S18.E17: Real Fake News

[WendyCR72]

Quote

A congressman falsely accused of soliciting underage girls asks SVU to debunk the rumor, but the investigation leads to a real sex trafficking ring. Meanwhile, Benson and Rollins become the targets of a salacious website.

[Spartan Girl]

So they actually did their own version of the pizza place hoax shooting.

That website guy was slime. I hope he somehow was held legally responsible for the congressman's shooting. Worst part is there's people like him out there, and they and the idiot wack jobs that follow them are the reason why we are where we are right now.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Spartan Girl

[Gigglepuff]

Nice to see they took five seconds to acknowledge Fin's promotion. How nice that they threw us that bone. I mean, he's only been on the show for what, 17 seasons? Too bad they didn't shave a few seconds of Liv angstly clutching her chest and put them towards Fin's promotion scene. 

[wknt3]

The Good:
The whole squad was involved. Like really doing actual police work and not just running errands for Benson. They even brought in expert support!
Fin. He finally got promoted and got some decent material. They even showed him as asserting himself with Liv! It's nice to see them acknowledging that they've worked together for a very long time and have a special relationship.
Good acting from the guest cast as usual even if some of the writing was iffy. Especially from the actress playing the victim/witness.
Finally a different plot! Nobody was browbeaten into testifying. And we didn't know who the perp was the whole time.

The Bad:
Some clunky writing. A congressman walks in without calling ahead, without calling the brass, and Carisi isn't calling Benson's cell phone constantly? The slimy tabloid journalist and the big confrontation also felt disappointing both on their own and compared to what the franchise has done with similar material in the past.
The return of Noah in jeopardy and Lucy the world's most patient baby sitter.
Mariska's performance. The rest of the cast seemed to be on their games, but she just wasn't doing it for me this week,
No Barba! I would have loved to have seen Barba taking on fake news guy as I think Raul would have played it much better than Mariska and it would have been nice seeing him delivering the threat while Benson maintained plausible deniability.

Overall it was nice to see a fresh plot even if the writing wasn't as good as last week's episode. It's a bit hard to evaluate for me as the parts that were most unbelievable and implausible were the Ripped From the Headlines stuff and my perceptions are so colored by what has come before. I probably am more forgiving than I should be just for giving us something a bit different. And more critical of Mariska than might be warranted based on the whole season. I'm a bit leery of next week, but I'm hoping that the NBC promo monkeys are pulling a fast one on us again and at least it seems like it's not another "he said, she said" rape culture episode so maybe they can build on this and give us a decent run for May sweeps?

[sockii]

26 minutes ago, Gigglepuff said:

Nice to see they took five seconds to acknowledge Fin's promotion. How nice that they threw us that bone. I mean, he's only been on the show for what, 17 seasons? Too bad they didn't shave a few seconds of Liv angstly clutching her chest and put them towards Fin's promotion scene. 

And of course it had to be framed around the "threat" of him being bumped out of SVU as a result. Which of course was never raised once as a possibility when Munch was promoted, and it's not like the unit has another sergeant right now, so...what the heck was that even about?

MH's acting was SO bad in this episode I found it distractingly laughable. The grasping dramatically at the window grates to show her angst! The cluthing at her chest! Somewhere between having a bad case of the vapors and becoming the real Stabler 3.0 because No One Messes With Her Kid!

...and of course they are all sitting around in court except for Fin, left manning the precinct by himself. See? That's why he can't be transferred out! They need him there while Liv makes her constipated faces at judges in every episode.

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, Spartan Girl said:

So they actually did their own version of the pizza place hoax shooting.

That website guy was slime. I hope he somehow was held legally responsible for the congressman's shooting. Worst part is there's people like him out there, and they and the idiot wack jobs that follow them are the reason why we are where we are right now.

There isn't a criminal defamation statute in New York. There is an aggravated harassment statute, but there has to be no legitimate purpose motivating the defendant's actions. The website guy would likely use journalism as a defense for his actions. Even with civil defamation, you'd have to prove malice when it came to the statements about the congressman because he's a public figure. If the show wasn't so allergic to using Barba, they could have had him sit down with the squad and discuss bringing actions against the website guy for terrorism under the Patriot Act rather than having Liv threaten the guy, which is still illegal and a crime despite being provoked.

Edited May 4, 2017 by HunterHunted

[RafaelBarba35]

Why the hell did they have a different ADA? Where the hell is Barba? 

