S17.E18: Unholiest Alliance

[WendyCR72]

Two weeks until this airs, but putting it up now so I won't forget later!

 

When one of their own is implicated in a cover-up, the SVU struggles to unravel a sex trafficking operation deeply-rooted in government offices, the police department, and the Catholic Church.

[debraran]

Any thoughts to who really is the culprit? Seems like if it is the priest, kind of anti-climatic. I read Fin is back to straighten things out. 

[jgnnrt]

As boring as it sounds I think it may very well be the monsignor.
 

I don't understand a few things, like why the monsignor disclosed the allegations against Tucker directly to Barba? How would he even know the case was with the ADA to begin with? Was he tipped off by someone in Barba's office? And of all the things to be reminded of after hearing Cara's name the monsignor commented on how pretty she was...

I also feel like the monsignor saying Nina was on leave due to psychiatric reasons was to make us as the audience question her intentions.

I think Nina's strange ticks and odd behavior is from genuine trauma - possibly received at the hands of a man considering how skiddish she is when they're in the same room together.

Nina mentioned shock therapy as she was fleeing Benson's apartment, which was quickly followed by an outburst of "I"M NOT CRAZY" which sounded like it held a combination of resentment and anger. Could she be remembering the days she was treated as if she was crazy (but wasn't) but no one would listen to her?

Is there a chance it was a conspiracy to keep her quiet? Perhaps the culprit/s knew Nina suspected their trafficking ring and because of that she had unconventional ways of "treatment" forced on her which left her paranoid and scared - perfect for the "physiological issues" story we heard from the monsignor. That's a wild theory, I know.

Is anyone suspicious of Father Akintola?

Hopefully Fin comes in with fresh eyes and sorts this mess out!

[farmgal4]

Why are we having to wait 3 weeks to see the second of a two-part show??? Instead of showing 2 reruns tonight, why don't they air Part One and Part Two tonight? I'm on my last leg with this show, seriously.

[LeGrandElephant]

Why are we having to wait 3 weeks to see the second of a two-part show??? Instead of showing 2 reruns tonight, why don't they air Part One and Part Two tonight? I'm on my last leg with this show, seriously.

 

Maybe they're running behind schedule and haven't decided who did it yet ;-)

[WendyCR72]

Hey, all! As this is for the episode, maybe take further spec talk to the Spoilers and Spec thread so as not to fill this up beforehand. Thanks a lot!

[wknt3]

The Good:

Fin is back!

The opening scene with the squad.

Lots of team scenes. It's nice to see them working together but with individual character moments.

Really liking the way they're writing Dodds Jr.

Carisi's scenes. Some old school L&O crisis of faith going on.

Righteous crusading Barba.

The Bad:

The rest of the opening. All of a sudden we remember the Monsignor exists, we go crazy with conspiracies and black ops, and we lay on the Benson the martyr act really thick.

Really hating the way they ruined Dodds Sr. I was so hoping we would get a twist but it's just another political boss throwing our heroes under the bus.

They give us a two parter and can't be bothered to come up with something at least slightly surprising?

Overall I was unimpressed by the story but I loved the focus on the squad instead of the Benson Hour and that made up for a lot. Lots of good scenes and some good acting, but I just can't help but think that there was a lot of wasted potential.

[Spartan Girl]

Had to laugh at Tucker saw the humor in getting screwed by IAB. But at least he and Liv got their jobs back.

Love Carisi and Fin walking in on the 50 Shades of Grey scene. Ewwwwwwww.

Next week's preview had me worried. If Carisi gets killed off, it's over. Seriously.

[Sarcastica]

Fin is back! Thank god.

Poor Sister Nina

I see you drinking Olivia. Yeah....I can see that becoming a problem.

Carisi is THE best. Bye

[MrsRafaelBarba]

I liked Little Dodds a lot in this episode

Hi Frank Vincent!

Jonathan Cake is still sexy to me, even while dressed as a Priest.

[CleoCaesar]

What a snoozefest. I usually defend this show but this episode nearly put me to sleep. Tip to the network: 2-parters don't really work when the second part is 3 weeks after the first.

 

Carisi is adorable, though. If they kill him off next week, I will NOT be happy.

[skittl3862]

I thought there was supposed to be some plotline about Olivia working in Community Affairs with a fangirl assistant? Didn't Warren Leight hype that up in all the press? Why create an imaginary backstory about what she did this whole time when they could have just said she was on leave?

