S16.E19: Granting Immunity

[WendyCR72]

Pornographic photos from 15 year-old Savannah Biel's house party quickly circulate around her Tribeca high school and go viral. Barba's efforts to arrest the student responsible for posting the images is stalled when several suspects fall victim to a fast-moving measles outbreak. When Benson's foster son also catches the illness, she investigates a group of mothers who may have falsified their children's medical records. Meanwhile, Amaro receives some distressing news about his son.

[Lizzing]

I just saw, in the past week or so, the Hilary Duff/Casey Anthony SVU episode that morphed into the prosecution of an antivaxxer for causing a measles outbreak.  (S10E19)  I get that this is "ripped from the headlines" and all, but I hope they don't act like they've never touched the issue before.

Edited April 5, 2015 by Lizzing

[DaynaPhile]

Hopefully more Barba, yay! Vaccination debate? *rolls eyes*

Edited April 9, 2015 by DaynaPhile

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Oh Missy Pyle, I will never unsee your fight with Queen Latifah in BDTH.

With that said, enough with the constant Baby Noah drama.

Here comes the Crossover monster again, UGH!

[stillbored]

I really feel like they went after the wrong person in all of this. She's not the one that falsified medical records, the doctor was. As much as I believe in vaccines, I don't understand how it's a crimer to suggest that someone not get their child vaccinated. And using their logic, why not go after all the other parents that didn't get their children vaccinated.

I didn't think Noah had an immunocompromising disease. Just asthma. So I'm not sure why the doctor would suggest they hold off on his vaccinations for a bit.

The sex crime part really fell by the wayside on this one.

They seem to repeating story lines now - already did an anti vaxxer, plus they had the male being a rape victim a couple of weeks ago (which they played it up like it was a novel idea, even though they already did that in the early seasons)..

[Malbec]

Little Noah is quite the writers' punching bag, isn't he?  What's next, being attacked by grues?  

 

I thought the transition from "high school sex party" to "anti-vaxxer crusade" was just silly as hell.  It's not the biggest reach SVU has ever done, but I was expecting a monkey to jump out of a basketball at any point.   

Edited April 9, 2015 by Malbec

[RafaelBarbas]

Dear writers: if a baby can wail, he is not in respiratory distress such that he would turn blue. You worry when the baby stops crying.

 

That said, this was a surprisingly solid episode minus the Noah drama. I love my Barba taking down antivaxxer morons.

[LizDC]

I just love how speedy the NYC court system is - that lady was arrested, arraigned, tried and convicted while little Noah was in the hospital. I get that all the L&O courts had very unrealistic rocket dockets but it still bugs me.

I wish this show was still an ensemble instead of the Olivia Benson show. She was always my least favorite character.

[WendyCR72]

I wish this show was still an ensemble instead of the Olivia Benson show. She was always my least favorite character.

 

Ditto, but I think it became inevitable once CM/Elliot left. Even though Dann Florek and Richard Belzer were around just as long. Oh, well.

[MorbidPet]

I wish this show was still an ensemble instead of the Olivia Benson show. She was always my least favorite character.

I loved SVU back in the days up until like S9 when I started to get bored with the Benson & Stabler show (the BS show), I absolutely loved the new SVU.02 bringing in Rollins & Amaro adding new dynamic but now it seems they've managed to turn that in to the Benson & Baby show (the BB show?) and I'm not liking it at all. I honestly won't be that upset if either Danny or Kelli signs their contracts for S17 (is Raul's up too? same goes for him if that's the case), hopefully they can get on a new show (movie?) that will let them shine cause it's starting to get obvious they will never be allowed enough spotlight on this show to satisfy me.

 

Little Noah is quite the writers' punching bag, isn't he?  What's next, being attacked by grues? 

I'm not holding it impossible that they will squeeze in more of him until then but next is the finale. Pimp Daddy X or whatever his name was will be back & I will have to sit through another episode of Benoah drama. Don't get me wrong, I like that Liv has a kid cause it's in character for her but it's just allowed to take up too much screen time & ends up wasting a, to me, brilliant cast.

