuser stands in front of them with a weapon in their hand threatening to kill them? That’s not exactly how it works. The point Olivia made on the stand that a person can be a threat to you whether or not they’re in front of you, or in the next room, is sad but true. And expecting the victim of trauma, in the midst of a traumatic situation, to think clearly and take into consideration all the ramifications of the law, is unrealistic at best, and very dangerous at worst.