S19.E01: Gone Fishin'

[Drogo]

When Fin crosses international borders to catch a fugitive rapist, a political tug-of-war derails Barba's legal case. Meanwhile, shocking allegations against Benson lead to the return of an old friend.

[mtlchick]

So how CONVEEEENIENT that Noah totally forgot how he got the bruises and now Liv is being investigated for it.  Well, at least I get some Dean Winters, so it's a minor victory.  

[Spartan Girl]

Oh for craps sake...

Im just going to skip the next few episodes.

[ShortyMac]

I was so annoyed at the Benoah crap that I couldn't even pay attention to the Case of the Week. RME. 

[mamadrama]

I spent most of the episode trying to figure out the previous show that featured this rapist. They all acted like we should know him...

[ForeverAlone]

Generally speaking, I liked this episode. I always like cases that bring in interesting and different legal arguments, so I appreciated the angle presented for Barba to make this case. There wasn't enough Rafael for me (there never is), but at least he was making intelligent arguments and not being treated like Olivia's lapdog. I wish there was more of the rest of the team, but I did like what we did see. I enjoyed the team interactions, and their different actions and reactions to this case. 

Of course, this being SVU nowadays, we couldn't have a case without Olivia polishing her halo, but at least I didn't find her intolerable or sanctimonious. Though of course she should have been smart enough to not burst into Karla's house without backup, or even telling anyone where she was going (apparently). She could easily have been killed, but at least she was able to realize her completely irresponsible  and rash actions and confess that Rafael (only the second time in the show's history she has called him by his first name). But all of this was apparently to show that nobody cares as much as Olivia or can close a case like Olivia. But at least it didn't annoy the crap out of me this time around. 

Those of use who follow spoilers knew that Cassidy would be making a reappearance by the end, and we figured it was related to Noah. Interesting that Cassidy is now an investigator with the DA's office (what happened to Munch, because he had the same job). And we could see the coming investigation into child abuse based on the events of this episode (though this SHOULD be easily cleared up once Noah expands upon his story, but somehow this will be dragged out a while). So if the DA's office has this case, I assume another ADA other than Rafael will be looking into this (he has a serious conflict of interest, and Raul is not in the second episode in any case). 

3 minutes ago, mamadrama said:

I spent most of the episode trying to figure out the previous show that featured this rapist. They all acted like we should know him...

He's never been in an actually aired episode. All of this was just to give some backstory to an offscreen case that is playing out in present day.

[SuzieQ]

Noah in danger in the FIRST 30 SECONDS!  <BARF>

 

Now it's opening the door for a Noah-centric season.  <DOUBLE BARF>

 

Also, Noah was aged 3 years since last May.......................

[dttruman]

I thought Fin was going to be the main interest of the writers here, but he was just that little pebble that snowballed into a major problem that only Olivia Benson could handle. I thought this episode was contrived so badly and it was more about Benson than the rape case. IMO, the rape victims were so unrealistic because of their refusal to testify and the way they glorified Benson making that grandiose speech at the end with the perp's wife. Excuse me, but what lawyer would allow his wife to listen to a victim.

[CleoCaesar]

I actually liked this one! Okay the Noah in Perpetual Danger stuff is boring. And the bruise thing is stupid. Hard to believe the nurse wouldn't have followed up on "My mother gave me the bruise".

But in general it was well paced and there was no obvious social justicey political agenda. So that's a nice change from all of last season.

[Gigi43]

Finn was in it more  than  I thought  he'd  be and there were courtroom scenes so Yay, for that at the very least.

 

But the Noah stuff had me crocheting and I missed case-stuff. Next week looks painfully bad. 

[Xeliou66]

Interesting episode that I'm mixed on. 

On the good side, we got to see the whole team in action, especially a lot of Fin and Barba who are my favorites. The case was interesting, very relevant issue with the whole US-Cuba relationship that has been a big issue the last couple of years, and lots of good legal drama, I've always loved the courtroom scenes, plus we got the return of Dworkin which was awesome, he was always a great lawyer on the mothership and I was thrilled to see him return, Barba and Dworkin battling was great. I liked that Barba wasn't acting as Benson's puppet and was doing his own job, and I like any episode with complex legal arguments. That Marks guy was a smug scumbag, I was glad to see him go down. Us using the wife to turn on her perp husband wasn't exactly original, but it worked in this case especially since the wife didn't know Marks when he was raping women and knew nothing about his past, she only met him after he fled. 