 

Sorry don't want to be a Debbie Downer but I'm starting to realize this is the show that will make me bitter. Haven't even seen this episode and haven't looked forward to it at all as all they did was promote Liv/Noah. I saw one short Vine with Barba & Rollins but other than that all about the Noah scare. I know it's NBC that does the promotion but Warren & Julie do push Noah on us on Twitter constantly so WL can't blame NBC for all of it. I know I can easily unfollow them but I'm addicted to those rare spoilers that is about something else than Benoah.

Might be back after I've seen the episode but if I get too pissed I'll try and spare you my wrath ;)

[wknt3]

The Good:

Lots of Barba! He was kicking butt and taking names in court and out this week.

The sex party/social media kiddie porn plot was surprisingly good. I would have loved to have seen more.

They did better with the measles and Noah in jeopardy/ St. Olivia suffers for the sins of the world yet again than we had any right to expect.

 

The Bad:

That still doesn't mean it was worth doing.

Barely any Finn.

Actually the entire rest of the squad was underused. And most of what little screen time they got was devoted to Amaro's personal drama. They were really swinging the Slegehammer of Angst this week.

 

Overall I have to admit that it was well executed for the most part, but it was still frustrating that there we ignored a well done SVU case with all sorts of interesting angles and issues to cover to see more of the ongoing Saga of Noah. Yes the show has done the internet thing plenty of times before, but they've done measles too, And squad family drama is not exactly fresh and new. More special victims and less of the squad's families/personal demons please!

Edited April 15, 2015 by wknt3

[Sarah D. Bunting]

 

I just love how speedy the NYC court system is - that lady was arrested, arraigned, tried and convicted while little Noah was in the hospital.

Right? I've been stuck in jury-pool limbo longer than that. 

 

This episode was absurd, lecturey, and overwrought, but three things made it fun for me: 1) Missi Pyle's performance, which was perfect for this; 2) new and improved Amaro being a grown-up and having good hair; 3) the wryly exhausted "r...eally?" commentary in here and on Twitter. 

 

And poor Noah. I predicted last night that the season finale is going to involve a Soapdish-style brain transplant storyline for the kid. I was only half joking.

[GarnetGirl]

Since it was stated on Twitter that the name of the finale is "Surrendering Noah", I think that we are stuck with his drama for the foreseeable future. 

 

Things I noticed:

- Although I enjoy the friendship between Benson and Barba, I think I love the one between him and Rollins even more. Maybe because Amanda is less annoying than Olivia?  That smirk she gave him when he said to have fun informing the parents was priceless.

-I guess Carisi is the comic relief now? 

-Susie Essman is a great guest star.

-I don't know, Nick. Maybe if your kids keep moving to California, you should go there, too. (I wonder if this is the plan if Danny Pino doesn't re-sign with the show)

-I think a more interesting, nuanced story could have come out of the differing reactions of the parents to the lipstick party. I wish that would have been explored more than the measles.

[Racj82]

I really feel like they went after the wrong person in all of this. She's not the one that falsified medical records, the doctor was. As much as I believe in vaccines, I don't understand how it's a crimer to suggest that someone not get their child vaccinated. And using their logic, why not go after all the other parents that didn't get their children vaccinated.

I didn't think Noah had an immunocompromising disease. Just asthma. So I'm not sure why the doctor would suggest they hold off on his vaccinations for a bit.

The sex crime part really fell by the wayside on this one.

They seem to repeating story lines now - already did an anti vaxxer, plus they had the male being a rape victim a couple of weeks ago (which they played it up like it was a novel idea, even though they already did that in the early seasons)..

crimes do happen more than once.

I just love how speedy the NYC court system is - that lady was arrested, arraigned, tried and convicted while little Noah was in the hospital. I get that all the L&O courts had very unrealistic rocket dockets but it still bugs me.

I wish this show was still an ensemble instead of the Olivia Benson show. She was always my least favorite character.

we've been getting character focused episodes on the whole cast the whole season. Everyone gets airtime from any given episode. There have been many episodes where liv is just being the boss. The only one who has been short changed this season is Finn. Edited April 9, 2015 by Racj82

[Empress1]

I don't know, Nick. Maybe if your kids keep moving to California, you should go there, too. (I wonder if this is the plan if Danny Pino doesn't re-sign with the show)

I had the same thought, that that was Pino's exit strategy. Though I really like the actor (have since Cold Case) and would miss him.