I honestly think that this episode should have aired after Know it All. At least there would be a reason for him to not be able to help Olivia instead of having him appear in one episode and then disappear in the next.

Why is it when something happens to Olivia, Barba's never around? Is he allergic to horrible dramatic acting? I don't blame him. 

Ok stop using Noah as bait to get to Liv. She's horrible at sounding pissed off. Amanda sounded legit though. 

[QueenMab]

Maybe this episode happens during Barbas suspension....not on here yet. I check dates they give onscreen. For instance: "Genes" and "Know It All" run concurrent according to the onscreen date banners and it makes them both senseless. In "Genes" Barba and Benson spend basically all day Feb.11 together, at Rikers, etc. but in "Know it All", Benson as usual tracks Barba down on Saturday night Feb.11 at his fave bar to demand answers because she's busted his secret and he spills it. Why?  They spent all day together on the other case, in fact when did Benson find time to investigate the hacking and Barbas secret when she was in court (with him) and pulling witnesses off of rooftops? Anyway they cross dates/cases so much I thought maybe that's why no Barba..... suspension time.

[RafaelBarba35]

7 minutes ago, QueenMab said:

Maybe this episode happens during Barbas suspension....not on here yet. I check dates they give onscreen. For instance: "Genes" and "Know It All" run concurrent according to the onscreen date banners and it makes them both senseless. In "Genes" Barba and Benson spend basically all day Feb.11 together, at Rikers, etc. but in "Know it All", Benson as usual tracks Barba down on Saturday night Feb.11 at his fave bar to demand answers because she's busted his secret and he spills it. Why?  They spent all day together on the other case, in fact when did Benson find time to investigate the hacking and Barbas secret when she was in court (with him) and pulling witnesses off of rooftops? Anyway they cross dates/cases so much I thought maybe that's why no Barba..... suspension time.

Yeah but then why not air this one and then Newsroom? Would make way more sense. 

[QueenMab]

Well yeah that's my point.....they have episodes that it's like they didn't remember the dates of the last episode and so the episodes conflict and so....make no sense like the two I mentioned. Sat. Feb.11 was a REALLY busy day for BarBen. So Barbas career is teetering and yet he can try the case in "Genes" but has to recuse from the hacking case because he's in deep doodoo....he gets the conviction in "Genes" in court all day the same day he has a meeting of doom with the D.A. about whether he can remain an A.D.A. or even a lawyer...Feb.22. I repeat, this show doesn't know what they're doing.

[RafaelBarba35]

1 hour ago, QueenMab said:

Well yeah that's my point.....they have episodes that it's like they didn't remember the dates of the last episode and so the episodes conflict and so....make no sense like the two I mentioned. Sat. Feb.11 was a REALLY busy day for BarBen. So Barbas career is teetering and yet he can try the case in "Genes" but has to recuse from the hacking case because he's in deep doodoo....he gets the conviction in "Genes" in court all day the same day he has a meeting of doom with the D.A. about whether he can remain an A.D.A. or even a lawyer...Feb.22. I repeat, this show doesn't know what they're doing.

I agree. It's just irritating. 

[ForeverAlone]

Overall I liked this episode (at least as much as I can enjoy an episode that deprives me of the magnificence that is Rafael Barba). In some ways it reminded me of an earlier season episode of SVU, both for how the story veered from the original story that opened the episode into something else, to Olivia trying to channel Elliott by threatening website asshole (though I agree that it would have been gratifying to me to see Rafael issue that threat), to the ending with the Congressman's murder. I probably should have seen that ending coming, but I did not.

Olivia seemed more in line with earlier Olivia to me, with thankfully a minimum of sanctimony. I liked the investigative skills of Amanda and Carisi. And I got my fill of Fin sarcasm as well. So even though I rolled my eyes a bit over asshole writing stories about Olivia and Amanda (and it's not like Olivia doesn't know Noah's parentage) and the diversion that was them sending their kids off to New Jersey (horrors!)

Edited May 4, 2017 by ForeverAlone

[ForeverAlone]

2 hours ago, QueenMab said:

Maybe this episode happens during Barbas suspension....not on here yet. I check dates they give onscreen. For instance: "Genes" and "Know It All" run concurrent according to the onscreen date banners and it makes them both senseless. In "Genes" Barba and Benson spend basically all day Feb.11 together, at Rikers, etc. but in "Know it All", Benson as usual tracks Barba down on Saturday night Feb.11 at his fave bar to demand answers because she's busted his secret and he spills it. Why?  They spent all day together on the other case, in fact when did Benson find time to investigate the hacking and Barbas secret when she was in court (with him) and pulling witnesses off of rooftops? Anyway they cross dates/cases so much I thought maybe that's why no Barba..... suspension time.