I was surprised that only one of the victims would testify, but I do know it must be painful to relive all that years later and I can understand not wanting to, but still I was surprised. They did have his DNA so it seems that it would be easy to convict, but I guess without the victims testifying Marks could just claim it was consensual rough sex. 

Karla's husband seemed like a major controlling sleaze, I hope she dumped that douchebag. 

On the bad side, Benson and Noah drama. Just awful and cringeworthy, what else can I say. I was hoping for something different from Churnuchin but nope, more awful Benson soap. It was incredibly stupid to boot, the whole Noah bruise was a simple misunderstanding, how did Benson not realize that pulling Noah off the road was how he got the bruise?! Seriously, Benson looked like a fucking idiot. And besides, why didn't the school nurse just ask Noah how his mom gave him the bruise, he would've told the story then. What a dumb plot. And now Cassidy showing up again as a DA investigator now, interesting, but why the hell is the DA's office investigating Benson? It's IAB's job to investigate her if a complaint is filed. Maybe that will be explored next week more in depth. Besides, what exactly are they investigating her own, it's a simple misunderstanding? What a brainless, awful plot, obviously inserted at the request of MH and her fans. 

Speaking of MH, her acting tonight was some of the worst it's ever been, and that's saying something. Every single scene, she had an overly dramatic, distressed look on her face, it was laughable actually, something straight out of a soap opera. I really wish that someone would tell her to take it down a few notches.

On the positive side, the episode didn't seem to have any PSA/preachiness to it and Benson wasn't bitchy towards the squad like she frequently is, I didn't feel as though I was being preached to which was good. 

So I liked the actual case, the use of the whole team and the legal stuff, hated the Benson crap. 

[Danielg342]

I'm not a regular SVU watcher so I didn't pick on things that many of you did. That said, I thought this was actually watchable mainly due to the acting, especially from Amy Smart, Peter Jacobson and Will Chase, plus Fin and Barba brought it tonight. I also believe Mariska Hargitay did the most with some pretty trite dialogue, dialogue I'm sure she's repeated many times before.

In fact, the episode really did feel like a retread. There was nothing about Byron Marks that made me think he'd have done anything that the team would find especially heinous (because they've "seen it all before"), but, there they were, acting like Marks was some especially bad dude. The Cuba stuff was kind of weird, though.

[LittleIggy]

Why on earth would they launch a full out investigation over one bruise which could have been explained with a little questioning? And having Benson's former boyfriend investigate her? Good to see Dean Winters again but really?

[Everleigh]

New Noah is cute. I knew from the dramatic push-in on the teacher's face after Benson left her classroom that the bruise issue was not going to be dropped. It may seem like a pretty simple thing to clear up, i.e. just ask the kid how mommy bruised his arm and when he explains that she grabbed him out of on-coming traffic that should be the end of it, but this is SVU and this is Olivia so obviously something ridiculously dramatic has to happen to keep her from being happy, so I imagine the investigation is going to turn from looking for signs of physical abuse to looking for signs of neglect because Olivia is a working mother and how could a mother let her kid run out into the street! She's obviously too distracted by her work to be a mother! 

This whole Noah bruise thing reminded me that I had a friend in kindergarten who smashed her face on a coffee table at home and then her dad scolded her for running around the house when she wasn't supposed to so the next day she went to school and told our teacher that her dad punched her in the face because she was mad that he yelled at her. The parents were called in for a meeting but they determined she was lying pretty quickly. Coincidently, her father was a cop. Which just goes to show, kids can be vindictive little things. But that's where I thought they were going with the Noah thing at first. I thought perhaps he lied because he resents Olivia for not being around or something. 

Anyway, Cassidy looked good. But seems like the DA's office would want to avoid the very obvious case of conflict of interest going on there. 

As for the case, I liked that it was pretty straightforward and there were no surprise twists. I also liked that Fin continued to dress the part after returning from Havanna and was rocking the fedora and white shirt in the precinct. I wish he had walked around like that all episode, it suits him. 

Was I reading too much into her reaction or did the wife seem to have her come to Jesus moment when Carla mentioned Marks peeing on her? Cause yikes. 

[MadyGirl1987]

Geez, this episode was rough.