 

The 5 different scenes of Olivia in a bar were anvilicious. We all get it. If Tucker is so concerned, as he clearly was in the final scene, why did he keep agreeing to day-drink with her all episode?

[Princess Lucky]

Carisi is the best damn thing about this entire show.

[ShowPolish]

So as a long time fan of this show, I'm going to ramble and air my grievances... feel free to ignore.

 

Back Story: I left initially when Chris Meloni did because to me, (he's hot as fuck) was a major part of the unit.  I cam back to this show some what recently, because it was way back logged on my dvr and I could delete or watch, I decided to watch.  I binged what I missed after a couple of episodes this season.

 

So I kinda like the the last couple of years has been about the detective's personal lives, it was drew me in initially.  I like to summarize my rewatch with the following thought. We can alll agree Benson's kid sucks and we don't really want to see it, but it's nice that she finally has a kid.

 

I was huge E/O fan (because I was young and niave and did I mention CM is hot as fuck?) But this Tucker/Benson relationship is way more interesting to me.  This episode alone did an awesome job of them being casually together.  This is what I love about this series.  They leave a lot up to the imagination, but every scene Tucker and Benson were going strong.  I'm glad they re going to be cleared, they both have earned there jobs.

 

Benson's alcoholism disappoints me. They've been hinting at it for a few seasons but tonight they addressed it.  To me, this is too easy.  Her mother was an alcoholic and her job sucks so now she sucks down the win.  If you are going to down that root, you have to stop making her a hero.  Her root is way too f'ing real now.   To me, its up there with her being beaten and abducted as much as she has, it's too easy writing for someone who is supposed to be a guiding light.  And if she were more than a Mary Sue with real problems I'd probably empathize.  The way it's currently been written is Olivia Benson: savior to everything, leader to every one.  Let her be human if you are going to force her to have human problems.

[Gigi43]

Liv, have another seat at a bar. Sorry. But I loved seeing everyone else get air time which would not have happened without her sidelined.

I'm disappointed Dodds SR. wasn't being really sarcastic or looking directly at Rollins with his whole "keep out of trouble" comment at the end. They're way, way, past that Dodds SR!

Carisi. Carisi Carisi. My favorite thing about him? He can get personal without assaulting anyone. If this were Amaro or Stabler (who is technically one of my faves) how many people would they have roughed up? Not Carisi. He can get personal and have self control. I just love him.

Edited March 24, 2016 by Gigi43

[LittleIggy]

I loved the Monsignor being hauled out in cuffs. It would have been even better if they had shown him doing a perp walk in front of the press.

Some prime Barba there! Yum!

Father Eugene's bondage loft cracked me up! I noticed a Western saddle. Wonder if his "trainer" saddled him up and rode him? He did have that cute cowboy outfit on! :-)

[Everleigh]

I felt like the plot was so convoluted and boring that by the end of it I didn't even care who was responsible. Kind of an anti-climatic end to a two-parter. 

 

As predictable as Benson developing a drinking problem may be, it's also pretty realistic given her mother's alcoholism and all the trauma she's endured in her life. Not sure I want to watch Olivia struggle with something else though. It'd be nice if they could just let her be for a while. 

 

I thought the episode was going to end with Olivia breaking it off with Tucker because of all the trouble their relationship brought on, so I was pleasantly surprised when that didn't happen. I can't help it, I like them together. 

 

 Wonder if there's going to be any lasting damage to Olivia's relationship with Barbra considering he's the one who told about her relationship with Tucker and is the reason she got transferred. 

 

They better not kill Carisi next week.

 

I thought there was supposed to be some plotline about Olivia working in Community Affairs with a fangirl assistant? Didn't Warren Leight hype that up in all the press? Why create an imaginary backstory about what she did this whole time when they could have just said she was on leave?

 

 

Scene got deleted. Here it is for anyone who cares to watch. 

[Snookums]

Can anybody explain to me how the eeeee-vil church guys were paying for this if they never charged any of the "johns" a penny? I don't care if they were in it for the humiliation of the girls, you don't throw that kind of organized trafficking party sex ring with the few dollars you skimmed from the uniform fund. And keeping the files like that? Just plain stupid. Even for blackmail purposes they should have been in a vault somewhere, not buried on the grounds!

 

Also, was the African priest a real priest or just hired muscle they used?  ARRRRGH SO MANY QUESTIONS. 

