Law & Order: SVU in the Media

[dttruman]

NBC has premiere dates for L&O: SVU and L&O: Organized Crime.

L&O SVU will premiere the second week in November.

L&O: Organized Crime will premiere after Jan 1st. 2021

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/nbc-sets-premiere-dates-tweaked-190035602.html

[Xeliou66]

Interesting, so I guess Stabler won’t be brought back until 2021, when it’s time for his show to premiere. Glad to know when SVU is planning to premiere, thanks for the info. 

[dttruman]

12 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Interesting, so I guess Stabler won’t be brought back until 2021, when it’s time for his show to premiere. Glad to know when SVU is planning to premiere, thanks for the info. 

I am still a little suspicious on the "after Jan 1st. 2021" date. It could be the last episode of the season of SVU, that Stabler is introduced for all we know.

[dttruman]

Another update on Yahoo  concerning SVU. IMO, Warren Leight in this article is literally telling me nothing of what is coming up.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/svu-boss-season-22-premiere-190930523.html

 

Edited September 3, 2020 by dttruman
Forgot the link

[illdoc]

For those "hoping" for a resolution: https://tvline.com/2020/09/01/svu-ep-season-22-premiere-sir-toby-trial-warren-leight/

[Xeliou66]

8 minutes ago, illdoc said:

For those "hoping" for a resolution: https://tvline.com/2020/09/01/svu-ep-season-22-premiere-sir-toby-trial-warren-leight/

So basically they aren’t even going to clear up anything that happened in the season finale, despite the show basically ending on a cliffhanger regarding Sir Toby. I get that a lot has happened since then, and that they probably couldn’t get Ian McShane back to reprise his role, but they should at least throw in a couple of lines of dialogue about what happened to Sir Toby, either reveal that he died in the hospital or that he was convicted offscreen of his crimes. Hopefully they will do that. But given how shitty the writing for SVU is now it wouldn’t shock me if they ignored it entirely and acted like the season didn’t end on a cliffhanger. 

[dttruman]

2 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

So basically they aren’t even going to clear up anything that happened in the season finale, despite the show basically ending on a cliffhanger regarding Sir Toby. I get that a lot has happened since then, and that they probably couldn’t get Ian McShane back to reprise his role, but they should at least throw in a couple of lines of dialogue about what happened to Sir Toby, either reveal that he died in the hospital or that he was convicted offscreen of his crimes. Hopefully they will do that. But given how shitty the writing for SVU is now it wouldn’t shock me if they ignored it entirely and acted like the season didn’t end on a cliffhanger. 

Do you think they will let this lie until they need to something for sweeps week?

[Xeliou66]

56 minutes ago, dttruman said:

Do you think they will let this lie until they need to something for sweeps week?

No because I doubt they can get Ian McShane back for an episode, so I bet they just dispose of it with a couple of lines of dialogue in the season premiere. 

[CrystalBlue]

3 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

No because I doubt they can get Ian McShane back for an episode, so I bet they just dispose of it with a couple of lines of dialogue in the season premiere. 

Maybe they'll write into the story that Sir Toby escaped back to England or somewhere else where he won't be extradited and that's why he's not back in NYC. 

[dttruman]

7 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

8 hours ago, dttruman said:

Do you think they will let this lie until they need to something for sweeps week?

No because I doubt they can get Ian McShane back for an episode, so I bet they just dispose of it with a couple of lines of dialogue in the season premiere. 

Then one of the writers will get an extra $5.00 put on their paycheck.

4 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

7 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

No because I doubt they can get Ian McShane back for an episode, so I bet they just dispose of it with a couple of lines of dialogue in the season premiere. 

Maybe they'll write into the story that Sir Toby escaped back to England or somewhere else where he won't be extradited and that's why he's not back in NYC. 

This one is a little more complicated. So if they use it, demand part of that $5.00!

[CrystalBlue]

On 9/3/2020 at 4:44 AM, dttruman said:

Then one of the writers will get an extra $5.00 put on their paycheck.

This one is a little more complicated. So if they use it, demand part of that $5.00!

Dibs!

On 9/3/2020 at 1:26 PM, CrystalBlue said:

Dibs!

This is eerie!  I just received in the mail today a check for $5.00 -- from my auto insurance company as a refund on the premium already paid for driving less during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To keep on topic, here's another article about S22.  According to the article writers, SVU will have to take a stand on either being pro-police or pro-protesters.  I don't see why both sides can't be shown in an unbiased way, but there you go.

https://poptimesuk.com/svu-boss-season-22-premiere-wont-solve-the-cliffhanger-what-happened/169518/

[Xeliou66]

14 minutes ago, CrystalBlue said:

This is eerie!  I just received in the mail today a check for $5.00 -- from my auto insurance company as a refund on the premium already paid for driving less during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To keep on topic, here's another article about S22.  According to the article writers, SVU will have to take a stand on either being pro-police or pro-protesters.  I don't see why both sides can't be shown in an unbiased way, but there you go.

https://poptimesuk.com/svu-boss-season-22-premiere-wont-solve-the-cliffhanger-what-happened/169518/

Without getting into a political discussion, SVU is terrible at nuance and subtlety now. It doesn’t matter what the issue being tackled is - SVU is going to be heavy handed and preachy about it. The Mothership and even earlier seasons of SVU were pretty good about being subtle and nuanced when dealing with social issues, current SVU bashes the viewer over the head with their preaching. It’s another reason why current SVU sucks for the most part. 

