Show Analysis: Dr Huang Will See You Now

[AntiBeeSpray]

YE$ I agree about the ending of Quickie.

Still baffled that Grandpa Jimmy Olsen told him that, but Hurt Locker Guy was great in the episode.

I hate how Olivia's relationship with her mom was retconned.

The OTT hatred for Dani Beck, shippers lost their collective shit when Stabler kissed her.

How they cast McManus in S10, then threw her to the wolves.

Having Greylek say some slick shit about Casey in her first appearance.

Giving Marcia Gay Harden the Stephanie Lazerus treatment.

Wasting and neutering a great character, Mike Cutter.

William Lewis

The idiot Forensic Tech Stuckey, who thought that was a great idea?

Kathleen Stabler.

 

Wasn't a huge fan of her at first, but I didn't have a complete cow when it happened. Yes I shipped Benson and Stabler, but yet... I didn't have my heart completely set on them.

[WendyCR72]

USA is airing "Blinded" right now, an episode that undermines a great performance by Arye Gross and a compelling personal narrative for Casey Novak, with the ridonkulous "Elliott Loses His Eyesight For Ten Minutes" tangent.

 

"Liv... Where are you? I can't see you... My brain bounced off the front and back of my skull and I'm blinddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd!"

Don't forget, the old guy also thought offing himself in front of his now-disinherited grandson was the way to make killer grandson a better person.

 

Gramps had issues.

 

God, what is it with people offing themselves in front of others on the franchise?! As I type, Ray Wasneski in CI's "Siren Call" just offed himself in front of his wife, child, Goren and Eames, too.

[Spartan Girl]

The episode "Families" frustrated me to no end.  Because of those selfish cheating parents, their children's lives were ruined via incest.  That cow mother didn't even care about her own children: she was willing to cover up the circumstances of her daughter's death and let her own son take the fall for incest just to protect her married boyfriend!  When Olivia practically yelled, "Your daughter is dead!" I really felt her frustration.

[Princess Sparkle]

Those parents were THE WORST, weren't they?  I don't know who I felt worse for, her son that she was going to let take the fall for incest (and slapping him, no less) or the other kid (cannot think of his name; Ruzeck on Chicago PD) for falling in love and impregnating his sister, and was clearly devastated and messed up by the situation.  

[Spartan Girl]

Oh God that poor guy.  That was one of Elliot's best moments when he was consoling the kid through the shock and assuring him that it wasn't his fault and that he had to stay strong for his half-brother.  God I could not imagine being in that family.

[ESS]

For my favorite era/seasons are 2 to 6 after that well...it became the EO show and I hated that and of course as the years went on it just got worse and worse, now I just watch out of habit (if at all) nothing more, nothing less.

Edited October 31, 2014 by LegaspiWeaver

[Spartan Girl]

Nice.  That episode really was a mess.

 

You know what else frustrate me?  Anytime a perp accuses a child of "seducing them."  As if young children know the concept of seduction!  It really makes me sick, especially in "Justice" when it was revealed that a judge raped his 11 year old stepdaughter and HER OWN MOTHER willingly believed that she came onto him.  I always love how Elliot just moves as far away as possible from her, as if to keep himself from throttling that stupid bitch.

[Spartan Girl]

Amaro's whole family storyline is one big frustration.  The writers obviously didn't know what to do with Maria: she's complaining to Olivia that he's stalking her one minute, then she says he'll never see his daughter again unless he moves to San Francisco with him.  Geez.

[FozzyBear]

Amaro's whole family storyline is one big frustration. The writers obviously didn't know what to do with Maria: she's complaining to Olivia that he's stalking her one minute, then she says he'll never see his daughter again unless he moves to San Francisco with him. Geez.

And when did that happen anyway? I remember DC, but not SF. Not that I wouldn't want to be as far away from Amaro as possible too...