First off, why didn’t Olivia make the connection between the bruise and the incident with Noah almost being hit? I knew that was what was happening before it was revealed. Also, would they really investigate Olivia once the whole story came out, or did she not even tell the school to clear it up? So stupid and manufactured for maximum drama...

Next, the whole thing with Fin KIDNAPPING someone was totally wrong. And they treated it like no big deal, even like he was doing the right thing! I totally sided with Carisi when he and Rollins were debating it. When Barba was asking if Fin kidnapped him, and Olivia goes “what if he did?” Are you kidding me? Kidnapping is a big freaking deal Olivia! I have only watched Chicago PD when there is a crossover event, but I hear there is an appalling amount of police brutality and the cops crossing the line. Looks like SVU is starting to follow suit. Kidnapping and keeping the perp in a hot van for hours seems like something that wouldn’t be out of place there... At a time when real cops crossing the line into brutality are in the news constantly do they really think people will side with Fin?

[Xeliou66]

Yeah I thought that did seem to freak the wife out, I wonder if he had mentioned that fetish or even tried to pee on her at some point? He was such a smug, disgusted sadistic piece of shit. 

I have to say, I think that was the most legal drama SVU has had in a long time, which I really liked. I hope Churnuchin keeps on having legal stuff, that is always one of the best parts of SVU. I have to say, I really like Judge Burtuccio, I was glad to see him back on tonight, SVU hasn't used many recurring characters and I always like seeing the handful of recurring characters they do have. 

As far as Fin's actions in Cuba go, I was mixed. On one hand, I sort of agreed with Carisi that Fin was out of line with his actions, but on the other hand Marks should be held responsible for his rapes and since there is no real relationship between the US and Cuban governments, Fin basically did the only thing he could do to bring him to justice. The comparison to Chicago PD is extremely inaccurate BTW, Fin didn't abuse, beat or torture Marks and he was only left in the car while Fin talked to the Havana authorities and we really only got Marks word about how he felt in the car which he could've exaggerated. On Chicago PD, the cops routinely beat and torture civilians, even ones who are innocent, just for fun. Chicago PD is nothing but fascist propaganda, very disappointing from Dick Wolf, its nothing like on SVU. 

[JyDanzig]

It was odd to have all that explanation of what Cassidy has been up to -- retired, moved to Florida, now back as a DA Investigator -- given that when we left off with him he was in IA -- which makes perfect/more sense for this story they're trying to tell!

I kept thinking of how many episodes of this show (mostly during the Neal Baer years) have involved Benson discovering one incriminating fact, jumping to the worst possible conclusion, accusing someone of a heinous crime and completely ruining their life... and then they're exonerated, in a way that would have been easy to do at the start, if the squad had investigated more carefully and not just concluded this person MUST be a criminal.  Is this Benoah thing some kind of meta-commentary on that?

Overall I was also mixed on this episode.  There were plenty of seams showing in the storytelling (the rapist is about to get off scot free, but decides to sneak away from his own wife and attorney to go ask for favors from the woman he raped, mutilated, and pissed on?  Oh-kay...), but the basic concept was interesting.  It was appropriately scaled -- so often these shows just get overstuffed with incident to a degree that nothing gets properly serviced, but this was the right size of story.  You don't always have to have a million twists, it's enough to just present us with a crime, and then get the drama and suspense from the twisty pursuit of justice, as obstacles are thrown in our characters way and they must figure out how to overcome them.

I do wish, for these old-case-coming-back-to-haunt-us episodes, they would use old cases that we actually saw!  God knows there were enough of them that ended with the rapist getting away!  The backstory from Rollins that this was one of her first cases at SVU and changed the way she saw the world was a bit much, given that we saw her whole arc of transferring in and adjusting to rape cases in her first episodes.  But, OK, I'll go with it... we just skipped over the case at the time that had the biggest impact on her, that happened between episodes, sure, why not.

Production-wise it looked good.  They did a nice job faking Cuba in Brooklyn.  That scene in the WTC Oculus was fantastic, and I had a weirdly bittersweet reaction to seeing it in this context -- I had just been remembering how when this show started, the WTC was featured prominently in the opening credits.  Now, all these years later, the same show is still around, shooting episodes in the reconstructed WTC transit hub.  Law & Order winds through so much of NYC history at this point, in a way I find really quite striking.

Overall, it wasn't the home-run I was hoping for, but it was a solid start to the season.  And it was easily better than almost every episode last year.  I'm looking forward to next week.

