S24.E01 Catch and Kill

[Xeliou66]

I figured I would start the thread for the season premiere tonight, the episode description reads 

When a Brooklyn prosecutor is found slain in her apartment, Maroun takes drastic action to convince an eyewitness to come forward; Riley struggles to adjust to the new lieutenant in charge. 

[ML89]

Maybe Maroun's "drastic action" means that's a way to send her out too!

[Xeliou66]

2 hours ago, ML89 said:

Maybe Maroun's "drastic action" means that's a way to send her out too!

Yeah Maroun is my least favorite of the main characters, she just doesn’t do much for me.  
I am looking forward to the show being back, and I look forward to meeting the new LT - I hope they address where Dixon went - they didn’t even address Bernard’s departure and the one line they gave about Cosgrove just left me with more questions than answers. 

[shapeshifter]

Pretty intense story/script.

[dubbel zout]

Damn it, I was hoping Maroun would throw away her career and knock on the witness's door. She really should be reassigned to another division in the DA's office, since prosecuting crimes is too personal for her. And she desperately needs intensive counseling pronto. 

Dixon's reason for leaving was so throwaway, but at least it wasn't because she was fired or had a fatal disease.

[txhorns79]

The video of the perp beating another woman was legit horrifying. 

It was interesting to see the new lieutenant at the crime scene, looking at evidence and participating in the early, investigatory parts of the case. 

46 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

She really should be reassigned to another division in the DA's office, since prosecuting crimes is too personal for her.

Really, she shouldn't have been on this case at all.  Arthur Branch would have fired her for being too much of an advocate, and she'd have to reveal she had secretly been a lesbian the whole time. 

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

Damn it, I was hoping Maroun would throw away her career and knock on the witness's door.

I'm glad she didn't because this episode didn't piss me off until Price and Baxter said she couldn't talk to the witness because "he has a lawyer." 

So what if the witness has a lawyer? He wasn't the perp.  If she had done this to the guy on trial, then that would be bad. But a prosecutor can talk to a witness without a lawyer. He can choose not to talk to her but she wouldn't be under threat of disbarment.   

In fact, I feel a little duped that nothing had upset me up until the killer hung himself.  I should have seen it coming when the judge actually let the tapes in instead of booting them for some dumb reason.  They saved the stupid until the end of the ep. 

 

 

[buttersister]

Anybody picturing Jack McCoy hugging his assistant DA in the middle of the street? No? No kiddimg. Oy. I was hoping she’d resign. Still hoping.

The Dixon stuff was mah. Unsurprisingly.

[shapeshifter]

At the end, when Price confronted Maroun in the street, grabbing her by the arms, Maroun responding with obvious defiance and anger, finally ending in the hug, I was struck by how much it looked like an acting out of a typical domestic violence encounter, and was half expecting it to be reported or to have a beat cop intervene.

[txhorns79]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

So what if the witness has a lawyer? He wasn't the perp.  If she had done this to the guy on trial, then that would be bad. But a prosecutor can talk to a witness without a lawyer. He can choose not to talk to her but she wouldn't be under threat of disbarment.   

I don't think you can continue talking to a potential witness if their lawyer has told you they have representation, and that any questions to the witness need to go through the lawyer. 

[Raja]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

I'm glad she didn't because this episode didn't piss me off until Price and Baxter said she couldn't talk to the witness because "he has a lawyer." 

So what if the witness has a lawyer? He wasn't the perp.  If she had done this to the guy on trial, then that would be bad. But a prosecutor can talk to a witness without a lawyer. He can choose not to talk to her but she wouldn't be under threat of disbarment.   

In fact, I feel a little duped that nothing had upset me up until the killer hung himself.  I should have seen it coming when the judge actually let the tapes in instead of booting them for some dumb reason.  They saved the stupid until the end of the ep. 

 

 

I'm with you but a lifetime of watching New York Supreme Court judges makes me give the writers the benefit of the doubt. I guess once ADA Maroun ask how much the bribe was the Uber driver was a suspect of another crime with Miranda rights intact.

