S24.E12: Blood Out

[WendyCR72]

We have a week off before the next episode, which airs January 26, 2023:

Quote

As Benson and Carisi put a vengeful crime boss on trial, Fin tries to help a woman who was drugged and left for dead. Velasco takes drastic action to get information from a witness.

 

[Cloud9Shopper]

Been a Benson/Stabler shipper for a while and I should have known that scene would be a tease. 

But seriously. Elliot’s been back for almost two years now and there’s been virtually zero progress between them for getting to a good mutual place. Olivia apparently still isn’t over him ghosting her for 10 years and I know she said that to him, how he was the most important person in her life and he just left. But if she really can’t get over it, then why get so close to him in the first place? Either she can try and move past what happened or she can’t but make a decision already.

Elliot wants it bad though. 😂

The rest of the episode is basically why I only loop old episodes on USA and ION and pop in for the occasional new episode. So boring and flat. My mom has basically stopped watching too and asked me where all the staff went. The squad room looked like a ghost town. 

Edited January 27, 2023 by Cloud9Shopper

[Toonces464]

15 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Been a Benson/Stabler shipper for a while and I should have known that scene would be a tease. 

But seriously. Elliot’s been back for almost two years now and there’s been virtually zero progress between them for getting to a good mutual place. Olivia apparently still isn’t over him ghosting her for 10 years and I know she said that to him, how he was the most important person in her life and he just left. But if she really can’t get over it, then why get so close to him in the first place? Either she can try and move past what happened or she can’t but make a decision already.

Elliot wants it bad though. 😂

The rest of the episode is basically why I only loop old episodes on SVU and ION and pop in for the occasional new episode. So boring and flat. My mom has basically stopped watching too and asked me where all the staff went. The squad room looked like a ghost town. 

I could've written the last paragraph of this post myself.

I'm not a shipper but a huge E/O fan. I HATED tonight. It came out of left field and had nothing to do with the episode at all. I thought Olivia would call Elliot in on the case, not have him show up for a 2 minute tease. What a disappointment.

Since I came back to SVU with Elliot, I haven't really enjoyed it. I wish they'd move Fin over to OC and then I'd be very happy just watching that show.

[Xeliou66]

I liked this episode better than the last 2 but I’m relieved this whole Bronx/Benson in danger from BX9 is apparently over - this whole plot was a convoluted mess and I had trouble keeping track of who was who.

I was surprised they killed off Duarte, and it seems like they had him killed just to give Benson more angst which I didn’t like - while I was sick of the whole Bronx/BX9 plot I thought Duarte could’ve been a decent recurring character. I’m sick of characters being sacrificed solely for more Benson drama.

Maybe the reason I liked this episode more was because of some good courtroom scenes with Carisi, those are always a plus, bonus points for Carisi being fully in charge of the legal stuff and exercising his authority, and I liked that Fin and Bruno had a case of their own to deal with, Fin finally got some good stuff and I liked his pairing up with Bruno, I wish Bruno would either join Manhattan SVU as a new addition or replace Muncy, he’s a much better character, Muncy being absent was another reason this was a better episode. I would’ve liked a scene of Fin/Bruno arresting the perp instead of just Fin telling Olivia about it later, but I liked what we got with that plot.

The Benson/Stabler melodrama was crap as expected, they are going to drag that out until they inevitably get together towards the very end of the show. I don’t give a fuck about it but it annoys me how they throw in these pointless scenes to rile up the shippers. At least Noah didn’t make an appearance in person.

So Churlish (I think that’s her name) is trying to get Velasco in trouble now? What’s with that? I hope that isn’t a big plot going forward, I like Velasco. 

I hope the show can get back on track with regular cases of the week stuff now, but I have no confidence in the show to give us much good stuff since they love melodrama so much. I’m just glad this convoluted plot is done. It was nice that Fin and Carisi got more material than normal in this one, and I hope that continues going forward. But I have no confidence in the show to get better.