Edited September 28, 2017 by JyDanzig

[CelticBlackCat]

1 hour ago, Everleigh said:

New Noah is cute.

Was I reading too much into her reaction or did the wife seem to have her come to Jesus moment when Carla mentioned Marks peeing on her? Cause yikes. 

As much as I hate the Benoah crap, I'll give the child actor that.

I thought the exact same thing.  That has to be what made the wife believe she was married to a rapist and was why she opted to go back to Cuba to get away from Marks and raise her daughter alone.

[EtheltoTillie]

How come the knife marks didn't do it?

[wknt3]

The Good:
The case. It involved an actual sex crime, resolved by the work of the whole squad and Barba. Most of the field work was done by detectives and all of the legal aspects were handled by lawyers. The ADA-squad relationship was what it should be - they both wanted justice and worked together, but had different perspectives. And it was a new and different angle with some moral ambiguity.
Fin! It was nice to see him driving the plot (although I wish we had stuck with him more) and in character. He has always been the pragmatic "do what needs to be done and let the lawyers figure it out later" guy and it was nice to see him in that position. He was the self-confident veteran detective and not just the comic relief and reminder of better days.
Barba! Hopefully pod Barba is gone for good. He was in charge of the legal side, wasn't taking orders from Liv and was a sharp lawyer who was a match for the best.  We even got to see him speaking Spanish!
They used Rollins weell. Her scenes with both Benson and Carisi were well written and really flowed well.
They didn't screw up Dworkin and it was nice to see him. Overall this was the best written legal material in quite some time.

The Bad:
Everything not the case. We all knew that Benoah was coming, but it didn't help.
The specifics of the Benoah are ... not encouraging. It just seems like another Idiot Stick plot designed to make Liv a martyr once again. It seems like a couple of open ended questions on the part of the nurse would have cleared things up. And I have trouble choking down the huge grain of salt we need to swallow to believe that the DA's office would choose Cassidy of all their investigators to conduct an outside investigation. Although I will forgive them if we can get an appearance by DA investigator Munch...
Once again we have Benson charging in without backup. And then they expected us to feel sympathy for her asking the perp to put the gun on her? I don't expect them to drop Benoah, but I was really hoping they would get rid of this overused stupid plot device. Would it really be that much less heroic to have Fin or Carisi or Rollins with her? Or even a couple extras in uniform?

Overall this is a mixed bag. I was impressed by the overall quality of the writing, but dismayed by all the indications that Benson's personal drama will not be the running subplot it should be, but the focus of the season. If they had cut Benoah by 1/2 and spent that time on exploring Fin and Benson instead it would have been a great episode. Instead it was ... OK. Which is something of an achievement for an episode focused so heavily on one of my least favorite plotlines ever and an improvement over last year, but still a waste of potential. On the other hand at least there is clear potential which was not something you could say most of last season.

Edited September 28, 2017 by wknt3

[sockii]

Like some others here, I found this one a mixed bag of good and bad.

The most especially heinous, but as usual of late, was Mariska's painful overacting. Especially in the scene with the teacher at Noah's school. I guess she was trying to convey disbelief and outrage, but...if I were that teacher and saw a woman acting that way (with the bug eyes and over-dramatic sighing and everything), I'd only be MORE convinced she was possibly unstable or abusing her child!

I liked the new Noah, he seems to have picked up some sass and actual personality now. But I'm not keen on where this whole abuse idiot plot is going. They had plenty of ammunition just looking into Benson's actions last season if they wanted to bring "shocking allegations" against her without having to come up with a flimsy child abuse storyline.

The best parts for me were the courtroom scenes, which had some of the spunk and fire of old mothership episodes, and some of the one-on-one scenes between the squad members. That's what I've really been missing, particularly last season—these characters actually talking to each other like friends and colleagues, sharing some personal issues, doubts and struggles between the case moments. This show used to know how to balance the case-of-the-week with personal drama without going from one to the other extreme; I hope they can find some of that balance again.

Glad to see Fin actually involved in something more than going to one or two crime scenes, actually talking with Barba(!) and in the squadroom acting more like a second in command. But I am just...continually puzzled WHY they are not referring to him as sergeant again! I read that article about how he doesn't want to leave SVU, but still...becoming sergeant didn't stop Munch from staying at SVU. Back to the first season of the mothership, Max Greevey was a sergeant when he was partnered with Logan! Why are they refusing to give Fin the title he deserves? This really, really continues to irk me.

