Show Analysis: Dr Huang Will See You Now

[Spartan Girl]

Scott Foley gets drunk and beats a woman to death with his hammer.

[Donny Ketchum]

Scott Foley gets drunk and beats a woman to death with his hammer.

Ah.  I remember that one now.

 

I'll now add Brittany, Andrea, and Paige all turning on each other in "Mean."  Just seeing the way Casey broke Andrea on the stand was a thing of beauty, as well as hearing that they were found guilty of all charges for their part in the other girl's death.  Also, I loved Casey calling them what they were: "mean, vicious little girls."

[SmithW6079]

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.

That was the episode that made me give up SVU, because St. Olivia was right again.

It was satisfying to me when Alex was shot and for a brief time, we were led to believe she was dead. Sadly, it was not to be.

[Donny Ketchum]

It was satisfying to me when Alex was shot and for a brief time, we were led to believe she was dead. Sadly, it was not to be.

Unless Alex shot and killed your puppy, I don't see what was bad about her.

[WendyCR72]

SVU Alex Cabot was pretty cool. Now, if anyone has seen Conviction and how she was written for there? I could get the dislike.

[SmithW6079]

Unless Alex shot and killed your puppy, I don't see what was bad about her.

I didn't like the character and I thought the actress was terrible. Sorry, didn't realize I had to provide justification.

[WendyCR72]

No one needs to "defend" their likes or dislikes here. Naturally, however, some are curious. That being said, you feel what you feel and that's cool. So let's keep things respectful, and all should be fine.

 

Thanks!

[MrsRafaelBarba]

ADA Greylek lays the verbal smackdown to that smug rapist, in the episode Smut.

[PrincessEnnui]

Any time Stabler and Benson are offered help with an investigation by a fellow law enforcement officer or agency, and they start up with their pointed/disbelieving looks and poor attitude. They're veteran cops and they go into this total mean girl act every. damn. time. So unpleasant to watch. Dr. Warner is the only person who didn't get this act.

[Malbec]

For witness stand meltdowns, I have to say I richly enjoyed Casey in "Mean," getting the three teenage murderers to turn on each other IN OPEN COURT.  

[Donny Ketchum]

For witness stand meltdowns, I have to say I richly enjoyed Casey in "Mean," getting the three teenage murderers to turn on each other IN OPEN COURT.  

I think this meltdown was what cinched their guilty verdict.

[WendyCR72]

One of the satisfying moments for me really wasn't about a case, per se, but the aftermath. I liked the aftermath of Alex Cabot appearing to be shot dead - only for Olivia and Elliot to be summoned by the feds because - tada! - Alex was alive but had to go into Witness Protection. It really did look like she was killed, so the twist worked on me.

 

I was satisfied because Cabot lived, basically.  :-)

[Spartan Girl]

The recent anti-vaccine episode reminded me of how much I was angered frustrated by the episode "Selfish" -- both because of the toxic grandmother and her daughter AND the so-called "good mother" that started the whole thing because she didn't give her kid the vaccination.  Like I said before, people that don't believe in vaccinating their kids annoy the crap out of me.  The only amount of satisfaction I could take from that episode was that when the dead little girl's grandfather killed himself in front of the anti-vaccination mother, she FINALLY seemed to feel some remorse for her role in the tragedy.

[Janimo]

Any of the shows with Alex Cabot in it was satisfying to me.
Now that Stephanie March and Bobby Flay are evidently getting divorced, I wish she could come back in some capacity to SVU. I admit I have hardly watched the show since she left. It just hasn't been the same, but that's just my two cents.

[TD3000]

Watching the first Lewis episode now, and it's just one long reminder of how angry I was about virtually this entire arc. This smug character had nine lives, either by outsmarting someone, or just getting plain lucky. Even when his time was up, he got to end his life on his own terms, further traumatizing Olivia, and maybe the little girl too (can't remember if she saw it or not). The only semi-redeeming moment was when Olivia beat Lewis half to death. Even then, it seemed like he was impervious to pain, so how satisfying was it really?