 

My main problem, apart from all of the above, is the whole "We just can't take on the apparently All Powerful Carries The Ark Before Us" Catholic church. That storyline may have flown in the eighties or nineties but is there anybody post "Spotlight" who would have much trouble believing this? The Church has had way too many scandals to be presented as bulletproof in this manner. 

 

Oh well, we got Tucker in a formfitting long sleeve tee telling Liv to dial it back on the boozamahol, anyway. NOW CAN THEY PLEASE KISS ALREADY???

[WendyCR72]

Ship Liv to rehab - off screen for a while. Trade her for more Munch. If just for a couple weeks. Please?

[Everleigh]

 

 

Oh well, we got Tucker in a formfitting long sleeve tee telling Liv to dial it back on the boozamahol, anyway. NOW CAN THEY PLEASE KISS ALREADY???

 

For real! In just about every scene they share it looks like they're seconds away from making out but they never go for it. Although we did get some hand kissing this episode so there's that. 

 

I'm totally on the Tuckson shipping train at this point but I do have to admit I laughed when Olivia told Tucker he's just looking out for her and his response was "always." Always... like when he used to try to get her fired on a regular basis, or those couple of times he tried to have her arrested. Always! 

[candall]

In the first place, no NYC 16-year old with an iPhone is going to buy that "pay for your sins with a lapdance" line of reasoning.

 

My mouth dropped open when "humiliating catholic schoolgirls"  was cited as the primary motivation and "plus, we get some blackmail leverage on powerful people" was the bonus gift with purchase.  Really?   A two-parter that took a month to happen and you're trying to sell me a big reveal that this whole set of bombastic Catholic hierarchy villains engaged in all these machinations to take some co-eds down a notch?  The knee socks and saddle oxfords weren't doing the trick?  

 

And the reason they have perfect records is:   "Heh, you know those Catholics!"

 

And the whole evidentiary shebang is buried in the backyard in Rubbermaid tubs?

 

All the murder, drugs, corruption, underage sex and B&D fails to lead us to a powerful congressman collaborating with the monsignor to push through sketchy pro-church legislation in exchange for a taste of nubile teen?

 

"Lance Woodstone"?!?

 

Pathetic.

Edited March 24, 2016 by candall

[debraran]

Spotlight was an excellent and true movie, but seeing the Catholic bashing (for lack of a better word) continue, to me seemed old. They have done it before, we know there are bad priests/religious and good guys. So many say SVU is getting tired, I hope they can keep new and on the edge stories coming. I also love how Carisi showed his faith amid the ruins. It was predictable but still had me tuning in...the 2wk break though, very long.

I hope they don't make Olivia become an alcoholic especially with Noah. I know it's TV, but she isn't with him that often as it is with her job, to have her drinking in or out of the home would be painful to watch.

Edited March 24, 2016 by debraran

[Primetimer]

Good acting bails out overwrought writing as the squad struggles to exonerate Liv and Tucker.

Read the story

[Bananna]

I was super surprised it was the Monsignor, such a twist! SVU really outdid itself

 

The episode was fine, I wasn't expecting them to kill Sister Nina. I thought that the church would have her shipped off to some psychiatric ward on an island so the cops couldn't talk to her. But I'm grateful this episode had more of an ensemble feel than the episodes do these days.

[skittl3862]

I'm totally on the Tuckson shipping train at this point but I do have to admit I laughed when Olivia told Tucker he's just looking out for her and his response was "always." Always... like when he used to try to get her fired on a regular basis, or those couple of times he tried to have her arrested. Always! 

 

To be fair, Tucker hasn't really tried to get Olivia arrested and fired except the case where her DNA was on a murder victim. His investigations usually involved Unstabler and Amaro. In Post-Mortem Blues, he even tried to guide her towards a confession that would close his case.

 

I'm loving Tuckson and I'm never a shipper.

[The Wild Sow]

 

 

"Lance Woodstone"?!?

Pathetic.

Perhaps a descendant of Barney Miller's "Lance Pierson"?

[Snookums]

Tucker is sneaking cigs and disgustedly submitting to a panel of of 1PP inquisitors (all of them lit like it's Superman II and he's Zod; settle down, director of photography)

 

 

The second I saw that setup I rolled my eyes and groaned. Was the director's last gig Silk Stalkings? Every time any of the gang has faced IAB interrogation it was just at a table in a room with a couple chairs. The three TV screens especially were groanworthy.

[CleoCaesar]

Unstabler

 

First time I've seen this and it's completely hilarious. Not to mention accurate.