I kept thinking "how did we get from oral sex competition to crusading against anti-vaxxers?" The ep would have made much more sense had it stuck with the former.

[Primetimer]

Unvaccinated rich teens give Noah the measles in a ridiculously self-serious but highly entertaining SVU.

Read the story

[ethalfrida]

Olivia as a mother is not working. She really doesn't know what to do with a child except shake him. And the storyline is so far away from the excellent writing of the early years.

Edited April 9, 2015 by ethalfrida

[lovinbob]

Was this show ever good, or am I just so sick of it and the OTT characters? And unoriginal plotlines?

[Spartan Girl]

Honestly, I think Liv deserves a little bit of credit for not slapping the crap out of that anti-vaccine lady for spouting off her conspiracy theories at her right when she's trying to go see Noah at the ER.  I don't think I would have restrained myself.

 

I would have loved to see one of those sick kids go off of their parents for listening to that whack job and not vaccinating them when they were supposed to.

[ethalfrida]

Was this show ever good, or am I just so sick of it and the OTT characters? And unoriginal plotlines?

The show used to mesmerizing and Thursday office talk. All of the L&O shows. 

[gesundheit]

Ah, the excellently hilarious recap always makes me feel less annoyed about the episode. (And YES, Noah's fever is definitely allllllways spiking.)

 

As soon as it turned into another Noah crisis, I got off my couch and did household chores for the rest of the episode, so I guess I can thank SVU for my increased productivity.

 

Missi Pyle was awesome. I loved the little ladies' Chardonnay klatsch.

[Princess Lucky]

Fun episode. I agree that they were kind of after the wrong person. Benson actually was right as the mother of a child who couldn't get vaccinated for medical reasons, and lil' Noah was a victim, but all those other kids only had their own parents to blame. Missy Pyle didn't force their hand. And I also thought the doctor was more to blame than her. She's a random person, he is a medical professional; he's falsifying records, it's on him.

The Noah drama is boring to me because it's always the same thing. He's sick. I'm actually looking forward to the adoption/paternity(?) storyline because I feel like it'll be the first time I'll see Noah without immediately being told what his temperature is. I get why we need to see Benson as a mom but her baby-talking to Noah is just not good TV. If we must, I'd at least like more scenes of her with Barba or Amaro, talking about motherhood/parenthood.

Speaking of Amaro, I also think this might be an exit strategy, if only because his kids are moving to the same state. Danny Pino is a great actor and very easy on the eyes but he is kind of being wasted, other than the Amaro-centric episodes. That said, the show has, what, another season left? He could just stick around. I did think it was weird that the first thing Rollins said to him was "oh well, it'll be good for your kid". Like, empathise much? Was that another "Rollins is weird about family" bit?

Carisi continues to amuse me to no end. I love him. "Rollins feel my forehead... Come oooon!" killed me. So adorably whiny (and, in that moment, how obvious was it that he is a man with 3 sisters?). Speaking of sisters, I love the sibling vibe he and Rollins have going (when she remembers to be nice-ish to him). I loved her messing with him and coining the phrase "pulling a Carisi". And Barba also messing with him, all "o rly? Not your call!... (sotto voce) But you're right". Carisi is seriously a constant source of delight. And Peter Scanavino is really doing the most. Not a moment of screen time wasted. He's very physical and always doing little things in the background that make Carisi pop.

Also: Missy Pyle is awesome, as is Susie Essman (who always manages to crack me up in 5 seconds flat). I don't know what is happening with Benson/Barba (crazy wish: he'll be jealous of Tucker and we'll get a delicious stare-down.). And Fin needs a storyline (or, hell, an episode) stat.

[Tetraneutron]

I'm sorry, I'm still stuck on rainbow parties. Of all the dumb moral panics about what the cool teenagers are getting up to, this one always seemed the stupidest. And the most sexist. And it's just so unbellievable on the face of it. Not to get too graphic here, but the, um, lipstick residue, would kind of . . . not end up like the moral guardians are saying.