It isn’t the first time SVU has dealt with this issue - remember Community Policing from season 17? I remember Benson fans being royally pissed that Benson defended the cops in the episode and I personally didn’t care for how every member of SVU seemed on the cops side, but it wasn’t a terrible episode. 

[dttruman]

On 9/3/2020 at 8:56 PM, CrystalBlue said:

This is eerie!  I just received in the mail today a check for $5.00 -- from my auto insurance company as a refund on the premium already paid for driving less during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To keep on topic, here's another article about S22.  According to the article writers, SVU will have to take a stand on either being pro-police or pro-protesters.  I don't see why both sides can't be shown in an unbiased way, but there you go.

https://poptimesuk.com/svu-boss-season-22-premiere-wont-solve-the-cliffhanger-what-happened/169518/

I am sure the check came from the producers of SVU. NBC is probably a major shareholder in your insurance company and wanted to make sure you got compensated. They just didn't want to give you credit for the idea, their writers need all the credit they can get.

On 9/3/2020 at 9:17 PM, Xeliou66 said:

Without getting into a political discussion, SVU is terrible at nuance and subtlety now. It doesn’t matter what the issue being tackled is - SVU is going to be heavy handed and preachy about it. The Mothership and even earlier seasons of SVU were pretty good about being subtle and nuanced when dealing with social issues, current SVU bashes the viewer over the head with their preaching. It’s another reason why current SVU sucks for the most part. 

It isn’t the first time SVU has dealt with this issue - remember Community Policing from season 17? I remember Benson fans being royally pissed that Benson defended the cops in the episode and I personally didn’t care for how every member of SVU seemed on the cops side, but it wasn’t a terrible episode. 

Who has more pull on this show Leight or Hargitay? If it's Leight, then I think the episode won't be as heavy handed when tackling the controversial topic. If it's Hargitay, then I expect Benson to be seen in a grandstanding scene where she is in the front of a protest march. It's a toss up if there is a trial, since Leight stays away from stuff like that. But if so, Benson may top her over zealousness that we saw in "Zero Tolerance", just to please her fans.

I went back to read the recap and review and I wonder if they will bring back the "Push-in Rapist" character (as part of the story line) even though they caught him later?

I found something on Youtube, but I don't know if this considered the media and if I will get in trouble for posting the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5tqE293T_8

If this has been posted before, my apologies for being redundant.

[Xeliou66]

2 hours ago, dttruman said:

Who has more pull on this show Leight or Hargitay? If it's Leight, then I think the episode won't be as heavy handed when tackling the controversial topic. If it's Hargitay, then I expect Benson to be seen in a grandstanding scene where she is in the front of a protest march. It's a toss up if there is a trial, since Leight stays away from stuff like that. But if so, Benson may top her over zealousness that we saw in "Zero Tolerance", just to please her fans.

I went back to read the recap and review and I wonder if they will bring back the "Push-in Rapist" character (as part of the story line) even though they caught him later?

The “Push in Rapist” guy that they were chasing in Community Policing when the 3 cops shot the wrong suspect was caught in the episode Townhouse Incident, remember they got a call about another push in rape at the start of the episode and they figured out the guy was stuck on the roof and Carisi, Fin and Dodds Jr went up there and found the guy and arrested him. So that case has been solved. 

I think there is a mix of power between Leight/the writing staff and MH, and I think it varies by episode who has the most influence over the storyline. But given how they love to make Benson look like a perfect saint and given the heavy handed preaching the show likes to do, I have a feeling we are in for a heavy dose of “St Olivia saves the world” when the show returns. 

[dttruman]

3 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

given how they love to make Benson look like a perfect saint and given the heavy handed preaching the show likes to do, I have a feeling we are in for a heavy dose of “St Olivia saves the world” when the show returns.

I wonder who is going to get dumped on the most to make Benson look like a Saint? Will there be a "Blue Wall" and a major conspiracy that blocks Benson and the SVU investigation or will there just be one bad cop with a lot of high connections?

Edited September 4, 2020 by dttruman

[CrystalBlue]

2 hours ago, dttruman said:

I found something on Youtube, but I don't know if this considered the media and if I will get in trouble for posting the link.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5tqE293T_8

If this has been posted before, my apologies for being redundant.

This is hilarious!

[Xeliou66]

3 hours ago, dttruman said:

I wonder who is going to get dumped on the most to make Benson look like a Saint? Will there be a "Blue Wall" and a major conspiracy that blocks Benson and the SVU investigation or will there just be one bad cop with a lot of high connections?

Hopefully they don’t have to dump on anyone in the process of making Benson look great, but I hope they don’t trash Chief Garland or try to make him look like a shill for the higher ups or those with power/connections. And I have a feeling they will continue their disgraceful trashing of the DA’s office and make them look corrupt and inept to advance the plot and create drama -I don’t look forward to that. 