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 hour ago, Xeliou66 said:

So Churlish (I think that’s her name) is trying to get Velasco in trouble now? What’s with that? I hope that isn’t a big plot going forward, I like Velasco. 

I really like Velasco too, but I found the Churlish/Velasco stuff so interesting.  Also I like this actor soooooo much more than the Muncy one.  

[Andyourlittledog2]

Why do i keep doing this to myself?  It must be a sickness...

It was just hard to concentrate on what was right with the episode when all I could see was MH's 'emmy reel' performance, including the flat hair, obvious lines in her face, the black eye...all carefully highlighted throughout to show that she has no problem playing down her appearance in order to show the seriousness of her work. I don't know why I watch a show where the lead is so aggravating to me. I should just stop it. 

But if she gets another Emmy for this crap....

There's stepping close to or slightly over the line and then there's powerwashing it away so that it cannot be seen again. That's how I feel about the tactics these 'good cops' are using lately. And you cannot just threaten someone's life while they are in custody unless they tell you what you want to know.  I'm not sure why the writers keep doing this.  And I did not like Velasco using the torture of drug withdrawl to manipulate a prisoner. Again, not cool, writers.

[wknt3]

So I guess it wasn't everyone who had technical issues? Although given how few posts there are it may be widespread. Or maybe the nonsense has pushed some of us over the line. Apparently I didn't miss anything too good or bad. I'll have to check it out on Peacock after work. Maybe it will go down better with a cocktail? Or three?

[Iguessnot]

I can't get over the weirdness of there being no SVU detectives. I guess that's one way to stop sexual violence. 

The lack of reaction to Durante's murder was also very strange.

I'm no shipper, but Olivia's reluctance because it might not work out was plain annoying. This is getting into Mulder and Scully territory now.

[Cloud9Shopper]

The makeup job on Olivia’s eye is terrible and I’m glad it seems like it will be gone next week. I couldn’t stand looking at it; it looked like Noah did her makeup. 

Shallow, I know. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 hour ago, Iguessnot said:

I'm no shipper, but Olivia's reluctance because it might not work out was plain annoying. This is getting into Mulder and Scully territory now.

I know, Olivia saying "I'm not ready for this" made me laugh.  That's something people say when they're 20, not 60.  (I hope that's not too harsh.  I was going to type 50 until I looked her up.  She looks great.)

My favourite thing about this show is everyone's comments here after.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Ms Blue Jay

[pertho]

This isn't slow burn, it's lukewarm at best

[Colorado David]

I miss Munch's humor, he and Fin were always so funny with the jabs back and forth.

[Andyourlittledog2]

I think nothing shows why this show is so often awful than the scene where Olivia comes back to Manhattan and stands alone among all those empty SVU desks.  MH dominates every episode, the others are just bit players in her overacted scenery chewing world.

The Cheese Stands Alone.

[Xeliou66]

26 minutes ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

I think nothing shows why this show is so often awful than the scene where Olivia comes back to Manhattan and stands alone among all those empty SVU desks.  MH dominates every episode, the others are just bit players in her overacted scenery chewing world.

The Cheese Stands Alone.

Yep, I forgot to mention that but it was great symbolism of what the show is now - all about St Olivia all the time. 

[dttruman]

8 hours ago, Iguessnot said:

The lack of reaction to Durante's murder was also very strange.

I'm no shipper, but Olivia's reluctance because it might not work out was plain annoying. This is getting into Mulder and Scully territory now.

Did anyone else find it very weird that Benson takes Papa at his word, when he promised no violence would come to Noah?

[dttruman]

2 hours ago, Colorado David said:

I miss Munch's humor, he and Fin were always so funny with the jabs back and forth.

Can you imagine all the conspiracy theories Munch could come up with!. I thought it was weird where Papa wanted to stay in prison. I think all they have to do is ship him to a Fed prison and he has no more power.

[Route66]

28 minutes ago, dttruman said:

Did anyone else find it very weird that Benson takes Papa at his word, when he promised no violence would come to Noah?

Right? He's a violent felon. Is he that trustworthy? 