[Princess Lucky]

Did anything else happen in this episode other than Carisi being amazing and Peter Scanavino doing the absolute most with overwrought dialogue?

 

No?

 

Didn't think so.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by how little Benson we got. She was barely there. I was unpleasantly surprised by the fact we barely got to see the squad reacting to her absence, save for an eye-roll or two. Then again, she was barely gone for a day or two, so that makes sense. Nice to see her bonding with Tucker. Less nice? The fact she most likely is a functioning alcoholic. Even Tucker mentioned it. That means the storyline is a go.

 

Oh and we also got zero closure on Barba and Benson. He suddenly seemed to understand that the Monsignor had set up Tucker, but he certainly didn't tell Liv that, he didn't agree with her, he didn't apologise for suggesting her boyfriend was a trafficker of underage girls or for doubting her judgment. I'm sure that won't be touched upon again, though, just like Benson accusing Rollins of leaking that tape, so I should stop thinking about it.

 

At least Barba was really nice to Carisi. That was something. I wasn't expecting him to be so understanding.

 

I think I am finally starting to like Baby Dodds. Oh and Daddy Dodds really had nothing to do with any of this? I get him not being involved in the trafficking ring (even though he knew the Monsignor) but no mention was made of the fact he probably got his son that temporary promotion? Are we to infer that he didn't? Why did Liv lose her job, then? If it wasn't Daddy Dodds pulling strings? Because Barba told on her? That's a little excessive.

 

I was also happy this episode had a lot of Fin. I had missed him. Happy to see him working with Amanda and Carisi.

 

And Carisi? Damn. Again, I was surprised by how much screentime he had. This was basically his episode. He solved the case, he had a great scene with Barba, and a fantastic scene with Father Eugene. Man, I love him. He's just about perfect in every way. Emotional but not overemotional, angry but not violent, faithful but not a blind believer. I agree with this:

 

Carisi. Carisi Carisi. My favorite thing about him? He can get personal without assaulting anyone. If this were Amaro or Stabler (who is technically one of my faves) how many people would they have roughed up? Not Carisi. He can get personal and have self control. I just love him.

 

He never loses control. He will use his words to insult the perps (like when he spoke to that pervert of a judge) but not his fists. I appreciate that. A more gentle character. A good person, basically, who isn't a violent macho stereotype.

 

As for the case, I agree with this:

 

My mouth dropped open when "humiliating catholic schoolgirls"  was cited as the primary motivation and "plus, we get some blackmail leverage on powerful people" was the bonus gift with purchase.  Really?   A two-parter that took a month to happen and you're trying to sell me a big reveal that this whole set of bombastic Catholic hierarchy villains engaged in all these machinations to take some co-eds down a notch?  The knee socks and saddle oxfords weren't doing the trick?  

 

And the reason they have perfect records is:   "Heh, you know those Catholics!"

 

Why wouldn't they at least say that the church was making money out of this? I do think they alluded to the church using those judges, cops etc for their purposes, and using the pics to keep everyone in their pockets, but the humiliation part, I didn't get that. It made no sense. And yeah, the buried evidence was a little much.

 

But I was kept guessing about Father Eugene's specific involvement, and Jonathan Cake really brought it in that scene with Barba and Carisi, I almost believed him. So there were some twists.

 

Especially the ball gag. I did not see that coming.

[MorbidPet]

I thought there was supposed to be some plotline about Olivia working in Community Affairs with a fangirl assistant? Didn't Warren Leight hype that up in all the press? Why create an imaginary backstory about what she did this whole time when they could have just said she was on leave?

As a Rollaro shipper I learned long ago not to trust anything he says in the media. This ep might've taken the prize though. He hyped that. He also mentioned in several interviews that Fin was to walk in having been on vacation and ask what the heck was going on, to which Rollins would answer if he picked up his phone when she called he would know, and he dissing her with something like "work is work". We all know Fin is a total sweetheart and would pick up if she called him as he knows she's alone with a baby. So that scene I'm glad they cut but it's a fact by now that WL has no idea what actually makes the episodes. 

In an article he also mentioned how the squad always have each other's back. Since when I ask?! We haven't seen that for a long long time.

He went on to say, in relations to a question about the unresolved issues between Liv & Rollins, that it was a known fact things that wasn't dealt with on the show would surface at some point. Say what!? Amanda's rape! Nuff said. He doesn't have a clue.