And remember 2 seasons ago in the episode Blackout, they trashed Carisi and made him look like an upholder of the wall of silence, having hesitation to investigate because the victim (Nikki Staines) was a lawyer suing the police, and that was extremely OOC for Carisi, and done just to make Rollins look sympathetic. I hope they don’t do something like that again.

[Xeliou66]

So SVU has started production again - the new season will start November 12. I’ve seen some pics and stuff from their set - I know that ME Warner will be guest starring in one of the first episodes which is good news, always nice when she shows up. 

[dttruman]

22 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

So SVU has started production again - the new season will start November 12. I’ve seen some pics and stuff from their set - I know that ME Warner will be guest starring in one of the first episodes which is good news, always nice when she shows up. 

A smart move would be to make her a semi-regular again. I have a feeling that in the episode she appears in, she will be overly involved (or personally involved) in the case breaking all the usual protocol rules again, which is prevalent in most SVU episodes.

[Xeliou66]

29 minutes ago, dttruman said:

A smart move would be to make her a semi-regular again. I have a feeling that in the episode she appears in, she will be overly involved (or personally involved) in the case breaking all the usual protocol rules again, which is prevalent in most SVU episodes.

Let’s hope they don’t trash her, she’s a great recurring character and I would love to see her made a semi regular again or at least appear multiple times a season whenever a case needs an autopsy or medical/forensic expertise. I don’t think they will trash her, but you can never tell with SVU’s writers, they do love to shit on their characters because it’s easy, cheap drama. 

[dttruman]

19 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Let’s hope they don’t trash her, she’s a great recurring character and I would love to see her made a semi regular again or at least appear multiple times a season whenever a case needs an autopsy or medical/forensic expertise. I don’t think they will trash her, but you can never tell with SVU’s writers, they do love to shit on their characters because it’s easy, cheap drama. 

I wonder if they will say she screwed up one of her own autopsy and she wants to make it right before she retires.

[Xeliou66]

24 minutes ago, dttruman said:

I wonder if they will say she screwed up one of her own autopsy and she wants to make it right before she retires.

I kind of doubt they will trash her since she’s been a recurring character for so long and I don’t think they will get rid of her, I think she will just be appearing to assist SVU with a case, I really wish they had more minor/recurring characters like that who would pop up from time to time, but they seemed to have gotten rid of most of them. I hope they use Warner well, last season when she appeared she was onscreen for barely a minute and it had nothing to do with the case, it was just her telling Benson about the autopsy results of her half brother. 

[dttruman]

1 hour ago, Xeliou66 said:

I hope they use Warner well, last season when she appeared she was onscreen for barely a minute and it had nothing to do with the case, it was just her telling Benson about the autopsy results of her half brother. 

I wonder if this is the scenario they might be extending. Warner calls Benson, says she screwed up the autopsy and abruptly came up with the wrong findings. She now considers Benson's half brother death a homicide and this gives Benson the motivation to redeem herself for the guilt she feels for not being there for him. Now is it a police conspiracy or did he walk into some kind of big drug deal where his death must appear as a suicide so the investigation doesn't lead anywhere?

[Xeliou66]

29 minutes ago, dttruman said:

I wonder if this is the scenario they might be extending. Warner calls Benson, says she screwed up the autopsy and abruptly came up with the wrong findings. She now considers Benson's half brother death a homicide and this gives Benson the motivation to redeem herself for the guilt she feels for not being there for him. Now is it a police conspiracy or did he walk into some kind of big drug deal where his death must appear as a suicide so the investigation doesn't lead anywhere?

I doubt that will be the situation - although I wouldn’t put it past the writers to bring back Simon’s death just to give Benson’s more angst. I don’t think the first episodes of the season will do that though, I bet they tackle topics such as the covid pandemic and the police reform/protests across the country. I bet Warner is just back to assist on a case. But with these writers, who the hell knows? I never thought they would do what they did to Barba and Stone.

[dttruman]

56 minutes ago, Xeliou66 said:

I doubt that will be the situation - although I wouldn’t put it past the writers to bring back Simon’s death just to give Benson’s more angst. I don’t think the first episodes of the season will do that though, I bet they tackle topics such as the covid pandemic and the police reform/protests across the country. I bet Warner is just back to assist on a case. But with these writers, who the hell knows? I never thought they would do what they did to Barba and Stone.

If it's the Covid situation they address, that will fit right into their wheel house too. All of the detectives have succumb to the virus and Benson has to investigate a case all by herself. If it's about the reform/protests, i wonder how altruistic Benson will be and how pitiless and self-absorbed the police are?

[SarahPrtr]

PS recently gave an interview about Carisi's frustration, and I'm just as frustrated. 

https://www.tvinsider.com/931872/law-order-svu-season-21-finale-carisi-ada-rollins-peter-scanavino/

He also mentioned holding back on having drinks with Rollins to protect himself, and how he was emotional about it.  After ALLLLLL this time, he STILL has a thing for her????  That may be his biggest weakness.  Do NOT turn Carisi into a pussy!!!  Just because Rollins and Carisi are not married to other people, that is absolutely not a reason to just 'lump' them together.  Rollins is trash.  She doesn't deserve him and he's going to be that guy who works day and night and she's going to waste all of his money.