[MrsRafaelBarba]

They cast the wrong Schreiber brother.

[Spartan Girl]

I still bitterly wish they had Lewis' idiot bitch lawyer storm in the courtroom and kill him for what he did to her parents and then turn the gun on herself instead of featuring the idiot bitch jurywoman that would help him escape AGAIN.

Edited April 19, 2015 by Spartan Girl

[Donny Ketchum]

I still bitterly wish they had Lewis' idiot bitch lawyer storm in the courtroom and kill him for what he did to her parents and then turn the gun on herself instead of featuring the idiot bitch jurywoman that would help him escape AGAIN.

I think Lauren Ambrose was busy during that time.  Also, at least the jurywoman did get comeuppance of her own (though we didn't see it).  She was getting tried in a separate case at the time of Olivia's own hearing with the grand jury.  Some mention of that was cut, for some reason.

[Spartan Girl]

The last act of "Confession" was a big source of frustration for me because the team thinks that the kid that was falsely accused of molesting his stepbrother because he confessed he had pedophilic urges suddenly cracked and molested another child on the basis of a post he made on an INTERNET MESSAGE BOARD.  Seriously?  All that talk that the attack was so "graphically detailed" that it had to be true made me roll my eyes.  Like nobody ever made up stuff on the Internet[/sarcasm]

[PrincessEnnui]

The last act of "Confession" was a big source of frustration for me because the team thinks that the kid that was falsely accused of molesting his stepbrother because he confessed he had pedophilic urges suddenly cracked and molested another child on the basis of a post he made on an INTERNET MESSAGE BOARD.  Seriously?  All that talk that the attack was so "graphically detailed" that it had to be true made me roll my eyes.  Like nobody ever made up stuff on the Internet[/sarcasm]

 

Thank you! That entire episode was bullshit and proved to me that Olivia should probably be removed from the squad by any means necessary. For detectives, there's not a bright one in the bunch. These guys always come off as lazy LEOs looking for quick solutions and easy wins. I know the audience gets to know things the detectives don't, but they display a lack of imagination, a lack of logic and reasoning, that one would think these guys are recently promoted patrolmen (no disrespect, patrolmen).

 

One of the things that impressed me about Rollins and Amaro when they first appeared was that they showed critical thinking skills. They didn't just convict they first person they saw or if something strange popped out to them, they let everyone know and chased the lead regardless of Olivia and Cragen pushing them towards one suspect. Ugh, then Rollins became Jeffries and Amaro became Stabler. Stupid writers.

[Malbec]

 

One of the things that impressed me about Rollins and Amaro when they first appeared was that they showed critical thinking skills. They didn't just convict they first person they saw or if something strange popped out to them, they let everyone know and chased the lead regardless of Olivia and Cragen pushing them towards one suspect. Ugh, then Rollins became Jeffries and Amaro became Stabler. Stupid writers.

 

I'd honestly rank Amaro and Rollins' first season among my favorite SVU eras, for exactly the reason you say.  Season 14, their second season, also had some great episodes.  I really do not get why the writers have handled them the way they have.

[DollEyes]

 Delurking with one of my favorite SVU episodes, "Undercover," when Liv posed as an inmate of a women's prison to find the guard who raped/murdered an inmate and raped her daughter. MH's Emmy nomination that year was justified for that episode alone. It made me laugh (when Munch was innocently explaining to the other detectives why no one would believe the mother's story because in some peoples' minds she was just a "crack ho" & the inmate's daughter interrupted with "Don't call my mama a 'ho!"), it made me cry (when the mother got killed and the daughter got sick with TB), it made me cringe (when Liv was almost raped by the guard) and it made me cheer when the guard got busted and Liv asked him, "Who's the 'bitch' now?"

[kirinan]

Ugh, then Rollins became Jeffries and Amaro became Stabler. Stupid writers

 

Who is Jeffries? I only started watching when Danny Pino came aboard, so I'm not familiar with a lot of the earlier characters.