 

As for the ep, I dunno, it was kinda boring. I did like the squad scenes and I didn't hate Dodds Jr (still want him to take a bullet though), but the case just felt predictable and stale. I lacked feeling for a victim, Nina was just killed off too quickly and those girls in court just flew by.

Tuckson is just terrible on so many levels. Liv kissed Tucker's hand. Bwhahaha. She had more chemistry with that glass of wine. Pls stop. Warren says they are having sex though. It's so sad he has to tell us what we're seeing and that they don't write scripts that can talk for themselves. Sad.

Carisi/Scanavino is great but that scene in the church, I felt sorry for him, that priest just made me laugh, so contrived. Not a good guest star episode at all, which is rare, they usually have great guest stars.

Nice to see Fin back. I guess Rollins had good hair.

I'm team Barba. Had the roles been reverse I'm pretty sure Liv would've done the same to save the case and to not risk the bad guys walking. Then again Liv is as far away from the detective I used to love though so what do I know...

I'm not so much for hate watching so I think I might just put this season to rest now and tune back in when the new showrunner is in charge. I might jinx it by saying it but I have a hard time seeing he can make this show any worse at this point.

[itainttippithebird]

The music during the final Tuckson scene was very tonally confusing - I suppose it was ominous to signal the alcoholism, or like, the general "won the battle but maybe not the war" tone, but it came off as "Tucker is creepy and Liv is trusting a psycho" or something? Just me? The hand kiss, and the "you're always looking out for me" under this music made me think this was supposed to be sketchy, not sweet and now I'm SO CONFUSED

[GarnetGirl]

I loved Barba's facial expressions and the emphasis on Carisi (Peter Scanavino is great) and the fact that everyone in the squad EXCEPT for Olivia worked so well as a team but there are a few things were just ridiculous.

- the priest who turned out to be a hitman

- the files buried in the churchyard (in hermetically sealed tubs, no less)

- LANCE WOODSTONE! THE PIRATE BOOTY TREASURE CHEST!

- why would Lance's girlfriend keep those photos on her phone?

I cannot even.

As a Catholic, I am well aware of the Church's history of corruption and secrecy and complicity in crimes against young innocent children, but this was a bridge too far.The Bishop running a sex trafficking ring? I truly believe they only got him involved so they could use the "Pawn for a Bishop" line. Every one in the archdiocese was corrupt, with the exception of Sister Nina. Even the nuns booking tickets for priest hitmen under false names!

Where was the nuance? It would have been a lot more interesting to have Fr. Eugene be genuinely conflicted about what his superiors were doing, but instead we get the S & M silliness and Tucker under investigation. I think I get frustrated by this show because they go for cheap thrills when they could have told a much more interesting story if they just let the plots organically evolve.

There is one person that I am happy for in this episode- Lucy the nanny. She's obviously getting overtime so Olivia can go hang with her boo and day drink at bars.

I'm out next week if anything happen to Carisi. I mean it, show.

[Princess Lucky]

Carisi/Scanavino is great but that scene in the church, I felt sorry for him, that priest just made me laugh, so contrived. Not a good guest star episode at all, which is rare, they usually have great guest stars.

Nice to see Fin back. I guess Rollins had good hair.

 

First of all, Rollins had great hair! Was it a little shorter? Trimmed, maybe? Her curls were fabulous, at any rate. And Barba's ties were even more awesome than usual.

 

Secondly, I agree, I appreciated that Scanavino didn't go for dramatics. The dialogue itself, it was way too intense, but he delivered it in a more subtle way and he saved it. I wish I could say the same for Father Eugene, even though I think he had some good lines to work with (I liked "I'm blind to him", for instance).

 

The music during the final Tuckson scene was very tonally confusing - I suppose it was ominous to signal the alcoholism, or like, the general "won the battle but maybe not the war" tone, but it came off as "Tucker is creepy and Liv is trusting a psycho" or something? Just me? The hand kiss, and the "you're always looking out for me" under this music made me think this was supposed to be sketchy, not sweet and now I'm SO CONFUSED

 

Agreed, and I also thought that moment with Carisi "realizing" the truth with the way out of place music and the 360 degree shot, that was a little too much as well (again Scanavino saved it by underplaying it. I love how he underplays the dramatic moments and overplays the comedic moments, it's such a fun contrast in his performances). The music, it was trying to tell us to care, but it was undercutting the work of the actors in an given scene.

 

And the camera work seemed off in general. I did like the Carisi/Father Eugene scene directorially, the angles were interesting, but the rest of the episode? Too tight close-ups, a lot of unnecessary camera movement, weird angles (with people mostly shot from below).