 

This show has SO much potential with a wealth of storylines which can really be interesting, but they fall short Every Damn Freaking Week!!!  WTF is actually going on with the writers?!!!  Why can't any of them just follow through with the plot?!  They always start out well, then it's like, fssssssss, fizzle..........  PS is only on the show now because unlike MH or Ice, he doesn't have enough FU money yet, and he's got 3 young kids.  If not for the show, he probably would have moved his family to Connecticut to be safer.  Just DON'T destroy Carisi.  And do NOT make him into Benson's bitch boy.  He doesn't work for her anymore.

[Xeliou66]

9 hours ago, SarahPrtr said:

PS recently gave an interview about Carisi's frustration, and I'm just as frustrated. 

https://www.tvinsider.com/931872/law-order-svu-season-21-finale-carisi-ada-rollins-peter-scanavino/

He also mentioned holding back on having drinks with Rollins to protect himself, and how he was emotional about it.  After ALLLLLL this time, he STILL has a thing for her????  That may be his biggest weakness.  Do NOT turn Carisi into a pussy!!!  Just because Rollins and Carisi are not married to other people, that is absolutely not a reason to just 'lump' them together.  Rollins is trash.  She doesn't deserve him and he's going to be that guy who works day and night and she's going to waste all of his money.

 

This show has SO much potential with a wealth of storylines which can really be interesting, but they fall short Every Damn Freaking Week!!!  WTF is actually going on with the writers?!!!  Why can't any of them just follow through with the plot?!  They always start out well, then it's like, fssssssss, fizzle..........  PS is only on the show now because unlike MH or Ice, he doesn't have enough FU money yet, and he's got 3 young kids.  If not for the show, he probably would have moved his family to Connecticut to be safer.  Just DON'T destroy Carisi.  And do NOT make him into Benson's bitch boy.  He doesn't work for her anymore.

Good rant and I agree with everything you said. I’m so sick of the writers shoving the Carisi/Rollins unresolved feelings shit down our throats, Rollins is trailer trash and doesn’t deserve Carisi, and just because Carisi and Rollins are a man and a woman about the same age that work together doesn’t mean they have to have feelings for each other. It’s a cliched, stupid storyline and done just to create soapy drama and appeal to fans who want relationship drama on what’s supposed to be a crime show. 

I want Carisi to be able to flex his muscles more in the ADA position and show his authority, don’t be afraid to have him clash with Benson and the squad, it’s like they are afraid to have him do that, it seems like they want Carisi to still be a squad member while also acting as ADA - stop shoehorning him into scenes where he doesn’t belong and give him more legal material to work with. I feel like they are wasting Carisi by putting him in the ADA position when they rarely write good legal material and don’t seem to know what to do with him. And yes please don’t make him a Benson Bot the way Barba and Stone became, I would really like to see Carisi and Benson clash some and Carisi tell Benson he doesn’t work for her anymore. 

[dttruman]

20 hours ago, SarahPrtr said:

He also mentioned holding back on having drinks with Rollins to protect himself, and how he was emotional about it.  After ALLLLLL this time, he STILL has a thing for her????  That may be his biggest weakness.  Do NOT turn Carisi into a pussy!!!  Just because Rollins and Carisi are not married to other people, that is absolutely not a reason to just 'lump' them together.  Rollins is trash.  She doesn't deserve him and he's going to be that guy who works day and night and she's going to waste all of his money.

Did or does Carisi have any real weaknesses besides Rollins? I wonder if they may give him one or two this season. Being so disappointed by Rollin's always putting him through the wringer of emotional concerns, I wouldn't be surprised if he develops a drinking problem. Maybe they might give Carisi a new love interest, that will give the writers another emotion of Rollins to explore, jealousy of another woman.

10 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

it seems like they want Carisi to still be a squad member while also acting as ADA - stop shoehorning him into scenes where he doesn’t belong and give him more legal material to work with. I feel like they are wasting Carisi by putting him in the ADA position when they rarely write good legal material and don’t seem to know what to do with him. And yes please don’t make him a Benson Bot the way Barba and Stone became, I would really like to see Carisi and Benson clash some and Carisi tell Benson he doesn’t work for her anymore. 

I think we're stuck with the first dilemma where Carisi is still part of the squad room, unless Leight decides to explore more of the courtroom scenes. You know we will definitely be seeing a lot of Carisi when it comes to a story line with a police cover up shooting,that SVU should not be any part of, but will be heavily involved.

If you read the article from TVinsider, did you happen to read the comment by "Cyan Bowtie"? It may have been written back in April, but I thought it was spot on.

