ADA Rafael Barba: Suspenders and Snark, Socks and Sass

[Xeliou66]

Barba's job is not to be Benson's bitch, and it doesn't make him an asshole to not let himself get bullied around by the almighty St Olivia. His job is to prosecute criminals, not take orders from Benson and act as her lapdog. Barba should not be weak, even if he is in the presence of the almighty St Olivia, holy empowerer and advocate for all women. Imposter was an all time low for Barba, it was an all time low for SVU in fact. Since then Barba has returned some to his old form, I thought last night he was excellent. Barba is a great character and provides a real spark to the show, and I hate episodes where he acts like Benson's bitch and loses his mojo. 

[Megger]

Is Raul Esparza leaving the show?  

[Xeliou66]

No, what makes you think Barba is leaving? As far as I've heard he's staying, they need to give him more though. 

Edited May 5, 2017 by Xeliou66

[ForeverAlone]

I' ve heard gossip rumors Raul was considering leaving after this season, so I won't be shocked if he chooses to leave. And if the writing and Barba characterization continues to be subpar, part of me will be relieved to see that he escaped.

[SunnyBeBe]

I recently saw the end of an episode and I'm not sure which one it was.  It had Barba admitting to Saint LIv that he had given a drug addict/witness money for drugs and then gave the witness's orphaned child money for years.  At the end, he was going to meet with the Bar to find his fate.  Anyone now the name of that episode?

Edited June 5, 2017 by SunnyBeBe

[Xeliou66]

That was Know It All from this season, and it was revealed in the next episode that he only got a brief suspension from the DA, not the bar. A lot of build up for squat, the episode was hailed as some sort of Barba big secret, big episode but it was barely anything and was all about Olivia once again. A lot of fans were panicking that Barba was leaving when it was obvious it was more deceptive promos from NBC and the showrunners. 

I hope Barba is in every episode in season 19, it makes no sense why every year we have several without him when Raul is in the main credits and ADA's Cabot and Novak were in every episode in most of their seasons. Barba has the most personality and is the most entertaining character on the show as well as the best ADA SVU has ever had. We need more legal scenes next year with Barba going up against Buchanan and Calhoun. 

[wknt3]

20 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

I hope Barba is in every episode in season 19, it makes no sense why every year we have several without him when Raul is in the main credits and ADA's Cabot and Novak were in every episode in most of their seasons. Barba has the most personality and is the most entertaining character on the show as well as the best ADA SVU has ever had. We need more legal scenes next year with Barba going up against Buchanan and Calhoun. 

I agree more Barba would be great as long as it's not pod Barba following Liv's orders and letting her make prosecutorial decisions. But it totally does make sense why he's underused. Money. They keep cutting the cast budget and giving Mariska more/the same money. It's the same reason we have no recurring characters, spent years with Belzer or Florek missing half the episodes, Ice-T is selling insurance instead of solving cases etc. Raul has other projects and a thriving stage career and they can't afford someone that experienced for 22 shows so he signs for a limited number of episodes. To be honest as much as I love Barba I'd be perfectly happy to see the same amount of better written Barba, with more courtroom scenes and less consultation/chats, and have them spend the money on another detective and a recurring CSU/ME/TARU character instead given the budget realities.

Edited June 6, 2017 by wknt3
fix typos and clean up phrasing

[Xeliou66]

Yeah I miss the recurring characters, such as the CSU's, ME Warner and TARU's Morales, also I miss Huang, he was so unbiased and added an expert opinion and wasn't afraid to go against Benson/SVU. The show has become so focused on promoting Mariska's agenda that they've gotten rid of their recurring cast, which is really noticeable, and they've really cut down on the detective work in a lot of the cases because they want to make every episode a he said-she said case to further an agenda and give out PSA messages. One thing I liked about the season finale was that we had a lot of both detective and legal work and didn't know who the perps were until the 2nd half. 

I hope next season we see more recurring characters, such as Warner, again and I would like more legal cases and Barba scenes, and please no more of Benson bossing Barba around like we saw at the start of this season. 

[Gigglepuff]

15 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Barba has the most personality and is the most entertaining character on the show

He was great until he became Benson's puppet. 

Edited June 6, 2017 by Gigglepuff

[MarylandGirl]

I love Barba! I just watched Twenty-Five Acts for the first time. Is it wrong that I found the part with him with the belt in the courtroom scene to be kinda...hot? And also, you know, very cunning.

