The L&O: SVU Spoilers and Spec Thread!

[Xeliou66]

Of course the episode will be all about Benson. Mariska's ego is way too big to share the spotlight with anyone. This whole hacker episode that's supposed to be about Barba will instead be centered around Benson, we all know that. 

[RafaelBarba35]

11 hours ago, QueenMab said:

So...once again Barba is clueless and Benson has to tell him the DA's computer/cell phone system is hacked? Barba who lives on his phone and is in the DA's office? 

According to the promo the NYPD computers are hacked by a killer. Maybe they thought that not many people would be interested in the DAs office since it doesn't have Olivia. 

My guess is the killer finds Barba's address or something and goes after him.  Then Olivia shows up and saves the day.

[QueenMab]

RafaelBarba35 I bet your close. Thought I read Rick Eid said "DA's" office. So somebody who took exception to Barba  putting them in prison or he and Benson publically ruining their life, hassles Barba, he tries to handle it, screws it, gets in a tight sitch, and Benson (wearing a cape) comes in gun drawn and saves his little wussy butt. They hug, say something lame like "if he killed you I would have died too (awwwww)" and we still have "The Olivia Benson Hour". Perfect. (I'm starting to not care if they hang him by his berries in Times Square....enough of this shit already).

[Xeliou66]

We all know that anytime an episode is billed as giving more material for a character other than Benson, the episode will actually be about Benson. Last night the press release said Fin would be more involved when instead it was another Mariska Hargitay hour with the almighty Benson getting justice and making things right while Fin didn't do much more than usual. In fact I think Carisi and Rollins got almost as much screen time as Fin. So with this new Barba episode, I have a strong feeling it will be much more about Saint Olivia saving the day and about her feelings and reactions to it. 

[QueenMab]

Why don't they just dress her in a cape and bat ears and be done with it.

[wknt3]

17 hours ago, QueenMab said:

Anyway, its gonna be all about Benson. That's my take.

No matter what it is they will find a way to make it about Benson. Even if it makes no sense story or character wise her reaction will be the focus of the episode and not what is actually happening to Barba.

[Xeliou66]

I have to say, it is absurd how long we are having to wait for a new episode. What a joke, it is clear the show is in disarray, the writers don't seem to know what to do at all, NBC doesn't care and Mariska's ego is out of control. They have no idea what to do with the show and so we are now having 2 or 3 fewer episodes at least than originally planned. I hate to say it because I've been a huge fan of SVU and the L&O franchise for so long that I would hate to see a 27 year run for the L&O franchise end but ending the show soon might just be a mercy killing. 

[skittl3862]

The thing is, though, SVU is the 3rd highest rated show on NBC. This Is Us and Chicago Fire rank higher, but Chicago PD is always lower. Chicago Med isn't even in the Top 25 Network shows. It's not like NBC has a deep bench of hit shows and they're desperate to clear a slot for something new, like CBS goes through every year. I couldn't tell you the NBC Thursday night line-up if you put a gun to my head, and they made that night. I can see SVU coasting as long as the network ratings are as bad as they are until Mariska decides to call it quits, because it's not like they can do any better.

I'm sure we'll find out during the episode, but I have to wonder- why would a killer bother hacking everyone's phones? Is it going to be some super genius serial killer? Part of a Russian spy network? I feel like hackers aren't generally murderers.

[CelticBlackCat]

5 hours ago, QueenMab said:

Why don't they just dress her in a cape and bat ears and be done with it.

With a halo atop her head, since the show is definitely praying at the Church of Holy Saint Olivia.

[WineCheeseChocolat]

I read a lot here about Mariska's ego and the Benson-centricity of the show certainly seems to prove that. What I don't get though - apparently she's well liked by her coworkers and has close friendships with Meloni and Raul. If she's that much of a diva, I'd think she'd make more enemies than friends. 

[Gigglepuff]

5 hours ago, WineCheeseChocolat said:

I read a lot here about Mariska's ego and the Benson-centricity of the show certainly seems to prove that. What I don't get though - apparently she's well liked by her coworkers and has close friendships with Meloni and Raul. If she's that much of a diva, I'd think she'd make more enemies than friends. 