[Sarah D. Bunting]

@Fozzy, srsly. I'm totes Team Maria with that decision but when did we hear about it? 

 

Of course, I could very well have blocked it out.

[Spartan Girl]

It was in the penultimate episode of last season.

[The Kings Foot]

Nice.  That episode really was a mess.

 

You know what else frustrate me?  Anytime a perp accuses a child of "seducing them."  As if young children know the concept of seduction!  It really makes me sick, especially in "Justice" when it was revealed that a judge raped his 11 year old stepdaughter and HER OWN MOTHER willingly believed that she came onto him.  I always love how Elliot just moves as far away as possible from her, as if to keep himself from throttling that stupid bitch.

Yeah, there's also a moment like that in "Angels." Patrick Cassidy, an established member of a pedophile ring that includes Will Arnett, insists that his stepson seduced him. Ugh.

 

 

Well to be fair

1.that IS what real life pedophiles say - its part of the  sickness and

 

2. there are real life examples of wives saying that.--usually that because of how they were socialized themselves.

[The Kings Foot]

Saw an old episode recently. "Competence"  where a girl with Down's syndrome has been raped.  The main conundrum later becomes if she is incompetant to consnet to sex how can she be competant to take care of a child and vice versa.

 

SVU used to be thought provoking instead of just titillation. 

[anncoultergeist]

Season 1 is definitely my favorite season, but everything up until the first four, maybe five episodes of season 12 have all been good. I'm in love with all the snark and banter in season 1, it makes everyone seem so realistic. Everything past season 12 has felt kinda... weird. Maybe it's the new lighting or something, I dunno. It's a lot warmer than it's been in the past. 

[Janimo]

I'm not sure which seasons she was on, but I loved anything with Stephanie March as Alex Cabot......and I even grew to kinda like Diane Neal even though I initially thought she was a joke compared to Alex.  At least the show wasn't so pathetically laughable, and cringe worthy. I can't bring myself to watch any of the newer seasons.

[whirlingdervish]

I prefer seasons 1 - 5, too, for a lot of the same reasons as everyone else.  I kinda wish we could have had a season with Fin AND Jeffreys....that one interchange those two characters had (Jeffreys was on her way off the squad and met Fin, who was there to replace her) so made me wish there could be more! I would have totally watched a show with Munch, Cassidy, Jeffreys and Fin: Four SVU detectives getting the job done while taking turns rolling their eyes at each other and breaking into heated discussions about privilege or Munch's latest conspiracy theory. Every so often, Benson and Stabler would dramatically sweep into the office getting waaay to invested in each other and taking! everything! personally! The other four sit quietly at their desks, keeping a low profile, eating their Chinese takeout, and looking at each other all "WTF with these two?" Then once Benson and Stabler swept out of the squadroom on their hurricane of angst, the others go back to good-naturedly giving each other grief and solving rape cases (with Munch and Jeffries having to pause every so often to explain a deviant behavior to Fin or coach Cassidy on how to say "vagina" without blushing). 

 

Uhhh...sorry. I might have gotten carried away there.  I definitely prefer the early seasonsThe Benson and Stabler drama overwhelmed the series for me in the midseasons, especially once I didn't have Alex Cabot to distract me from the soapiness of it all. 

Edited December 22, 2014 by whirlingdervish

[WendyCR72]

Ah, @Chattygal , the GIFs continue to crack me up. But it still doesn't top the Seinfeld one in the CI thread. LOL!

[TD3000]

Season 1 reminded of original L&O (a good thing), but my favorite era is when Fin and Alex first came on. I actually liked Casey the most out of all the SVU ADAs, but her era was a bit more hit-or-miss, especially later on. There's been some good moments post-Stabler, better than monkey basketball stuff, but there's still too much nonsense at times.

[morgankobi]

I hate that the Michael Jackson-esque guy got away because the son's dad took the kid to Canada so he couldn't be forced to testify. I always thought they might re-visit him with another victim if MJ hadn't actually died.

