S25.E04: Duty to Report

[txhorns79]

Airing February 8, 2024.

Quote

When Chief McGrath's daughter discloses a sexual assault, Benson must balance the intricacies of the investigation with McGrath's impulsive actions.

 

[wknt3]

The Good:
Fin. It's nice to see the writers remembering that he and Liv go way back and he is supposed to be her second in command and confidante. And having him as the voice of reason and pointing out that the plot is nonsense.  Also the show is always better when he's actively involved in the investigation.

The guest cast. They elevated a lot of overwrought overly familiar material to a watchable level.

Bruno. It's a shame he can't be made a full fledged main cast member so Dick Wolf can buy a bigger yacht and Mariska can tell herself that the biggest paycheck means she is the best actress in television.

Carisi. He should have had a bigger role early on, but he had some nice moments. And it's nice that they didn't crap on the DAs office with some nonsense about McGrath pulling strings with his bosses.

McGrath seems to be being written out? Halle freaking lujah!

The Bad:
The opener. More wallowing in Benson's noble martyrdom and after all these years they still haven't learned to write a therapy session? Every time we think this interminable Maddie storyline can't go any lower Mariska is like "hold my tears"...

Speaking of not knowing how to write what should be SVU 101, what terrible interviews. I mean any defense attorney worth their fee could point out the leading questions and how Benson was pushing a narrative from the jump.

Why are we bringing in IAB other than some sort of misguided girl power storyline? Shouldn't Carisi have been her 1st call? Why wait for IAB to point out the obvious? If not Carisi then surely knowing what was going on 1PP should have been brought in? But I guess with the budget cuts they needed to find a reason to bring in another investigator since this was Velasco's week off?

The ending. Everyone tells Benson again what a super special snowflake she is even when she is ruining their life. And then we are supposed to believe that SVU can bring in another captain or that a captain would voluntarily give up their rank to work for Benson? I like the actress and maybe she is old enough and different enough from Mariska for her not to feel threatened and sandbag her like all of the other new women brought in since KG? I guess this means Jasmine Batchelor has found other work and isn't going to hope that if she takes day rates for a couple more years she can  be hired on FBI IT: Services Division?

Overall this was another solid, if clliched COTW dragged down by the Maddie arc and Mariska's ego. It is probably the best of the season, and it's a shame that so much time was wasted on BS(Benson Stuff) as it could have easily been an actually good episode.

 

Edited February 9 by wknt3
fix typos

[gesundheit]

Hilarious. I just said last week that I hope they didn't make us watch any of Liv's EDMR sessions, and boom! Right in the cold open of the next episode. Also hilarious: a therapist asking for Liv's assistance, and Liv thinking she had to explain to a therapist that she's a mandatory reporter. What would any adult professional in any field do without the wisdom of Olivia Benson?

Also hilarious: just to demonstrate how Liv's more saintly than all other humans, they write a scene where McGrath's wife just found out her friend's son definitely raped her daughter but took a quick break to accuse Liv of going after McGrath's job. As if.

Also hilarious: they tell us the whole episode it's required for IAB or the ADA to be present at all times in this investigation because of the McGrath situation. Well, at all times except... the actual arrest of his daughter's rapist, an arrest happening mere steps from McGrath's home. Amazing. 

Not hilarious and actually good: I forget her name but I love the IAB agent and am delighted that she'll be the new girl. Obviously she'll have to live in Liv's shadow, but at least I can thrive off of the shreds they'll toss her.

 

Anyway. Last week sure was a nice breather! Back to the Benson Hour.

 

(Oh wait! One more hilarious: McGrath says he should've seen that his buddy was a wife-beater, and instead of her usual "you can't always know," Olivia just smirks at him.)

Edited February 9 by gesundheit
thought of another "hilarious"

[jmonique]

Mrs. McGrath: "Look, I talked to Tommy, and he'll be good now, and I know you're just doing this to get his job, you cow."
Cut to McGrath pulling a gun on his neighbor.

And of course, IAB isn't there to see it, because after being shadowed by Curry for the majority of the episode, Liv is all "Eh, I don't want to make anyone mad during the arrest."

Never change, Captain Benson.

[Xeliou66]

A very bland case we’ve seen a lot of with the only difference being that it involved McGrath’s daughter. But if this means the end of McGrath, I’ll happily take it - he’s been one of SVU’s worst recurring characters. And since when did Benson suddenly have so much respect for McGrath? The guy is nothing but a dick, so it really felt off that Benson was telling the IAB Captain that she respected him and he was a good cop - good at what exactly? I hope he is fired and we never have to hear from him again. But of course at the end even he starts kissing Benson’s ass - blah. And McGrath’s wife was unlikable as well. It seemed like McGrath’s whole purpose on the show was just to make Olivia look even more saintly, hopefully he’s gone now. 