[Xeliou66]

This was better than I expected after a bumpy start and it took some twists that I didn’t see coming. I was suspicious of the fiancé from his first scene, but I wasn’t sure who the perp would be. I was afraid it was going to be another politics fest like last year’s premiere and while there was some of that I was glad it went in a different sort of direction.

I really liked Baxter - his statement to the commentator at the start reminded me of McCoy’s statement on the witness stand in the season 18 episode where he said that his job was to uphold the law and prosecute crime without bias or prejudice and to stay above the political fray. He was strong throughout, and I’m enjoying having a DA who’s more active - Jack was awesome and can’t be replaced but his role was limited in the revival so it’s nice to have a DA get more screen time and I’m liking Baxter and what he brings. He was the highlight of the episode really. 

The new lieutenant was interesting enough, it will be interesting to see what her role is going forward, I expect her to settle in more in her relationship with Shaw/Riley. Shaw/Riley were really good as usual, I think they are a stellar pairing, I liked Riley’s blatant disgust with the fiancé when he realized he was the killer, I thought the scumbag was about to take a swing at him for a minute.

Glad they gave Dixon a happy ending even if it was rushed - after not doing a good job addressing Cosgrove and Bernard leaving I’m glad they gave Dixon closure. I’ll miss her but I think the new LT will be pretty good as well.

I didn’t see it coming that the perp would off himself but it was in character - he was a coward who knew he was about to rot. I was glad the judge didn’t make a stupid ruling tossing out evidence, I was pleasantly surprised that didn’t happen given how often it’s happened on the revival.

My problems with the episode were the following -

The final few minutes felt too soapy and too much like SVU to be honest, with Maroun breaking down crying and Price hugging her - it was over the top for the Mothership, the Mothership is better when it’s more restrained with its characters emotions. The whole thing about prosecuting the guy covering for the killer was done okay but Maroun’s emotions were overboard and felt too soapy.

I’m tired of openings where we see the crime occur, I wish they would go back to the old openings of people stumbling on a crime scene. This one just felt gratuitous and done for shock value as well. And the foot chase was annoying but at least it was brief.

Overall this was kind of middle of the road - had some stuff I liked but it was too soapy and melodramatic at the end and I hope they don’t go down that route.

Edited October 4 by Xeliou66

[MerBearHou]

It was an OK opener for me, but I’m glad L&O is back.  

I 100% agree about Maroun and the soapiness of her emotions — honestly, she probably should not have been on this case with what happened to her sister.  She almost blew up her career over her actions, going to the house of the driver.  Gosh, I wish she was gone from the show.

The minute the fiancé’s eyes got a faraway look once he knew they had him, I was certain the next scene would be of him having killed himself.  

Yes, the journalist was a total creep, but please, did the director and props crew decide “hey, let’s put big photos of Pres Reagan and Pres Bush” right behind him as he spoke in his office?  I mean, talk about heavy-handed.  We get it, L&O and Dick Wolf, we know where you stand politically by now, but that was so lame.  

Speaking of the journalist, remind me -- did they want to charge him with the murder (since the fiancé killed himself)?  I can see accessory, but not actual murder.

Baxter was great in this one.  I’m liking him too.  Not sold at all on the new lieutenant, but part of that is that Maura Tierney is not a fave and her pursed lips (fillers?) distract me.  I thought her “I’m a badass” vibe was not a great way to join a new team.  Going to miss Dixon / Camryn — they never gave her enough to do and she’s always, always good in her roles.

The video by the elevator was almost a carbon copy of Diddy and it was horrific to watch.  

Edited October 4 by MerBearHou

[babyrambo]

This was a good opener and one of the better performances for the lawyers. I like them both and Sam’s actress seems capable, but her lines are always so boring that Sam tends to come off like she’s sleepwalking through the scenes. I usually prefer the second chair but so far it’s been such a thankless role, at least in the hands of these writers. Seeing her get to be passionate and take action was great, especially since this was personal for her. I could identify with her rage at the reporter basically aiding his friend enact brutal violence against his girlfriend and getting away with it, so I didn’t find her intensity or the ending melodramatic at all. She’s good when they let her do more than blandly monologue and react to Nolan’s grimaces. 

