S24.E02: The One You Feed

[WendyCR72]

Airing September 29, 2022:

Quote

A group of teens terrorizing tourists has the SVU squad working overtime. McGrath teams them up with the Bronx gang unit to track down a crucial lead.

[dttruman]

Well how about that, Rollins makes a miraculous recovery, that's an interesting start.

[dttruman]

I thought they had a pretty good plot line going which dealt with an actual growing problem with the youth in the city. What look like a proper joint task force to try and track down these suspects with a proper investigation turned into another Benson soap opera who clashes with Duarte from the Bronx concerning on what should be the final justice. Benson wants those that raped the girl and Duarte wants to leverage them to get to the boss of the gang. In other words cut the head off the snake and crime will automatically be reduced.

It's funny how Benson thinks she sees a lot of her in Muncy and she literally despises Duarte for his obsessiveness and tactics for trying to get his job done. IMO, I see more of Benson in Duarte than I do in Muncy. How many times have we seen Benson go over board to arrest and prosecute an alleged rapist and will badger and bully people to (in her mind) get justice for the victim.

At least they got justice for the family even though I thought their sentences were quite lenient.

I thought this episode still shows the NYPD in a less then favorable light, with petty competition and jealousy amongst different precincts, yet Benson is the only righteous one who is the savior of the city.

[wknt3]

The Good:
Rollins' replacement is potentially interesting. Let's hope the writers and producers do a decent job instead of giving her nothing to work with..
Carisi. He got some decent material this week. I was afraid it was going to be all Rollisi, but there was some solid legal material.
The guest cast was pretty solid and elevated a mostly pedestrian script.
Some interesting ideas and they actually had a sexually based offense that flowed naturally into the ripped from the headlines material.
Velasco. I wish we got more of him and Fin since I'd like to have seen more of the contrast between the veteran and the new guy and the little interaction we got was actually fairly interesting and showed some nuance and interesting perspective on the issues at hand.

The Bad:
Fin was there, but not really for the second week. I'm wondering if they came to some agreement to spread out his screen time this season to cover the gap with KG leaving? In any case Ice-T didn't get much to do and seemed bored throughout.
They really dropped the ball by not having anyone point out the similarities between Duarte and a bunch of elite detectives who also identify a little too much with their cases and victims and don't always play well with others. I mean come on - can't they at least have one of the antagonists do it so that the viewers aren't left wondering if it's intentional or nobody noticed or was allowed to?
There seemed to be a lot of plot points that didn't go anywhere. They would touch on something and then just move on.

Overall this was an interesting idea that they didn't seem willing to fully explore as it would mean blaspheming against the gospel of St. Mariska and taking away time from selling us on the new character. It's a shame that they could have built on the crossover and gotten off to strong start with a few changes,
 

Edited September 30, 2022 by wknt3
fix typos

[Xeliou66]

This was a middle of the road episode - not great and not terrible.

I really dislike openings where we see the crime take place and know what we’re looking at, complete with shitty music playing in the background, so I was disappointed that returned this season.

I agree that there were plot points that seemed to go nowhere, such as Duarte possibly killing the gang member, I thought the second half of the show would focus on that but instead that was dropped. The episode seemed to be rather all over the place without going in any particular direction.

Carisi got some good scenes and I liked that there was minimal Rollins/Carisi interaction and instead Carisi was doing the ADA stuff. I was afraid they were going to go the route of having the higher ups hijack Carisi’s case and being portrayed as one dimensional, but I liked that Maxwell wasn’t like that and I loved that they mentioned Jack McCoy as being the one in charge of the final decisions, they are finally showing that SVU and the Mothership exist in the same universe after last season’s weird crapping on the DA’s office. It was much more of a balanced portrayal than I thought it would be.

Fin was completely underused, it’s disappointing how little of him there was, his scene towards the end with Velasco was nice but that was basically it for him.

I’m hopeful the new detective will be good and won’t get bagged down in personal drama.

Benson irritated me as always, right off the bat she was combative with Duarte for no reason and she was in her usual mood the whole episode, Duarte had more in common with Benson than Benson would like to think.

No personal drama other than the brief talk between Benson/Rollins was nice.

This was decent enough but it lacked direction at times, it was middle of the road.

[Route66]

I hated Fin claiming he left narcotics because he was tired of arresting people for crimes "that don't hurt anyone", as if heroin and fentanyl are just no big deal. 