The case was boring and nothing we haven’t seen before. Fin and Bruno made it worth watching though, they are terrific together, and Carisi was good as well in his role. I like the IAB Captain fine, but what exactly is her role now, is she going to be supervising Benson or is Benson going to be supervising her? I couldn’t tell.

Of course Benson was a dumbass again for not taking Curry along when they arrested the rapist, she knew it could be a volatile situation. She’s damn lucky McGrath’s gun didn’t go off. It didn’t seem to matter in the end though.

And I’m so fucking tired of the Maddie storyline I want to throw something at the tv every time her name is mentioned. I get so sick of Benson taking it personally. Please wrap this shit up in the next episode, please. I did appreciate the callbacks to other missing kid cases Benson has worked on, I recognized a few of the names she mentioned.

So overall a very bland case made watchable by the good roles for Carisi, Bruno and Fin. And if this is the end of McGrath, I’ll be happy. 

 

[Fellaway]

1 hour ago, wknt3 said:

McGrath seems to be being written out? Halle freaking lujah!

Cosigned. I can't ever look at him without seeing Coast Guard Rapist.

[preeya]

"None of this is your fault"

The most repeated line on this show.

[pezgirl7]

Did anyone else get a little motion sick from the therapist moving her arm back and forth? I had to FFwd through most of that scene. I doubt I missed anything important. 

I’m guessing that won’t be the last therapy session we see. Mariska was on Jimmy Fallon tonight and said that this season would be delving into Olivia’s mind and that her arc is about healing. 

[jmonique]

52 minutes ago, Xeliou66 said:

I like the IAB Captain fine, but what exactly is her role now, is she going to be supervising Benson or is Benson going to be supervising her? I couldn’t tell.

It would seem that Captain Curry is so taken with Liv that she's willing to demote herself to join the SVU team.

[illdoc]

Did anyone else laugh out loud when McGrath said "what would you do if it was your kid?" and Benson said "I'd go nowhere near the investigation"?! 

[DanielleBowden]

7 minutes ago, illdoc said:

Did anyone else laugh out loud when McGrath said "what would you do if it was your kid?" and Benson said "I'd go nowhere near the investigation"?! 

Yes!  Liv you literally car jacked someone a few episodes ago because you can't see straight in the Maddie case.

[gesundheit]

9 hours ago, pezgirl7 said:

 

I’m guessing that won’t be the last therapy session we see. Mariska was on Jimmy Fallon tonight and said that this season would be delving into Olivia’s mind and that her arc is about healing. 

God help us all

[jmonique]

I did like how when McGrath went storming into the interrogation, Bruno put his arm around the Math Tutor and lifted him up, then stood right next to him, and Fin got in front of both of them. Then Bruno got Math Tutor across the room and away from McGrath as he was distracted by Liv and Fin, and the next time you see them, Bruno is right in front of Math Tutor, ready in case McGrath tries to jump the kid on the way out.

Now if they'd only put him in the damn credits already. It ain't like they don't have room, considering how there used to be practically a basketball team-size roster up in there for many years.

[Xeliou66]

5 hours ago, illdoc said:

Did anyone else laugh out loud when McGrath said "what would you do if it was your kid?" and Benson said "I'd go nowhere near the investigation"?! 

I caught that as well - that was classic Benson hypocrisy - when Noah was kidnapped she hijacked the investigation and disobeyed Dodds orders to go and confront crazy granny on her own. Olivia is truly the queen of hypocrisy, and no one calls it out and viewers are just expected to not notice. 

[tennisgurl]

15 hours ago, pezgirl7 said:

I’m guessing that won’t be the last therapy session we see. Mariska was on Jimmy Fallon tonight and said that this season would be delving into Olivia’s mind and that her arc is about healing. 

I'm sorry, are we in a time loop or something? Hasn't Olivia already had about five seasons that focused on her "healing" from her most recent trauma and getting about a million speeches about how awesome she is? 

5 hours ago, illdoc said:

Did anyone else laugh out loud when McGrath said "what would you do if it was your kid?" and Benson said "I'd go nowhere near the investigation"?! 

I literally cackled, the show hasn't made a joke that funny since Munch left. Did the show forget how Olivia hijacked the entire investigation the second Noah was missing? How she made Everything Personal when she realized that her brother was a victim of some scammers? How she almost hijacked a van literally a few days ago because of her obsession with Maddie?!