[wknt3]

The Good:
We have probably reached the end of our Bronx Tale for now.
Fin. Not necessarily a great week for him as he had the same weak script to work with as everyone else, but he at least kept my interest and they weren't swinging for the fences and missing with him like they were with the rest of the team.
Carisi. Some decent plea negotiation scenes and it was nice to see him as the one making legal decisions without taking orders from Benson.

The Bad:
Mariska. Holy crap was she bad in this. Even when she was with Meloni who usually brings out her best she was overacting while somehow also being flat and boring. Much like her bruise makeup she managed to be too much and not enough at the same time and was garishly fake and unconvincing.
The dialogue. Just terrible throughout even when they had an interesting idea. It really read like they filler that was mean to be polished and brought to broadcast quality later and they somehow never got around to it.  The courtroom scenes and the scenes with the potentially interesting Bronx SVU case were comically bad examples of just writing down the gist of what the writers were trying to convey without bothering to actually try to make it sound natural or fit it into context or character.
The Velasco plot was very weird and just sort of petered out. Are we actually supposed to believe he is crossing the line? Is this supposed to be some sort of running plot or cliffhanger?
They managed to somehow make it feel like all of the major plot elements were underserved while somehow also making the episode rather slow and not having enough story to tell. All filler no killer.
They do not have to send Noah away forever.

Overall this was a marginal improvement over the past couple episodes, but it was still mostly a waste of potentially interesting ideas with nothing new to offer and no reason to exist other than that everyomne involved was contractually obligated to produce an hour of television.

[CheshireCat]

2 hours ago, Route66 said:

Right? He's a violent felon. Is he that trustworthy? 

I did some research on the subject and back in the old days during the height of the mafia, their word was their bond. As brutal as they were, they had honor and an honor code. It's weirdly fascinating. So I can see why there'd be circumstances under which she'd take his word for it.

[CrystalBlue]

2 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

I did some research on the subject and back in the old days during the height of the mafia, their word was their bond. As brutal as they were, they had honor and an honor code. It's weirdly fascinating. So I can see why there'd be circumstances under which she'd take his word for it.

Yes, but Papa isn't a part of the Italian-American or Sicilian Mafia where that idea comes from.  If something does happen to Noah, who's she gonna call?  Papa just has Noah's well-being to hang over Benson's head if something else with the BX9 happens that he doesn't like.

[dttruman]

7 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

I did some research on the subject and back in the old days during the height of the mafia, their word was their bond. As brutal as they were, they had honor and an honor code. It's weirdly fascinating. So I can see why there'd be circumstances under which she'd take his word for it.

I agree that they were very honorable to other Mafioso, but keeping their word to any type of Law Enforcement is just unbelievable to me, because that would get your family or a large part of the family tree removed.

[Spartan Girl]

On 1/26/2023 at 10:50 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

Olivia apparently still isn’t over him ghosting her for 10 years and I know she said that to him, how he was the most important person in her life and he just left. But if she really can’t get over it, then why get so close to him in the first place? Either she can try and move past what happened or she can’t but make a decision already.

*sighs through teeth*

Liv, he shot a teenage girl. Not everyone can bounce back from ruining other people’s lives like you can. He had every right to say enough was enough and quit the squad. Was it right to ghost you for all that time? No, but people handle trauma in different ways. You of all people ought to understand—then again, the only trauma you really care about is your own.

If she’s going to keep using this as an excuse, it’s a big red flag—though there have been plenty of those already. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

The ending of Smoked still shakes me every time I see it, and I’ve caught it about 3-4 times now. The moment when the girl gets the gun and walks back in is startling. I think only Heartfelt Passages gets me shook up more. 

[4merBachAddict]

In the minority here but, frankly: watching Stabler try to kiss Olivia made me feel extremely uncomfortable! It was just icky for me. I don't think a romance between them was EVER supposed to happen - it's all 'fan' driven. I really enjoyed seeing the real friendship between them: true friends who loved & respected each other. It doesn't ALWAYS have to be a romance (and I really LOVE romances!) - I just never saw that kind of chemistry. It will be tough to watch the show if this continues. 