Speaking of Munch, this old school fan here was squeeing with delight at the possibility that now he and Cassidy were working together again (as SIs). Oh I would definitely kill if this could lead to another Munch appearance some time...but I'm not holding my breath. (And I was so excited by this possibility I missed one detail at the end -- did they REALLY put Cassidy in charge of investigating the allegations against Benson, despite his own conflict of interest there? Or had he just shown up to warn Benson of what was coming?)

[gesundheit]

At least the new Noah is more of a sentient being.

[HunterHunted]

On 9/27/2017 at 11:11 PM, LittleIggy said:

Why on earth would they launch a full out investigation over one bruise which could have been explained with a little questioning? And having Benson's former boyfriend investigate her? Good to see Dean Winters again but really?

It also doesn't work that way. Child Protective Services would first do the investigation, which would include more than just an interview of Olivia by a teacher* (whut????). CPS would also interview Noah, his teacher (who likely reported it as a mandatory reporter), Lucy, and anyone who was in regular contact with Noah and Olivia when she's with Noah. If CPS finds that there is sufficient evidence of abuse, they would remove Noah from the home and perhaps turn it over to SVU. I say perhaps because CPS likes to do many interventions before they remove a child from the home or recommend criminal prosecution. SVU and the DA focus on criminal matters. CPS is a civil agency. All 3 work together, but that doesn't absolve CPS from doing their due diligence. So the idea that CPS turned the case over to the DA's investigatory unit for criminal charges, but left Noah there is ludicrous.

I'm sort of surprised that the Cuban government and the US States Department didn't get involved earlier. Finn kidnapping the perpetrator and violating Cuban sovereignty was a HUGE issue that the show shouldn't have glossed over. Finn appeared to have entered a foreign country illegally or under false premises and kidnap a lawful resident. Not ok.

*CPS doesn't like teachers interviewing the parents because it's a quick way to screw up the investigation because a teacher wouldn't necessarily know the type of questions to ask.

Edited October 5, 2017 by HunterHunted

[Xeliou66]

Sounds like most people here agree with me, they liked the case, the use of Fin and Barba, the legal stuff, Dworkin's return and the lack of preaching while disliking the soapy Benson drama. 

I have to say, I'm not looking forward to next weeks episode. A ton of Benson personal crap, no Barba and from the sneak peeks that are available, Benson appears to be back in very preachy, condescending and arrogant form. I do not get why Barba isn't in every episode, he is the best character on the show IMO and back when Cabot and Novak were around they were in every episode, so why isn't Barba? 

[CelticBlackCat]

When Cassidy shows up unannounced at Benson's door in the evening, she rightly IMHO didn't let him in so as to detract from Noah's nighttime routine and have to answer questions as to who this visitor is.  So at the door they made small talk and then Cassidy lowered the boom.  I'm confused.  Did he say that he was investigating her personally (which would be a huge conflict of interest) and, if so, was he being menacing?  Was he giving her a heads up that his department is investigating her?  ITA w Hunter Hunted on how things really work.  But this is the show that had an adorable, healthy white* boy available for adoption and only Saint Olivia Benson was available to take him in.  IRL there would have been married couples lined up around the building to apply for the adoption of Noah.

* I'm not being racist, it is just the reality, mainly based on the fact that the majority of people in this country are still Caucasian.  I in no way mean to cast aspersions on adopting babies or children of other races.  I myself have extended family members (cousins) who are of mixed races, including Hispanic and African-American, on the Italian side of my family.

[sockii]

1 hour ago, CelticBlackCat said:

Did he say that he was investigating her personally (which would be a huge conflict of interest) and, if so, was he being menacing?  Was he giving her a heads up that his department is investigating her? 

I rewatched today to try to sort this out and it remains a bit vague at this point. He said 6 weeks after starting at the DA's a "case crossed his desk" involving possible child abuse and "we" were investigating it. So I'm personally leaning towards he was there to give her a personal heads-up about what was going on.

[CelticBlackCat]

6 minutes ago, sockii said:

I rewatched today to try to sort this out and it remains a bit vague at this point. He said 6 weeks after starting at the DA's a "case crossed his desk" involving possible child abuse and "we" were investigating it. So I'm personally leaning towards he was there to give her a personal heads-up about what was going on.