[wknt3]

6 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

This was a middle of the road episode - not great and not terrible.

I really dislike openings where we see the crime take place and know what we’re looking at, complete with shitty music playing in the background, so I was disappointed that returned this season.

I didn't mention it in my thoughts on the episode because I think I have it on the (broken) record how much I dislike this style of opener, and because it didn't bother me too much this time as it seemed competently done as far as editing and sound mixing, so it struck me as meh rather than good or bad. However reading this now it occurs to me that we would have been much better served opening with the squad responding to the subway and the viewers only seeing the attack on video clips. It would have been no less horrifying and there would be more time later on to actually flesh out some of the plot points or character arcs that just kind of petered out. Plus they could have saved money by dropping a location shoot and not giving the dad a speaking role. Maybe then we could have a tech or an ME or something later in the season?

28 minutes ago, Route66 said:

I hated Fin claiming he left narcotics because he was tired of arresting people for crimes "that don't hurt anyone", as if heroin and fentanyl are just no big deal.

I actually liked it and thought it was the only scene Ice-T didn't phone in. And it is quite possible for someone, even a cop, to believe that drugs are a problem AND that many of the people we arrest for drug crimes aren't hurting anyone but themselves.

Edited September 30, 2022 by wknt3
ducking autocorrect

[illdoc]

15 hours ago, dttruman said:

Well how about that, Rollins makes a miraculous recovery, that's an interesting start.

They mentioned that it had been 6 weeks, and she was still obviously in pain.

[DaynaPhile]

Wait…what episode did Rollins get shot? I suffered through the season opening two part crossover thing but it didn’t happen there. 

[Xeliou66]

2 minutes ago, DaynaPhile said:

Wait…what episode did Rollins get shot? I suffered through the season opening two part crossover thing but it didn’t happen there. 

It happened in part 3 of the 3 hour crossover premiere.

[DaynaPhile]

2 minutes ago, Xeliou66 said:

It happened in part 3 of the 3 hour crossover premiere.

I’ll have to see if I can find it and speed watch it. 

Edited September 30, 2022 by DaynaPhile

[dttruman]

12 hours ago, Route66 said:

I hated Fin claiming he left narcotics because he was tired of arresting people for crimes "that don't hurt anyone", as if heroin and fentanyl are just no big deal. 

It looks like they are trying to use Fin to make statements about social issues now. He usually stays away from that, and just makes cynical and sarcastic comments

[dttruman]

6 hours ago, illdoc said:

They mentioned that it had been 6 weeks, and she was still obviously in pain.

At her age, recovery time should be a lot longer than that. Plus she is out on calls.

[dttruman]

12 hours ago, wknt3 said:

I actually liked it and thought it was the only scene Ice-T didn't phone in. And it is quite possible for someone, even a cop, to believe that drugs are a problem AND that many of the people we arrest for drug crimes aren't hurting anyone but themselves.

I respectfully disagree with that. I got no problem with the medicinal marijuana, but those who are hooked on Heroin, Fentanyl or other hard drugs are a problem to everybody. They possibly become homeless and they are most likely to steal and harm other people to get their fix. There are those who will kill and I am not the sympathetic type to let them off easy. How would you feel if a close friend of yours is murdered to get their wallet (or purse) so a junkie can get a heroin fix?

[wknt3]

17 hours ago, dttruman said:

It looks like they are trying to use Fin to make statements about social issues now. He usually stays away from that, and just makes cynical and sarcastic comments

Including from time to time about social issues. Regardless of our feelings about the issue at hand, which are not relevant here, Fin has made snarky remarks about rich people, white privilege, etc. He is a realist and his sociopolitical views tend to be more small p populist rather than falling along any particular ideological lines, but it's not out of character for him to express a view about an issue. If he was to start doing info dumps and statistics before expressing ideological opinions, or defying orders because they conflict with an agenda I'd be worried. But trying to convince a good cop to stay by expressing an opinion that is critical of certain policing strategies isn't that. It is in character whether we personally agree or not.

Edited October 1, 2022 by wknt3
my fingers and my phone are conspiring against me on this thread...

[Diana Berry]

That episode makes me never want to get on a subway.  

like the new female detective so far.

Is Liv going to have a romance with that other Sargeant?