[Sake614]

So I thought it was a decent episode and clearly an art imitates life kinda thing with the fiancé dragging the woman in a hotel corridor and beating her, shades of Diddy videos that only surfaced years after the fact. Also, I called him being dead but thought the sister was going to do it. 

I appreciated that the prosecutors had a fair amount of story but still have no use for Maroun. At least Price was stronger this time around but perhaps he should’ve told Baxter about Maroun’s sister when he was first asked what was going on with her? Keeping that til the end was not the way to go. Please, show, I’m begging you, get rid of her!

I don’t have a problem with the new lieutenant not wanting to instantly hold hands and sing kumbaya with her detectives. I think things will settle down and they’ll find a rhythm that works for them all. Also, I like Maura Tierny. Always have.

[Raja]

5 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

  

Speaking of the journalist, remind me -- did they want to charge him with the murder (since the fiancé killed himself)?  I can see accessory, but not actual murder.

Baxter was great in this one.  I’m liking him too.  Not sold at all on the new lieutenant, but part of that is that Maura Tierney is not a fave and her pursed lips (fillers?) distract me.  I thought her “I’m a badass” vibe was not a great way to join a new team.  Going to miss Dixon / Camryn — they never gave her enough to do and she’s always, always good in her roles.

The video by the elevator was almost a carbon copy of Diddy and it was horrific to watch.  

That he knew of the killers history and that he served as advanced scout to get the victim to open her door. 

Edited October 4 by Raja

[Andyourlittledog2]

Camryn was always my favorite part of this revival and I was gutted that she was gone. Then I saw Maura Tierney and all was well again. I have always loved her. Thanks for that, L&O.

It was a good case and everyone was terrific but I can't stand Maroun. She needs to do something else for a living, this is not her forte. She is super emotional and OTT almost every episode. I have always thought the DAs on L&O were very dispassionate and aggravatingly dismissive of the people they touch in their work - suspects, witnesses, etc. As long as they get what they want they had no thought or care what happened to these people.  They were just too tough, too uncaring. But Maroun is way too far the other way. She seems to be unable to suck it up and do her job most of the time.  I was so hoping she would throw her career away and be gone in the opener but no, Carisi intervened. So we are still stuck with her. Too bad.

All in all a good opening.

[shapeshifter]

38 minutes ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

It was a good case and everyone was terrific but I can't stand Maroun. She needs to do something else for a living, this is not her forte. She is super emotional and OTT almost every episode. I have always thought the DAs on L&O were very dispassionate and aggravatingly dismissive of the people they touch in their work - suspects, witnesses, etc. As long as they get what they want they had no thought or care what happened to these people.  They were just too tough, too uncaring. But Maroun is way too far the other way. She seems to be unable to suck it up and do her job most of the time.  I was so hoping she would throw her career away and be gone in the opener but no, Carisi intervened. So we are still stuck with her. Too bad.

Price, not Carisi, but anyway, the end of this episode could be a setup for Maroun to leave. I guess she’s supposed to represent the viewers emotionally, so it depends upon whether or not Wolf, Eid, etc. thinks the character is working successfully that way. 
With Olivia Benson appearing in the next episode, I wonder if she will tell Maroun there’s a place for her to work as an advocate for victims in SVU?

[Sake614]

6 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

With Olivia Benson appearing in the next episode

Oh dear lord WHY????? Why must we be subjected to her on the mothership? I thought this show was a safe zone 😢

[edhopper]

For once a Judge allows obviously admissible evidence. I still like the Police stuff more than the Court stuff. Two glaring problems this week. One, Maroun, knowing the victim, would not be allowed within a mile of the case. And two, they see the Uber Driver is being paid offer. High priced lawyer or not, that is witness tampering. Subpeona his bank accounts to see if he got money. Find out who is paying the lawyer. Put him on the stand and if he lies, that is perjury. "Oh well, he will just change his story", is not an effective way to prosecute a criminal.

