About Last Night…The LAW & ORDERs, GREY’S ANATOMY, and GHOSTS

Let’s talk about Thursday night’s TV…

LAW & ORDER: As someone who watches (so, so much) SVU, it amused me that the revival’s premiere paralleled a couple of those episodes. (Specifically SVU’s series premiere—which also featured a dead rapist who was killed by two of his victims—and also Anthony Anderson’s 2006 episode where his cop character lied to a suspect and implied if they confessed they would be fine/could go home.)

I’m curious about a number of things with the Bernard and Cosgrove partnership: Why is Bernard rotating through so many partners? (And why did it start six years ago?) How is Cosgrove getting away with what he has been? CHICAGO P.D.–which L&O showrunner Rick Eid also ran until midseason this year—examined toxicity in the police force, and overhauled parts of how those characters operated in light of the call for police reform. Is Cosgrove supposed to be changing throughout the duration of season 1, or is…this his mode going forward, for as long as he’s on the show?

Also, will we be getting more of Dixon going forward? (I assume/hope?)

But things seemed to really kick into gear with the second half of the episode; I really, really liked Price and Maroun. I appreciated that Price was not okay with using Cosgrove’s legally okay/ethically messed up confession, even though it would have made his job easier.

(It’s also crazy how much of an SVU case this was, down to them bringing back a familiar face to be an SVU ADA, and it wasn’t a proper crossover?)

All things considered, I’m intrigued to see more.

STATION 19 & GREY’S ANATOMY: I had quasi-convinced (okay, mostly convinced) myself that they were going to kill off Owen, and I spent so much of the STATION 19 hour trying to put things in the “yes, he’s dying” or “no, this is leaning too much toward it being obvious he’s dying, so clearly he’s going to be safe” column. (I’m not saying this was a good way to watch the crossover.)

Ultimately, I’m glad they didn’t kill off Owen. The show utilized death a lot in its earlier years, but that’s a step you can’t come back from (obviously) and Teddy/Owen had just gotten a beat of happiness. And this will allow for a storyline for them, but hopefully something they can deal with together. (Eventually.)

I’m really bummed that the show decided to write out Hayes, though. There was potential in his relationship with Meredith, but even if they weren’t going there romantically, he had chemistry with Jo* and Megan, too. And he was an interesting character?

*I would have rather had Jo and Hayes a billion times more than this Jo and Link situation. The Amelia/Link fight was brutal and ouch.

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: This was one of my favorite episodes of the season. When SVU is at its best, it frequently manages to balance the case/survivor of the week with a glimpse into the characters’ personal lives; this did that beautifully. Of course a case where the rape produced a child would impact Olivia—and we saw it both in how she beautifully handled the survivor and her daughter, as well as the lovely moment we got with Rollins.

It’s also absolutely insane Rollins and Carisi were together for nine months and kept it from her children. How did Carisi–who was in love with her before they ever got together—not reach his breaking point before this? (It would have been one thing if they were talking about it and on the same page, but it was very clear they…weren’t.) But Carisi was also absolutely right: Them not disclosing was like holding a live grenade and absolutely could/would have been used against them in court/professionally if they hadn’t disclosed and someone found out. There’s been a real lack of screen time/attention to the relationship since they got together—and I do get it’s not feasible to show them, or any couple, every week given the ensemble and the general focus—but I’m glad the writers used this opportunity to dig into their issues and get them, finally, on the same page.

Also, holy Betty Buckley. It was a small moment, but Maxwell absolutely broke my heart and Buckley was fantastic in the scene when she disclosed her own assault for the first time.

GHOSTS: I missed them all so much. I loved getting to see more of Sasappis and his history; it was so unexpectedly sweet when everyone gave him the floor to share stories. For as much as these ghosts were stuck together for maaaaaany years, it’s really lovely that Sam and Jay’s arrival really has helped facilitate them becoming more of a family.

LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: There’s a lot to talk about with Wheatley, etc., but I wanted to first single out one of my favorite Bell/Stabler scenes of the series: Bell (rightfully) calling her partner out.

Here’s the thing about Elliot: He’s gone through way. too. much. in his life. In the past year, especially. But Ayanna is right that Elliot has also used undercover ops to hide when things get rough. (And that goes back to his time at SVU, too.) And, frankly, he wasn’t even the right person to go undercover with the McClane fanatics?! (That 100% should have been Jet, who knew of McClane before he crossed the team’s path due to Wheatley.)

Do I think he was actively trying to run away from life this go-round? No. But he just got back—uh, and he’s also been alllllll over the news thanks to that Wheatley case, so you’d think that would also make it harder for him to blend in undercover as anyone but himself—and Bell was right to be worried. She was right to point out this wasn’t all about him and he wasn’t the only one capable of getting justice.

The partnership dynamic has been so fascinating to watch play out, because, for better or worse, Elliot’s last on-screen partnership was very, very different. Elliot and Olivia so frequently crossed lines together—and were willing to risk their careers for each other, literally and figuratively—that there was rarely a straight up-no/stop sign from one or the other. Ayanna is Elliot’s partner, but also his boss. She’s right to tell him no, especially when she sees him crossing potential lines he shouldn’t.

And, yes, in this case he was right. He frequently is. But it doesn’t take away the importance of what Bell told him, and I’m glad she called him out. I hope it resonated.

As for Wheatley…so dramatic. I know the plan/hope was for mayhem and clearly destroying Elliot, but, uh..does he think he’s going to be able to escape? Is he willing to just leave his kids (presumably) flailing in the wind, even if he does have Angela with him?

(I’ve also had 5ive’s “When the Lights Go Out” in my head since I first saw the episode. That combined with accidentally seeing an X-FILES parallel, that was in no way intended, this episode has ricocheted my brain back to 1998.)

Which shows did you watch last night?

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