The case of the week itself was alright, not awful but pretty standard SVU stuff. The only thing that made it stand out was McGrath's daughter being the victim, which hopefully means he's done. Its so weird that the show has suddenly decided that he's a good cop (more or less) when for almost his entire time here he's been a strawman asshole who exists to say and do the wrong things so that Olivia can lecture him (and us) about the right things to say and do. 

I like the new lady, hopefully she actually sticks around.

[cfinboston]

McGrath being on "modified" duty after pulling his weapon is bullshit. I'm a civilian and I'd lose my carry permit if I did that. It was ridiculous when Liv got in front of him when the correct protocol would be to stand next to him and push his arm down.

At some point is it not racist to suggest that minority women are interchangeable? Churlish just Chuck Cunningham'ed out. Gonzalez disappeared after one day. Now IAB Chief? 

[wknt3]

3 hours ago, jmonique said:

Now if they'd only put him in the damn credits already. It ain't like they don't have room, considering how there used to be practically a basketball team-size roster up in there for many years.

It's not about not having room on the screen it's about not having room in the budget. They can do 4 and recurring characters to actually have a team or they can have 5 regular cast members who take episodes off with no one to fill in and we have Carisi randomly in the field or have even more Benson than usual with Velasco getting coffee and doing any running. Honestly if there is a Season 27 I would not be surprised to see Mariska, Ice-T and either Pisano, Scanavino, or Kane moved up with everyone else being recurring.
 

3 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

 Its so weird that the show has suddenly decided that he's a good cop (more or less) when for almost his entire time here he's been a strawman asshole who exists to say and do the wrong things so that Olivia can lecture him (and us) about the right things to say and do.

He was the family of a special victim so he gets a free pass. Rules are rules after all...

[Sake614]

On 2/9/2024 at 12:29 AM, pezgirl7 said:

Mariska was on Jimmy Fallon tonight and said that this season would be delving into Olivia’s mind and that her arc is about healing. 

Shoot me now. Please! I FFed thru the whole therapy session so I guess this season is going to be very fast watching for me. 🤬

[Sake614]

I did get a kick out of them taking the victim to Victory Memorial, considering it closed down years ago. It’s now a full Emergency Room run by Maimonides Hospital. They don’t admit, but they do run all necessary tests and then if necessary, transfer you to a hospital for treatment. 

[Zaffy]

Is this the most "Olivia Benson" season? of all 25 of them?
The last few seasons Stabler was still in it was barely watchable cause all the scripts were basically about the two leads and their acting skills/award hunting.
So, I was relieved when Stabler gone, and I do think that for some time there was some balance in the series. Not that we didn't have the "Mariska Show" but well it was still ok.
But right now, it is really tough to watch it. I do not have a problem with "Saint Benson" and her taking the right decisions and be the moral lighthouse of the universe, etc etc, but not in such heavy, soapy and melodramatic doses. Apart from all this having become so unrealistic, it has also become unbearable and well... boring. There are no surprises here. I don't know for how much of this mess you can blame Mariska, I guess for quite a lot,  since she seems to be just fine with it.
What I know is that after 24 seasons I am close to stop watching. And mind you, I managed to keep watching during that horrible Sharon Stone season. Imagine how bad I find this one.
I do have some hope that with the new lady captain coming to SVU they gonna tone Olivia part's down.  
 

[jmonique]

4 hours ago, Zaffy said:

Is this the most "Olivia Benson" season? of all 25 of them?
The last few seasons Stabler was still in it was barely watchable cause all the scripts were basically about the two leads and their acting skills/award hunting.
So, I was relieved when Stabler gone, and I do think that for some time there was some balance in the series. Not that we didn't have the "Mariska Show" but well it was still ok.

I've been rewatching the old seasons, and it's STRIKING how different the first 12 seasons are. The episodes are like:

Cold open, detectives assess the crime season, detective work, interrogation, back to some detective work, some personal BS for Olivia or Elliott usually, back to interrogation room, Huang/ADA stuff, courtroom stuff, detective stuff when a twist comes up, back out to Rikers, courtroom stuff. 

Now it's like, Maddie flashbacks, Olivia in therapy, credits, case stuff, Olivia distracted by more Maddie stuff... UGH.

[Wizardpatch]

On 2/9/2024 at 12:09 AM, preeya said:

"None of this is your fault"

The most repeated line on this show.

Not "Are we done here?"?

[Zaffy]

3 hours ago, Wizardpatch said:

Not "Are we done here?"?