[bunnywithanaxe]

I stumbled across some of Raúl Esparza’s Broadway footage (Hot  shit, that man can sing!) and the above posts mentioning his periodic absences make me wonder, “Hmm, when was he in that revival of Company?”

(IOW, you think he had them put it in his contract that they’d work around his Broadway schedule? Also, Google his name plus “ Rocky Horror Show.” Because, damn.)

[QueenMab]

Bunnywithanax....love your handle. If you want a double shot if "Barba" ION television has L&O:CI "Ladysman" at 2a.m. tonite/morn. and "Blackmail" at 3p.m. Fri. That's the one with the "fake choking" sex video he's in. Its brief, but so is he. A momentary perve! 

[ForeverAlone]

Raul's Company revival ran from November 2006- July 2007. I too wish he would return to the stage, and Raul hinted a little bit ago that his return may be sooner than people think. I can only hope so. Even though Barba is my favorite character by far, the writers are absolutely wasting Raul's talent, by not writing more and better Barba. It would be nice to have another venue to see him act.

[WendyCR72]

If anyone is an insomniac and does very late-night L&O franchise viewing, or if you have a DVR, and missed ION's showing of Raul Esparza on L&O: CI in the S8 episode, "Lady's Man", USA is showing it in the very early morning on Sunday, 11/12, at 3:00 a.m.

[bunnywithanaxe]

I thought Esparza’s turn in “Lady’s Man” was hilarious, mostly down to the way he and Dinofrio were deliberately getting in each other’s faces. At one point Esparza smiled at Dinofrio with absolute poison in his eyes,( after D. had fiddled with like the dozenth personal item of E.’s)  and you have never seen a pair of lips and a pair of eyes on the same face communicate such polar opposite messages. 

 

That and “(innocent face) Oh darn, I forgot to send a fax. Just a minute.

 

(Door and face simultaneously) SLAM.

[Jaded]

Quote

 

@QueenMab said 19 HOURS AGO

Go to Broadway World to see short clips of "Chess". One of Raul Esparza singing "One Night in Bangkok". He sounds great, with bikini clad hot women all over him! :)

 

[QueenMab]

Thank you Jaded. :)

[watcher1006]

On 11/9/2017 at 10:40 PM, ForeverAlone said:

Raul's Company revival ran from November 2006- July 2007. I too wish he would return to the stage, and Raul hinted a little bit ago that his return may be sooner than people think. I can only hope so. Even though Barba is my favorite character by far, the writers are absolutely wasting Raul's talent, by not writing more and better Barba. It would be nice to have another venue to see him act.

The first time I saw Raul Esparza was indeed on Broadway in the revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company. He played the lead character of Bobby. I was happy to see him become a regular on L&O SVU and was disappointed to see his role decline over the seasons. But he has plenty of talent for the live stage which not all TV actors do. I wish him further success in that venue.

[shapeshifter]

13 hours ago, Jaded said:

@QueenMab said 19 HOURS AGO

Go to Broadway World to see short clips of "Chess". One of Raul Esparza singing "One Night in Bangkok". He sounds great, with bikini clad hot women all over him

Wow! And yes!:

4 hours ago, watcher1006 said:

But he has plenty of talent for the live stage which not all TV actors do. I wish him further success in that venue.

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎04‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 12:40 AM, shapeshifter said:

Wow! And yes!:

Watched him do One Night and it's hilarious, too bad he never got to perform in SVU. He's at least as good as Giles' brother. 

Don't blame him for leaving, his character had just descended into Benson's lapdog. Plus he's reached that 100 episodes mark which many actors do, making him a millionaire, making him a minor celebrity and getting repeat fees which he could essentially live off so now he can do Broadway and other less well paying gigs which he enjoys. 

Question is what will Barba do now? I figure taking the cases of Cuban immigrants/political dissidents. Love to see him come back some time as a defence lawyer taking on the SVU. 

[Jaded]

‘Law & Order: SVU’ Alum Raul Esparza to Star in NBC Drama Pilot ‘Suspicion’

[shapeshifter]

On March 8, 2018 at 6:22 PM, Jaded said:

‘Law & Order: SVU’ Alum Raul Esparza to Star in NBC Drama Pilot ‘Suspicion’

Too bad the role doesn't seem to include any singing and dancing opportunities.

[Fiero425]

On ‎3‎/‎5‎/‎2018 at 5:07 AM, Joe Hellandback said:

Watched him do One Night and it's hilarious, too bad he never got to perform in SVU. He's at least as good as Giles' brother. 