Yeah, it's strange. I wonder how close though? We see a few PR tweets and comments, not an insight into their daily lives. All the Mariska praise seems a little too much. Do you really need to continually rave about how wonderful someone is? If someone is as great as she, why does it always have to be said? Not saying she isn't friends with these people, but I believe some of the Mariska praise is PR based. I've never bought the whole "Mariska" is a goddess line that NBC tries to throw at us. Of course, I'm a cynic and question everything. I'd get along well with Munch I think. 

 

Man, do I ever feel bad for any future PTA moms that will encounter Liv in the future. Wait till they meet that mombot from hell, which we all know she's going to be (already is, actually). 

[RafaelBarbas]

Know It All's airdate has been pushed back a week. Genes will be airing on the 22nd instead.

03/22/2017  (09:00PM - 10:00PM) (Wednesday)     :  An investigation hits a nerve with Benson (Mariska Hargitay) when a suspect claims his genetics causes him to commit rape.  Also starring Kelli Giddish (Det. Amanda Rollins), Raúl Esparza (ADA Rafael Barba) and Peter Scanavino (Det. Sonny Carisi).  Guest starring Greg Germann (Counselor Derek Strauss), Dalton Harrod (Will Stein), Emily Shaffer (Jessica Walcott), Michael Torpey (Nick Brown), Sean Patrick Reilly (Richard Witt), Jared Zirilli (Rodney Marsh) and Alex Hurt (Sam Dalton).

With this, I think it's fair to say Barba won't be losing his job or anything drastic.

[WendyCR72]

The database where I got my info is still saying "Know It All". I'll recheck as the date draws closer, but thanks for the heads up!

[RafaelBarba35]

They aired the promo for Genes yesterday. At least Barba's in it.

[ForeverAlone]

It also likely means that whatever happens to Barba in the hacking episode doesn't carry over any further. Which depending on what happens, I might not be happy with (just because it could mean a story point that was basically nothing). 

Edited March 10, 2017 by ForeverAlone

[Xeliou66]

I'm glad that it is nothing major that could cause Barba to lose his job-get suspended, he is probably my favorite character and he isn't in enough episodes as it is. That being said, I have a feeling the hacker episode will have very little to do with Barba and will instead be another Mariska hour, just like the last episode was supposed to be about Fin but it turned out to be a Benson PSA Hour.

[QueenMab]

So, we know the episode "Genes" was originally supposed to air after the hacker episode? I saw the promo for it. There was Barba. Good. Maybe "Genes" has more Barba than the hacker episode. It's supposed to be about all the people involved in investigating/prosecuting the hacker so I bet you guys are right. They overhyped the episode as "Barba  centric" but I bet Benson has her "secrets" hacked too and that will be the focus. :)

[QueenMab]

After twenty years of banging her way through the NYPD and the DA's office I bet Benson has waaaay more "secrets" than Barba! ( feeling snarky, sorry ) :)

[Xeliou66]

Benson is definitely a lot juicier a target than Barba. With the whole Lewis storyline, plus her family backstory, the hacker would have a lot more juice on her than on Barba. Also Rollins has a ton of stuff from her past as well and Fin has his Darius and his problems. Barba and Carisi seem like the 2 who have the least baggage by far. 

[ForeverAlone]

The reason I want Barba to be the target, is because we already know Olivia and Amanda's secrets. I'm curious about Barba's, though I don't want the writers to destroy his character either. Plus I am sick of Olivia taking center stage, even in episodes that are ostensibly about one of the other characters.

[QueenMab]

I'm thinking if "Genes" was originally supposed to come after "Know It All", then maybe we can pick up some clues as to what went on, you know, like if Barba is going about his job as usual, Benson and her "Golden Child" are fine , etc. Maybe they switched episodes because we viewers were freaking out about Barba getting...what?....screwed, injured, disbarred, etc. All depends I guess if the "Genes" episode really did come after the other episode in the original scheduling. I'm going to watch with a magnifying glass just in case. :)

[RafaelBarba35]

And they just switched it up again. Net Worth is airing after Genes and Know It All doesn't have an air date. Great. Anyone else think that Know It All will be either close to/or the season finale? I mean what's a better way than keeping fans in suspense than to screw with a main character and not hint whether they are coming back or not? 