 

And I really, really hate the one with Blair Underwood where his ex makes a fake rape claim against him. As completely horrible as it is, I'm glad she got flambéed--I hated her sooooo much!

The poor daughter, though :(  

[Donny Ketchum]

Unsurprisingly, most of the moments I found most frustrating were from the past couple of years.  The Lewis arc goes without saying, not only because they dragged it out so much, but also because the writers kind of brushed off/overlooked any potential storylines of Lewis' groupies -- aka Lauren Ambrose as the moron lawyer who let Lewis torture her parents and the stupid jurywoman who helped him escape -- getting their comeuppance.  With all the hate she gathered among us, they could have at least shown Lauren Ambrose's reaction when she found out she was responsible for him murdering her father and raping her mother.  So yeah, I felt kind of cheated out of that.

 

"Funny Valentine" was almost a big frustration.  I understand battered women's syndrome and all that, but the fact that the girlfriend willingly let her boyfriend get away with murdering her friend/mentor that was trying to protect her was just awful.  So I didn't have much sympathy left for her by the end when her boyfriend killed her too.

"Funny Valentines" was absolutely a huge frustration.  Poor Brass lost his life trying to keep Micha's dumb ass safe, and she repays him in kind by letting Caleb, his killer, go free?  Like you, I had zero sympathy or even pity for her when she lost her own life.  Actually, she deserved it.  I know this is a kind of thing where they supposedly don't blame the victim, but as much as I hate to say it, if a victim can be that idiotic to keep going back for more . . . then that's just kind of a situation where they have to be blamed.

 

As for Lauren Ambrose's character and the jurywoman, I remember Leight saying somewhere that she just wasn't available to film any of her reaction to what had happened.  And he did say that the jurywoman herself was already being tried in a separate case for what she'd done, but all mentions of that were cut.

[Malbec]

Amaro's whole family storyline is one big frustration.  The writers obviously didn't know what to do with Maria: she's complaining to Olivia that he's stalking her one minute, then she says he'll never see his daughter again unless he moves to San Francisco with him.  Geez.

 

"Padre Sandunguero" was even worse!  I mean Maria has to be aware on some level that Nick has a strained relationship with his family/father, but she sends Zara off with the mom and sister to be in the dad's wedding without giving him a heads-up?  Girl whut?  It's even worse if you make the assumption that Nick told her everything his father did.  Like, even if Maria's feeling 100% spiteful toward Nick, that's a horrible position to put your child in.  I thought the episode was well-written otherwise so that really stuck out.

[AntiBeeSpray]

I haven't kept up in the last couple of years - I thought the show rebounded and got a much needed second wind after Meloni left - but then it became the All Benson Torture Porn, All the Time hour.

 

Prior to season thirteen, I was just SO SICK of anything related to Stabler's family, his troubled daughter, his rage issues. I would swear, very early on (season one or two), it was mentioned that detectives don't do unlimited time in SVU precisely because of the pressure and stress involved. They should have gone mothership style and rotated the detectives out sooner and with greater frequency. Anytime what's his name, the IAB guy, pops up to "investigate" them, it's simply comical. Nothing ever comes of it, no matter how glaring the transgression - beat a perp, funnel money to your fugitive brother, it's all good. 

 

I really don't like it all that much... the ALL Benson thing O_O. Tbh, I wanted her to stay with Mayhem man. But nooo they had to screw that up -_-.

[ESS]

Let's see for me the most frustrating moments was all the EO crap especially since I hate that pairing with a passion and also another one for me and this one tops them all and frustrates me the most is the fact that Tamara Tunie was used more as re-occurring character in the earlier years then she was in the credits! she should have just been left OUT of them all together. It's hard for me who loves Dr. Warner & Tamara Tunie to deal with her not being on SVU anymore, but I've gotten over it because I can see Tamara on her new show The Red Road. I'm also frustrated that they shoved the EO sexual tension down our throats god I hate that! As someone else mentioned I hated that they turned MGH's character into a murderer I actually loved her character it was so OCC. Also too much Benson and Stabler and especially Benson I can't stand her character anymore..