 

And re; the promo, I'm so surprised and happy that someone other than Benson will be in danger that I don't even feel upset that it's my love Carisi. I'm sure he'll be fine.

 

...

 

Right?

[Monkeybball]

Drunk Liv...we knew they were gonna make that happen!

 

Could Tucker BE any hotter?!

[Corvino]

SVU is no longer Ripped From The Headlines. They had an episode relatively recently in which the mayor was a hack politician who covered things up, and now here's an episode in which the Vatican covers up a gigantically horrendous and long-lasting sex trafficking scandal by yanking the monsignor, its evil leader, out of the country for "rehabilitation" off Chile. Hey, guys; don't you know that we now have ​a good Mayor of New York​ and ​a good Pope?? When doing these Infinitely Evil And Infinitely Powerful  Villains stories, you now need to adjust them to give some other reason the Invulnerable Villains get away with it.

[mccartygirl]

Best part of this episode for me was Carisi and Barba working together. They could have a spin off of them in their law office and I'd watch. 

[gesundheit]

The music during the final Tuckson scene was very tonally confusing - I suppose it was ominous to signal the alcoholism, or like, the general "won the battle but maybe not the war" tone, but it came off as "Tucker is creepy and Liv is trusting a psycho" or something? Just me? The hand kiss, and the "you're always looking out for me" under this music made me think this was supposed to be sketchy, not sweet and now I'm SO CONFUSED

Right? I was loving Tucker/Liv up until that. First of all, she has a high-stress job where she has to be on call and sharp 24/7 to literally save lives, frequently while dodging bullets. If I were her and I got a break from that gig for a few weeks or months, you better believe I'd be squeezing in an extra drink or two, and you better believe I'd be enjoying an extra one on my last night before going back. Also, what a piece of creepy paternalistic nonsense that was for him to shame her for ordering another round -- and she appreciated that, and thought he was looking out for her? That whole exchange creeped me out, and the last thing I want to watch on this show is another damn cop-addiction story. We've had plenty, and they're all poorly told. Liv already has a kid and a boyfriend, please no more personal life stories about her.

 

Carisi really is the best thing to happen to this show in a long time. Since Barba!

 

Did anyone else chuckle at the end after the whole "your long nightmare [without Liv] is finally over" line when Rollins said, "Eh, it wasn't that bad." Ha! Throwing some good shade on that one, Amanda. We see you!

[Scott]

Finally caught up, and yeah, what everyone else said.  

 

"Lance Woodstone"?!?

 

Pathetic.

 

But I agree here.  Now that his sugar Father is gone, how will Lance ever be able to make the career switch to porn when no there's no possible name that's any pornier than his real one?

[candall]

:

 

 

  Now that his sugar Father is gone, how will Lance ever be able to make the career switch to porn when no there's no possible name that's any pornier than his real one?

Hee.  "Kitty Vine" here.

[ShowPolish]

Could Tucker BE any hotter?

If they did something other than 'hand kiss' absolutely.  They have some fascinating sexual tension, but the hand kissing is such a killer.  It makes me assume the MH and JRB just look terrible when they kiss, which is such a shame

[Monkeybball]

If they did something other than 'hand kiss' absolutely.  They have some fascinating sexual tension, but the hand kissing is such a killer.  It makes me assume the MH and JRB just look terrible when they kiss, which is such a shame

If I was Mariska I would DEMAND as many scenes as possible with Tucker make-out seshs and make them put that into my contract.  RJB is just way too smmmmoooookin hot.

[willow2tree]

I agree, monkeybball, but Mariska's hubby is pretty hot too!

[Monkeybball]

I agree, monkeybball, but Mariska's hubby is pretty hot too!

That he is. I miss good old Langan in the court room. It would be fun to see him go up against Barba.

[Fellaway]

This may have already been mentioned in the threads for this two-parter, but, in case not, I wanted to put in a rec for Netflix's seven part docuseries The Keepers.  It covers the real life case that was the inspiration for these episodes, the 1969 unsolved murders of Sister Cathy Cesnik and Joyce Malecki in Baltimore, the overwhelming sexual abuse of students in the school where Cesnik worked, the cover-ups and corruption in the Church and the city, and the amazing, amazing group of former students seeking clarity and justice, still, fifty years later.  It's a really well done series, horrifying, yet thoughtful and compelling.  And the Church really did bury records in the ground.

Edited February 14, 2019 by Fellaway