"Disappointed with this 21st season of Law & Order on the whole. Been a loyal fan since the first season. Story lines lack luster. Some actors are over the top and do not add any depth to plots, just loud and excitable, others have few lines and I wonder if this is backplay are to give the "star" center stage being that there are only the two women main characters in the show. Finn is Finn. Ice is Ice. I as many loyal fans am delighted that Chris Meloni will be returning to the franchise but I will look forward to his returning to a new plot line with occasional appearances at SVU. He certainly can carry a show of his own. Perhaps SVU has had its day I think Oliva Benson should take a long rest. She looks tired."

Edited September 27, 2020 by dttruman

[wknt3]

17 hours ago, SarahPrtr said:

PS recently gave an interview about Carisi's frustration, and I'm just as frustrated. 

https://www.tvinsider.com/931872/law-order-svu-season-21-finale-carisi-ada-rollins-peter-scanavino/

He also mentioned holding back on having drinks with Rollins to protect himself, and how he was emotional about it.  After ALLLLLL this time, he STILL has a thing for her????  That may be his biggest weakness.  Do NOT turn Carisi into a pussy!!!  Just because Rollins and Carisi are not married to other people, that is absolutely not a reason to just 'lump' them together.  Rollins is trash.  She doesn't deserve him and he's going to be that guy who works day and night and she's going to waste all of his money.

This show has SO much potential with a wealth of storylines which can really be interesting, but they fall short Every Damn Freaking Week!!!  WTF is actually going on with the writers?!!!  Why can't any of them just follow through with the plot?!  They always start out well, then it's like, fssssssss, fizzle.......... 

I can speculate as to what the issue is with the writers even though I don't have any inside information, It hasn't stopped me the last 5000 times after all. The problems with the writing don't have anything to do with a lack of ability or the writers themselves with a few notable exceptions such as Warren Leight's obsession with family psychodrama. As you have said they have come up good ideas and potentially interesting srorylines and characters, but then there is no follow through. The reason for that is that the ultimate decision makers have decided that the focus must be on Olivia Benson and portraying her in a certain way, not on telling good stories. Even if it means dropping interesting plot threads or giving other characters short shrift. That focus has also come with catering to the interests of Mariska Hargitay, again even if it means not pursuing where the story or concept might lead organically. This has been a constant for the last 5 years plus with different showrunners handling it with more or less success, which is why with the exception of Rick Eid's season there still have been plenty of interesting and promising ideas and promises of giving us a story about a victim or one of the other main cast members. And occasionally there has been follow through, but it will always be abandoned if it doesn't fit into the overarching agenda.
 

Quote

 Just DON'T destroy Carisi.  And do NOT make him into Benson's bitch boy.  He doesn't work for her anymore.

Yeah good luck with that, They have done it with both of his last 2 predecessors and came pretty close to doing it to Jack freaking McCoy! Everyone works for Benson even if they technically outrank her. I'm just waiting to see her giving the mayor orders...
 

3 hours ago, dttruman said:

Did or does Carisi have any real weaknesses besides Rollins? I wonder if they may give him one or two this season. Being so disappointed by Rollin's always putting him through the wringer of emotional concerns for him, I wouldn't be surprised if he develops a drinking problem. Maybe they might give Carisi a new love interest, that will give the writers another emotion of Rollins to explore, jealousy of another woman.

Carisi's weakness is the same as all of our heroes. He CARES TOO DAMN MUCH. Because nobody else really cares about the victims. And sometimes he just can't handle it. Fortunately he has St. Benson of Manahattan to turn to for solace and wisdom. Also COVID has caused supply chain issues for pomade...

Edited September 27, 2020 by wknt3
ducking autocorrect

[wonderwoman]

nothing complicated here: when meloni leaves the show after season 12, the dynamics change a bit, but with florek and belzer still in the squad room it’s still an ensemble cast; but when belzer and florek leave after season 14, she who shall not be named becomes an executive producer and the saint olivia shit show begins.  

Edited September 28, 2020 by wonderwoman

[dttruman]

33 minutes ago, wonderwoman said:

nothing complicated here: when meloni leaves the show after season 12, the dynamics change a bit, but with florek and belzer still in the squad room it’s still an ensemble cast; but belzer and florek leave after season 14, she who shall not be named becomes an executive producer and the saint olivia shit show begins.  

The amount of cast members was inversely proportional to the amount of plot importance the Benson character received, validated also by the extra dialogue. When that failed they decided to add an extra character or two, with Benson still maintaining her usual  plot importance. Still with no noticeable improvement.

[Xeliou66]

7 hours ago, wonderwoman said:

nothing complicated here: when meloni leaves the show after season 12, the dynamics change a bit, but with florek and belzer still in the squad room it’s still an ensemble cast; but belzer and florek leave after season 14, she who shall not be named becomes an executive producer and the saint olivia shit show begins.  

This is what I’ve been saying for a long time - MH became the sole lead after Stabler’s departure, but the cast was still an ensemble and she didn’t hog up as much of the screentime, it was in season 15 when Munch and Cragen departed and MH became a producer that the show became the St Olivia Hour. That was the season that Noah came on at the end of and we started getting endless soapy Benson drama along with worship of the character. 