[dttruman]

3 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

The ending of Smoked still shakes me every time I see it, and I’ve caught it about 3-4 times now. The moment when the girl gets the gun and walks back in is startling. I think only Heartfelt Passages gets me shook up more. 

I'm trying to remember the circumstances that led up to this decision. Did they come up with this as a last minute plot for Stabler when contract talks finally broke down? It was Heartfelt Passages that didn't make me sad, it made me mad! IMO Benson got Dodds killed and she chalked it up to a tragic consequence, which some how got her a promotion

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, 4merBachAddict said:

In the minority here but, frankly: watching Stabler try to kiss Olivia made me feel extremely uncomfortable! It was just icky for me. I don't think a romance between them was EVER supposed to happen - it's all 'fan' driven. I really enjoyed seeing the real friendship between them: true friends who loved & respected each other. It doesn't ALWAYS have to be a romance (and I really LOVE romances!) - I just never saw that kind of chemistry. It will be tough to watch the show if this continues. 

I agree. The fans practically forced this.

Liv has become unbearable in general, so for her to act like the scorned deserted girlfriend where Stabler is concerned speaks volumes on how OOC that whole plotline is. She was his partner and friend, so even though he never said goodbye, that doesn’t give her the right to keep playing the victim Instead of, oh I don’t know, trying to understand WHY he left, the way she extends all the sympathy in the world to the white female victims of the week.

[Xeliou66]

2 hours ago, 4merBachAddict said:

In the minority here but, frankly: watching Stabler try to kiss Olivia made me feel extremely uncomfortable! It was just icky for me. I don't think a romance between them was EVER supposed to happen - it's all 'fan' driven. I really enjoyed seeing the real friendship between them: true friends who loved & respected each other. It doesn't ALWAYS have to be a romance (and I really LOVE romances!) - I just never saw that kind of chemistry. It will be tough to watch the show if this continues. 

I wish shows avoided romances between main characters more - however romantic plots get people buzzing and talking about the show so that’s why the showrunners go there, regardless of whether the characters have chemistry or not. 
My own opinion on the Benson/Stabler possible romance - I think Benson/Stabler do have strong chemistry, unlike certain other pairings (I never sensed one iota of chemistry between Rollins/Carisi and I think that was 100% forced) and so I don’t find it forced that Benson/Stabler might get together, but I don’t really want to see it as I don’t watch crime shows for romances and these plots get tiresome. I wish they had never killed off Stabler’s wife, that was a really stupid plot done just to placate the fans of the Benson/Stabler pairing. I agree that it’s the shipper fans driving this. I agree that Benson is pretty unbearable now, and this plot of dragging out the Benson/Stabler stuff is going to be tough to watch. However one thing that hasn’t been discussed so far about this - Benson has a son, and I don’t think Stabler is a stable person to be in a kid’s life - he wasn’t a great father to his own kids and he has a lot of baggage and anger issues. Also, and this may be controversial to say so I’m not trying to piss anyone off but I think it’s worth pointing out - Noah is bi, and Stabler has said some rather bigoted things about the LGBT community in the early seasons of SVU. He’s not someone I would want around an LGBT youth. 

[CrystalBlue]

Benson pissed me off when she told Carisi that Stabler was the only person she trusted to bring Noah safely home.  Like Carisi would have been incapable of driving the kid back to Manhattan if dear old Elliott wasn't available to do so.  It was kinda insulting to Carisi in a backhanded way, I thought.  Also she just trusts this newfound family the McCanns to take Noah whenever it's convenient for her.  Whatever happened to Lucy the babysitter?

[Spartan Girl]

49 minutes ago, Xeliou66 said:

Also, and this may be controversial to say so I’m not trying to piss anyone off but I think it’s worth pointing out - Noah is bi, and Stabler has said some rather bigoted things about the LGBT community in the early seasons of SVU. He’s not someone I would want around an LGBT youth. 