[Raja]

1 minute ago, Sake614 said:

Oh dear lord WHY????? Why must we be subjected to her on the mothership? I thought this show was a safe zone 😢

One Chicago, The FBIs, and  before corporate ownership rights came into play 9-1-1 back to back. 

[Sake614]

6 hours ago, Raja said:

One Chicago, The FBIs, and  before corporate ownership rights came into play 9-1-1 back to back. 

Huh? I know they did an SVU/Chicago PD crossover but when and why was Hargity on any of the other shows?

[Xeliou66]

3 minutes ago, Sake614 said:

Huh? I know they did an SVU/Chicago PD crossover but when and why was Hargity on any of the other shows?

Hargitay hasn’t appeared on any of those shows. I’m confused by that post as well. And I’m not happy about being subjected to St Olivia on the Mothership next week and I really hope the episode doesn’t just end with her being right about everything and making the Mothership characters look bad. I really can’t stand Olivia now. 

[txhorns79]

6 hours ago, Raja said:

One Chicago, The FBIs, and  before corporate ownership rights came into play 9-1-1 back to back. 

In fairness, L&O crossovers between series have been happening since SVU began.     

[Xeliou66]

6 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

In fairness, L&O crossovers between series have been happening since SVU began.     

I don’t mind the crossover, I just despise Olivia Benson. If it was any other SVU character appearing on the Mothership or one of the Mothership characters appearing on SVU I would enjoy it. But Benson is insufferable now and the hero worship of the character by is nauseating. 

[Diana Berry]

What was Dixons happy ending?  I missed it 

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Diana Berry said:

What was Dixons happy ending?  I missed it 

A text arrived to one of the detectives while they were working the case:

• Oh, from Dixon. "Patrick got a great job at a school in Miami. Mama's tagging along. Didn't want to make a big to-do about it, tears and all that. Come visit."
• I'll take her up on that.
• Talk about the old Irish goodbye, though, right?
• Mm-hmm. I'll take that up with her later, but I'm glad she's all right.

[Theli11]

On 10/4/2024 at 1:08 AM, Xeliou66 said:

The final few minutes felt too soapy and too much like SVU to be honest, with Maroun breaking down crying and Price hugging her - it was over the top for the Mothership, the Mothership is better when it’s more restrained with its characters emotions. The whole thing about prosecuting the guy covering for the killer was done okay but Maroun’s emotions were overboard and felt too soapy.

I didn't mind it this much. Samantha never gets much to do, and this did make me like her. A lot of it is frustration but it's not like Jack McCoy wasn't taking his anger out of defendants either.. It's okay for them to be flawed. 

On 10/4/2024 at 10:36 AM, MerBearHou said:

Yes, the journalist was a total creep, but please, did the director and props crew decide “hey, let’s put big photos of Pres Reagan and Pres Bush”

It was Senior & Junior! All that was left to do was pan down to a picture of Donald Trump..

OVerall I did like this episode's back half. I thought the first half was okay, the second half I thought was phenominal. Nolan I thought was being very dumb by saying that Sam was okay the whole time (but also it's his boss asking so if he doesn't say that she's okay maybe Baxter.... eh... it's obvious that she's not okay. )

[Joimiaroxeu]

Yeah, that opening scene was brutal to watch.

It's not believable to me that the detectives didn't already know the victim was a prosecutor in an adjacent borough. Wouldn't all the prosecutors' addresses be flagged in their dispatch system?

My early money was on the victim's fiancé as the murderer. On L&O it's usually the rich person.

Riley and Shaw chasing the first wrong suspect right off the bat!

Lt. Brady apparently has some kind of hyper intelligence and perception that helps her with cases. That seems be all the rage on crime shows again. I've been seeing it thriller novels too. (Posters on reddit were comparing her to Goren on L&O:CI. Not sure I'd go that far, yet.)