Edited April 23, 2015 by kirinan

[PrincessEnnui]

Who is Jeffries? I only started watching when Danny Pino came aboard, so I'm not familiar with a lot of the earlier characters.

 

Jeffries was a female detective who was partnered with Munch for the first two(?) seasons. The actress who played her didn't get along with Richard Belzer allegedly and was written off, with Ice Cube replacing her. The in show reason she was written off was because she disclosed to a department psychiatrist that she slept with a former suspect and she sued the department for punishing her for it. She'd have done better to just say she fantasied about killing perps. MIRITE Y'ALL? XD

[Princess Sparkle]

Jeffries was a female detective who was partnered with Munch for the first two(?) seasons. The actress who played her didn't get along with Richard Belzer allegedly and was written off, with Ice Cube replacing her. The in show reason she was written off was because she disclosed to a department psychiatrist that she slept with a former suspect and she sued the department for punishing her for it. She'd have done better to just say she fantasied about killing perps. MIRITE Y'ALL? XD

I know you meant Ice T, but I am now reimagining the show with Ice Cube instead and it's cracking me up.  

 

I also did not realize until recently that Michelle Hurd is married to Garret Dillahunt.  What a good looking couple.

[Princess Sparkle]

I don't know if it was "satisfying" so much as "freaking awesome, so I cheered", but I've always loved the episode Fight.  Not for the story, but because we get the glorious vision that is Coco Austin (aka Mrs Ice-T aka "Coco T") as a character in the beginning of the episode.  I may have actually squealed when she showed up on screen and she and Ice T had a scene together.

 

It also features the fantastic Finn line of "Little girl, I was through with it before you knew what to do with it."  I could watch an entire hour of just Finn quotes back-to-back.

[Spartan Girl]

I really hated how the mother of the rapist murderer in "Outsider" actually helped her son escape even though she knew what he did. She was such an enabler, going on about what a "good boy" he was and just blamed the way he was on his father not loving him. Lady, lots of people have jerks for dads but they don't rape and kill people! She totally deserved to have the parents of all the victims sicced on her.

[DkNNy79]

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.

One of my favorite episodes!

[RafaelBarbas]

Barba's first episode where he traps the guy with the belt. Just... yes.

[Sarah D. Bunting]

Just stepping in here to report that my husband watched the "O'Halloran gets killed by Crazy Dale" rerun with me the other day and is STILL MAD about it.

[SunnyBeBe]

I still think the SVU bullpen was the most dangerous place on earth for a perp/witness/innocent bystander. Hmmmm. Maybe SVU and Downton Abbey can do a crossover episode and we clear out some dead weight from the Castle.

 

 

So true.  How many times do they have to have a shoot out in the squad room/holding cell area, before they implement security measures?  And who stands UP when bullets start flying?  Wouldn't clerks, bystanders, hit the floor?  

 

Wouldn't seasoned officers realize that showing victims, witnesses, defendants, etc. other players in the matter could jeopardize their testimony and put them at risk?  But no.....they love to waltz them around the station only inches from dangerous criminals.  So bizarre.  If there's a line up, just keep the witness around so they can allow the perp to see them and realize who put the finger on them. lol  

 

It's almost as annoying as the detective who yells out to the perp in plenty of time for him to run and escape. Couldn't you wait until you are a few yards away? I think Blue Bloods takes the prize on that one though.

[Spartan Girl]

"Birthright" is frustrating for the mere fact that it takes that poor little girl breaking into tears in the courtroom for Lea Thompson's character to realize how messed up it was to take a child away from the parents that she knew and loved, even if she was the egg mother.

[shapeshifter]

"Starved" (S07, E08) aired this morning.

When a series of rapes is linked to a speed-dating service, Benson goes under cover and discovers Mike Jergens (Dean Cain) is the assailant.