Well, to be fair, his views did evolve over time. In the “Transitions” episode he was quite kind and compassionate to the transgender child who felt rejected by her own father, which came along way to how nasty he was about Cheryl in “Fallacy”. Sometimes, bigots can change for the better, if given the chance.

[Xeliou66]

5 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Well, to be fair, his views did evolve over time. In the “Transitions” episode he was quite kind and compassionate to the transgender child who felt rejected by her own father, which came along way to how nasty he was about Cheryl in “Fallacy”. Sometimes, bigots can change for the better, if given the chance.

Agreed, Stabler did evolve over time on LGBT issues and became much more tolerant. I’m just saying I think fans would crucify other characters if they had made the type of remarks Stabler did in early seasons about LGBT people. 

[txhorns79]

On 1/27/2023 at 10:18 AM, Iguessnot said:

I can't get over the weirdness of there being no SVU detectives.

This.  I know they had the usual background extras walking around, but it's absurd that all the unit's detectives are just assigned elsewhere for some indefinite period of time.  I guess Manhattan has just been declared sex crime free for the time being.  

And of course the big bad for the last few episodes has grown to respect Liv and her skills as a parent.  I'm surprised he didn't fall in love with her.       

[dttruman]

1 hour ago, Xeliou66 said:

Also, and this may be controversial to say so I’m not trying to piss anyone off but I think it’s worth pointing out - Noah is bi, and Stabler has said some rather bigoted things about the LGBT community in the early seasons of SVU. He’s not someone I would want around an LGBT youth. 

Do you think we may see some father and son type time between Stabler and Noah? Will Stabler have a meaningful conversation with Noah concerning fundamental Catholicism or basic training for Marines?

42 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

  On 1/27/2023 at 10:18 AM, Iguessnot said:

I can't get over the weirdness of there being no SVU detectives.

I know, was there some kind of renovation going on?

[Andyourlittledog2]

18 minutes ago, dttruman said:

58 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

I can't get over the weirdness of there being no SVU detectives.

I know, was there some kind of renovation going on?

It looked like too many desks and in rows at that vantage point which is something we don't usually see. I don't know if it was the vantage point or if the layout was altered. I was simply struck by Benson being all alone and how ironic that was. But with all the new bodies in the Bronx I did wonder if there were going to be new folks added to Manhattan as well. It won't matter at Manhattan though. Benson will be the lead detective no matter how many detectives the squad has. She must always take the lead. She's a crappy leader who cannot step back and let her squad actually do the work on their own.  It's almost an infantile relationship she has with her detectives. They must follow her along like ducklings, staying in her shadow always. 

[Pearson80]

6 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

I agree. The fans practically forced this.

Liv has become unbearable in general, so for her to act like the scorned deserted girlfriend where Stabler is concerned speaks volumes on how OOC that whole plotline is. She was his partner and friend, so even though he never said goodbye, that doesn’t give her the right to keep playing the victim Instead of, oh I don’t know, trying to understand WHY he left, the way she extends all the sympathy in the world to the white female victims of the week.

I was always on Olivia's side when it came to how Stabler left her without any explanation or a proper goodbye.  They were partners for more than 12 years and shared so much as friends and partners.  They were like family and he was the most stable relationship that she had and she deserved better than Captain Cragen telling her that Stabler was leaving for good.  That final scene of Benson crying her eyes after learning this was heartbreaking.  Let's not forget  all of the trauma that she experienced during his absence.  That being said I do not want a romance between them.  I always preferred Olivia with Cassidy.  She always seemed more human and not so saintly..

Edited January 29, 2023 by Pearson80

[CrystalBlue]

That's an honest fair assessment of what happened and I won't get bogged down in the off-screen digging around Olivia must have done to find out what happened to Elliott.  I get that he ghosted her and she was rightly hurt, pissed off, whatever, but I think that after all this time back in contact, Olivia should not be playing that card.  I am grateful that they haven't done the "consummation of their romantic passions" thus far but the will they won't they game is getting old.