 

The big fear is that blow jobs are so common, that our tragic, lost, teenages girls are just giving them away. That teenage boys, once, in a more innocent time (so, when the middle-aged person who buys this nonsense was a teenager) would have been thrilled to get a hummer; but now they're so common, so disposable, that they get seven in a row, and their only response it to compare dicks with their male buddies. Because our dangerous and evil, yet sad and misguided, hot rich teenage girls, are just giving it away. People who believe this are just terrified of a world they don't actually understand, terrified of a youth culture that's going to replace them, and have no critical thinking skills.

 

Is there anyone watching this show as a serious crime drama, that explores The Issues Of Our Time, and not just for a laugh? There can't be, right?

Edited April 9, 2015 by Obviously

[candall]

I need my SVU's to have a stronger punch with the consequences.

 

This could easily have been two shows, both with worthy messages--and more entertaining--if Olivia and Noah didn't have to be in the middle of everything. 

 

The teens with the lipstick party and the parents tut-tutting about the insignificance of the harm?  Sacrifice one of those kids by having her parents watch their daughter's video as the centerpiece of a porn site and come to the realization that's some permanent, irreparable damage right there--college applications, job opportunities, etc.  Teens do NOT take social media seriously enough and they had an excellent foundation laid with all the parents gathered in one place, being shortsighted.  But whatever, Noah's in the ICU!!

 

I remember the vax episode from years ago.  I think a six-year old wasn't able to be vaccinated and she died after playing in the same park as the asymptomatic toddler of the anti-vax mom.  It was a powerful episode.

 

This one just ends with Missy Pyle stomping around Riker's for three months feeling victimized by the cop with the personal axe to grind.  "See?  Everyone's fine.  Stand the hell down, Captain Benson."

Edited April 9, 2015 by candall

[candall]

Ah, the excellently hilarious recap always makes me feel less annoyed about the episode.

Me, too.  I'm just sad I can't figure out any way to work "Beejapalooza" into casual conversation.

[frogprof]

 

Also, Noah got a haircut, praise the Lord.

 

Not ENOUGH of one, though. But it's a start.

[shapeshifter]

I just saw, in the past week or so, the Hilary Duff/Casey Anthony SVU episode that morphed into the prosecution of an antivaxxer for causing a measles outbreak.  (S10E19)  I get that this is "ripped from the headlines" and all, but I hope they don't act like they've never touched the issue before.

...I remember the vax episode from years ago.  I think a six-year old wasn't able to be vaccinated and she died after playing in the same park as the asymptomatic toddler of the anti-vax mom.  It was a powerful episode....

There are plenty of variations on that theme. When my youngest was an infant, there were 5 cases of Whooping Cough on our street because local doctor hired a not!nurse who, when she ran out of DPT shots, substituted DT shots for those kids. More recently, my anti-vaxxer niece, who has suffered severely from Shingles herself, nevertheless sent her young kids to a Chicken Pox party to contract the disease that may very well cause them to have Shingles.

But this isn't Law & Order or Law & Order: Medical Case Files, dammit! It's SVU. I was sure they would tie the two stories together somehow, but it was a real stretch, AFAIC.

Why does Carisi have to play dumb? It's not too late to retcon him into a secret fount of knowledge a la Munch or Lennie Briscoe.

[WendyCR72]

Why does Carisi have to play dumb? It's not too late to retcon him into a secret fount of knowledge a la Munch or Lennie Briscoe.

 

And Bobby Goren had it covered on CI. Maybe Wolf decided those three were enough, so on to new frontiers!

[Kristen]

I've mentioned before that I don't regularly watch this show anymore in favor of reading the PTV write-ups, but this one I had to see live because I knew it would be awfulsome (awful-awesome), and it did not disappoint. It really made me miss Stabler. He would've been righteously opining about vaccines and beating the shit out of those measles, like, "Goddamn you, I have daughters!"

Ah, the good ol' days.

Edited April 10, 2015 by Kristen

[Princess Lucky]

Why does Carisi have to play dumb? It's not too late to retcon him into a secret fount of knowledge a la Munch or Lennie Briscoe.