[Donny Ketchum]

Season five's "Poison" had a shitload of frustrations for me.  At least the first half.  The second half was way more satisfying.  Still, the obviously-biased, so-clearly-not-impartial Judge Tate purposely doing what he could to confuse that poor little girl to exclude her testimony, trying her mother without a jury just so he could purposely acquit her without of her getting convicted by a jury all because he thought she was part of a good family who'd made a mistake, the reveal that he'd deliberately sent an innocent woman to prison for ten years because he disapproved of her background, and then the other reveal of his ex parte communication with the murderous mother that was also full of bias?  I'd have wanted his head, too, had I been Casey!  At least the mother did finally go down, but it took her initial acquittal leading to that poor adopted daughter's death for that to happen.  I just wish the judge had gotten some kind of comeuppance, too.

 

Still, I think it's one of the episodes to watch if you want a good Casey-centric episode (if you were a fan of her).  Diane Neal was amazing in it.

[Crucial]

Wow I'm just watching the marathon on USA and Sharon Stone is horrible..HORRIBLE on this show.  Her acting isn't even on an entry level.  From her episode of the fire in the building with the kids to the ex husband who basically killed his son to keep the ex wife away.  Good gosh why does this show get guest star ADA's like this (and including the alcoholic ADA).  I think Mariska's huge ego was a part of the problem of Stone and the Drunk ADA.  Why not have the ugly female characters on the show when her character can be the ONE  sane one.  If they would have dropped Sharon Stone after one episode (or really her reading) they would have assigned a new ADA.  Same for the Drunk ADA.  If you are going to bring in Christine Lahti then make her a good character instead of an alcoholic bitch.  Honestly who would like watching that shrew on tv.  It got to where I was glad she was killed off.  She should not have been written that way at all.  This is a producer, star of the show way to go and we know who the queen bee is..

[Donny Ketchum]

How they cast McManus in S10, then threw her to the wolves.

Having Greylek say some slick shit about Casey in her first appearance.

A lot of the reason Kim was thrown out was because of fan reaction to her, I think.  Personally, I liked Kim okay.  She was competent and did her job.  And she didn't take much of Elliot or Olivia's shit.

 

I just wonder if the fan hatred of her was because of the character or Michaela's acting.  Because the latter I could sorta get behind.  But not at all the former.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

A lot of the reason Kim was thrown out was because of fan reaction to her, I think.  Personally, I liked Kim okay.  She was competent and did her job.  And she didn't take much of Elliot or Olivia's shit.

 

I just wonder if the fan hatred of her was because of the character or Michaela's acting.  Because the latter I could sorta get behind.  But not at all the former.

As I recall, the actress was quite young, when cast as ADA.

Think she was 25 yrs old.

Many fans didn't buy her as a seasoned attorney from D.C.

[WendyCR72]

As I recall, the actress was quite young, when cast as ADA.

Think she was 25 yrs old.

Many fans didn't buy her as a seasoned attorney from D.C.

 

To be fair, the whole franchise - save for maybe CI as it had already ended - seemed to start going young. Not to say I didn't like the later cast, but there were no more actors in the age range of, say, Jerry Orbach or Paul Sorvino as you'd find in the early years. Everyone was young, maybe minus McCoy and Van Buren. And I liked Cutter, as another example, but comparatively to his predecessors, McCoy and Stone, he was a baby.

[Princess Sparkle]

I watched some of the reruns with Marcia Gay Harden this weekend and one of the most frustrating things to me was what they did to her character.  Her first two appearances are awesome (even if that accent is like nails on a chalkboard), then in her third appearance, she's brutally raped (because god forbid a woman in power isn't victimized on this show), and then, all of a sudden, it turns out she's a murderer because she was jealous of another woman.  WTF?  If I were Marcia Gay Harden, I would've been pissed beyond belief.