When the perp follows Olivia back to her apartment uninvited, they bust him at the door. Later, they regret not waiting until he attacked her. Most frustrating because the Goldilocks (not too hot, not too cold) moment would have been just waiting to see how he gets into her apartment (he uses medical instruments to pick the lock).

Okay, so they didn't know that yet. But then:

Olivia and team arrange to have the perp's wife go to rehab, but then the previously estranged mother insists on taking her home instead. Perp's wife (who could have helped convict perp) ODs, and the mother blames everyone except herself while Saint Olivia just comforts her.

But that's not all:

The perp wins the case to withdraw life support from his now brain dead wife (who married him just a few days ago), but only after she is dead do the SVUers discover the perp has already taken a million dollar life insurance policy out on his new bride.

Shouldn't the detectives have looked into that? Aren't life insurance policies on dead spouses taught in Detective 101?

[WendyCR72]

For anyone who wants to buy S16, it will be released on August 11th per TV Shows On DVD.

[hawk09]

Don't know where this fits, but was looking through Youtube (Inside the Actor's Studio) and found this on Olivia (Mariska Hargitay):

 

 

Also this:

 

[AntiBeeSpray]

Any episode with Munch and Fin in it! I love their one liners :).

[Bananna]

Did you guys enjoy this season overall? 

 

My main complaint that Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has morphed into Law & Order: Olivia Benson.

[AntiBeeSpray]

^ That's my main complaint too. She overwhelmed some of the other story lines O_O.

[hitonallsixes]

My feelings on season 16 are mixed.

No show can hit it out of the ballpark 100% of the time, but I think SVU could have done better in the ratings this year by making an effort to appeal to fans who watch for someone other than Mariska Hargitay and to occasional viewers/new viewers who aren't as invested in the detective’s personal lives.  Seasons 13 and 14 had a nice ensemble feel while still focusing on Olivia, but in S15 (when the Lewis arc started), I feel like the show started to lose its way.
 

Collectively, the fans of Danny Pino, Kelli Giddish, and Raul Esparza make up a sizable segment of the fandom.  Sometimes, I think the writers forget about that, either that, or they don’t care.

I also think that some old faithful viewers have fallen away from the show because of the focus on Olivia.  I feel like SVU as a whole has been stunted in order to allow for Olivia’s growth.

Edited June 3, 2015 by hitonallsixes

[Hero]

The only thing that I honestly liked about this season was the introduction of Peter Scanavino. His character is awesome and Peter is such a great actor.

I agree that this season had way too much Olivia in it. She used to be my favorite character, but the writers ruined that. SVU has been focused on Olivia so much over the years, that her character is becoming insufferable.

[Princess Lucky]

I agree with the comments above. But, frankly, I wouldn't have minded the focus on Benson if it had been anything other than her constantly baby-talking and cradling two distractingly different-looking toddlers. Like. Benson's whole S16 presence consisted of her going all "awwww" and teling her babysitter to make sure Noah's ears were warm. Not exactly riveting television.

 

To be fair, there were a couple of Noah-related moments I liked; seeing Benson finally adopt him was sweet, and I also liked how the different characters interacted with him; Amaro was in total dad mode (poor Amaro, but more on him later), Barba had that hilarious scene when he held Noah like he was a ticking timebomb, and Carisi was super-precious at the christening. Those little moments were revealing. But, overall, that whole storyline felt like a waste of screentime, and even a waste of Benson. I'm actually curious to see where she goes from here, as a Lieutenant.

 

As for the other characters, they were all shortchanged. Amaro, in particular. Even disregarding the fact his entire life was ruined, basically, he spent the majority of the season sulking, being testy, and doing nothing. By the end of the season he did improve, and he did have that solid episode with his father, but it was too little too late. I will really miss him, but the old him. This season's Amaro, I could take or leave, and I'm not even that upset he's gone. I do feel the writers did Danny Pino wrong, but I assume he made a decent amount of money and he got more exposure and, oh well, may he capitalise on that and find a project that better showcases his talents.