It wouldn't really make sense for this to have been during Rafael's suspension, if only because the dates for this episode was set in present day, and comes after he was returned to work. I believe this episode was always supposed to be in this position (unlike "Genes" which probably was supposed to be Rafael's return episode and why the chocolate gift was cut from that scene in his office). Probably this was always just an episode Raul was scheduled to miss.

Edited May 4, 2017 by ForeverAlone

[Sarah D. Bunting]

Quote

The grasping dramatically at the window grates to show her angst!

OMG SRSLY.

 

 

I called this file "liv-stabler-imitation," and it's not a compliment. Settle down, freshman, goddamn.

(Recap goes live in an hour. Spoiler: I was not a fan.)

[JyDanzig]

Resigned sigh.  Another terrible episode!

Aside from the fact that we've seen it a million times already (often with these exact story beats), bringing in the real sex trafficking ring for the back half really muddied the waters of their message against fake news, given that the fake news guy had in fact picked up on real clues that no one else did.  I kept thinking how much better the episode would be if the murder of the Congressman was the 15 or 30 minute mark, and then it's Barba and Benson trying to come up with a creative way to prosecute this guy or legally shut him down as the situation continues to escalate.  That's a much fresher story, and Patch Darragh's character is established as so thoroughly despicable, you really want him to be the primary villain.  That tacked-on and underthought postscript we did get was not at all a satisfying comeuppance for him.

On the plus side, Kelli Giddish had some great moments of contempt throughout the episode.

Also, as others have said, this episode seemed packed with false details that were constantly taking me out of it.  To cite one more that wasn't already mentioned, Benson gets the call about the shooting, travels to the restaurant, is greeted out front by the restaurant owner (and not a cop to give her a report? OK, we don't want to hire another actor, I'll handwave it...), and then gets inside, to see the ambulance tech attending to the young daughter SITTING DIRECTLY NEXT TO HER FATHER'S BLOODY CORPSE.  You couldn't have moved this girl away from the body in the last half hour?!?  Maybe at least get her behind that partition that you're sitting directly next to?

What an awful season of television.  If I didn't have 27 years of accumulated fondness behind me for the L&O franchise, I would be long gone.  Once it's all said and done, this might be the worst year SVU has ever done (I think seasons 11 and 12 are the only real competition for that title).

Edited May 4, 2017 by JyDanzig

[Primetimer]

The show's take on fake news involves a very real, very unwelcome return to the Noah-in-peril well.

View the full article

[Mojoker]

Can we just jump ahead 20 years already to Noah being convicted for a series of violent rapes and Liv standing by him, stoically devastated? I mean that's where this is going, right? Let's just get there.

[Gigglepuff]

I have a question for anyone that watched closely. Near the end, when Liv was giving her dramatic ultimatum to the sleazy fake journalist, she threatened him with child porn charges if he bothered her and Noah again. My question is, if she had the evidence to charge him, why didn't she do so previously? Was she threatening to blackmail him with false charges? What was the scenario there? 

Edited May 4, 2017 by Gigglepuff

[WhosThatGirl]

Yeah. I have nothing more to say that hasn't already been said about this episode, by others and the recap. I mean.. Olivia acting all shocked and flustered is getting super old.

[JyDanzig]

27 minutes ago, Gigglepuff said:

My question is, if she had the evidence to charge him, why didn't she do so previously? Was she threatening to blackmail him with false charges? What was the scenario there? 

I could have misread it, but I did think the intent was that she was threatening to frame him.

And the episode really didn't earn Benson going that extreme.  But they could have!  There was a great "our heroes are pushed to the edge and then cross the line" story in here that they just didn't find.

When they introduced the hapless hacker who said he'd just been hired to frame the congressman, they never told us who was behind that, did they?  At the time I thought they were going to reveal it was Sleazy Fake Journalist who had contacted him anonymously to manufacture the story, and then feed it back to him as a source.

If you go that direction with it, focus the whole episode on the fake news with no real trafficking, then you have people getting killed, Benson and Noah and Rollins and Jesse are in increasing danger, there's no way to fight back legally because it's all cloaked under journalistic protections, and then that's Benson's desperate last gambit: she'll get the hacker off, if he pulls the same trick on Sleazy Fake Journalist and plants child porn on his computer.  Or she just threatens to do so, and leaves him in a sword-of-Damocles situation... he's now going to dedicate himself fully to combating the fake news stories he started (once started, they just go for years), and if he ever lets up or goes back to his old ways, off to prison as a pedophile.

