S17.E11: Townhouse Incident

[ethalfrida]

Okay, why does every episode featuring Olivia come off as The Perils of Pearline? She is a good actor so why do they make her character so melodramatic?

[LizDC]

Seriously. As long as these episodes keep getting ratings, they're going to keep happening. Eventually the SVU official twitter account is going to run out of hashtags. They're already done #savebenson, #rescuebenson, #wearewithbenson... what's next? #deliverbensonfromrepetitivedistressstorylines

Or #runningoutoffreshideas and #Mariskawantsanotheremmy. Yawn.

[torqy]

Even Mrs. Torqy, who would watch a test pattern* with Olivia's picture on it, is getting tired of the Lewis, rinse, repeat trope.

(*Ancient TV watching reference for you whippersnappers.)

[RoxieBear73]

My main problem with this episode is that Benson didn't contact her team about the possible trouble in the townhouse. After all the stuff she went too, you would think that she wouldn't put herself though that again and bring back up with her.

[spaceytraci1208]

The Olivia Benson Hour of Danger

This really should be the name of the show...or at least the subtitle of the SVU thread lol

[Kel Varnsen]

Someone in the NYPD brass needs to sit Olivia down and make her write out "Get your gun out" 500 times or something. Because it seems like everytime she gets caught up in one of these dumb ass situations if she had her gun ready it would have been over in about 5 seconds. Although at least this wasn't as bad as the Lewis thing where there was an escaped murderer out to get her, and she heard a noise in her apartment and didn't think to get her gun ready. 

[txhorns79]

Jr. Dodds doesn't look bad under his clothes apparently, which was the only plot revelation worth mentioning.

 

I feel like the entire storyline was written just so they could come up with an excuse to get him undressed.  Honestly show, this is what, the 300th time Liv has been in some kind of torture porn peril?  How many times must this happen before Liv is just like "Hmmm, you know young lady in a suspicious seeming situation?  I'm not going to walk into your home." 

Edited January 16, 2016 by txhorns79

[WendyCR72]

Well, if/when this show ever does close up shop, at least all this crap would give Liv a reason to quit or something. I know I would if I was tortured as many times as she has been. Added to her own background/strife with her mother.

 

Her psyche must be at its breaking point.

[solequeene]

This was a terribly 'meh' episode. It was well acted and had interesting points:I liked Roxie and how she goes from hostage taker to surrender and I think the girl's rape was truly heart-wrenching, something I haven't feel in a while. But I'm really tired of Olivia's path to martyrdom .I guess I should see something different in her reactions now that she is a mother but it was Lewis' (neverending) arc again and that one dragged and was boring. We know she is not in real danger. So, in lieu of tension we get a sweaty Olivia huskily negotiating with a criminal. Been there, done that.

 

(Disgression: I see everyone talking about torture and torture porn and this is not even close? Like, a few blows and some blood but nothing else)

 

On one hand, I totally buy that she would go to that place alone and without telling anyone because she is self-assured to the point of reckleness. Otoh, the mother was obviously distressed and had bruises on her - a cop of Olivia's experience should have noticed that something was amiss.

 

Barba was (again) tragically underused. Don't put RE in an episode to drink coffee, no matter how nice it is to see him.

 

Best parts were Dodds Jr. in his pants, Carisi looking hot like always and Fin's snarking about box.

[Suckeredin]

If Mariska wants another Emmy she better stop playing a veteran NYPD sex crimes lieutenant as being in the verge of tears whenever she is in a high stress situation that she put her self in. Makes me crazy.

And ditto on the absolute pointlessness and subsequent way the writers handled the rape of the sister as a throwaway plot line. Disgusting is the only word...

But my favorite part? The 3 second cameo by ex-Wonder Years nerd Paul and current NYC attorney, Josh Saviano as the push-in rapist's lawyer. He's turned into a handsome dude.

[aguabella]

This episode disgusted me and I really don't know what is going on with this season or this show.

I grew up in the small town in CT where the home invasion occurred and the similarities were eerie in the episode. Things ended up a lot worse and it shook the town to its core.

This torture and darkness has become so common on the show now, an episode like this doesn't really surprise me. It more or less makes me question why? Wasn't it season 10 there was an episode addressing Olivia's PTSD and that was pre- Lewis.

 

My condolences to anyone close to the CT situation.  I almost had nightmares every time I merely thought about it.

 

Thought the writers were also throwing in a little of the DC home invasion, too.  The perpetrator had previously worked for the victim (same as DC) and they made threats about torturing the young son (happened in DC, IIRC). 

 

The CT daughter who was raped and terrorized (and probably the situation's primary target) was a little younger -  around 14, IIRC.  The bank run was definitely CT.  Thought they were going to delay the perimeter but that seemed o.k. b/c at least they took the brother into custody and rescued the mother.  Didn't happen in CT, unfortunately and we know what happened there ...

 

At least rescuing the mother gave them add'l info about the situation within the home, even though the Roxie's idiot brother (the only description who works for that guy, lol) wouldn't play ball with the cops. 

 

Liv, Liv, Liv - stop butting into every situation, dammit!  Go to work - send someone else over, e.g. the fake truant officers.  Please, we can't take it any more!!!

 

Do they plan to return for another season?  Is this a setup for Liv's exit due to her obvious ptsd?

 

 

P.S.  The actor who played bad guy Joe looked familiar but couldn't place him from a quick peek at his imdb.

 

Loved Fin about the boxing:  "don't want to hurt you, man!"

Edited January 17, 2016 by aguabella

[CelticBlackCat]

Looks like it's time for me to take another catnap.  I'm going on viewing hiatus AGAIN and may catch up with the Saint Olivia Benson Drama Hour in the summer if there's nothing else to watch.  To invest a whole hour (including the commercials) for a couple of peeks of cute Carisi, underused Barba, and Finn one-liners (which are always great) is just not worth it to have to endure Olivia Crisis du Jour.

 

Perhaps if there is a S18, WL will be gone and something will happen to save the series?

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

Tuckered Out
Yet another Liv-in-peril episode takes a foxy turn when our heroine gets to choose her own HOT-stage negotiator.

[slowpoked]

I really really wish Roxy had been killed. She willingly let a 16-year-old girl be raped. Being allowed to surrender is a far better fate than she deserved. 

Good god, I hate characters like that. And I see those characters far too often in crime/police dramas. Seriously, he's your boyfriend, you're screwing him. And you just let him rape a young girl just like that and your reasoning is "he's gotta do what he's gotta do..." If he was cheating on her, I bet she would have raised hell on him. But raping a young girl? Uh, no. Let him do his thing.

[millennium]

Worst episode of the whole series.

[LeGrandElephant]

I decided to skip this episode after reading the blurb. But then the next episode started with a recap of it! So then I had to pause and come back and read this thread. Now I'm glad I skipped it.