Edited January 29, 2023 by CrystalBlue
"thus far" autocorrect interference.

[WendyCR72]

2 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

That's an honest fair assessment of what happened and I won't get bogged down in the off-screen digging around Olivia must have done to find out what happened to Elliott.  I get that he ghosted her and she was rightly hurt, pissed off, whatever, but I think that after all this time back in contact, Olivia should not be playing that card.  I am grateful that they haven't done the "consummation of their romantic passions" thus far but the will they won't they game is getting old.

I don't ship Elliot and Olivia, but I'm resigned to the fact that it seems TPTB want to go there.

But I think it should not be done until the finale. Once NBC has an idea when SVU will end, then go from there and plan accordingly. But the teases are annoying, to both shippers and non-shippers, obviously.

Wait 'til then, or have Olivia and Elliot act like adults, sit down, and discuss things rationally. Decide if they are in or out, and - as Nike said - just do it. Or not.

But the "psych!" attitude the writers have is not cute. It's not fair to those who do want them, and it's a waste of time for those who don't.

[CheshireCat]

6 hours ago, Pearson80 said:

That being said I do not want a romance between them.  I always preferred Olivia with Cassidy.  She always seemed more human and not so saintly..

I liked Olivia and Tucker. It came out of nowhere, just like his sort-of-proposal but I liked the dynamic and chemistry they had.

 

14 hours ago, 4merBachAddict said:

In the minority here but, frankly: watching Stabler try to kiss Olivia made me feel extremely uncomfortable! It was just icky for me. I don't think a romance between them was EVER supposed to happen - it's all 'fan' driven.

I think they took the Benson-Stabler relationship that way back when Elliot and Kathy had separated and then, for whatever reason, they backed off and reunited Kathy and Elliot. It was weird. Maybe it was the showrunner at the time? I don't know.
I didn't get the impression that there were still feelings involved between them but, for whatever reason, they decided to go that way now. Maybe to get SVU fans to tune into OC? If memory serves, with the exception of dedicated crossovers, this was actually the first time Elliot appeared on SVU. All the other times, it was Olivia who was on OC.

Either way, they should let them make up their mind already. This is just cruel to the die-hard shippers (personally, I find these dragged-out slow-burns annoying more than anything else because there's no point to it other than to keep shippers hanging) and I find putting out a deliberately wrong teaser disrespectful to the fans who are shippers. After all, the viewership is the reason this show is still on the air and they're all still employed.

 

On 1/28/2023 at 12:17 AM, CrystalBlue said:

Yes, but Papa isn't a part of the Italian-American or Sicilian Mafia where that idea comes from. 

I was just meaning that they maybe took inspiration from that and that it's not without precedent.

 

On 1/28/2023 at 12:17 AM, CrystalBlue said:

If something does happen to Noah, who's she gonna call?  Papa just has Noah's well-being to hang over Benson's head if something else with the BX9 happens that he doesn't like.

I agree and I think this could be all kinds of problematic for her. But I don't think TPTB thought this far ahead. They rarely seem to when it comes to procedurals.

 

23 hours ago, dttruman said:

I agree that they were very honorable to other Mafioso, but keeping their word to any type of Law Enforcement is just unbelievable to me, because that would get your family or a large part of the family tree removed.

I don't think it has to lead to that, especially not when there's a quid pro quo involved. The problem that I see is that protection usually comes at a price.

 

On 1/26/2023 at 10:50 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

But seriously. Elliot’s been back for almost two years now and there’s been virtually zero progress between them for getting to a good mutual place. Olivia apparently still isn’t over him ghosting her for 10 years and I know she said that to him, how he was the most important person in her life and he just left. But if she really can’t get over it, then why get so close to him in the first place? Either she can try and move past what happened or she can’t but make a decision already.

It's possible that she thought she had put it behind her but then realized that she didn't when he reappeared in her life.

