Episode Discussion: Season 3 and Onward

[WendyCR72]

As has been promoted, this will be a 3-way crossover with the Mothership and SVU. As this is labeled with the number following the title, it seems OC - rather than the Mothership - will air first. Airing September 22, 2022:

Quote

A girl is shot and Cosgrove teams with Det. Jalen Shaw to track down her killer. Benson and Stabler assist and realize it's more than a typical homicide. McCoy and Price seek justice against an international crime ring.

[WendyCR72]

TV listings have updated, and the confirmed order (even if this is billed as a movie) is OC at 8 ET, SVU at 9 ET, and the Mothership at 10 ET.

So the order is a bit different than usual.

[pertho]

The Devil works hard, but Hollywood's war propaganda trivialising war crimes and people's suffering works harder.

We should support Ukraine, but this is a fucking weird way to do it.

[Raja]

I guess they had to list it somehow rather than as a 3 hour TV movie but it seemed a half hour mothership show when Organized Crime took over.  It did come off more as a "crossover event" than the NCIS one story here and follow an escapee over there two season premieres they did earlier in the week.

[preeya]

I'm hoping this "three hour movie" was a one and done event as it was very tedious. That's all I'm saying this week.

Edited September 23, 2022 by preeya

[Snazzy Daisy]

Great dynamic between actors from the 3 shows but the case was meh despite the writers’ efforts to inject some Ukraine flavor into it.

Part 1 - doesn’t have OC vibe, too much Cosgrove.

Part 2 - the only great character in my book is Vince. RIP dude.

Part 3 - boring AF, don’t like Hugh Dancy, hate seeing Olivia Benson playing god and getting away with it. Ugh 🙄

No more tedious crossover like this ever again. I don’t wanna watch shows that I don’t like. 😤

[Raja]

With the Lieutenant, and Captain throwing their rank around and a couple of roguish detectives I guess there was little room for the she's not your ordinary Sergeant, Bell that I had gotten used to the entire NYPD deferring to.

[Andyourlittledog2]

How did Emo Girl wind up with a Mom Haircut?  Her hair was eighty percent of her character. She's a different person now. It's like the character's been recast.

RIP Vince. You were the only person in this entire crossover 'event' (I hate that phrase) I liked. Too bad that is the way of CIs - the cops use you and then get all sentimental and emotional when they inevitably get you killed doing it. TV cops love to sadly mourn the CIs they burn and get killed. It doesn't stop them from doing it again though. If the cops don't burn you and get you killed the prosecutor eventually will so he/she can 'make the case'. This I learned from TV: don't believe the cops when they say they just need you to do 'one thing for them' and then you're out.  They never let you go until you're dead. Sorry Vince.

[Serena McClain]

This was an unusual line up and very confusing. Considering the airing of the L&O shows last season, I figured the order would be L&O, SVU, and then OC. Not that they would switch L&O and OC. When I looked at the episode list of L&O, it said that episode of the crossover was Part 3. I'm like, what. Then watching the OC episode online since this was apparently the start, it came off as a L&O episode because it focused on Cosgrove and his new partner from the beginning and we saw much of the 27th precinct for half the show. There was even the title card transition sequences that were not used on OC thus far. Heck, the intro representing the mash up even had L&O first, then SVU, and then OC so I was like, what is going on here. Is the internet wrong on the order. I only got the feeling something was off due to the filming style which I figured resembled more of OC than L&O and when Christopher Meloni's name was top billing, so then it all made sense. But still many reasons to think this was the L&O portion. I wish as an OC episode, they began with those characters and we transitioned to having the L&O ones involved somehow.

[Raja]

2 minutes ago, Serena McClain said:

This was an unusual line up and very confusing. Considering the airing of the L&O shows last season, I figured the order would be L&O, SVU, and then OC. Not that they would switch L&O and OC. When I looked at the episode list of L&O, it said that episode of the crossover was Part 3. I'm like, what. Then watching the OC episode online since this was apparently the start, it came off as a L&O episode because it focused on Cosgrove and his new partner from the beginning and we saw much of the 27th precinct for half the show. There was even the title card transition sequences that were not used on OC thus far. Heck, the intro representing the mash up even had L&O first, then SVU, and then OC so I was like, what is going on here. Is the internet wrong on the order. I only got the feeling something was off due to the filming style which I figured resembled more of OC than L&O and when Christopher Meloni's name was top billing, so then it all made sense. But still many reasons to think this was the L&O portion. I wish as an OC episode, they began with those characters and we transitioned to having the L&O ones involved somehow.