Thanks.  It's hard to believe that Cassidy would think Benson would be a child abuser even though their relationship went south.

[WendyCR72]

2 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

I do not get why Barba isn't in every episode, he is the best character on the show IMO and back when Cabot and Novak were around they were in every episode, so why isn't Barba?

Maybe Raul Esparza wanted a lighter load to do other projects? Just a theory.

[mamadrama]

22 hours ago, ForeverAlone said:

 

He's never been in an actually aired episode. All of this was just to give some backstory to an offscreen case that is playing out in present day.

Yes, I realize that. I was just joking. 

[QueenMab]

Why didn't Barba give his bff through time and space and all eternity a heads up? In fact, why didn't he tell Benson 6 weeks earlier that her ex lover was now employed by his office? Not like he didn't know. He's said so many times the DA grapevine is lightening fast and the office leaks like an old roof. 6 weeks with the Manhattan DAs office and Barbara didn't tell Benson? What's up with that?

Just now, QueenMab said:

Why didn't Barba give his bff through time and space and all eternity a heads up? In fact, why didn't he tell Benson 6 weeks earlier that her ex lover was now employed by his office? Not like he didn't know. He's said so many times the DA grapevine is lightening fast and the office leaks like an old roof. 6 weeks with the Manhattan DAs office and Barba didn't tell Benson? What's up with that?

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

Finn kidnapping the perpetrator and violating Cuban sovereignty was a HUGE issue that the show shouldn't have glossed over.

For a L&O show, it was good enough for me. Finn had a Fish Story for why he was in Cuba in the first place. And then Finn said that he had just happened to recognize the perp (unassailable lie because his kidnapping assistants will never tell). And then finally, it seems he actually did convince the Cuban policia that the guy he had in the van was a Bad Man wanted in the States.

[HunterHunted]

59 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

For a L&O show, it was good enough for me. Finn had a Fish Story for why he was in Cuba in the first place. And then Finn said that he had just happened to recognize the perp (unassailable lie because his kidnapping assistants will never tell). And then finally, it seems he actually did convince the Cuban policia that the guy he had in the van was a Bad Man wanted in the States.

It isn't ok with me. The mothership has had similar scenarios where a perp was on foreign soil and the cops had to get him or her back on to US soil. The cops on the mothership have used trickery, political favors, and a bunch of other tools besides illegally entering a country and kidnapping people.  Finn kidnapping people is par for course for this dumb sloppy show, but the reality is that the writing didn't used to be quite this stupid. I suspect that the writing is this bad on this issue because they've let their skills for writing the legal stuff atrophy to a withered nothing. However, the mothership considered what the DA does to be equally as compelling as what the cops do. This show has no respect for the DA or prosecution part of the equation.

Edited September 29, 2017 by HunterHunted

[Kel Varnsen]

21 hours ago, Everleigh said:

Anyway, Cassidy looked good. But seems like the DA's office would want to avoid the very obvious case of conflict of interest going on there. 

 

I didn't get that. He said that SVU had to be recuse themselves from investigating becuase of a conflict of interest. But her ex-boyfriend investiging isn't a conflict. Even by the show's logic that makes no sense. 

20 hours ago, MadyGirl1987 said:

Next, the whole thing with Fin KIDNAPPING someone was totally wrong. And they treated it like no big deal, even like he was doing the right thing! I totally sided with Carisi when he and Rollins were debating it. When Barba was asking if Fin kidnapped him, and Olivia goes “what if he did?” Are you kidding me? Kidnapping is a big freaking deal Olivia! I have only watched Chicago PD when there is a crossover event, but I hear there is an appalling amount of police brutality and the cops crossing the line. Looks like SVU is starting to follow suit. Kidnapping and keeping the perp in a hot van for hours seems like something that wouldn’t be out of place there... At a time when real cops crossing the line into brutality are in the news constantly do they really think people will side with Fin?

I am still trying to figure out the logistics of it all. How did Fin get him on the plane? How did they clear customs? Did they stop at his house to get his passport?

[CelticBlackCat]

2 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

I didn't get that. He said that SVU had to be recuse themselves from investigating becuase of a conflict of interest. But her ex-boyfriend investiging isn't a conflict. Even by the show's logic that makes no sense. 

I am still trying to figure out the logistics of it all. How did Fin get him on the plane? How did they clear customs? Did they stop at his house to get his passport?

Cassidy himself would be a conflict of interest because he used to date Benson.  He would have to recuse himself from participation because of that.