9 hours ago, wknt3 said:

I can speculate as to what the issue is with the writers even though I don't have any inside information, It hasn't stopped me the last 5000 times after all. The problems with the writing don't have anything to do with a lack of ability or the writers themselves with a few notable exceptions such as Warren Leight's obsession with family psychodrama. As you have said they have come up good ideas and potentially interesting srorylines and characters, but then there is no follow through. The reason for that is that the ultimate decision makers have decided that the focus must be on Olivia Benson and portraying her in a certain way, not on telling good stories. Even if it means dropping interesting plot threads or giving other characters short shrift. That focus has also come with catering to the interests of Mariska Hargitay, again even if it means not pursuing where the story or concept might lead organically. This has been a constant for the last 5 years plus with different showrunners handling it with more or less success, which is why with the exception of Rick Eid's season there still have been plenty of interesting and promising ideas and promises of giving us a story about a victim or one of the other main cast members. And occasionally there has been follow through, but it will always be abandoned if it doesn't fit into the overarching agenda.

The Benson/MH overfocus and worship is a major issue - but another major issue that doesn’t have a lot to do with Benson/MH is Carisi/the legal side of the show. They don’t seem to know what to do about it - in almost every episode, Carisi is shoehorned into scenes he doesn’t belong in as though he is still a squad member, and they don’t write good legal material for him in most episodes despite him being the show’s most compelling character IMO. This could be fixed by writing better legal stuff and giving Carisi good courtroom scenes to sink his teeth into and letting him show off his authority and sometimes clash with the SVU squad, yet they don’t want to do this for some reason, as a result it feels unnatural - Carisi isn’t a squad member anymore, but the writers want him to still be one for some reason and to have no conflict with the squad even though every ADA has had some conflict with the squad, it’s a natural part of their interactions. So instead they bring in the worthless Hadid character to create tension and in the process shit on the entire DA’s office, which is downright disrespectful to fans of the franchise and disgraceful and cheap and stupid. This could be corrected some but the writers don’t seem to want to do it for the most part. 

So I think the legal stuff is the biggest issue SVU needs to fix - the overfocus on and worship of St Olivia sucks but because of MH’s ego and influence it can’t be stopped, it can only be contained, and the writers did an okay job of containing it in some episodes last season actually, Benson was dialed back a bit in some episodes as compared to the previous seasons. But they’ve completely screwed up the legal part of the show and it needs to be fixed, but Warren and company are too preoccupied with giving us soapy personal angst with Benson and Rollins to fix it. And speaking of Rollins - she’s clearly a writers pet and she got way too much screentime last season, I’m sick of her being shoved down our throats. And for the love of god, drop the Rollins/Carisi shit, it’s nauseating, cliched, ridiculous dreck and needs to go. 

[dttruman]

10 hours ago, wknt3 said:

The problems with the writing don't have anything to do with a lack of ability or the writers themselves with a few notable exceptions such as Warren Leight's obsession with family psychodrama. As you have said they have come up good ideas and potentially interesting srorylines and characters, but then there is no follow through. The reason for that is that the ultimate decision makers have decided that the focus must be on Olivia Benson and portraying her in a certain way, not on telling good stories. Even if it means dropping interesting plot threads or giving other characters short shrift. That focus has also come with catering to the interests of Mariska Hargitay, again even if it means not pursuing where the story or concept might lead organically.

 

1 hour ago, Xeliou66 said:

the overfocus on and worship of St Olivia sucks but because of MH’s ego and influence it can’t be stopped, it can only be contained, and the writers did an okay job of containing it in some episodes last season actually, Benson was dialed back a bit in some episodes as compared to the previous seasons. But they’ve completely screwed up the legal part of the show and it needs to be fixed, but Warren and company are too preoccupied with giving us soapy personal angst with Benson and Rollins to fix it.

I think we have to be careful when it comes to the use of the term "the writers". I don't want to include the good ones who come up with great story lines, when we criticize a potentially good episode, that falls flat because of the reasons stated above by WKNT3. We need to come up with some kind of acronyms when evaluating an episode and they deviate from a good plot line as EXLIOU66 points out for when they over focus on St Olivia and Rollins.

 

 

 

[SarahPrtr]

6 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Carisi isn’t a squad member anymore, but the writers want him to still be one for some reason and to have no conflict with the squad even though every ADA has had some conflict with the squad, it’s a natural part of their interactions.

I'm actually anticipating Carisi yelling "I DON'T WORK FOR YOU ANYMORE, OLIVIA!!!" - that is, if the writers/producers are brave enough to write that line in.  Because after that, Olivia will finally start respecting Carisi for being an ADA.  But I am obviously NOT going to hold my breath.

[Xeliou66]

1 hour ago, SarahPrtr said:

I'm actually anticipating Carisi yelling "I DON'T WORK FOR YOU ANYMORE, OLIVIA!!!" - that is, if the writers/producers are brave enough to write that line in.  Because after that, Olivia will finally start respecting Carisi for being an ADA.  But I am obviously NOT going to hold my breath.

I’ve been saying I hope Carisi says that line for a while, that would be awesome!! But I’m not expecting it because they don’t want anyone to speak to the holy St Olivia that way. 