I feel like I should just start watching the first act and then turn it off and make up what I think the rest of the story is.  It will probably be more satisfying.

[MadyGirl1987]

2 hours ago, JyDanzig said:

and then gets inside, to see the ambulance tech attending to the young daughter SITTING DIRECTLY NEXT TO HER FATHER'S BLOODY CORPSE.  You couldn't have moved this girl away from the body in the last half hour?!?  Maybe at least get her behind that partition that you're sitting directly next to?

Thank you!!! I was was thinking the same thing! Couldn't they tend to her outside in the ambulance? It wasn't like she was refusing to leave, wanting to stay with her father's body. The way she kept looking over at the body showed how uncomfortable she was. Also, since she was a minor, wouldn't they have people at the scene trained to help her, like a social worker or victims advocate, instead of just a paramedic? 

With better writing and more focus this could have been a good episode. The fake news story could have been very interesting. I would have love to have seen more of the legal side then detective work. Barba really should have been working with the detectives, explaining what could be done legally, as I believe someone mentioned beforehand.

While it was low for fake news guy to bring Noah and Jessie into his beef with SVU, and Benson and Rollins were right to get them out of the picture in case you had some crazed people try to "rescue them," am I alone in thinking that it could be worse? I mean, Rollins can prove Jessie is her biological daughter and I am sure there is a huge paper trail with Noah's fostering and adoption. They shouldn't have to do it, and I am sure not everyone would accept the proof, but it wasn't like Child Services was going to read that story and be like, "Yep, those kids aren't theirs. Take them away."

[Jamie Satyr]

6 minutes ago, MadyGirl1987 said:

Thank you!!! I was was thinking the same thing! Couldn't they tend to her outside in the ambulance? It wasn't like she was refusing to leave, wanting to stay with her father's body. The way she kept looking over at the body showed how uncomfortable she was. Also, since she was a minor, wouldn't they have people at the scene trained to help her, like a social worker or victims advocate, instead of just a paramedic? 

With better writing and more focus this could have been a good episode. The fake news story could have been very interesting. I would have love to have seen more of the legal side then detective work. Barba really should have been working with the detectives, explaining what could be done legally, as I believe someone mentioned beforehand.

While it was low for fake news guy to bring Noah and Jessie into his beef with SVU, and Benson and Rollins were right to get them out of the picture in case you had some crazed people try to "rescue them," am I alone in thinking that it could be worse? I mean, Rollins can prove Jessie is her biological daughter and I am sure there is a huge paper trail with Noah's fostering and adoption. They shouldn't have to do it, and I am sure not everyone would accept the proof, but it wasn't like Child Services was going to read that story and be like, "Yep, those kids aren't theirs. Take them away."

These fraud online stories are so in line with real life! If someone here decides to make a project out of me, it doesn't take long even for a layman to make my life miserable! Been there! Hiding behind a screen being malicious is right up there with MURDER as far as I'm concerned! It's so premediated and evil! I suppose that little girl could sue for wrongful death, but that loser probably doesn't have anything of value; including his pathetic life! ;-(

[Xeliou66]

I am mixed about this episode, I liked it, then I hated it, then I liked it again.

I liked how they had a different storyline than a he said-she said rape case between a rich/famous white guy and an attractive upper class hispter type white woman. Those stories have dominated the season, and it was nice to see a change of pace in this one. It's been a while since we've had a sex trafficking ring and 

I loved that all of the detectives did investigation work, not just Benson. I thought Fin was in great form last night  and I like that he has finally become a SGT, he is the one who should be in charge, not Benson. 

On the other hand, I hated the "Noah in danger" and Mommy Benson crap once again, it was awful and irrelevant to the plot and written just to give the fangirls who squeal over Mommy Benson their weekly orgasm. I'm sick of Noah and of Benson's personal crap, and MH's acting is always so over the top that it really hurts the episode, her threatening the fake news guy was laughable.

Barba was sorely missed in this episode, he really could've added some spark like he always does and I would've liked some legal stuff, I felt like the story with the fake news guy was wasted, I definitely think Barba could've made a case against the fake news guy for knowingly spreading harmful lies for a profit. I mean I'm sure there are records of Noah's adoption and Rollins giving birth so it would be easy to prove his conspiracies were crap. Also the congressman's story was interesting and I would've liked more about his shooting and the trial, there was a lot crammed into this and not all of it explained satisfactory. 