Kind of a big leap from someone basically aiding & abetting to being fully charged with murder. But still, it seems bad that the DA couldn't get the killer's co-conspirator with anything at all since he can use freedom of the press as a shield.

Maura Tierney is an interesting choice to replace Camryn Manheim. Guess the producers wanted to go in a very different direction with the Lieutenant.

Also from reddit, my favorite comment about the "ripped from the headlines" Cassie and Diddy storyline:

Quote

All that was missing was the baby oil.

Edited October 7 by Joimiaroxeu

[Raja]

18 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Kind of a big leap from someone basically aiding & abetting to being fully charged with murder. But still, it seems bad that the DA couldn't get the killer's co-conspirator with anything at all since he can use freedom of the press as a shield.

How would it be different from the getaway driver being charged under the felony murder laws when his partner kills a bank teller?

[Joimiaroxeu]

5 minutes ago, Raja said:

How would it be different from the getaway driver being charged under the felony murder laws when his partner kills a bank teller?

Depends on whether the getaway driver knew they were going to be the getaway driver. If they didn't because the killer basically lied to them, then I'd say the getawary driver is not fully culpable for the murder. 

In this episode the point was made clear that the tabloid publisher knew his buddy regularly abused women, and he had a long history of covering for the guy. What was different is that this time he didn't know the perp intended to kill the victim. So I'd expect the tabloid publisher to be charged for something but not the murder. IMO freedom of the press shouldn't be used to cover up murders.

[Raja]

21 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

What was different is that this time he didn't know the perp intended to kill the victim. So I'd expect the tabloid publisher to be charged for something but not the murder. IMO freedom of the press shouldn't be used to cover up murders.

Even assaulting and battery is a felony, thus felony murder. Although Law & Order used a different term for New York with all their cases of the suspect should have known it could have happened.

[ML89]

On 10/4/2024 at 1:08 AM, Xeliou66 said:

I’m tired of openings where we see the crime occur, I wish they would go back to the old openings of people stumbling on a crime scene. This one just felt gratuitous and done for shock value as well. And the foot chase was annoying but at least it was brief.

Co-signed. What set L&O apart was not having these gratuitous murder scenes. Also, poor Shaw and Riley are going to have another year of chasing people. The Olympics coverage missed a trick with not having them run alongside some track contenders.

Maroun and Price win a motion and it's all for naught. Maroun needs to get out of the DA's office and get a nice boring law job before she has a breakdown. Maybe this is going to be the set up for her going out down the road.

I'm beginning to really like Baxter as the boss. Glad he won his election and also glad we didn't have to see any of it other than that random reference to it.

Jury is definitely out on Maura Tierney because I have so many bad memories of Abby on ER, and now that's twice we've met a new character waltzing their way into the crime scene. I have trouble with the quick way they wrote Dixon out and her in - wouldn't Dixon have told them she was thinking of moving to wherever her son is now teaching? Were Shaw and Riley on vacation or something and didn't know until then? Very weird. But at least we know what happened to her.

 

 

 

[shapeshifter]

8 minutes ago, ML89 said:

wouldn't Dixon have told them she was thinking of moving to wherever her son is now teaching? Were Shaw and Riley on vacation or something and didn't know until then? Very weird.

• [TEXT FROM DIXON] "Patrick got a great job at a school in Miami. Mama's tagging along. Didn't want to make a big to-do about it, tears and all that. Come visit."
• [DET. RILEY] Talk about the old Irish goodbye…

See also: dictionary.com/e/slang/irish-goodbye

[Raja]

14 minutes ago, ML89 said:

 I have trouble with the quick way they wrote Dixon out and her in - wouldn't Dixon have told them she was thinking of moving to wherever her son is now teaching? Were Shaw and Riley on vacation or something and didn't know until then? Very weird. But at least we know what happened to her.

I've had the unit preparing for retirement parties, like LT Van Buren. And then I have came to work wondering if someone was sick to find out they kept their retirement secret.