[mtlchick]

Demore Barnes has been promoted to series regular. 

https://tvline.com/2020/10/06/law-order-svu-demore-barnes-series-regular-christian-garland/

[dttruman]

28 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

Demore Barnes has been promoted to series regular. 

https://tvline.com/2020/10/06/law-order-svu-demore-barnes-series-regular-christian-garland/

I am a little confused with this article. Can he handle being a regular? Because at the end of this article, it says that the other series he is in (American Gods) is coming back for a third seasons. Will he be commuting from NYC to Canada a lot?

[Xeliou66]

31 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

Demore Barnes has been promoted to series regular. 

https://tvline.com/2020/10/06/law-order-svu-demore-barnes-series-regular-christian-garland/

Very interesting. I wonder how they will work Chief Garland into each episode - not every episode needs a chief being involved, but I’m not going to complain about this move - I like Garland a lot and I like having someone above Benson who isn’t portrayed as a bad guy and who is objective and level headed. So I look forward to seeing more of Garland, although what they really needed to do was add another detective to the squad as a regular. But Garland definitely adds to the show.

[formerlyfreedom]

4 hours ago, dttruman said:

I am a little confused with this article. Can he handle being a regular? Because at the end of this article, it says that the other series he is in (American Gods) is coming back for a third seasons. Will he be commuting from NYC to Canada a lot?

American Gods only has ten episodes a season, and a fairly broad cast, he was only in a few of the ten episodes last season. So he may have finished filming even for the season (I'm not up on where they're at with filming).

[SarahPrtr]

8 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Very interesting. I wonder how they will work Chief Garland into each episode - not every episode needs a chief being involved, but I’m not going to complain about this move - I like Garland a lot and I like having someone above Benson who isn’t portrayed as a bad guy and who is objective and level headed. So I look forward to seeing more of Garland, although what they really needed to do was add another detective to the squad as a regular. But Garland definitely adds to the show.

OHMYGOD. Someone who is ABOVE Olivia?!!!  Yes pleasy pleasy please!!! As you've said, especially if that person isn't portrayed as a villain and is level-headed.  I would absolutely LOVE that.

[dttruman]

12 hours ago, saoirse said:

American Gods only has ten episodes a season, and a fairly broad cast, he was only in a few of the ten episodes last season. So he may have finished filming even for the season (I'm not up on where they're at with filming).

My bad, I am thinking that these tv or cable shows have a standard of at least 24 episodes person season.

8 hours ago, SarahPrtr said:

17 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Very interesting. I wonder how they will work Chief Garland into each episode - not every episode needs a chief being involved, but I’m not going to complain about this move - I like Garland a lot and I like having someone above Benson who isn’t portrayed as a bad guy and who is objective and level headed. So I look forward to seeing more of Garland, although what they really needed to do was add another detective to the squad as a regular. But Garland definitely adds to the show.

OHMYGOD. Someone who is ABOVE Olivia?!!!  Yes pleasy pleasy please!!! As you've said, especially if that person isn't portrayed as a villain and is level-headed.  I would absolutely LOVE that.

 

17 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Very interesting. I wonder how they will work Chief Garland into each episode - not every episode needs a chief being involved, but I’m not going to complain about this move - I like Garland a lot and I like having someone above Benson who isn’t portrayed as a bad guy and who is objective and level headed. So I look forward to seeing more of Garland, although what they really needed to do was add another detective to the squad as a regular. But Garland definitely adds to the show.

Does anyone else besides me see history repeating it's self here? Remember when a new ADA came in by the name of Stone and  was suppose to be hard as nails? If so, then we all know what he turned out to be after going a few rounds with Benson. I wonder with more Garland, if he and Benson will be squaring off instead of Benson and Stone and now of late, Benson and Carisi?

Since SVU has been renewed for three more years, I wonder if it's too premature to wish Demore Barnes a fond farewell after this season. Will he go out like the previous guys (Barba, Stone Dodds) who sacrificed their jobs for Benson or will the writers and producers send him out at the hands of a trigger happy cop, with a blue wall protecting the cop?

[wknt3]

On 10/6/2020 at 7:44 PM, dttruman said:

I am a little confused with this article. Can he handle being a regular? Because at the end of this article, it says that the other series he is in (American Gods) is coming back for a third seasons. Will he be commuting from NYC to Canada a lot?

 

On 10/6/2020 at 7:52 PM, Xeliou66 said:

Very interesting. I wonder how they will work Chief Garland into each episode - not every episode needs a chief being involved, but I’m not going to complain about this move - I like Garland a lot and I like having someone above Benson who isn’t portrayed as a bad guy and who is objective and level headed. So I look forward to seeing more of Garland, although what they really needed to do was add another detective to the squad as a regular. But Garland definitely adds to the show.