Some more notes ( and I'm not trying to start a political debate, just giving facts and wondering if anyone else agrees ) This was clearly ripped from a ton of headlines but never felt like a comedy. The fake news guy was clearly based on Alex Jones IMO who was the Pizzagate theorist and the part about finding hidding meaning in the emails was lifted directly from real life and Jones and his fans theories about the emails of Hillary's campaign chief. I also think the Congressman was inspired by Congressman Adam Schiff ( not the mothership DA ) who Jones threatened and who has been prominent member of the Foreign Affairs committee. This was all very timely and interesting stuff and it could've been handled better, with more exploration of the fake news guy and the congressman's murder and with Barba involved. This would've been a great 2 part episode, I wish they had made this one a 2 hour one with part 1 ending with the congressman's death. They should've made this one a 2 parter and fully explored the issue of fake news and given the story a more complete and satisfactory conclusion, and left off an episode such as the interchangeable rich white guy-attractive 20's white girl-he said she said rape case such as Decline and Fall or Net Worth or the awful PSA like No Surrender to make room for a 2 parter here. 

[Kel Varnsen]

22 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

There isn't a criminal defamation statute in New York. There is an aggravated harassment statute, but there has to be no legitimate purpose motivating the defendant's actions. The website guy would likely use journalism as a defense for his actions. Even with civil defamation, you'd have to prove malice when it came to the statements about the congressman because he's a public figure. If the show wasn't so allergic to using Barba, they could have had him sit down with the squad and discuss bringing actions against the website guy for terrorism under the Patriot Act rather than having Liv threaten the guy, which is still illegal and a crime despite being provoked.

Would they not be able to charge the guy with publishing shit that incited violence? After the first shooting at the restaurant he still wrote shit about it and there was another shooting. I know Jack McCoy has charged people with that sort of thing at least once or twice.

The one thing I did like was that there was the big raid at the end and the Lieutenant trusted her squad to handle it without her direct supervision.

[Jamie Satyr]

31 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Would they not be able to charge the guy with publishing shit that incited violence? After the first shooting at the restaurant he still wrote shit about it and there was another shooting. I know Jack McCoy has charged people with that sort of thing at least once or twice.

The one thing I did like was that there was the big raid at the end and the Lieutenant trusted her squad to handle it without her direct supervision.

Online sites riling idiots into frenzies who shoot up places is quite common place! We just don't hear about it, but if you check the internet, you'd be surprised how crazy the country is heading! Their own lives aren't difficult enough, they have to take on "fake news" as something that needs tending to; even if you have to kill someone! ;-(

Edited May 5, 2017 by Jamie Satyr

[Lillybee]

That street where the girls were kept was the same one that my aunt lived on back in the day.

[MaryHedwig]

Quote

That street where the girls were kept was the same one that my aunt lived on back in the day.

How could the young girl have been so confused about where it was? Was she blindfolded when she left? Otherwise, Lillybee, wouldn't your aunt, in the day, been able to find her way home from that corner drug store?

Edited May 5, 2017 by MaryHedwig

[skittl3862]

On 5/4/2017 at 10:29 AM, JyDanzig said:

Aside from the fact that we've seen it a million times already (often with these exact story beats), bringing in the real sex trafficking ring for the back half really muddied the waters of their message against fake news, given that the fake news guy had in fact picked up on real clues that no one else did. 

Disagree. The plot that's been done a million times is a rich white man-said, pretty young white woman-said case. There have been 7 episodes just this season. The last sex trafficking episode was over a year ago.

 

On 5/4/2017 at 11:26 AM, Gigglepuff said:

I have a question for anyone that watched closely. Near the end, when Liv was giving her dramatic ultimatum to the sleazy fake journalist, she threatened him with child porn charges if he bothered her and Noah again. My question is, if she had the evidence to charge him, why didn't she do so previously? Was she threatening to blackmail him with false charges? What was the scenario there? 

That scene was so stupid and basically killed any decent opinion I had of the episode. This guy is a raging conspiracy theorist who thinks Benson was bought off with a baby so she wouldn't investigate a child sex trafficking ring, and she threatens to frame him unless he stops investigating her? And he listens?! That makes zero sense! He should have marched back upstairs and published their conversation verbatim. It completely confirms what he already believes about her and the NYPD. And it should probably warrant a visit from IAB. A few years ago, Benson called Tucker on Amaro because he threatened someone in defense of his daughter. What happened to that Olivia? The one who didn't do stuff that's overtly against the law?