It's actually a 3 hour TV movie and not. 3 episodes that these franchise crossovers normally are. I would say we started with Law, went to OC, then SVU, if Criminal Intent was still around they would have had the terrorism turn and finally Order took us to trial 

[Serena McClain]

19 minutes ago, Raja said:

It's actually a 3 hour TV movie and not. 3 episodes that these franchise crossovers normally are. I would say we started with Law, went to OC, then SVU, if Criminal Intent was still around they would have had the terrorism turn and finally Order took us to trial 

No, we still had the intros of SVU and L&O for the second and third hours. OC just did not have its intro used for whatever reason. But this could not be just an entire three hour movie because that would mess up the syndication run. It would have to be layed out in its individual shows. Also, Criminal Intent did not rely on trials so what sense does that make to have a trial by the CI side of things. The most amount of ORDER that show ever did was some Season 1 episodes and that two part Season 5 episode where the two teams were working together.

They were initially going to do a three way when CI first started, but that never came to be and for the six years those three shows aired together, no three way ever happened and that never made sense to me at all. It took this long for them to finally do that when they had three shows running together again!

Edited September 24, 2022 by Serena McClain

[CheshireCat]

10 hours ago, preeya said:

I'm hoping this "three hour movie" was a one and done event as it was very tedious. That's all I'm saying this week.

If the Chicago shows are any indication and unless this failed entirely rating-wise, you're out of luck. They've got at least one of these "events" per season.

[CheshireCat]

Okay, that was stupid. Well, not all of it but parts. Like, which sane CO would not have pulled Cosgrove from the case after he admitted that this was personal? I mean, at least tell your CO you're fine so they have plausible deniability and don't go shouting it from the rooftop.

And then Cosgrove shoves a dead 15-year-old into Elliot's face after Elliot has spent 12 years with SVU and has seen children far younger than that who were stalked, abused, raped and killed?

And why was everyone so hung up on one murder? He gets arrested for and charged with conspiracy, gets a very pricey defense lawyer and all they have to do is point a finger at Cosgrove and his personal involvement, make it into a witch hunt and violà, the guy walks because the jury has reasonable doubt. Whereas if you let Elliot's case pan out, they can arrest the guy for and charge him with a lot more than conspiracy. Not only would that make Cosgrove's personal involvement irrelevant but it would also increase the chances that he'll get convicted and/or serve a long sentence. But no, everyone suddenly wants to nail the guy for one murder and is totally cool with risking the life of someone else for it. I get that Cosgrove wasn't in any state of mind to think about that but everyone else should have been and that they weren't makes no sense whatsoever.

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

RIP Vince. You were the only person in this entire crossover 'event' (I hate that phrase) I liked. Too bad that is the way of CIs - the cops use you and then get all sentimental and emotional when they inevitably get you killed doing it. TV cops love to sadly mourn the CIs they burn and get killed. It doesn't stop them from doing it again though. If the cops don't burn you and get you killed the prosecutor eventually will so he/she can 'make the case'. This I learned from TV: don't believe the cops when they say they just need you to do 'one thing for them' and then you're out.  They never let you go until you're dead. Sorry Vince.

Yes to all of this.
HOWEVER, they did show and talk about little Vince fighting huge guys who were capable of turning him into a vegetable with a well-placed punch. So he was self-destructive toast no matter what.
STILL, Elliot was just using Vince for the little while Vince was likely to survive on earth, making all of Elliot's fatherly concern worthless.

2 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

And why was everyone so hung up on one murder?

This.
{not enough eyeroll emojis to express}
Get the big fish (both of them!) and stop this particular trafficking train, letting Nicole be able to look back on her role in stopping it--giving her some healing instead of just survivor's guilt.

[Zaffy]

It was ok, with all the L&O cliches, but I have to say quite decent.