I think "Dan Dan" beats them all 

[wknt3]

11 hours ago, jmonique said:

 Now it's like, Maddie flashbacks, Olivia in therapy, credits, case stuff, Olivia distracted by more Maddie stuff... UGH.

You forgot "gratuitous Maddie mention" and "Liv being told she is still the best investigator ever" but otherwise a pretty good summary.

[MarylandGirl]

Commenting before I've watched whole ep, so will say more later. But just wow, that's so totally out of line for Liv's therapist to do. She's disclosing something that happened to another patient *and* trying to push Liv to help her.

I work as a copy editor (but have a couple friends who are therapists), and I'm trying to imagine my therapist being like, "Oh, I have this other client who needs help editing a college essay" or something like that, which would feel like crossing a line. And that's not a private thing. I guess the therapist had the duty to report, but I don't think that's how you're supposed to go about reporting it... Never mind that it's her superior's daughter!

Like I need to take a bit and recover from my brain exploding from that before I watch the rest of the ep.

[TVForever]

Okay, there's something that was definitely missing from this episode- from the show in general, actually. The victim willfully lied about the math tutor having raped her. But she suffered absolutely no consequences for that. Meanwhile, the tutor's life was nearly thrown into the meat grinder behind that lie. First off, he was taken in by the police, with no parents (yes, I know he's 18, but he's still in high school. Trust me, if the police had shown up at my house when my kids were 18, I would have been all over whatever was going on). Guess it was a good thing he had an alibi, right? But what if he didn't? What if he did what a nerdy 18-year old would likely have done in that situation- go home and watch TV, or play video games, etc? 

And all he gets is some throwaway line of an apology from the cops who were raking him over the coals just a day before. And that was only because they needed something from him. 

What about an apology from the girl that put him in the frame in the first place? Or the father that threatened to kill him (behind his daughter's lie)?

Okay, rant over. 

[jabRI]

In the Maddie flashback #20, I saw what Benson saw, and there was really nothing alarming.  Just some young girl, may have woken up? hungover? Certainly did not look like she needed 'saving'.  I realize she did, just saying I don't know why Benson keeps saying she could have 'prevented' what happened.

[MarylandGirl]

2 hours ago, jabRI said:

In the Maddie flashback #20, I saw what Benson saw, and there was really nothing alarming.  Just some young girl, may have woken up? hungover? Certainly did not look like she needed 'saving'.  I realize she did, just saying I don't know why Benson keeps saying she could have 'prevented' what happened.

Agreed! It's not like she saw someone forcing her into the van. Maybe she had the flu and her parent (who worked for the company the van was for) was driving her to the doctor? I mean, if I took the time to stare into every vehicle I passed and wondered whether something shady was going on, well, I probably wouldn't be a very good driver! And there were probably times when onlookers may have thought I was abducting my own daughter because she didn't want to get into the car with me for whatever reason. Thankful I didn't run into Olivia at one of those times!

[StarBrand]

I had to groan a little when the Rat Squad Lady and Oliva were bonding over potentially working together and "breaking a few rules", as if it were something Olivia's not already used to doing....now it's going to get worse.

Although I can see how Olivia, after all this time, has become to see herself as somewhat of a saviour to all victims. It's either that or burnout I suppose. I remember way back when a character said the average time in the SVU is five years. She's been doing this shit WAY too long...

Edited February 15 by StarBrand

[Ohiopirate02]

On 2/11/2024 at 3:51 PM, MarylandGirl said:

Commenting before I've watched whole ep, so will say more later. But just wow, that's so totally out of line for Liv's therapist to do. She's disclosing something that happened to another patient *and* trying to push Liv to help her.

Yeah, the show really twisted the concept of mandatory reporter in order to make this episode happen.  The therapist may have a duty to report, but reporting to Olivia after Olivia's session they way she did is not going to be proper procedure.  

[Iguessnot]

On 2/12/2024 at 12:44 PM, TVForever said:

Okay, there's something that was definitely missing from this episode- from the show in general, actually. The victim willfully lied about the math tutor having raped her. But she suffered absolutely no consequences for that. Meanwhile, the tutor's life was nearly thrown into the meat grinder behind that lie. First off, he was taken in by the police, with no parents (yes, I know he's 18, but he's still in high school. Trust me, if the police had shown up at my house when my kids were 18, I would have been all over whatever was going on). Guess it was a good thing he had an alibi, right? But what if he didn't? What if he did what a nerdy 18-year old would likely have done in that situation- go home and watch TV, or play video games, etc? 