I agree that they often exaggerate with Carisi for comedic effect but, when you think about it, he's right pretty often. All the legal stuff Barba disses him over is actually on point, whenever he questions a case or a statement there's a reason, he's shown to take initiative etc.

I think the writers are trying to make Carisi seem green and overeager and a little oblivious of how annoying he might come off as, but he's also been shown to have good instincts, both case-related and otherwise (the way he's picked up on Amaro/Rollins or how he gets that Rollins isn't being harsh to spite him etc). Going by what we've seen, I think we're meant to understand he has a lot of potential.

I also like that he doesn't let the insults/jokes get to him, he keeps sassing Barba and he jokes with Rollins etc. But he totally called her out last week when he felt she might be serious. Which tells me he is both perceptive and not a doormat.

He really is a work in progress, but I don't think he's a buffoon or anything. That kind of newbie, gifted but not "gifted" wunderkind-style, is a fresh type of cop for this show in my opinion. He is the comic relief right now, and that can get a little cartoonish, but it's also pretty funny. So far, I like what they're doing with him. But I do agree that some kind of breakthrough is required, he can't be the butt of the jokes forever.

[wknt3]

Was this show ever good, or am I just so sick of it and the OTT characters? And unoriginal plotlines?

 

Yes it was good. It was great actually. Gripping, powerful drama that explored all sorts of issues including some that hadn't really been done before by mainstream television. Then it was good, but a little preachy and repetitive at times. Then it was, if not good, usually entertaining as long as you didn't take the over the top insanity too seriously. Then it was dreck. And now it's improving, but uneven IMHO. I can understand why you'd be sick of it, but I don't think you can deny the past, especially since it's on USA about 10 hours a day on average and the good stuff still holds up just fine.

[Joimiaroxeu]

So was it a coincidence that Missy Pyle sort of looks like Jenny McCarthy?

[stillbored]

Is there a reason that Olivia (who I assume is not rich) would be paying her nanny to be there while she is home working? I thought the point of her working from home was to look after her sick child. She could have easily laid Noah down for a nap in the living room while she worked on the case.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Was this show ever good, or am I just so sick of it and the OTT characters? And unoriginal plotlines?

Seasons 1-5, were SVU's best years IMHO.

So was it a coincidence that Missy Pyle sort of looks like Jenny McCarthy?

I don't think so.

[SeenYouWitKieffah]

 

 

 

Dear writers: if a baby can wail, he is not in respiratory distress such that he would turn blue. You worry when the baby stops crying.

 

 

Seriously, that hearty cry bugged the crap out of me!

 

I wish they would have done a rainbow party episode back in the old days, or handled this differently. The vaccine story was done so poorly, I wish this had been something else entirely. Like, investigate the rainbow party and maybe one of the kids spread an STD, or one of the kid's parents beats them after finding out about the party, SOMETHING ELSE. Even if we had later-seasons-style-Stabler whining about slutty kids, while also assaulting an innocent person in the squad room, before assaulting the guilty parent who beat their child for having casual oral sex with a racial minority/poor person/someone disadvantaged because villains are either totally sympathetic or wholly irredeemable.

Edited April 10, 2015 by SeenYouWitKieffah

[CleoCaesar]

The vaccine stuff was really boring. Any anti-vaxxers watching the show would only get more rigid in their thinking, and the pro-vaccination people already know this. Gah. It was just a tired, stupid storyline with absolutely no dramatic oomph.

 

I thought the school/SVU ludicrously overreacted with the school-wide confiscation of smartphones and tablets. If the rainbow party girls were dumb enough to participate, that's really on them. Actions have consequences, and personally I think it would have done the little shits (boys and girls) a wakeup call about the permanence of the Internet.

 

Leave Noah alone! /dramatic voice

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Hope Susie Essman comes back, she stayed dragging Larry and Jeff on Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Her character had me cackling, chick was going in on her son.

The "duh?" face he had, just like Larry and Jeff.

ROTFLMAO!

[Snookums]

Honestly, I think Liv deserves a little bit of credit for not slapping the crap out of that anti-vaccine lady for spouting off her conspiracy theories at her right when she's trying to go see Noah at the ER.  I don't think I would have restrained myself.

 

 

That bitch would have been flying out a window had I been Liv.