I hoped Vince would survive and become a member of the OC team..but meh...

[Serena McClain]

12 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

If the Chicago shows are any indication and unless this failed entirely rating-wise, you're out of luck. They've got at least one of these "events" per season.

Depends on how these showrunners feel about them. When L&O, SVU, and CI were on the air, it never occurred at all and the shows barely interacted as much as the Chicago shows have during their runs together, which angers me so much. I want that to be corrected now with L&O, SVU, and OC running together now. 

[Andyourlittledog2]

18 hours ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

RIP Vince. You were the only person in this entire crossover 'event' (I hate that phrase) I liked. Too bad that is the way of CIs - the cops use you and then get all sentimental and emotional when they inevitably get you killed doing it. TV cops love to sadly mourn the CIs they burn and get killed. It doesn't stop them from doing it again though. If the cops don't burn you and get you killed the prosecutor eventually will so he/she can 'make the case'. This I learned from TV: don't believe the cops when they say they just need you to do 'one thing for them' and then you're out.  They never let you go until you're dead. Sorry Vince.

I hadn't watched the last of the three when I wrote the above. But the way they handle the other teen witness and the prosecution comes in and says 'but we have to make our case no matter if we get an innocent teenage girl killed' is exactly what I was saying above. They are so focused on the rightness of their goal that they don't care if they get innocent people murdered in the process. They know they can't protect these witnesses properly, they are just cogs in the prosecution machine to them. The ends justify the means in their thought processes. Whatever gets them the win.

[torqy]

On 9/23/2022 at 10:15 PM, Andyourlittledog2 said:

How did Emo Girl wind up with a Mom Haircut?  Her hair was eighty percent of her character. She's a different person now. It's like the character's been recast.

And Joan Jett is no longer doing her eye makeup!

[WendyCR72]

Airing September 29, 2022:

Quote

As ground breaks on the city's first casino, Stabler investigates the death of a friend whose refusal to sell his home on the site has stalled construction. Jet breaks in two new detectives. Bell splits her focus between work and her looming divorce.

[Demian]

On 9/23/2022 at 5:21 AM, pertho said:

The Devil works hard, but Hollywood's war propaganda trivialising war crimes and people's suffering works harder.

We should support Ukraine, but this is a fucking weird way to do it.Other Media

I'm only three minutes in to this episode, and I already think it's disgusting.  Using Bucha as a plot point?  Dick Wolf needs to...just stop.  This is wretched.

Edited September 30, 2022 by Demian

[Serena McClain]

I also like to give congrats on this show on making it to three seasons. By last year, it managed to break the curse every spinoff after Criminal Intent failed to do, not even being able to make beyond ONE season and there's been FOUR since, Trial By Jury, Conviction, Los Angeles, and True Crime. Like geez. The last two on that list just did not need to be made at all and Conviction could have just been TBJ Season 2 since they used the same sets and even had the ORDER side as the main focus once again.

I have faith to see this show lasting for quite a while now that it's made it to season number three. But it tickles me how long it even took them to do a show like this given watching many of the episodes from the original shows first ten seasons where organized crime and or the unit is mentioned many times, but we don't get an actual show on it until twenty something years later.

Edited September 30, 2022 by Serena McClain

[Route66]

I was hoping Ayanna would ask Reyes why he came in with a fake work order and pretended to be an electrician when he literally was supposed to be there. Why go to the trouble when you are expected because you work there. 

Jet is finally dressing like a grownup. Yay.

"Stabler disobeys order from Captain but it's ok because he was right" is a more pervasive L&O trope than "guy unpacking boxes while talking to homicide detectives."

Does HIPAA just disappear when it's convenient? I don't think any nurse would 1. Acknowledge the presence of a patient 2. Tell them his diagnosis and treatment.

The police can not just overlook the presence of an illegal animal smuggling operation, especially when the animals are literally poisonous.

Why did the NYU researcher buy illegal rats that aren't indigenous to NY if they're studying rat activity in NY? 

[StaceyNotStacie]

Looks like it could be an interesting season, as long as it doesn’t last too long (half season). 
 

I liked the new guy and it seems like they’re pushing him towards Jet (whose haircut looks cute). I’m guessing Malachi is out of the picture. 