I'm sick of omniscient Benson. She can't *always* be right about everything. In Know it All, Benson went off the deep end with conspiracy theories about the hacker blackmailing everyone to cover up his murder. Literally despite no evidence at all. In this episode, she immediately knows the congressman and Chinese restaurant are innocent. Even after they track the IP address back to the congressman and find child porn on his hard drive- that's far more evidence than they had Know it All. She goes on TV to proclaim his evidence and targets the website guy because she just knows the charges are false.

What kind of shitty sting was that at the contractor's place? Just the 4 SVU cops? 2 cars? No back-up? Benson confronted a suspected child sex trafficker alone? She's lucky she didn't get killed.

Marian looks rough for 15. Also didn't Benson used to speak Spanish? What happened to that?

Favorite moment:

Internet nutcase: CB stands for child brides.

Fin *deadpans*: It can also stand for Chinese broccoli.
 

Edited May 7, 2017 by skittl3862

[katisha]

On 04/05/2017 at 1:00 PM, sockii said:

On 04/05/2017 at 0:30 PM, Gigglepuff said:

Nice to see they took five seconds to acknowledge Fin's promotion. How nice that they threw us that bone. I mean, he's only been on the show for what, 17 seasons? Too bad they didn't shave a few seconds of Liv angstly clutching her chest and put them towards Fin's promotion scene. 

And of course it had to be framed around the "threat" of him being bumped out of SVU as a result. Which of course was never raised once as a possibility when Munch was promoted, and it's not like the unit has another sergeant right now, so...what the heck was that even about?

MH's acting was SO bad in this episode I found it distractingly laughable. The grasping dramatically at the window grates to show her angst! The cluthing at her chest! Somewhere between having a bad case of the vapors and becoming the real Stabler 3.0 because No One Messes With Her Kid!

...and of course they are all sitting around in court except for Fin, left manning the precinct by himself. See? That's why he can't be transferred out! They need him there while Liv makes her constipated faces at judges in every episode.

Have to second all of this 110 percent.  So little is made of a character who has been on the show virtually from day one getting made a sergeant, and yet I'm pretty sure we got to see everyone attending St Olivia's swearing-in ceremony in full uniform, etc.  Fin definitely deserves better but at least he can still deliver a line when he gets an occasional good one.  When he was babysitting the creepy perve who was helping set up the sting and the perve guy was drinking, and when Fin was asked if that was a good idea he deadpanned, "At least it stops him crying." 

Other than that, at least this episode held my interest and I'd put it in the top five for this season.  Yes, I know, the bar is lower than at the end of a limbo competition featuring contortionists.

[Gigglepuff]

Re: the fake journalist and his "story" on Benson and Noah. Many of us have questioned how that adoption actually happened. I mean, she finds a baby in a drug raid and then she gets to keep it? That itself was the most ridiculous plot lines this show has ever had imo. Too bad the writers suck so much because they could have actually gone somewhere good with that, eg...finding out that Noah's bio mom or dad had family that would have adopted Noah, or that there were other qualified prospective families waiting and somehow Benson jumped the queue, etc... Instead, they cheapened the plot to being a fake story picking on single moms. Oh well, more tragic that way I suppose. 

 

Also, why was Benson out of breath when she was threatening to frame and blackmail the fake journalist? Is that an acting choice on behalf of MH to show Benson's emotional state? If so, she needs to cut out the overacting in scenes like that one. Same goes for her hand on her heart when she saw the story online and grasping the bars on the window during the interrogation.

[DaynaPhile]

I was waiting for the congressman to be the pimp, or the Chinese restaurant to actually be running a trafficking ring. 

[marriedaniac]

I thought Jack McCoy's real son would have turned out to be a/the creepster. Too bad he was killed, he could have recurred.

[25thID]

I was expecting the fake news dude to turn right back around and publish something on his website saying that he was threatened. I'm sure someone like him would have a recording device on him 24/7 (I could be wrong), so he can catch different things. I would love to have that come back and bite St. Benson in the ass. As for the interrogation where she was gripping the window grate, I was expecting an '80s hair band ballad to start playing in the background, as she turned around. Yeah, I said that before, but, come on. There's only so much melodrama  guy can take. I literally laughed at that scene, and absolutely couldn't take it seriously; I'm sure the actor who was the perp had a hard time keeping  straight face....so, props to him for that. I would've lost it, or have been concerned that maybe she was having a heart attack or something.