[WendyCR72]

8 minutes ago, RafaelBarba35 said:

And they just switched it up again. Net Worth is airing after Genes and Know It All doesn't have an air date. Great. Anyone else think that Know It All will be either close to/or the season finale? I mean what's a better way than keeping fans in suspense than to screw with a main character and not hint whether they are coming back or not? 

I hate scheduling.  >:-( In any case, I'll likely remove "Know It All" later. Too lazy now.

[Xeliou66]

What the hell is wrong with the people who run the show? This is just beyond absurd, these are either the most incompetent showrunners ever or NBC is deliberately screwing with the schedule as part of the ploy to bury the Trump episode. This is just a joke, and this is what happens when the creator no longer cares about the show, and the showrunners are asleep at the wheel and letting MH control the storylines. 

And then the Net Worth episode sounds pathetic, seriously, 2 rich white people in a he said/she said rape case?!  We've seen this exact episode a lot of times over the past few years. Just more proof that the writers are out of ideas and that Mariska is dictating the storylines because this is right up her alley, Benson takes on a billionaire and encourages a victim to press charges and gets to preach about how no means no no Jagger how powerful or rich you are. 

[QueenMab]

Spoiler

 

You got to be F ing kidding me. My first thought...Barba's out. And he's going in a way we won't like...marry Yelena and ge

I'm sorry...my phone i

[QueenMab]

I given up..on my phone the show everything. Barbas out in a tacky way,  maybe they tabled it because we wouldn't like it. I am sick of being yanked by this show. They can have him marry Yelena and get a whole lotta sh"t, kill him, send him to prison or have him secretly marry that big menopausal cow and lose it all. SVU..ENOUGH! I said it before...they are OUT OF EXCUSES. Maybe they are so suck they are actually reading the boards criticisms and re doing episodes...whatever. They're pissing on us with this hacking episode tease. Do they think at this point they can yank us with a final episode that puts a popular character in doubt and we will go "YAY! I can't wait till fall!" ?? We won't be there. Why couldn't they just play it straight? Good characters, good stories, and stop F ing with the characters? Please God, can a bomb go off in the SVU squad room and end this fiasco of a show??

[ForeverAlone]

I have heard unsubstantiated rumors that Raul might walk away from SVU after this season, but I have seen nothing to confirm or deny them. 

[QueenMab]

They keep pushing episodes back and there isn't much left in the spring season. It doesn't look good to me. Why use that episode as a cliffhanger when he's popular and all we wanted was an episode that featured him? The Trump episode can't be the sole reason...not that big a deal.  The show is in chaos. All I said was at this point, I don't care what happens to any of them. I don't like the ride...too bumpy. Not drunk thank you, just a "smart phone " that has become a dumb shit.

[Xeliou66]

I wouldn't be surprised if Raul leaves, he gets left out of several episodes each year for no reason and he is a very talented actor. This show is in total disarray, NBC and Dick Wolf only care about their Chicago shows, and the SVU showrunners are totally clueless about how to run a show and can't make up their mind about what to do, they are trying to please everyone it appears and they are letting Mariska dictate a lot of the storylines to them. This show still has potential and there have been a few good episodes this season, but the cluelessness of the showrunners, the endless St Olivia PSA's episodes, and the repeated he said-she said rape cases are proof that the show is running low on creativity and the showrunners are crap. 

[WendyCR72]

Let's watch the tone of some of these posts, please. Attacking the show is one thing. Attacking posters is never allowed. So be courteous.

[QueenMab]

Basically we agree. The show doesn't deserve our interest or loyalty anymore. All I'm saying. Its so screwed its hard to care. 

Its OK Wendy. Xeliou gets blunt sometimes. He hasn't made any of us cry yet! :)

[RafaelBarba35]

Well Know It All has an air date April 5th. So maybe Barba won't be leaving. I hope not. Not only is he my favorite character, I kinda want him to break Novak's record of five straight seasons. 