[dttruman]

5 hours ago, wknt3 said:

Including from time to time about social issues. Regardless of our feelings about the issue at hand, which are not relevant here, Fin has made snarky remarks about rich people, white privilege, etc. He is a realist and his sociopolitical views tend to be more small p populist rather than falling along any particular ideological lines, but it's not out of character for him to express a view about an issue. If he was to start doing info dumps and statistics before expressing ideological opinions or defying orders because they conflict with an agenda I'd be worried. But trying to convince a good cop to stay by expressing an opinion that is critical of certain policing strategies isn't that. It is character rather we personally agree or not.

"start doing info dumps and statistics before expressing ideological opinions or defying orders because they conflict with an agenda" is a definite Benson trait, but what Fin said about being in Narcotics was kind of a narrow view and not looking at the big picture at what hard drugs can really do to people. In fact that doesn't even sound like something Fin would say and that "steel on steel" Is a bad analogy. A friend of mine who is a bladesmith says that sharpening steel doesn't actually sharpen knives, it hones them or as he put it, straightens them to take the curl out. What we maybe witnessing here is the influence of David Graziano on the Fin character.

[Xeliou66]

On 10/1/2022 at 2:08 PM, Diana Berry said:

That episode makes me never want to get on a subway.  

like the new female detective so far.

Is Liv going to have a romance with that other Sargeant?

The thought of a Benson/Duarte romance briefly crossed my mind, given that they have more in common with each other than they would like to think, but then I remembered that the writers are hell bent on pushing Benson and Stabler together and they will not have any character get in the way of that, both because the writers are determined the shove Benson/Stabler down our throats and end their shows with them together, and because of the extreme hate any character that got in the way of the relationship would get from the crazier element of the “shipper” fandom, some of the Benson/Stabler shippers will go absolutely nuts if anyone criticizes it or any character gets in the way of it. So since the show is probably nearing it’s end, Benson and Stabler will not have any other romantic partners until they inevitably get together. If this had been an earlier season or if Stabler wasn’t back, I could totally see them having a Benson/Duarte romance since they love having characters fall in love with Benson! 

[CrystalBlue]

2 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

The thought of a Benson/Duarte romance briefly crossed my mind, given that they have more in common with each other than they would like to think, but then I remembered that the writers are hell bent on pushing Benson and Stabler together and they will not have any character get in the way of that, both because the writers are determined the shove Benson/Stabler down our throats and end their shows with them together, and because of the extreme hate any character that got in the way of the relationship would get from the crazier element of the “shipper” fandom, some of the Benson/Stabler shippers will go absolutely nuts if anyone criticizes it or any character gets in the way of it. So since the show is probably nearing it’s end, Benson and Stabler will not have any other romantic partners until they inevitably get together. If this had been an earlier season or if Stabler wasn’t back, I could totally see them having a Benson/Duarte romance since they love having characters fall in love with Benson! 

Agreed, but I think they were ever so slightly teasing us with a teeny spark.  Remember, even though Olivia is a saint, she isn't a nun, and they want to remind us of how desirable she is to the opposite sex, and not just saving herself sitting on the shelf waiting for the EO explosion!

[dttruman]

10 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

I could totally see them having a Benson/Duarte romance since they love having characters fall in love with Benson! 

Do you think there could be some physical entanglements if Barba makes a couple of appearances this season between him and Duarte?

8 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

Agreed, but I think they were ever so slightly teasing us with a teeny spark.  Remember, even though Olivia is a saint, she isn't a nun, and they want to remind us of how desirable she is to the opposite sex, and not just saving herself sitting on the shelf waiting for the EO explosion!

What are the chances of Barba interjecting himself into Benson private life with Duarte and Stabler in the immediate area?

[Pearson80]

On 9/30/2022 at 1:30 AM, Xeliou66 said:

Benson irritated me as always, right off the bat she was combative with Duarte for no reason and she was in her usual mood the whole episode, Duarte had more in common with Benson than Benson would like to think.

I wish that somebody would have pointed that out to her.  I remember Stabler interacting with detectives who were just like him and the captain pointing that out to him.. Stabler even saw himself in some of the criminals he was going after and it made him pause.  Self-awareness and self-reflection would do wonders for Benson's character development but I am not holding my breath.

[MarylandGirl]

I was fully expecting Duarte and Benson to go home together after leaving one of their bar scenes, or at least getting a bit handsy--definitely saw a spark there, sort of the love-hate thing plus natural chemistry. I wonder if he'll appear in any future eps?