Just a reminder to everyone that being a series regular does not mean that the actor will be in every episode or even more than they were in when they were recurring. It just means that they are considered part of the regular cast and changes where their credit appears. For SVU it means he'll appear in the opening titles whether he's in that week's episode or not. Usually it also comes with a bit more commitment from the producers too. As far as any meaning beyond that I'm guessing that it means that with the 3 year renewal TPTB realize that they need to open things up a bit as they did with adding Kat, want to make a show of diversity, and perhaps that they realize that Benson needs someone to be reporting to if she is going to be in the field all the time (and maybe that they want some flexibility to let her appear in one of the spinoffs that Dick Wolf desperately wants to launch to keep the franchise going so she can shoot some scenes with the chief while the detectives actually do their jobs). 

Edited October 10, 2020 by wknt3

[dttruman]

14 hours ago, wknt3 said:

Just a reminder to everyone that being a series regular does not mean that the actor will be in every episode or even more than they were in when they were recurring. It just means that they are considered part of the regular cast and changes where their credit appears. For SVU it means he'll appear in the opening titles whether he's in that week's episode or not. Usually it also comes with a bit more commitment from the producers too.

It seems like Garland will more or less be taking up the duties that Cragen had in the early days of SVU. The only difference is that Garland has a higher ranking than Cragen. I wonder if that was done that way, so Benson wouldn't lose her captain's status?

14 hours ago, wknt3 said:

perhaps that they realize that Benson needs someone to be reporting to if she is going to be in the field all the time (and maybe that they want some flexibility to let her appear in one of the spinoffs that Dick Wolf desperately wants to launch to keep the franchise going so she can shoot some scenes with the chief while the detectives actually do their jobs). 

I agree with you, it conveniently gets Benson out of the office and lands her directly in the middle of the investigations so she can moralize all she wants. It's the level of antagonism that Benson and Garland will have that decides this season's success or failure. If Benson is going to be on her high horse most of the time, Garland and Carisi will be catching most of the flack for not letting Benson have her way.

Edited October 11, 2020 by dttruman

[SarahPrtr]

2 hours ago, dttruman said:

It seems like Garland will more or less be taking up the duties that Cragen had in the early days of SVU. The only difference is that Garland has a higher ranking than Cragen. I wonder if that was done that way, so Benson wouldn't lose her captain's status?

I agree with you, it conveniently gets Benson out of the office and lands her directly in the middle of the investigations so she can moralize all she wants. It's the level of antagonism that Benson and Garland will have that decides this season's success or failure. If Benson is going to be on her high horse most of the time, Garland and Carisi will be catching most of the flack for not letting Benson have her way.

Which is so ridiculous, because how many times did we see Cragen out in the field??  I guess that's the point.  Someone whose ranking is even higher than Cragen's overseeing Olivia would be fantastic.  So, Olivia is a Captain who is out in the field doing detective work, instead of delegating it to other... detectives??? 

 

One thing that continually pisses me off is the "... the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad..." part at the beginning, which immediately makes me think of Rollins, not because she is one, but because she is... NOT.  She is SO NOT an elite!!!  She should not be an SVU detective!!  Or any kind of police officer.  If they can never ever show her family drama shit or any of her family members/men she bangs ever again, that would be just freaking awesome.

[CrystalBlue]

On 10/11/2020 at 7:16 AM, SarahPrtr said:

Which is so ridiculous, because how many times did we see Cragen out in the field??  I guess that's the point.  Someone whose ranking is even higher than Cragen's overseeing Olivia would be fantastic.  So, Olivia is a Captain who is out in the field doing detective work, instead of delegating it to other... detectives??? 

 

One thing that continually pisses me off is the "... the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad..." part at the beginning, which immediately makes me think of Rollins, not because she is one, but because she is... NOT.  She is SO NOT an elite!!!  She should not be an SVU detective!!  Or any kind of police officer.  If they can never ever show her family drama shit or any of her family members/men she bangs ever again, that would be just freaking awesome.

Preach it!  And this includes Carisi.  Let us not be ever treated to a Rollisi roll in the hay!

[Xeliou66]

I am beyond sick of Rollins as well - she’s not qualified to be an SVU detective and she’s an unethical trainwreck. I really hate how the writers focus on her so much and seem hell bent on shoving her down our throats, and I hate even more how they are trying to hint at romance between Carisi/Rollins. The show would be better if Rollins left. 

[wanderingstar]

On 10/6/2020 at 7:08 PM, mtlchick said:

Demore Barnes has been promoted to series regular. 

https://tvline.com/2020/10/06/law-order-svu-demore-barnes-series-regular-christian-garland/

Nice! I like the actor and I liked his dynamic with Fin and Olivia last season.

[dttruman]

I Googled SVU and there was a news article that said there will be "More returning faces than Stabler". It mentioned Stabler's new series so I Googled that and got this. I am glad were finally seeing something!

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12677870/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast

Edited October 20, 2020 by dttruman

[wanderingstar]

Found this interesting tidbit on IMDB.com

Spoiler

Season 22 episode 1 title: Remember Me In Quarantine

 

[Xeliou66]

9 minutes ago, Gillian Rosh said:

Found this interesting tidbit on IMDB.com

  Hide contents

Season 22 episode 1 title: Remember Me In Quarantine

 

Yes that’s the title of the episode, and look it has 22 letters, I really wish the writers would give up the gimmick of letters matching the season number and focus their efforts on coming up with good stories instead.