S19.E20: The Book of Esther

[dttruman]

6 hours ago, spacefly said:

Like and disliked this episode. I liked the beginning because I was unsure of where it was going and as the end unfolded I was just worried. As I watched this episode it was constantly being interrupted with the news of a domestic violence incident happening a few towns away. The suspect blew up the barn/home with 10 SWAT members in close proximity and sent them to the hospital (no one died). Throughout I kept wondering if this was going that way too.

Saw it on the news in Connecticut. Domestic violence is bad enough, but there are a lot more incidents with collateral damage.

Edited May 6, 2018 by dttruman

[millennium]

End this godforsaken show already.

Was this script written on a cocktail napkin during lunch?   Blows my mind that people can get paid for producing such shit.

[dttruman]

14 minutes ago, millennium said:

End this godforsaken show already.

Was this script written on a cocktail napkin during lunch?   Blows my mind that people can get paid for producing such shit.

It's fair to say, that Mariska Hargitay and Dick Wolf approved this script.

[WendyCR72]

32 minutes ago, millennium said:

End this godforsaken show already.

Was this script written on a cocktail napkin during lunch?   Blows my mind that people can get paid for producing such shit.

The sad thing is, I bet a 20th season - to tie the Mothership - is assured.

[CelticBlackCat]

I liked that this was old-school style SVU with a ripped from the headlines story with SVU's twist for the ending.  It didn't feature any Benoah or BenStone.  I loved when SWAT commander shut down Olivia, but the decision to open fire on a house with innocents and children in there was not a good one.  I don't understand why Rollins even joined in the fire when SWAT was supposed to be taking care of the situation per Stand Down Commander.  It's extremely sad that any of the kids got killed, yes, especially Esther.

I don't like the set up where Rollins is going.  I thought Benson was less than sympathetic and just cut and dry with Amanda when she broke down crying.  I fear for Amanda.  The last church scene I think harkens back to her childhood when religion went too far in the home, something I don't think we've heard about before.

This episode desperately needed Dr. Huang!

I recognized creepy dad from Sons of Anarchy.

I think the mother was pregnant with an already-named baby Jacob.

[SuzieQ]

1 hour ago, CelticBlackCat said:

 

 

I recognized creepy dad from Sons of Anarchy.

 

LOL! Me too! He must be creepy in every role he plays.................................or he's just creepy in real life.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 5/2/2018 at 10:06 PM, dttruman said:

 Why did she enter without a warrant? Everything was just so premature for an investigation.

 

Would she need a warrant? Would seeing a kid chained by the neck to a wall and screaming that they were starving be enough probable cause that a crime was in progress to enter without a warrant? That said the fact that she didn't instantly call Benson, social services or at least local cops for back up upon seeing that was really stupid.

[CelticBlackCat]

4 hours ago, SuzieQ said:

LOL! Me too! He must be creepy in every role he plays.................................or he's just creepy in real life.

Hopefully it's all an act.  LOL!  Good to see another SOA fan on here.  :)

39 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Would she need a warrant? Would seeing a kid chained by the neck to a wall and screaming that they were starving be enough probable cause that a crime was in progress to enter without a warrant? That said the fact that she didn't instantly call Benson, social services or at least local cops for back up upon seeing that was really stupid.

Wasn't Amanda on her two-day personal time vacation when she went to the house?  She was officially off duty, snooping around when she should be at a shrink's office trying to figure out why she hates prossies so much all of a sudden.

[dttruman]

7 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Would she need a warrant? Would seeing a kid chained by the neck to a wall and screaming that they were starving be enough probable cause that a crime was in progress to enter without a warrant? That said the fact that she didn't instantly call Benson, social services or at least local cops for back up upon seeing that was really stupid.

I would generally agree with that, but considering the rulings of some of these judges today. Rollins could be charged with stalking, thereby throwing out all her eyewitness testimony.

[dttruman]

12 hours ago, CelticBlackCat said:

I loved when SWAT commander shut down Olivia, but the decision to open fire on a house with innocents and children in there was not a good one. 

Do you think they (the writers and/ or producers) had a preconceived ironic outcome for Rollins and they just needed to figure out a way to pull it off without making her or Benson look bad? They knew that Rollins' bullet had to be the fatal one, so they brought in the SWAT team and it's commander to be the scapegoats. When the commander shut down Benson, that totally absolved her of any blame for the consequences that were about to happen. I wonder how far the writers would go to make Benson look good. Would they have thrown "Mother Teresa" under the bus and made her look like the head of a world wide sex trafficking organization for Benson to go up against?

[TvGeek]

I need to rewatch it to be sure but when the swat team enters the house do they not wind their way back to the kitchen in the left hand back of the house to find ester? You're telling me Amanda fired a few shots into the right front window from across the street and it went thru all those walls and just happened to shoot her in the head...

Edited May 7, 2018 by TvGeek

[dttruman]

5 hours ago, TvGeek said:

I need to rewatch it to be sure but when the swat team enters the house do they not wind their way back to the kitchen in the left hand back of the house to find ester? You're telling me Amanda fired a few shots into the right front window from across the street and it went thru all those walls and just happened to shoot her in the head...

 

Good point!  I need to check that out also. I got "On Demand" on my cable so I can check it out in a while. I checked it out again. She was back by the refrigerator and I saw an open window, but I couldn't definitively say Esther was in the back. The kitchen could have been facing the front. More than likely, they would call it a ricochet or something.

What I did find interesting, that I overlooked before was when Rollins was interviewing one of their neighbors. When the neighbor was telling her there were some strange things going on in the house, Rollins had the gall to berate the neighbor for not calling child services

Edited May 7, 2018 by dttruman

[RollinsRollins]

it just my impression or the Giddish seems pregnant in this episodes? almost always black clothes and half-length shots from the bust up

[The Mighty Peanut]

On 5/3/2018 at 2:11 AM, ForeverAlone said:

The only way I think they could determine that it was Amanda's bullet that killed Esther is if the bullet was still lodged in her and then ballistics compared the kill shot to all of the police officers who fired their weapon and the bullet matched Amanda's gun. But that was certainly the quickest ballistics test ever by the NYPD! 

 

At least Liv made sure to tell Rollins that breaking into a known volatile household without a warrant or following any protocol whatsoever can cause tragic outcomes like this ohhhhh wait

Edited May 10, 2018 by The Mighty Peanut

[rhys]

Did no one ask Esther why she left Pa's house in the first place only to go back with him? She seemed to acquiese so easily to return to the family home, but no one said " hey, Esther, why did you jump out a window & hoo a train ? "

[Zoe]

On 5/8/2018 at 11:28 AM, RollinsRollins said:

it just my impression or the Giddish seems pregnant in this episodes? almost always black clothes and half-length shots from the bust up

I want to say I was thinking the same thing a few weeks ago, but then there was a full body view and her stomach looked as flat as ever.

[DaynaPhile]

Up until the very last moment I was sure Liv was going to say the father killed the kids.