 

Of all the anti-vax arguments, the one that drives me craziest is the "Big Pharma only cares about money" thing. Big Pharma is not a tree hugging bunch of bunnies, to be sure, but who, exactly, do you think is making money when your unvaccinated kid gets sick and you have to take them to the hospital? Deal with complications? When they have to shell out in twenty years for a surrogate because a disease left them sterile? Big Pharma is making a motherfucking fortune off unvaccinated kids, idiots. 

[txhorns79]

And poor Noah. I predicted last night that the season finale is going to involve a Soapdish-style brain transplant storyline for the kid. I was only half joking.

 

"Do you understand that you will literally not have a brain once this transplant is done?"  Good movie. 

 

And yeah, it's one of those fun SVU episodes where you can see the writers realizing the sex crime storyline is not going to be enough to fill 40 minutes, so they had to pad the episode with anti-vaxxers and Noah in peril. 

[The Wild Sow]

 

I just love how speedy the NYC court system is - that lady was arrested, arraigned, tried and convicted while little Noah was in the hospital. I get that all the L&O courts had very unrealistic rocket dockets but it still bugs me.

 

I would have loved to see one of those sick kids go off of their parents for listening to that whack job and not vaccinating them when they were supposed to.

This.  Better yet, I was really hoping, in the hospital scene at the end, that they'd be rushing Missi Pyle's son (Gabriel?) in with one of the more severe measles complications.  And that he would be the one to die.  Serve 'er right!

 

Note:  I am really not an evil person, and do not wish harm to real-life unvaccinated kids, since they can't help having morons for parents!  But a fictional character?  Fair game!

 

I am an old wild sow, and I lived through the early days of measles & polio vaccine.  I remember being a first-grader and going to the health department clinic to swallow the sugar cubes (the way polio vaccine was administered in those days) and having the "measles shot."  It did not include mumps and rubella at the time -- in fact, I HAD rubella in first grade, and somewhere in childhood must have had mumps although I don't have any memory of it (my doctor checked me for immunity when I inquired about getting the mumps vaccine as an adult.)  My mom had mumps in her late 20's (caught from a patient) and suffered terribly, and my brother had them as a teenager (and he & his wife had fertility troubles later; don't know if it's related or not.)   Our health department started offering the mumps vaccine when my oldest daughter was an infant  -- you better believe I signed her up for it!

 

About rubella (the German or "3-day" measles)?  The danger of that one wasn't to the kid who had it -- it was basically "a bad cold with a rash!" -- the danger was to any pregnant women who were exposed, because it caused TERRIBLE birth defects!  I caught rubella in first grade, a few months after my mom gave birth to my youngest sister.  Oh yeah, our family vaccinates!

[wknt3]

And yeah, it's one of those fun SVU episodes where you can see the writers realizing the sex crime storyline is not going to be enough to fill 40 minutes, so they had to pad the episode with anti-vaxxers and Noah in peril. 

 

I really wish it had been a matter of padding, but I'm sure it was a deliberate choice. Many of the comments here have pointed out that there were all sorts of angles left uncovered or underdone on the sex party story. And I think the writers are competent enough that they could have given us a full ep with the more interesting more naturally SVU story. They had enough storyline, but the Noah saga is what Warren Leight and Mariska Hargitay want to focus on.

[txhorns79]

And I think the writers are competent enough that they could have given us a full ep with the more interesting more naturally SVU story.

 

Judging by some of the past efforts of various SVU writers (monkey basketball, anyone?), I would hold off on giving anyone writing for the show a presumption of competence. 

[lovinbob]

The vaccine stuff was really boring. Any anti-vaxxers watching the show would only get more rigid in their thinking, and the pro-vaccination people already know this. Gah. It was just a tired, stupid storyline with absolutely no dramatic oomph.

 

I thought the school/SVU ludicrously overreacted with the school-wide confiscation of smartphones and tablets. If the rainbow party girls were dumb enough to participate, that's really on them. Actions have consequences, and personally I think it would have done the little shits (boys and girls) a wakeup call about the permanence of the Internet.

 

Leave Noah alone! /dramatic voice

The principal of the school was a joke. Bringing NYPD in to directly interact with the kids and Type A, wealthy parents? NEVER would have happened. That lady would be out a job STAT.