[EtheltoTillie]

13 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Agreed, Stabler did evolve over time on LGBT issues and became much more tolerant. I’m just saying I think fans would crucify other characters if they had made the type of remarks Stabler did in early seasons about LGBT people. 

Can you explain when it was revealed that Noah is bi?  I don’t remember having seen this. 

[Spartan Girl]

10 hours ago, LtKelley said:

Yeah, gotta be honest, there's handling trauma and then there's quitting your job, leaving not a word to anyone, apparently completely shutting off contact with everyone he knew and literally disappearing for ten years.

Like, honestly I was a little pissed with Elliot when this aspect of his being away was revealed - that he literally never spoke to Olivia at all and went completely no contact. I had always assumed they spoke occasionally and had lunch or did Christmas cards at least. Only to pop up one night when she's getting an award. Yeah, I'd have some trouble with trust after that. 

 

10 hours ago, Pearson80 said:

I was always on Olivia's side when it came to how Stabler left her without any explanation or a proper goodbye.  They were partners for more than 12 years and shared so much as friends and partners.  They were like family and he was the most stable relationship that she had and she deserved better than Captain Cragen telling her that Stabler was leaving for good.  That final scene of Benson crying her eyes after learning this was heartbreaking.  Let's not forget  all of the trauma that she experienced during his absence.  That being said I do not want a romance between them.  I always preferred Olivia with Cassidy.  She always seemed more human and not so saintly..

A lot of all that I blame the writers for. They could have had an offscreen goodbye and chose not to.

I’m not unsympathetic to the way Olivia was hurt by all that, but at the same time, she acted like the whole thing should be shrugged off because “it was a good shooting.” Not a ounce of compassion for Jenna, who up til then was her pet victim, let alone any guilt for the role she had in the shooting—she was dumb enough to think it was a good idea to let an angry, grieving, traumatized girl come to the station to see her mother’s killers face-to-face. 

Olivia also had two great relationship with Cassidy and Tucker that she let go because ultimately she loved her job more. I doubt it would be any different with Elliot. 

[Xeliou66]

5 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Can you explain when it was revealed that Noah is bi?  I don’t remember having seen this. 

It was in the season 23 episode Burning With Rage Forever. 

[dttruman]

5 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

18 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Agreed, Stabler did evolve over time on LGBT issues and became much more tolerant. I’m just saying I think fans would crucify other characters if they had made the type of remarks Stabler did in early seasons about LGBT people. 

Can you explain when it was revealed that Noah is bi?  I don’t remember having seen this. 

Considering that Noah is suppose to be 8 years old, I am of the opinion that he is not sure what he is yet. But here is that promo

 

[Xeliou66]

3 minutes ago, dttruman said:

Considering that Noah is suppose to be 8 years old, I am of the opinion that he is not sure what he is yet. But here is that promo

 

Noah is 12 years old in the show now.

[dttruman]

3 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Olivia also had two great relationship with Cassidy and Tucker that she let go because ultimately she loved her job more. I doubt it would be any different with Elliot. 

Didn't Benson have 2 or 3 other relationships also. I remember Bill Pullman playing one character  and I am wondering if Dodds, Barba, or Stone had something with her also, because they were literally throwing their careers away  for her.

2 minutes ago, Xeliou66 said:

Noah is 12 years old in the show now.

When he had the conversation wasn't he suppose to be in the 3rd grade?

 

Edited January 29, 2023 by dttruman

[Xeliou66]

24 minutes ago, dttruman said:

Didn't Benson have 2 or 3 other relationships also. I remember Bill Pullman playing one character  and I am wondering if Dodds, Barba, or Stone had something with her also, because they were literally throwing their careers away  for her.

When he had the conversation wasn't he suppose to be in the 3rd grade?