[Tachi Rocinante]

Thanks for spoiling stuff.  😡

I figured the discussion would be Part 1 only.

[Spartan Girl]

Am I supposed to side with Ayanna’s soon-to-be ex? Because she just seems like a bitch.

[milkyaqua]

Looks like a writer is quoting Leonard Cohen lyrics for the title.

I was switching back and forth but I do like Jet's new hair cut and I appreciated that Stabler was dressed as an adult.  I'll reserve judgement on the new guys.

Edited September 30, 2022 by milkyaqua

[TV Diva Queen]

Jet's hair was cut last week too.  :)  I'm getting Don Trump Jr vibes from the son of the developer.  This is my favorite L&O right now.  (just 3 random thoughts from me that I felt you all needed to know)  LOL 

[Snazzy Daisy]

Elliot: “I don’t want this Tic Tac guys.”

😂😂😂

I like this new story arc. The sleazy vibes from the Silas are strong. Just don’t turn them into supervillain ala Wheatley. There are interesting dynamics within the family - a father with high expectations, a son who doesn’t have what it takes to take over family business and seems desperate to please his father. He has a shallow wife and his father disapproves her. With a manipulative husband like Teddy, Pearl can reach her breaking point at any time and this could be useful, unless she plays an Angela.

Two newest additions to the OC team are interesting in their own ways.

Bobby Reyes aka The Invisible Man shows up for his interview in a stealthy way to make an impression. The team needs him since Elliot is now too famous for undercover. Who knows, one day he could outsmart and out hack Jet.

Jamie Whelan aka Stabler Jr rubs both Elliot and Jet in a wrong way on his very first day.  He blatantly tells Elliot he hates dirty cops. Are we sure he has no connection to the brotherhood whatsoever? Hey show, please don’t make Jamie and Jet into something. Don’t go there, it will ruin the team dynamic.

It seems impulsive for Denise to proceed with a divorce since we aren’t aware of any time jump. But whatever, Ayanna is better off without her.

Why this show suddenly feels the need to tone down Jet’s edginess? She looks like a different person. Don’t like it. Want the edgy Jet back.

[Raja]

On 9/30/2022 at 4:42 AM, Route66 said:

I was hoping Ayanna would ask Reyes why he came in with a fake work order and pretended to be an electrician when he literally was supposed to be there. Why go to the trouble when you are expected because you work there. 

Jet is finally dressing like a grownup. Yay.

The Sergeant saw the why immediately. I think it would be Jet's character to call out Reyes for showing off his skills. Or the other new guy as they tried to one up each other upon meeting.

Stabler "cut a rug" talking about old guy slang, I would have expected Lenny Brisco to have dropped that one before he appeared in the franchise

[wknt3]

2 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

Why this show suddenly feels the need to tone down Jet’s edginess? She looks like a different person. Don’t like it. Want the edgy Jet back.

I think a character can be "edgy" without being a CBS procedural Hot Topic super hacker girl cliche. They can keep the personality and attitude and lose some of the trappings and we end up with a more realistic and interesting character that fits into the L&O world. It seems that they are trying  to adjust things a bit so they aren't so reliant on guest stars and trying to have us believe Stabler can keep going undercover AND making high profile arrests. It seems like the show has kept making the right adjustments except for bringing Wheatley back. I do wish we actually had some lawyers involved but otherwise they seem to be moving beyond just hiring some good actors, slapping on a L&O title card and hoping for the best.

[CrystalBlue]

So Elliot is The Old Man with the cut a rug comment and not knowing TikTok from Tic Tac.  I'm a Jet fan and her new haircut is cute.  I like her either way.  Two new interesting characters and the Silas fam.  Entertaining episode with fresh story line.

[Zaffy]

Hmmm this season seems interesting. Let's see...
btw, the OC version of the L&O franchise theme is the best.  Love the orchestra and the strings!

[WendyCR72]

Airing October 6, 2022:

Quote

Stabler, Bell and the task force scramble to track down a murderer before he takes desperate action. Jamie blames himself when a mistake leads to further tragedy. Jet makes a crucial discovery that could save a child's life.