 

As for Rollins, she had her big moment and there was a decent lead-up to it, I thought, a nice couple of episodes for her, but the ending was so abrupt and there was no fallout. Nothing about her recovery, nothing about her feelings. The writers remembered to show her being touchy about family (in the Carisi-centric, when she was clearly thinking about her terrible sister) but not about rape/harrassment, apparently. I don't know. I did think that she also got a lot of lighter moments (courtesy of Carisi) and I really liked that. Rollins is pretty tortured in general, in all her seasons, so it's good to see her being funny. Maybe now that Amaro's gone (and what was even the point of "Rollaro"?) she can become even more carefree.

 

I also liked that the season had a decent amount of Barba. His "character-centric" episode (the one with his mom and grandmother) was barely "centric", but we did get some insight into him and Raul got to show us a different side of Barba. But I'd really like to see more of that. Like, a lot more. Still, I appreciated that there were a lot of courtroom shenanigans, that hasn't always been the case in the later seasons of SVU and I really enjoyed it. Early in the season there was also some interesting Benson/Barba action, but that was probably pushed to the side in favour of Tucker (which, actually, I don't mind at all), perhaps after the show was renewed for S17 (like, if S16 had been the last maybe they'd have stuck Benson with Barba. That is, of course, pure speculation on my part, but still). Anyway, more Barba, please.

 

Lastly, the apple of my eye, Sonny Carisi. I will say that S13 was pretty good creatively (and the one I consider the best out of SVU 2.0) but, judging purely on a "how much was I entertained?" basis, Season 16 has been my favourite, the one I'm most likely to rewatch, and it's all because of Carisi. He got a pleasantly surprising amount of screentime for a newbie, and he brought a sense of freshness and, like, joviality to the proceedings that was sorely needed. And I think he also brought out the best in many of the other characters (Rollins and Barba, especially, with all the teasing - which was sometimes mean-spirited but always hilarious - and even Benson, who acted as a teacher for him, at times).

 

To be honest, Carisi's character arc was rocky; he started off as "that weirdo who's there as comic relief", but then he was upgraded to a regular and he got the "oh wait, he's hot" makeover. Unfortunately, his personality arc did not shift as clearly as his appearance; throughout the season, Carisi went back-and-forth between "promising but green newbie" and "hilarious dope". Fortunately, both iterations were really fun to watch, and Peter Scanavino did the absolute most with what he was given, but still; I'd like to see some actual progress for Carisi.

 

Plot-wise, I liked Season 16. I liked that there wasn't some huge William Lewis-style angstfest, there were a lot of solid guest stars, and there were a lot of lighter (i.e. fun to rewatch) episodes (the James Franco one, the one with the little kidnapped kid, the one with Marcia Cross, the measles one etc). I could see myself marathoning S16 easily.

 

Overall, I enjoyed Season 16, though it had a lot of issues. I hope that Season 17 will rectify them, though I'm not quite holding my breath.

[SunnyBeBe]

I have always found it frustrating and quite unbelievable that when detectives show up to a person's house or job to discuss an important matter such as a rape or murder investigation, the person acts so nonchalant and continues to go about their day.  Then they cut if off and say they are too busy to keep talking!  Really?  These are not suspects all the time either.  Most people I know would be VERY concerned, stop, listen, and try to help if possible.  They wouldn't keep rolling dough, cutting meat, painting nails or washing their car as if someone was asking them about the weather. They act as if it's daily occurrence that police ask them about a friend or co-worker who was attacked or murdered.  It really annoys me.   

[Bananna]

I agree with the comments above. But, frankly, I wouldn't have minded the focus on Benson if it had been anything other than her constantly baby-talking and cradling two distractingly different-looking toddlers. Like. Benson's whole S16 presence consisted of her going all "awwww" and teling her babysitter to make sure Noah's ears were warm. Not exactly riveting television.