Don't blame him for leaving, his character had just descended into Benson's lapdog. Plus he's reached that 100 episodes mark which many actors do, making him a millionaire, making him a minor celebrity and getting repeat fees which he could essentially live off so now he can do Broadway and other less well paying gigs which he enjoys. 

Question is what will Barba do now? I figure taking the cases of Cuban immigrants/political dissidents. Love to see him come back some time as a defence lawyer taking on the SVU. 

They love doing that in this franchise! Ross and Robinette both came back to challenge their old bosses! OMG, I saw Carey in a new episode of "Blue Bloods" last night! I almost didn't recognize her! Gere worked her nerves during their divorce more than likely! It did go on for years! ;-)

[Jaded]

2 minutes ago, Fiero425 said:

They love doing that in this franchise! Ross and Robinette both came back to challenge their old bosses! OMG, I saw Carey in a new episode of "Blue Bloods" last night! I almost didn't recognize her! Gere worked her nerves during their divorce more than likely! It did go on for years! ;-)

I only recognized her because of her voice. Even then I had to keep looking each time she appeared because she looked so different.

[Fiero425]

On ‎11‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 5:00 PM, WendyCR72 said:

If anyone is an insomniac and does very late-night L&O franchise viewing, or if you have a DVR, and missed ION's showing of Raul Esparza on L&O: CI in the S8 episode, "Lady's Man", USA is showing it in the very early morning on Sunday, 11/12, at 3:00 a.m.

Pulled out a tape and forgot how disappointed I was in Raul when he decided to prosecute a case with no real crime; "Thought Criminal!" He was actually talked into prosecuting someone for what they "might do!" Unbelievable! He's usually more rational than that and looks for reasons not to go to trial! ;-(

[Xeliou66]

Yeah that was one of the first times I was disappointed in Barba, he prosecuted a case where there was no crime just to push an agenda, I was glad he lost, that episode made SVU look like fascists. Barba was usually very strong with a few exceptions up until season 18 when he became Benson’s lapdog and then this season he was relegated to being nothing more than Benson’s puppet and moral support who couldn’t decide where to eat without asking for Benson’s approval, Benson ruined Barba, period.  

[MrsRafaelBarba]

On 3/8/2018 at 7:22 PM, Jaded said:

‘Law & Order: SVU’ Alum Raul Esparza to Star in NBC Drama Pilot ‘Suspicion’

Good for him.

[QueenMab]

Was so bummed RE's new TV show got shelved, this is great news. The article is Playbill July 17. I'm sorry I'm a klutz at posting links but this was easy to find. Apparently Esparza is the "star power" they needed for the show. Do watch the video interview because RE is singing in the background and he sounds awesome! The story is about a group of friends who are "bff's" then they go on with their respective lives and then reconnect. The play asks if people who were once close, then separated, can reconnect and be close friends again. Kind of sounds like Barson don't it? Anyway, for all us "Barba lovers" this is great RE definitely landed on his feet after the new TV show fizzled. Started a new topic because I wasn't quite sure where else to post this!

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Raul is back home, on stage.

[QueenMab]

Yeah, but we don't get to see him. Unless we plan our vacation around where he's appearing. I would like to have seen that show, I forget the name, doesn't matter, that was something to do with doctors and nurses and apparently, involved Raul being very close to butt nekkid for most of it. Saw some pics of him in "tighty whiteys" and Oh Dear Lord in Heaven! He is buffed! I would like to have had front row seats for that one! I don't understand why that show didn't run forever, maybe it's just me.

[Demian]

Wow.  I did a stage adaptation of The Waves when I was in college, and it's not really about "a group of friends who are 'bff's' then they go on with their respective lives and then reconnect" -- it's more a story of a group of friends who were BFFs and how they split apart, and then get old in their particular ways, and then die.  Esparza's going to be great, I'm sure, but I'm way more interested in how they're going to adapt that particular novel into a musical.  Wow.

[QueenMab]

Demian....I'm not real familiar with "The Waves" so the explanation I gave was taken from the article I read and...that was the description they gave. It does sound like it might be a little tricky to turn into a musical, but apparently they hired RE to help do just that! It was part of a summer series being presented so I don't think they'll be "taking it on the road". Too bad.

[SunnyBeBe]

Esparza is currently in the Hulu series Dopesick starring Michael Keaton.  It’s very well done.  It’s about the OxyContin epidemic and investigation.