[zapper]

maybe I missed it in this thread, but I'm surprised noone else seems to have noticed the absence (and departure) of Connie Shi as Det Violet Yee.

She was always one of my favourite characters in the mothership. But it was Riley doing the keyboard work in this episode. Pity.

[Xeliou66]

5 minutes ago, zapper said:

maybe I missed it in this thread, but I'm surprised noone else seems to have noticed the absence (and departure) of Connie Shi as Det Violet Yee.

She was always one of my favourite characters in the mothership. But it was Riley doing the keyboard work in this episode. Pity.

I noticed her absence as well - wonder where she went? She was in just about every episode of seasons 22 and 23. I liked her fine but sometimes they relied too much on her and her computer so I didn’t really miss her. 

 

7 hours ago, Raja said:

I've had the unit preparing for retirement parties, like LT Van Buren. And then I have came to work wondering if someone was sick to find out they kept their retirement secret.

Yeah some people just don’t want a big hoopla about leaving and I take it Dixon is one of those. It was a bit odd how the new LT just showed up at the crime scene and said she was replacing Dixon but I’m glad they gave Dixon a happy ending and had lines about her after not adequately addressing Bernard or Cosgrove leaving. 

Like a couple of others, I’m wondering if they are setting Maroun up to depart this season. She is definitely my least favorite of the main cast and just doesn’t add much. I’m starting to wonder if she’ll go vigilante to take down her sister’s killer and that will be her exit. I hope it doesn’t get soapy like that, the ending of this episode was way too soapy and SVU-like for my taste, but I’m wondering if Maroun will be gone.

Anyway it’s nice to have L&O back and I still enjoy it even with the flaws. 

 

[Raja]

1 hour ago, zapper said:

maybe I missed it in this thread, but I'm surprised noone else seems to have noticed the absence (and departure) of Connie Shi as Det Violet Yee.

She was always one of my favourite characters in the mothership. But it was Riley doing the keyboard work in this episode. Pity.

I did joke about her losing her role to the Lieutenant needing time to work the crime scene. Detective Lupo did his own computer searches if memory serves. It might just be similar to the ADA losing her reason for being to foot chases when they dropped the arraignment scenes and having her watching the interrogation and advising the police go ahead with an arrest.  

[CrystalBlue]

I'm back to watching L&O in current time.  Last season's premier put me off so much that I lost interest in the whole dang franchise.  I caught up on the three shows by binge watching the last couple of months!

But ack! Saint Olivia is crossing over already next week?!

This episode was enjoyable but I also wish they would go back to New Yorkers or tourists visiting the Big Apple stumbling across the crime scene rather than seeing the violence in progress.

Lt. Brady is interesting and I look forward to seeing more of Maura Tierney in the new role.  At least we got some closure on Kate Dixon's departure.

Too bad Maroun didn't leave instead.  We can only hope they're setting up her departure now.  How many more times is her sister's unsolved murder going to affect her judgment and emotions?

[Tachi Rocinante]

Maroun doesn't bother me too much, unless they have her acting this way all season.  Every character has their weak spots they exploit for drama. 

[dubbel zout]

We've seen Maroun's personal history interfere with prosecuting other cases. It's tiresome to me at this point, since she seems unable to temper her emotions to serve the cases properly. It's playing into an unpleasant stereotype for women.

[Raja]

6 hours ago, Tachi Rocinante said:

Maroun doesn't bother me too much, unless they have her acting this way all season.  Every character has their weak spots they exploit for drama. 

They literally wrote the role of the ADA out of the show. The non Big 6 detectives have more to do, unless the new Lieutenant stole her time 

[Mstk3000]

On 10/7/2024 at 10:20 AM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Depends on whether the getaway driver knew they were going to be the getaway driver. If they didn't because the killer basically lied to them, then I'd say the getawary driver is not fully culpable for the murder. 