My main problem with all the Benoah drama is that it was so boring. I've mentioned before that it would have been more interesting to me, if Noah had been an older child. If he had been, Olivia could have had conversations with him and had to deal with a child who's dealing with the loss of a parent. I would have liked to have watched that. Instead, we got a season full Noah getting fever after fever. And it got really tiresome

[RafaelBarbas]

I have always found it frustrating and quite unbelievable that when detectives show up to a person's house or job to discuss an important matter such as a rape or murder investigation, the person acts so nonchalant and continues to go about their day.  Then they cut if off and say they are too busy to keep talking!  Really?  These are not suspects all the time either.  Most people I know would be VERY concerned, stop, listen, and try to help if possible.  They wouldn't keep rolling dough, cutting meat, painting nails or washing their car as if someone was asking them about the weather. They act as if it's daily occurrence that police ask them about a friend or co-worker who was attacked or murdered.  It really annoys me.   

John Mulaney did a stand-up rant about just this very thing! It's hilarious if you want to watch it on Youtube.

[wknt3]

Overall I liked this season. After the last couple of years of unrelenting depressing bleak plots, departures, and bad writing caused me to dip in and out this season got me watching regularly again. I think the writing was much improved and they realized that they had gone overboard hitting the characters with the Sledgehammer of Angst. I have to agree that the biggest problem was excluding other characters to focus on Olivia. We have to constantly see her home life for some reason even though that's never been the way the show works before. We have her actively working cases and running the squad even when it hurts both realism and plot structure. I think that they have found their way, but it's always going to be a mixed bag until they realize that they need to find pull a Sam Waterson with Mariska or find a broadway vet who come in and take command at a relative bargain price.

[solequeene]

I like some episodes, more than last season, but it was really un-even. I'm not a fan of Noah's plots and I've spend a lot of time yelling at the screen because Benson was being just way too stubborn or holding the Idiot Ball for no apparent reason.

[AntiBeeSpray]

I like some episodes, more than last season, but it was really un-even. I'm not a fan of Noah's plots and I've spend a lot of time yelling at the screen because Benson was being just way too stubborn or holding the Idiot Ball for no apparent reason.

 

Lmao XD. Idiot Ball. That is so fitting and apt. I got so sick and tired of some of the bone headed moves she made this season which made absolutely NO sense whatsoever.

[Bananna]

Lmao XD. Idiot Ball. That is so fitting and apt. I got so sick and tired of some of the bone headed moves she made this season which made absolutely NO sense whatsoever.

Yeah, like randomly deciding it was a good idea to list Johnny the Pimp as Noah's father 

[AntiBeeSpray]

Yeah, like randomly deciding it was a good idea to list Johnny the Pimp as Noah's father 

 

Yea, that wasn't one of her brightest moments, that's for sure.

[MorbidPet]

I've made it no secret I am very disappointed with S16. The constant focus on Olivia (don't mind the character but the writing for her this season, Benoah being most boring) and rotating out the squad/cast (losing continuity with it) two major factors. My biggest complaint though is completely disregarding Amanda's rape. I take personal offense to that. I can't understand why they wrote it in if they weren't going to even acknowledge it. They wouldn't have to have made her a rape victim if they knew they weren't going to go anywhere with it. It was in character for Amanda to skip therapy but they should've showed us that she at least struggled with being forced to come clean about it. For someone who never before had put it in to words that she was actually raped, that must've been traumatizing and nothing 2 weeks at a retreat would heal. And I find it ridiculous that the writers can't even answer to the critique coming their way but instead they block the posters on Twitter that try to get answers.

 

Both Rollins & Amaro were the creation of Warren Leight. I adore him for it but can't understand how he miss use them so much. He only seem to care about Benson and that's not even his creation.

 

I will continue to hope it was a mutual decision to let DP/Amaro go but for WL to say they had written him in to a corner, and that he went out like a hero? Hell no. He went out a crippled man w failed relationships & no career. Nothing heroic about that.

 

So all an all not a great season. Was Fin even present & in a pre-S17 article WL even forgot to mention him. W/o DP I find it hard to see I'll be able to enjoy this show again. And if they start on Liv's love life from get-go this viewer is no more.