[Andyourlittledog2]

I'm sorry, I know Jet's new look is 'cute' but she doesn't look like Jet any more. She is now Pam, the PTA mom in charge of the silent auction.  See her after the meeting for the sign up list.

As for the episode, I like this villain and the plotline so far. It's far and away better than the last two years of Dylan McDermott scenery munching. Like a breath of fresh air.

ETA:  And may I just ask, why does no one seem at all worried about the lots of poisonous to the degree of fatality rats that have now been loosed in this part of NY? Like they won't reproduce and spread throughout the city/nation?  Poisonous rats. No mention of extremination or any attempt to find out how many and find them all in the building. Nothing. It freaks me out and it isn't even real. Why aren't they worried?

Edited October 7, 2022 by Andyourlittledog2

[milkyaqua]

11 hours ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

ETA:  And may I just ask, why does no one seem at all worried about the lots of poisonous to the degree of fatality rats that have now been loosed in this part of NY? Like they won't reproduce and spread throughout the city/nation?  Poisonous rats. No mention of extremination or any attempt to find out how many and find them all in the building. Nothing. It freaks me out and it isn't even real. Why aren't they worried?

That would imply TPTB keep track of storyline threads which almost no show is good about.

[Snazzy Daisy]

I wish Jamie could say that to St. Olivia's face!

😆😆😆

Quote

Jamie: "Here's what I don't buy. No way two people are that close for that long and don't sleep with each other..."

Elliot: "Are you sure about that?"

Jamie: "What does that mean?"

Jamie: (again) "What's that mean?" 

Edited October 7, 2022 by SnazzyDaisy

[TooMuchRealityTV]

I usually like this show as long as Wheatly isn't on it. This season has been no different. I like the bad guy so far. The new detectives seem okay as well. I guess they are going for more of a team dynamic this season then they have in previous seasons. It seems to be working.

I would really like this show to keep Stabler and Benson as friends. I'm just not feeling it. It's been too soap opera-ey. The interaction between Stabler and his partner made me cringe because I'm sure it's the writers heavy handed way of teasing more will they/won't they.

[MarylandGirl]

I wasn't all that into last week's episode, but I found this one to be tense and engaging. But I think that was partly due to the acting of the guy dying by rat bite (I forget his name). I'm really not engaged by the main bad guy and his family so far, so I'm not sure how I'll feel about the rest of the season (I did like the guy with the exotic animals, but I doubt he'll be back).

I'm also unclear as to what made this an Organized Crime case in the first place, when it was just about the guy being killed so they could build the casino. That seems like it would have been more of a normal L&O case, maybe with OC getting involved later?

And I also wonder why they aren't more concerned about the deadly rats being loose in the city! I wonder what happens if they breed with normal rats?

[Zaffy]

Actually this season looks good and promising!
Until Wheatly comes back from the dead. Just kidding, just kidding!

[GiandujaPie]

Not really feeling this season's storyline of the criminal real estate family. They seem like a knock-off Trump family. Camilla Belle looked so familiar to me but when I looked through her credits, I didn't recognize anything she had done previously. I was so sure she had been in an SVU episode or something. 

Why didn't Kenny actually die from the rat bites? The exotic animal dealer made it sound like he was on the brink of death.  

[WendyCR72]

Airing October 13, 2022:

Quote

With a suspect in custody for Henry Cole's murder, Reyes goes undercover at Rikers to gather more information from him. Pearl and Teddy make a difficult decision to ensure construction on the casino stays on schedule.

[torqy]

I submit that Developer Spawn should be called NotDonaldTrumpJr.

Also Camilla Belle's character will be his undoing.

Edited October 14, 2022 by torqy

[Route66]

1. So Reyes is ostensibly this genius undercover, yet within seconds of meeting Kenny he brings up his parole officer? You're in prison, you're not going to get that close so quickly.

2. How has Kenny survived the poison rat bite? He went from being delusional and barely able to walk or breathe to being fine.

3. Has Jet regressed to Season 1 where she just sits at her desk all day?

4. They need to decide what Pearl is. She can't be a savvy businesswoman and be short sighted enough to fire the mobbed up labor union. Silas obviously cares more about the business, so why did she get away with it?