[QueenMab]

How long is the season supposed to last? Until May? If so there's hope. If the April 5th show is the last or next to last....oh well.

[RafaelBarba35]

4 hours ago, QueenMab said:

How long is the season supposed to last? Until May? If so there's hope. If the April 5th show is the last or next to last....oh well.

Know it all is now the 15th episode and there are 21 episodes this season.

[QueenMab]

Thanks. Its just the way episodes have been shelved and obviously shuffled out of order, I'm getting resigned to getting kinda screwed around. :)

[Gigi43]

Well all the talk of Know It All being so bad for Barba and "not being able to talk to Liv" seems even more along the lines of the overhype as Fin getting  a story about using his past as an Army Ranger. Even  if Liv is mad at Barba in the episode  it was suppose to air before  Genes, and they seemed to be on fine terms last night. There's still the chance for some reason  they're  holding it because without episodes after with Barba doing his job and being fine with everyone it could make an exit episode  but at least it can't be anything  too damming they gets uncovered  in the hacking because  they wouldn't  have been  behaving the way they were around  Barba in last night's if it was.

Edited March 23, 2017 by Gigi43

[QueenMab]

I agree with you. Last nights episode was clearly ( to me) supposed to be shown during the fall/winter season before the end of the year. And it was scheduled to be after the hacker episode. That's why I watched to get a sense of what might have happened in the hacker episode and as near as I can tell, there was a professional distance between Benson and Barba that was really nice and we haven't seen in a long time. He was the lawyer, she was the detective, and when they interviewed a suspect in the DA's office, Barba was clearly in charge and I thought for once, Benson asked a couple of questions appropriate for a detective to ask and Barba asked what he needed to know and we were spared Benson getting legal and self righteous and threatening like its her place to do that. If Barba is in next weeks' episode it will be interesting to see if that more respectful, professional dynamic is still there. Because if the hacker episode is about their relationship, by the time its shown, Barba and Benson will look more innocent won't they? I just wonder if they shuffled the episodes to set up the hacker episode so that it will be less of a mystery to us and we will believe Barba and Benson are innocent of whatever....just my thoughts.

[QueenMab]

BTW....not implying anything. I just mean a hacker bent on destroying the people out to get him, can take a friendship or something "mild" and tur

and turn it into something damaging, you know? ( sorry my phone is acting up again). :)

[angel1008]

If Raul were to leave, I would be finished with this show.  Supposedly "Know It All" is to be Barba centric, and apparently, even Liv cannot help him, but somehow, someway, it will be about her.  I have seen Mariska on talk shows, and she seems really nice.  However, I just don't get this "everything has to be about Benson" way the show has gone.  It was always an ensemble show, now it is not.

[Jaded]

I let this season's episodes so far pile up on my DVR saying I was going to start watching at some point. I got through 3 of them this past weekend and had to stop after the kid in the sandbox with a gun because I was so tired of Liv. If Raul left I'd probably stop watching too. I know my viewing went down after Munch left. I miss it being an ensemble show too.

[Xeliou66]

Raul isn't going anywhere IMO, and I might quit as well if he left. And this Know It All episode supposedly being about Barba is a ton of bullshit, just like No Surrender was "supposed" to be about Fin if you read what NBC said, but it turned about to be yet another St Olivia hour. 

[Gigglepuff]

I came back to this "show" when they introduced Barba and tolerated it since then because of him.  My guess right now is that Raul is staying with the show but sadly, he's barely a draw for me at this point. This show needs an overhaul, big time, and they can start with sending Liv (and Noah) off to the sunset. Give her a happy ending already. They really need a fresh character in there to give things a different perspective if this show want to continue. Benson as a cop is boring already, and that's all this show is about. 

[RafaelBarba35]

On 3/31/2017 at 9:47 AM, Gigglepuff said:

I came back to this "show" when they introduced Barba and tolerated it since then because of him.  My guess right now is that Raul is staying with the show but sadly, he's barely a draw for me at this point. This show needs an overhaul, big time, and they can start with sending Liv (and Noah) off to the sunset. Give her a happy ending already. They really need a fresh character in there to give things a different perspective if this show want to continue. Benson as a cop is boring already, and that's all this show is about. 