It was a pretty good episode, and I like the new detective so far. I missed that KG would be leaving. (I know I'm in the minority here, but I actually kind of like her character.) Until the scene when Velasco said he was staying, I thought maybe they'd be doing a detective swap. 

[dttruman]

1 hour ago, MarylandGirl said:

It was a pretty good episode, and I like the new detective so far. I missed that KG would be leaving. (I know I'm in the minority here, but I actually kind of like her character.) Until the scene when Velasco said he was staying, I thought maybe they'd be doing a detective swap. 

I got nothing against KG, she is a good actress. It's just that the writers did such a terrible job with her character. Benson was just as reckless and irresponsible, but for some reason Benson always kept coming out smelling like a Rose.

[CrystalBlue]

On 10/3/2022 at 4:47 PM, MarylandGirl said:

I was fully expecting Duarte and Benson to go home together after leaving one of their bar scenes, or at least getting a bit handsy--definitely saw a spark there, sort of the love-hate thing plus natural chemistry. I wonder if he'll appear in any future eps?

It was a pretty good episode, and I like the new detective so far. I missed that KG would be leaving. (I know I'm in the minority here, but I actually kind of like her character.) Until the scene when Velasco said he was staying, I thought maybe they'd be doing a detective swap. 

Kelli's character started out good but then the writers wrecked her.  I hope KG lands another role somewhere.

[Xeliou66]

26 minutes ago, CrystalBlue said:

Kelli's character started out good but then the writers wrecked her.  I hope KG lands another role somewhere.

Yeah I have no problem with how Kelli Giddish portrays Rollins, she’s fine as an actress, it’s the writing for Rollins that I dislike. And I agree Rollins started out good, and then the writers slowly wrecked the character, first with her sister and then they completely trashed her in season 15 and she’s just been a soapy mess from there. I’m glad Rollins is going bye bye.

[TV Anonymous]

Did Captain Benson not pull rank on an officer of the same rank, Captain Duarte?

[love2lovebadtv]

On 9/30/2022 at 7:46 AM, Route66 said:

I hated Fin claiming he left narcotics because he was tired of arresting people for crimes "that don't hurt anyone", as if heroin and fentanyl are just no big deal. 

Interesting. That's not at all what I got from that line. I took it more literally. He said he was tired of arresting people for crimes that don't hurt anyone, not that drugs are never a problem. Based on what Fin said, I didn't get the impression he thinks fentanyl and heroin are OK.

As Fin said, he arrests bad guys working in SVU. But when he worked in narcotics, he also arrested people he didn't think were bad guys. Adding a bit of context, Fin worked in narcotics a long time ago (maybe 20 years?) and I can see him disagreeing with having to arrest people who would be sentenced harshly for not-so-large amounts of marijuana. Even if those weren't his only arrests, that was part of working in narcotics at that time. 

On 10/1/2022 at 7:34 AM, wknt3 said:

Including from time to time about social issues. Regardless of our feelings about the issue at hand, which are not relevant here, Fin has made snarky remarks about rich people, white privilege, etc. He is a realist and his sociopolitical views tend to be more small p populist rather than falling along any particular ideological lines, but it's not out of character for him to express a view about an issue. If he was to start doing info dumps and statistics before expressing ideological opinions, or defying orders because they conflict with an agenda I'd be worried. But trying to convince a good cop to stay by expressing an opinion that is critical of certain policing strategies isn't that. It is in character whether we personally agree or not.

Fin definitely remarks on social issues. He's not a zealot but he has opinions and views, and we do get to hear about them from time to time. 

I was also wondering if the actor's sentiments ever come into play or if it's simply the show's writers. 

[dttruman]

11 hours ago, love2lovebadtv said:

Fin definitely remarks on social issues. He's not a zealot but he has opinions and views, and we do get to hear about them from time to time. 

I was also wondering if the actor's sentiments ever come into play or if it's simply the show's writers. 

That's all Fin has been allowed to do lately is just remark about social issues, since they don't require too much of his (Ice-T) time, and that is OK with him. It's not the writers, it's the producers who want it this way. If they wanted more from Fin, then they would have to pay Ice-T more and they don't wan to do that. Ice-T doesn't mind because he has another popular TV show he produces, "In Ice Cold Blood" and other projects.