And all he gets is some throwaway line of an apology from the cops who were raking him over the coals just a day before. And that was only because they needed something from him. 

What about an apology from the girl that put him in the frame in the first place? Or the father that threatened to kill him (behind his daughter's lie)?

Okay, rant over. 

That got to me, for her to purposely do that to him; someone she knew. Yet by virtue of her being an SVU victim, all her faults and crimes become inconsequential.

It's amazing how many plea deals we are getting that Olivia is satisfied with. In previous seasons there were many victims who would have been happy with the perp getting a plea deal, but Olivia forced those women to testify in open court, because they couldn't be "whole" otherwise. 

[Tony]

On 2/9/2024 at 12:29 AM, pezgirl7 said:

Mariska was on Jimmy Fallon tonight and said that this season would be delving into Olivia’s mind and that her arc is about healing. 

Oh good. This is just what everyone was hoping for, even more Olivia-centric storylines.

[tennisgurl]

As a part of my job I am, in fact, a mandatory reporter and had to take a whole seminar about what that means. So all I could think the whole episode was "you keep using those words. I don't think they mean what you think they mean." 

[Spartan Girl]

On 2/15/2024 at 12:36 PM, StarBrand said:

I had to groan a little when the Rat Squad Lady and Oliva were bonding over potentially working together and "breaking a few rules", as if it were something Olivia's not already used to doing....now it's going to get worse.

Although I can see how Olivia, after all this time, has become to see herself as somewhat of a saviour to all victims. It's either that or burnout I suppose. I remember way back when a character said the average time in the SVU is five years. She's been doing this shit WAY too long...

Even Stabler, Cragen, and Munch had the good sense to bow out when they burned out. Yes, Stabler is in a different unit now but point remains.

I also agree that the math tutor deserved a bare minimum apology from the girl.

[Guest]

Typical Law & Order fashion, bringing back actors as new characters and establishing several look-alikes at once in not only the same universe but the same BOROUGH at that (since most of the shows take place in Manhattan) will continue to be laughable to me. But hey, who cares about consistency right? I'm still at AWE the people at Dick Wolf studio could cast Dylan Murloney as a detective on one of the FBI show after his stint as high profile serial killer Richard Wheatley on Law & Order: Organized Crime. Guess what? That FBI show and Chicago PD had a crossover some years back for SOME REASON given they're on different networks and thus shouldn't be tied to the same world regardless if made by the same studio. This is a big hiccup because One Chicago and L&O take place in the same world. So now you have this detective character showing up resembling a fresh hot serial killer whose fate is currently unknown and you think the FBI writers alluded to this? Whoever thought it was a good idea to cast Dylan in this role needs to be severely fired and never be allowed to work again. 

The latest candidate here, Amy Carlson. She had a couple roles in the L&O franchise before, most notable her main role, Kelly Gaffney, on Law & Order: Trial By Jury. Oddly enough, she guest-starred on the original L&O in late-2004 as a whole different character in the same season year TBJ would premiere in but just months apart (as TBJ would air in early 2005). Did Amy get booked on TBJ due to her L&O appearance? By the time that L&O episode aired, TBJ was already filming as early as October 2004. Hard to believe they would cast her as someone else in the same universe on the parent show if she was already locked in to be someone else entirely on a spinoff, but oh well.

Earlier this month I learned Amy was guest-starring on this show, I went on Twitter weeks ago urging executive producer Julie Martin that she be her Kelly Gaffney character. I know TBJ had such a short run almost twenty years ago, but the actors from that show should not be back on surviving or current spinoffs as different characters. They did this with Kirk Acevedo (main character Hector Salazar on TBJ) bringing him on SVU three times as different people following his initial guest appearance as his TBJ character on SVU in 2005! His return to AVU in 2013, I have no idea why he couldn't be Salazar given the character he played then was someone who worked in the DA's office. Guess where Hector worked? IN THE DA'S OFFICE. His following roles had him be a cop. Guess what Hector was before joining the DA's Office? A COP. Missed opportunity to give us some continuity.

So I was eager to see Amy back as Gaffney and told Julie to DO THIS PRONTO if they didn't film her episode yet she was said to be in. It was too late by the time the promo aired days later. I was disappointed. They could have made it work. Kelly got with McGrath and had a daughter and she was now Kelly McGrath. Her being an ADA would be more of a reason to be hell bent on prosecuting whoever assaulted her daughter. There's so much they could have done with Amy's character if she was Gaffney. What trash this episode turned out to be for me.

Edited February 21 by TrialByJury