They send off Benson the show gets cancelled. She is the biggest draw. I mean it could go on without her but most likely NBC would pull it and not give it a chance. 

[WendyCR72]

55 minutes ago, RafaelBarba35 said:

They send off Benson the show gets cancelled. She is the biggest draw. I mean it could go on without her but most likely NBC would pull it and not give it a chance. 

I agree with this. Perhaps if the show wasn't so old now, a reset could have worked as it did when Chris Meloni left. But the show will be, come the fall (as I have no doubt NBC will renew since I think the show is now trying to tie/break the Mothership's 20-season streak), 19 seasons in. If Hargitay left, I'm 1,000% sure NBC would just call it a day for Wolf's first franchise and say sayonara.

[Xeliou66]

NBC says that the show wouldn't survive without Mariska because they don't care about the show and Mariska thinks that the show wouldn't survive without Mariska so her and her people put out that message. The truth is, there are a lot of people who are sick of Benson/Mariska and wouldn't miss her at all if she left. Yeah there would be the hardcore fans who would quit just like the hardcore Meloni fans who quit after season 12 but most fans would stick around. The show not being able to survive without St Olivia is a bullshit message put out by MH and her puppets. 

[QueenMab]

Am I the only one who thinks my all time fave badass chick detective...Lt.Alexandra Eames would be an AWESOME replacement to head up SVU? She would show how its really done...and wouldn't have to bang her colleagues in order to work with them effectively. Benson out, Eames in I say!

[Xeliou66]

I love Eames and think she would be a much better SVU leader than Benson, but I would want Fin to take over for Benson if she left, he would be a terrific squad leader and hasn't gotten enough to do recently. I wish they had made Fin the LT instead of Benson a few years ago. But Eames would be a great addition, she was a much better female cop than Benson, she wasn't biased or overly emotional and didn't have an agenda to push. 

Edited April 2, 2017 by Xeliou66

[QueenMab]

I would love to see Eames and Barba interact as respectful colleagues. Eanes has a very different way of making her case and I think the interaction between the two would be much more interesting. Eames handled the most brilliant, eccentric Detective on the force for ten years and never had to shake her boobs in his face or snarl at Goren to get her way. Would love to see a female detective able to lead and work with different personalities in a professional, effective way. And who knows how to interrogate a slimeball without making a display of herself. Benson out, Eames in!!

[WendyCR72]

2 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

NBC says that the show wouldn't survive without Mariska because they don't care about the show and Mariska thinks that the show wouldn't survive without Mariska so her and her people put out that message. The truth is, there are a lot of people who are sick of Benson/Mariska and wouldn't miss her at all if she left. Yeah there would be the hardcore fans who would quit just like the hardcore Meloni fans who quit after season 12 but most fans would stick around. The show not being able to survive without St Olivia is a bullshit message put out by MH and her puppets. 

Not discounting many are now tired of Benson, but right or wrong, NBC has the final say. So I think if MH hung it up, the show would be done since it is now almost 19 years in. Maybe to make room for Chicago: DPW or something.

And I have ALWAYS preferred Alex Eames over Olivia Benson, even when I liked Olivia. But it's all about preference. As for MH the actress, she seems like a sweet person, so my dislike is strictly character-Benson fatigue here.

[Xeliou66]

I cannot tell how much of my dislike of Benson is because of Mariska or not. While Mariska has always seemed nice from what I've heard, however there is no denying her agenda in real life has become Benson's agenda on the show and that is why it is so preachy now. I also wonder how big of an ego she has, because of how much screentime she gets and how for years the writers have ignored other characters in order to give her more attention, and the way Benson is always right and always saves the day at the end of the episode, plus the fact that they had no female characters other than St Olivia for so long, all point to a huge ego from Mariska. I don't really know what she is like in real life but it's safe to say that Mariska is a part of the shows problem no doubt. Besides the above comments, her acting is very weak now, and her facial expressions are comedic they are so overdone.