[Donny Ketchum]

I watched some of the reruns with Marcia Gay Harden this weekend and one of the most frustrating things to me was what they did to her character.  Her first two appearances are awesome (even if that accent is like nails on a chalkboard), then in her third appearance, she's brutally raped (because god forbid a woman in power isn't victimized on this show), and then, all of a sudden, it turns out she's a murderer because she was jealous of another woman.  WTF?  If I were Marcia Gay Harden, I would've been pissed beyond belief.

I know she was on seasons twelve and fourteen, but she had two other appearances?  When else did Dana appear?

[Princess Sparkle]

I know she was on seasons twelve and fourteen, but she had two other appearances? When else did Dana appear?

Her first appearance is the season 7 episode Raw (a legit good episode), and the second was season 8's Informed.

[ESS]

I watched some of the reruns with Marcia Gay Harden this weekend and one of the most frustrating things to me was what they did to her character.  Her first two appearances are awesome (even if that accent is like nails on a chalkboard), then in her third appearance, she's brutally raped (because god forbid a woman in power isn't victimized on this show), and then, all of a sudden, it turns out she's a murderer because she was jealous of another woman.  WTF?  If I were Marcia Gay Harden, I would've been pissed beyond belief.

I hated this too..I loved MGH's character & for her to become a murderer was so out of character it was unbelievable I was shocked when I saw that episode not to mention mad too.

[Donny Ketchum]

Okay, okay, okay.  Since even the better episodes can't stop the complaining, let's just got back in time and discuss the moments of SVU that were the most satisfying and pleasing.  Favorite cases?  Favorite scenes?  Favorite instances when a perp got busted?  Favorite verdicts or reactions to them?  Favorite lines or quotes?  Or even favorite moments?

 

Just discuss your happier, more pleasant moments here!

 

It's a bit late for me, so I'll offer up several of my own at another time.

Edited February 13, 2015 by Donny Ketchum

[Spartan Girl]

I liked the ending of "Hate" when the asshole who went around murdering Arab Americans got murdered in prison by a fellow Arab American, and the mother who taught him to be prejudiced against them just because her husband left her for one wound up with no one.  Very satisfying.

 

Also satisfying was the stalker in "Surveillance" got murdered by his own stalker.

 

Can you tell I love it when karma happens?

[Donny Ketchum]

A few nights ago, I watched "Design."  Really hate that the mother/daughter scam artist team had been busted.

[CelticBlackCat]

Fin.  He has his head on straight and I like his personality.  I'm a huge Fin Fan!

[Hero]

Carisi or Fin. They both don't seem as high strung as the others. Also, they don't have anger problems that get in the way Of doing your work.

[Princess Sparkle]

Fin hands down, then Munch as long as he only talked about one conspiracy theory per day.

But if I'm picking a patner to have an illicit affair with? Then it's Amaro, all day, every day.

[Princess Sparkle]

I've always liked in Brotherhood (the fraternity brothers episode) when Gary Cole's character "accidentally" lets in mention of the previously excluded fraternity ledger that will sink his client, AKA the person who played a major part in causing the circumstances around his son's death.  

[Donny Ketchum]

I've always liked in Brotherhood (the fraternity brothers episode) when Gary Cole's character "accidentally" lets in mention of the previously excluded fraternity ledger that will sink his client, AKA the person who played a major part in causing the circumstances around his son's death.  

Is that the one when the perp pretty much starts to cry on the stand when it really starts to sink in that he's screwed?

[Princess Sparkle]

Is that the one when the perp pretty much starts to cry on the stand when it really starts to sink in that he's screwed?

Oh hell yes it is.  It is so, so satisfying to see that smug jackass get knocked down a peg.