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

I am still trying to figure out the logistics of it all. How did Fin get him on the plane? How did they clear customs? Did they stop at his house to get his passport?

All valid questions, @Kel Varnsen. I guess I'm going to have to fanwank that Crocket and Tubbs of Miami Vice brought him over on a speed boat, heh.

[wknt3]

11 hours ago, sockii said:

I rewatched today to try to sort this out and it remains a bit vague at this point. He said 6 weeks after starting at the DA's a "case crossed his desk" involving possible child abuse and "we" were investigating it. So I'm personally leaning towards he was there to give her a personal heads-up about what was going on.

Thanks. If they didn't mean to say he was working the case, why not make it clear though? It wouldn't be hard. Have her ask why he didn't call, have him say he needed to talk in person, make it clear that she has enemies who are using this as an opportunity to get back at her, maybe even give us old timers some fan service and imply that Munch was involved in sending this warning? It's clear they have the talent on staff now to do so and if that's they way they are going it would be better to make it clear now. Would have been a better scene too.

 

10 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Maybe Raul Esparza wanted a lighter load to do other projects? Just a theory.

It seems from the available evidence that he does like the opportunity to take some of the many offers he always seem to have on the table and they don't have the budget to pay him every episode. I can live with it if they write him as well as they do this episode and if they use the Barbaless episodes to focus on the investigations in  depth and not just family drama.

[Aethera]

The "this would be easily cleared up if people just talked to each other" thing frustrates the hell out of me. Why didn't Olivia follow up on the Noah thing the next day with the school? 

I'll be skipping episodes until the Noah thing resolves, which it looks like could be a while. I can't stomach it.

[halkatla]

I thought Olivia´s reaction when being questioned about the bruise was really annoying. It made no sense. She seemed like she was about to fall down or go crazy. I wish they would just let her have an easy, happy life where all the drama and stress was happening at her work. Give us more exciting cases and less of "that".

[QueenMab]

Its a soap opera folks. And that means the "Star" of it is a train wreck with a train wreck past and a train wreck present. This soap runs on Train wreck Benson. Its a soap opera, so what do you expect...peacelovehappiness? S O S

[MorbidPet]

I had such high hopes for the new showrunner and it went down the drain within minutes. I can't with Benoah drama. Don't care if the kid is cute or not just no. Such a waste of a great show and a great cast. I read an interview with MH where she said she didn't know where MH / Liv started and ended. And she said that was a good thing. No it's not. She needs to focus on the show and not so much on herself. All in my opinion of course. I went from loving Olivia to somewhat disliking her cause she's just everywhere and it's not good for the show.

[Gigglepuff]

2 hours ago, MorbidPet said:

I read an interview with MH where she said she didn't know where MH / Liv started and ended. And she said that was a good thing. No it's not.

So, is she saying that she is as self righteous and annoying as the character she plays? 

[WendyCR72]

10 hours ago, Aethera said:

I'll be skipping episodes until the Noah thing resolves, which it looks like could be a while. I can't stomach it.

The worst part is, if the spec is true and the Brooke Shields character - who is supposed to recur during the season - has anything to do with Noah, too? This kid will eat this season whole.

[Xeliou66]

I could not agree more with your point about MH and Liv being the same. A few years ago, MH seemed to stop acting and just play herself, Benson seems no different than what MH would be like if she was an SVU detective. MH has taken over the show and is just using the show to promote herself and her agenda's, a lot of SVU episodes the last few years seem like PSA's for the Joyful Heart Foundation and I think Mariska's work with sexual assault victims have influenced the way she plays Benson and the show and not in a good way. 

And yeah, I'm not looking forward to the constant Noah storyline this season, it means more pointless Benson personal scenes, more stupid drama and more bitchy, unlikable Benson complete with MH's massive overacting. 

[Poohbear617]

On 9/28/2017 at 0:21 AM, Everleigh said:

. I also liked that Fin continued to dress the part after returning from Havanna and was rocking the fedora and white shirt in the precinct. I wish he had walked around like that all episode, it suits him. 

1)  Yes it did  suit him.You forgot him wearing those big shorts men have where they look stupid but Finn with his sneakers it  looked great. It was great to see Fine in the opening scene.  More Fin, less Rollins, especially if it has Rollins trying  to look 18 or some other stupid thing, that shows men panting like she is only woman in town.