In this episode the point was made clear that the tabloid publisher knew his buddy regularly abused women, and he had a long history of covering for the guy. What was different is that this time he didn't know the perp intended to kill the victim. So I'd expect the tabloid publisher to be charged for something but not the murder. IMO freedom of the press shouldn't be used to cover up murders.

That’s why they needed the Uber driver’s testimony.  According to his account, the fiancé was hopping mad in the car and said “I’m going to kill the b***h.”  Which obviously the friend would have heard also, sitting next to him.  Then the driver also said that the fiancé hid while the friend fooled the victim into opening the door.  That would have been enough for felony murder IMO but they lost the driver’s testimony.

What I don’t get is why the fiancé didn’t have a mark on him.  That was quite a struggle and she kicked him in the face hard enough for him to let go at one point.

[Xeliou66]

3 hours ago, Mstk3000 said:

That’s why they needed the Uber driver’s testimony.  According to his account, the fiancé was hopping mad in the car and said “I’m going to kill the b***h.”  Which obviously the friend would have heard also, sitting next to him.  Then the driver also said that the fiancé hid while the friend fooled the victim into opening the door.  That would have been enough for felony murder IMO but they lost the driver’s testimony.

What I don’t get is why the fiancé didn’t have a mark on him.  That was quite a struggle and she kicked him in the face hard enough for him to let go at one point.

Good point about the killer not having any injuries - I get that they didn’t want to make it obvious he did it but it was a hole. This is another reason why they shouldn’t show the crime in progress - if they had just left the exact way the murder went down up to the imagination it would’ve been better. I really miss the openings of people finding crime scenes instead of seeing one of the last scenes of the victim’s life or in this case the actual murder. To be fair to the revival they started doing the stuff about showing the last scenes in the victim’s life in the final few years of the original run, and I didn’t care for it then either. But actually showing the murder here felt gratuitous and like something from a lesser show, while the ending felt more like SVU style melodrama. I hope they dial back the melodrama but I’m not looking forward to seeing Olivia Benson in the next episode.     
But I still enjoy the revival more than most and it has good stuff - I particularly like the Shaw/Riley detective pairing, they are very enjoyable to watch, and I’m enjoying DA Baxter’s scenes quite a bit - while no one can replace Jack, Baxter is a worthy successor and I like having more scenes with the DA. Price is hit or miss, sometimes he’s good and sometimes he’s soft or rubs me the wrong way. Jury is still out on the new LT but I’m pretty sure she’ll settle in. Maroun is definitely my least favorite and she gets too emotional and it’s interfered with how she does her job on multiple occasions, I wouldn’t miss her if she left. 

[Moose135]

On 10/6/2024 at 3:47 AM, shapeshifter said:

A text arrived to one of the detectives while they were working the case:

• Oh, from Dixon. "Patrick got a great job at a school in Miami. Mama's tagging along. Didn't want to make a big to-do about it, tears and all that. Come visit."
• I'll take her up on that.
• Talk about the old Irish goodbye, though, right?
• Mm-hmm. I'll take that up with her later, but I'm glad she's all right.

Wow, I must have zoned out while watching, I don't remember that at all!

[ZettaK]

On 10/5/2024 at 2:04 AM, Andyourlittledog2 said:

pleplplepleIt was a good case and everyone was terrific but I can't stand Maroun. She needs to do something else for a living, this is not her forte. She is super emotional and OTT almost every episode. I have always thought the DAs on L&O were very dispassionate and aggravatingly dismissive of the people they touch in their work - suspects, witnesses, etc. As long as they get what they want they had no thought or care what happened to these people.  They were just too tough, too uncaring. But Maroun is way too far the other way. She seems to be unable to suck it up and do her job most of the time.  I was so hoping she would throw her career away and be gone in the opener but no, Carisi intervened. So we are still stuck with her. Too bad.

All in all a good opening.

In reality, DAs are the advocates of the victims, and they should act (meaning even showing emotions) as such. It's obvious on real life crime shows (the Oxygen Crime channel for example is all about real life crime cases).