[Donny Ketchum]

Oh hell yes it is.  It is so, so satisfying to see that smug jackass get knocked down a peg.

Thought so.  What season was that?  An Alex or a Casey episode?

 

I forgot what the episode was called, but I always loved seeing that girl cry when she and her two evil male friends get the book thrown at them after they set up their English friend to be raped just because she broke up with one of the two boys.  It was the one in which Eion Bailey guest-starred.  But either way, her tears and the two boys' forlorn expressions gave me life.

 

I will also throw in "Military Justice," when the victim's father punches his daughter's superior when he tries to justify his actions to him all while trashing his daughter.

[Princess Sparkle]

Thought so.  What season was that?  An Alex or a Casey episode?

 

 

I will also throw in "Military Justice," when the victim's father punches his daughter's superior when he tries to justify his actions to him all while trashing his daughter.

It's season 5, episode 12, so an early Casey episode.

 

And I love Military Justice because the father breaks the "shitty SVU parents" mold and believes his daughter right away when she says she was raped.

[mtmjr]

I love the last scene of the episode where Jennifer Love Hewitt plays a victim whose rapist stalks her and rapes her four times over fifteen years.  Each time he tells her to "be a good girl, behave yourself."  And at the end, he's locked in a cell, and she goes right up to the bars and says "be a good boy, behave yourself."  It's like watching her finally reclaim her own life, and super-satisfying.

[Spartan Girl]

I know a lot of people hated "911" (there were a lot of plot holes and inconsistencies) but damn if I didn't love Olivia saving and meeting that poor little girl she spent the episode talking on the phone to.

[Donny Ketchum]

I know a lot of people hated "911" (there were a lot of plot holes and inconsistencies) but damn if I didn't love Olivia saving and meeting that poor little girl she spent the episode talking on the phone to.

I didn't mind it, actually.  But I recall NBC hyping it up as Mariska giving "a powerful performance."  And after finally seeing it a few weeks ago, I have to agree.  She was amazing in it.  And her busting the guy who'd taken poor Maria was damn satisfying.

[Spartan Girl]

Ooh yes, I LOVED the part where the perp tries to get away and Liv just elbows him HARD in the face without even having to stand up.  That was so freaking awesome.  And yes, Mariska's performance was great.

[Donny Ketchum]

I love the last scene of the episode where Jennifer Love Hewitt plays a victim whose rapist stalks her and rapes her four times over fifteen years.  Each time he tells her to "be a good girl, behave yourself."  And at the end, he's locked in a cell, and she goes right up to the bars and says "be a good boy, behave yourself."  It's like watching her finally reclaim her own life, and super-satisfying.

That would be "Behave," I think.  It's early in either season eleven or twelve.  And yes, that's another very satisfying moment.

Edited March 13, 2015 by Donny Ketchum

[Spartan Girl]

"Hammered" might be a weird choice for a satisfying moment, given that the guy basically gets away with it at the end.  But I kind of found it satisfying that after all his whining and crying about how he shouldn't be punished for something that he didn't even remember doing and later bemoaning his remorse to Olivia -- though he wasn't  remorseful enough to confess before the trial wound up in a mistrial -- asking how he could live with himself, Olivia just shakes her head with an icy cold, "I don't know." and leaves him to get bombarded by the press.  I just love how Olivia has zero fucks to give for that guy.

[Donny Ketchum]

"Hammered" might be a weird choice for a satisfying moment, given that the guy basically gets away with it at the end.  But I kind of found it satisfying that after all his whining and crying about how he shouldn't be punished for something that he didn't even remember doing and later bemoaning his remorse to Olivia -- though he wasn't  remorseful enough to confess before the trial wound up in a mistrial -- asking how he could live with himself, Olivia just shakes her head with an icy cold, "I don't know." and leaves him to get bombarded by the press.  I just love how Olivia has zero fucks to give for that guy.

What was "Hammered" again?