2) Nice to see you Cassidy (Liv, invite him in..don't leave him in the hall) Would love to see visit from Munch and Craven who should be back from cruise with slide show pictures. Also I would love to see Barba get a episode of help from Cabot or Novak. 

 

3) Finally..was I the only one who found Barba even more sexy when he spoke spanish?

[MorbidPet]

11 hours ago, Gigglepuff said:

So, is she saying that she is as self righteous and annoying as the character she plays? 

Unfortunately not that self-aware. And what most of us had already figured out it's there in black & white "All these years I spent watching and learning—it feels pretty exciting to give back and have a bigger say on things."

The interview with Olivia Benson formerly known as Mariska Hargitay

[Kel Varnsen]

On 29/09/2017 at 1:03 AM, shapeshifter said:

All valid questions, @Kel Varnsen. I guess I'm going to have to fanwank that Crocket and Tubbs of Miami Vice brought him over on a speed boat, heh.

I can't help wondering what would happen if while they were walking through Havana airport Mark's just yelled "this man is kidnapping me!". I am guessing they don't leave Cuba and instant international incident.

On 28/09/2017 at 6:40 AM, wknt3 said:

Once again we have Benson charging in without backup. And then they expected us to feel sympathy for her asking the perp to put the gun on her? I don't expect them to drop Benoah, but I was really hoping they would get rid of this overused stupid plot device. Would it really be that much less heroic to have Fin or Carisi or Rollins with her? Or even a couple extras in uniform.

That was really stupid. I noticed that Olivia always had her gun on Marks and never on Carla, even though she was the one trying to shoot someone. And the point your gun on me line was even dumber. Better would be her telling Carla that if she thinks Carla is going to pull the trigger and comit murder she is going to have to shot Carla to protect Marks.

[katisha]

On 28/09/2017 at 2:11 PM, LittleIggy said:

Why on earth would they launch a full out investigation over one bruise which could have been explained with a little questioning? And having Benson's former boyfriend investigate her? Good to see Dean Winters again but really?

Exactly what I was thinking!  It just didn't make sense.  To me it seems a ridiculously over the top reaction i.e. launch a full-scale top secret investigation over some minor bruising.  I can't speak for the USA but in Australia (in real life, anyway), this would barely even rate a mention to our child safety people UNLESS the child was turning up to school or playgroup or whatever on a regular ongoing basis with unexplained bruising and other injuries.  Especially when ONE simple interview could have cleared it all up!  Please, SVU, I'm used to your plot holes by now but could you at least not have them so huge that entire planets could pass through them?

[halkatla]

I would have liked it if Olivia had told the kindergarten teacher that this bruise thing had to be cleared up, that she would have no problem to sit down with them and discuss it more if they felt they needed to investigate, because someone in her position needed to be absolutely above board. Her job is stressful and all that but she would never take it out on her kid and she would actually like to know all about this injury if they felt it was serious. I know it would be a bit of an over-reaction to a single bruise, but I would personally take that approach instead of shaking and rolling my eyes and not even remembering what had happened when Noah ran into traffic...

From there the show could in theory have made the school and DCF (or whatever) bring a nonsensical and unfair case against Olivia, they do that lots of times in reality, but at least that wouldn´t have made the main character of the show seem so stupid.

Edited September 30, 2017 by halkatla

[Suckeredin]

No, No, No, No,No, just No....

After allllllll the cases they've covered where DCS is overworked and neglects children who end up abused or sacrificed or trafficked or part of a cult, they decide to have the case of a white, middle aged, decorated police lieutenant, who rescues an orphan from the system and takes such good care of him he ages 3 years in one summer, who has one bruise...one...and the only evidence is the interview by a school nurse...that's the case DCS is all over, fast tracks and throws an investigator at....really?  Really SVU? Really?...shenanigans...I'm out...seriously, I think this is going to put me over the edge....

Edited October 1, 2017 by Suckeredin

[Xeliou66]

Yeah Benson looked like a massive idiot for forgetting that she had to pull Noah out of the street, as well as a hypocrite  for being so obnoxious with the lady at the school when she was just doing her job and Benson has asked those same questions to people, including innocent ones, many times. Also the school nurse was a massive idiot for not asking Noah to explain how his mom gave him the bruise. This whole plot is totally r******* and stupid, I haven't seen anyone say good things about it. Give us good cases, not Benson soap.