[Everleigh]

And yeah, it's one of those fun SVU episodes where you can see the writers realizing the sex crime storyline is not going to be enough to fill 40 minutes, so they had to pad the episode with anti-vaxxers and Noah in peril. 

 

The anti-vax stuff wasn't the padding, the sex crime was. Warren Leight said in an interview that they wanted to write about the measles outbreak and basically had to take the long way around to do so. This is from the article: 

 

Law & Order: SVU is well versed at ripping from the headlines. But even Leight admits the writers "struggled to find a way" to write about the recent measles outbreak in California on a show devoted to sex crimes. In the episode, SVU begins investigating pornographic photos from a high school house party when several suspects in the case are diagnosed with the measles. "We got there," says Leight. "But it was a journey to get there."

 

 

Not sure why a procedural cop show about sex crimes needed to "get there" about a measles outbreak but whatever. 

[LeGrandElephant]

But this isn't Law & Order or Law & Order: Medical Case Files, dammit! It's SVU.

I'd rather watch either of those!

[Kel Varnsen]

The principal of the school was a joke. Bringing NYPD in to directly interact with the kids and Type A, wealthy parents? NEVER would have happened. That lady would be out a job STAT.

The whole thing with how far the NYPD took it really made me wonder. Would the whole squad really take the time to seize everyone's phones and do all that crap? 

 

That said I kind of wish they had stuck with that angle. The side story about the nerdy kid being the CI seemed way more interesting than the measles thing.

[scrambled eggs]

Hope Susie Essman comes back, she stayed dragging Larry and Jeff on Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Her character had me cackling, chick was going in on her son.

The "duh?" face he had, just like Larry and Jeff.

ROTFLMAO!

The best part was her son was named Larry! I hope that was deliberate. I'd love to see her character come back, since she is a lawyer. 

[SunnyBeBe]

Maybe it's just me, but it seems clear that Noah needs Olivia (his mommy), Olivia needs and WANTS Noah)  AND her job schedule is not conducive to suit her family life. So, she gets another job that does allow her a more regular schedule so she can have the time with Noah.  Is she that conflicted about it? She may have loved her career for a long time, but the child comes first and it's clear that is what should happen.  A child that has serious medical issues needs a parent to be available. She has acknowledged this, so why does the viewer have to hold their breath each week, waiting for the conflict between her job and her sick child. It's so annoying to me.  IMO, it's a no brainer.

 

 At this point, I would prefer to see the show without her character than to keep on with these "child is ill and Olivia is tied up with a work emergency."

[WendyCR72]

Maybe it's just me, but it seems clear that Noah needs Olivia (his mommy), Olivia needs and WANTS Noah)  AND her job schedule is not conducive to suit her family life. So, she gets another job that does allow her a more regular schedule so she can have the time with Noah.  Is she that conflicted about it? She may have loved her career for a long time, but the child comes first and it's clear that is what should happen.  A child that has serious medical issues needs a parent to be available. She has acknowledged this, so why does the viewer have to hold their breath each week, waiting for the conflict between her job and her sick child. It's so annoying to me.  IMO, it's a no brainer.

 

 At this point, I would prefer to see the show without her character than to keep on with these "child is ill and Olivia is tied up with a work emergency."

 

I don't disagree with you, but if/when Mariska Hargitay leaves, I think NBC would close up shop here, especially since ratings seem down this year. And if Empire and SVU both stay where they are, I can only see SVU being the worst for it.

 

Personally, I think it would maybe freshen things if neither Olivia nor Elliot - the de facto leads - were there. Then maybe the writers can use the others better and think outside the proverbial box but, again, I don't see NBC allowing that to happen.

[Corvino]

This forum, and Obviously in particular, just made my day! Though not in a moral panic, just disgusted and with no idea why any girl would do it, I had just noted and accepted the idea that rainbow parties existed. This exchange-- moral panic, unviability of result, etc.-- got me to go type "Do rainbow parties exist?" into Google. And the answer seems to be that they're almost entirely an urban legend! I'm so happy! Girls of today have NOT lost their freakin' minds!