 

I can’t remember if they said what grade Noah was in, I just know that in episode 9 of this season they said Noah was 12 now. 
Benson had a few relationships offscreen, I remember the episode Lowdown in season 5 where she revealed she briefly dated the victim, who turned out to be gay. 
It is absurd how many characters have thrown away their careers for Olivia and how everyone worships at her feet, it’s just become laughable. Stone’s case was the worst, total character assassination and yes it was strongly implied he had feelings for Benson but they never dated. Barba became a Benson puppet as well, and it’s also been strongly implied he has feelings for Benson, but again they never actually dated. As for Chief Dodds, I don’t know if he had feelings for Benson, their relationship was interesting, they definitely had good chemistry together and Dodds was one of the few characters who could challenge Benson and not be vilified for it. I miss Dodds, I wish he would return and take McGrath’s place, can’t stand one note douche McGrath.     
The only romantic relationship of Benson’s I liked was Tucker, they had very good chemistry together, and it was interesting how their relationship evolved. Even if they weren’t meant to be together in the end, I hated how they killed Tucker off, he deserved a lot better than that, if they wanted to bring him back for closure, just have him move out of state to enjoy his retirement, killing him off was terrible.

[dttruman]

4 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

I can’t remember if they said what grade Noah was in, I just know that in episode 9 of this season they said Noah was 12 now. 

I can understand the writers being forced to advance Noah's age far enough so people will better understand when they do an episode with LGBTQ issues concerning Noah. What I can't stand about this which is just plain sloppy is when they do a complete 180 concerning Noah's personality. Last season when they broadcast "Burning With Rage Forever." and Noah comes out, he was portrayed as a 8 year old who was wise beyond his years because he showed no bias or prejudice and accepted anyone no matter whom or what they were. But now they got him 4 years older acting like a little kid craving for a big brother or father figure who will teach him  and be friends with him. Anybody else see the major discrepancy?

[Xeliou66]

26 minutes ago, dttruman said:

I can understand the writers being forced to advance Noah's age far enough so people will better understand when they do an episode with LGBTQ issues concerning Noah. What I can't stand about this which is just plain sloppy is when they do a complete 180 concerning Noah's personality. Last season when they broadcast "Burning With Rage Forever." and Noah comes out, he was portrayed as a 8 year old who was wise beyond his years because he showed no bias or prejudice and accepted anyone no matter whom or what they were. But now they got him 4 years older acting like a little kid craving for a big brother or father figure who will teach him  and be friends with him. Anybody else see the major discrepancy?

Yeah it’s pretty sloppy writing, but sadly I’ve come to expect that from modern day SVU, and I don’t care enough about Noah the Wonder-Brat to focus too much on how he’s written, he’s mainly a plot device to portray Benson as an awesome mother.

[wknt3]

On 1/27/2023 at 9:21 PM, CheshireCat said:

I did some research on the subject and back in the old days during the height of the mafia, their word was their bond. As brutal as they were, they had honor and an honor code. It's weirdly fascinating. So I can see why there'd be circumstances under which she'd take his word for it.

 

On 1/28/2023 at 5:22 AM, dttruman said:

I agree that they were very honorable to other Mafioso, but keeping their word to any type of Law Enforcement is just unbelievable to me, because that would get your family or a large part of the family tree removed.

I think there are two possibilities here. One is that everyone realized it was in their best interest to negotiate a surrender/truce of a kind and NYPD knows he is a gangster with all that implies including the whole twisted sort of honor code and that the show simply did a bad job of fleshing out the idea like with everything else this episode. The more likely explanation is that Benson knew he was being truthful because she used her wisdom and insight and peered into his soul, much as she will when she sits at the right hand of the Almighty at the end of all things* and judges the living and the dead.

*Almost everything. SVU will still get a 2 season renewal.

[catalogrrr]

The minute Liv called Durante “Mike”, I knew he was not long for this Earth.

[CrystalBlue]

You mean Mike Duarte?  What a waste of a good character who could have stayed on the show.

6 minutes ago, catalogrrr said:

The minute Liv called Durante “Mike”, I knew he was not long for this Earth.

 

[MarylandGirl]

10 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

You mean Mike Duarte?  What a waste of a good character who could have stayed on the show.

 

I wish he'd stayed longer, too. He was actually interesting! And had chemistry with Olivia.