5. Is Jamie a crooked cop or no? 

[Snazzy Daisy]

With Vincent Bishop and Dominic Russo dead, how the OC team going to build a strong case against Robert & Teddy Silas and hold them accountable for Henry Cole’s death? 🤨

Pearl Serrano isn’t that savvy…

[Zaffy]

With all its weaknesses, OC is right now the best of the 3 shows. 
Which is something I did not expect to say, back in the Wheatley days. 
( I wonder what will happen If I type..Wheatley 3 times. Will he appear? ;-) )

So I guess Stabler is targeting the wife to be his CI. We will have another Angela Whea**** case?

[CrystalBlue]

21 hours ago, Zaffy said:

With all its weaknesses, OC is right now the best of the 3 shows. 
Which is something I did not expect to say, back in the Wheatley days. 
( I wonder what will happen If I type..Wheatley 3 times. Will he appear? ;-) )

So I guess Stabler is targeting the wife to be his CI. We will have another Angela Whea**** case?

I definitely got the vibe that Elliot is more interested in saving Pearl from her life with the Not Trump Jr fam than just turning her into a CI.

[WendyCR72]

Airing October 27, 2022:

Quote

While Stabler is called to testify against the brotherhood in court, the task force set their sights on a dangerous criminal gang posing as police; Reyes finds a surprising connection to the suspects they're after. Bell receives some unwelcome news.

[TooMuchRealityTV]

Overall, I liked this episode. Although, if I'm being honest they could have done this whole episode without the rape tie-ins and SVU. I don't need more Rollins on my screen.

It seems like they are trying to make this squad more of a team. In the past it was a lot of Stabler deep undercover. Now they've expanded the team. They also seem to be using Jet more outside of her tech capabilities. Have we seen her used in non-techy crime scenes before? I'm okay with the changes. They seem to be working so far.

I'm just going to ignore the whole thing with Bell. It seems like if the team disbands it would be the end of the show. So until I hear it's cancelled, I'm going to assume this will resolve itself. I guess they are creating filler squad drama to replace all the filler Stabler (Stabler/Benson, Stabler Family) drama that seems to be absent this season.

Still liking this better than SVU. It's not perfect, but when it's Benson and Wheatley free it's pretty good.

[catrice2]

Still liking this better than SVU. It's not perfect, but when it's Benson and Wheatley free it's pretty good.

This!  Although I did like Wheatley until they went to far.  Benson though...or any SVU people is a no no for me

[Raja]

13 hours ago, TooMuchRealityTV said:

Overall, I liked this episode. Although, if I'm being honest they could have done this whole episode without the rape tie-ins and SVU. I don't need more Rollins on my screen.

It seems like they are trying to make this squad more of a team. In the past it was a lot of Stabler deep undercover. Now they've expanded the team. They also seem to be using Jet more outside of her tech capabilities. Have we seen her used in non-techy crime scenes before? I'm okay with the changes. They seem to be working so far.

I'm just going to ignore the whole thing with Bell. It seems like if the team disbands it would be the end of the show. So until I hear it's cancelled, I'm going to assume this will resolve itself. I guess they are creating filler squad drama to replace all the filler Stabler (Stabler/Benson, Stabler Family) drama that seems to be absent this season.

Still liking this better than SVU. It's not perfect, but when it's Benson and Wheatley free it's pretty good.

Two rapist, the last marijuana convict and a detective it would certainly seem like a "crossover event" to get the foster father. As opposed to the solution in the  promo. It does get OCCB on the case and how without the personal contact? The victims being hoods so nobody is talking and a stray bullet brings in conventional homicide and IAB. At least it wasn't the Captain coming down to grace us with more of her. You would think the patrol back up would have known about the operation since no real cop was in ESU gear but we still had the near friendly fire incident. Maybe Elliot was right and this NYPD is allot wrong.

While we have seen Jet outside before, including killing a suspect,  she did fit easily into the undercover role. With the squad drama as Stabler has been burned as an undercover his arc has no where to go except moving from number two to Number One in the office. Just like his ex partner did on SVU. From the crossover event forward the portrayal of  Bell has changed from the most important Sergeant in the NYPD  during the first two seasons to saying yes to Elliot's initiatives.