About Last Night…GHOSTS, LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME, and More

Let’s talk about Thursday night’s TV!LAW & ORDER: Sometimes it feels like Frank is getting a little more accepting, and then he complains his daughter’s school is too progressive. And while that is ridiculous, I guess he wasn’t entirely wrong about the school being…off…given a student lied about being abused and then her boyfriend killed her dad to protect her. But, also, Frank, you can’t go rogue when your daughter becomes a part of the case. You certainly can’t let her think no one will know she’s involved. Oy.

NEXT LEVEL CHEF: Tucker is absolutely the person to beat, goodness. (Tucker is my top chef right now, too, so I’m fine with that.)

Bummed this is the end for Mehreen, though. Sigh.

GHOSTS: I do not blame the actors at all for screaming at the reveal because HOLY WTF?? In hindsight, I don’t know how I didn’t put together clearly one of the ghosts we know and care about should be the key to revealing what went down, because…it’s significantly more messy and makes a lot more sense.

Danielle Pinnock and Rebecca Wisocky were, frankly, stunning as Hetty’s guilt (figuratively) was eating her alive and she finally confessed the truth about Thomas. Alberta’s grief never changed, because, as she pointed out, she went from being devastated that her sister killed her to being thrown that someone she viewed as a sister had gaslit and manipulated her for almost 100 years. For a show that’s wildly funny, it was an incredible dramatic showcase.

(Speaking of the funny, oh my God, Pete, Flower, and Trevor being scammed by the “Nigerian prince” scam was hilarious.)

[For more on the episode, here’s what Pinnock shared.]



LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: One of the better-rounded episodes in a while. (Though, really, how did both Fin and Olivia use the “q” word? They doomed themselves.)

It was nice seeing everyone work and help figure out the case. It was really great to see Muncy and Olivia pair up, and see how Muncy was trusted to lead part of the initial questioning. And I’m glad Fin ended up being a key to getting justice—but also felt guilty about his manipulation, and sought out the young man after everything was settled.

And, man, I’m so glad we got to see Carisi on top of things and get a (relative) win. Let this man actually do his job more, please and thanks!

I am curious if they are done-done with the Velasco-Chilly (and Maxwell) drama fallout for Olivia this season. Fin was trying to get details about what he missed last season, and Olivia’s resounding, “NOPE”…look, I get why she’s keeping two illegal things from him, but I hope it doesn’t blow up in her face.

Also: “Don’t ask me, I set a bus on fire” made me laugh out loud.

GREY’S ANATOMY: This was one of the better episodes of the season for me. And the timing about how the interns are treated is especially apt given the current WGA strike…what was allowed (and “accepted”) years ago shouldn’t be the norm if it’s harmful. No, people don’t need to be coddled, but no one is claiming that. Give them dignity and humanity and grace. (And I’m extremely, extremely glad Amelia went on an apology tour, because…yikes.)

Sam Page is sure channeling his Denny, huh?



LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: I don’t actually like being negative (and actually deeply dislike when I don’t like episodes of shows I love), but eesh was this a frustrating hour in almost every way.

Look, on a basic level, I understand this is the first part of a multi-episode arc. (But the SVU/OC crossover doesn’t kick off, really, until next week’s OC, which…yeah, if you need a flow chart to keep track, I don’t blame you.) But this didn’t feel like ORGANIZED CRIME. The wildly unnecessarily long cold open mimicked what SVU has been doing in recent weeks, and we wasted time on characters/scenes that just simply weren’t necessary. Reyes and Whelan barely existed in the episode. A number of scenes dragged way too long and then it felt like they skipped needed set-up.

At least we got a couple of cute Bell/Stabler moments, like him making the dumb head joke at the morgue, or their synced-up lean-in to look at the prison logs—they remain the best partners in the L&O world.

But considering this was written by two SVU writers, if you’re going to bring BX9 to the OC world, how are you not acknowledging its part in the overall franchise? Again, I understand this storyline is not done, but we didn’t even get a throwaway line about knowing how dangerous they are and/or acknowledging the OCCB reached out to Olivia/Fin/anyone to get insight, especially before Reyes went undercover? If you’re going to connect these two worlds in this way, actually connect it. Otherwise, it feels as far-fetched as SVU’s last BX9 arc where they made a big deal about how other precincts were hearing that BX9 almost killed Olivia, but Elliot somehow didn’t know for more than two weeks.

The best part of the episode was the Bernie and Elliot stuff, though even that crossed the line into…questionable. Her making him food? Precious. Her forgetting Kathy was dead, and his kind way of acknowledging Kathy wasn’t gone-gone? Heartbreaking and lovely. Her having fun with him when he forgot the next day was Saturday? Charming. But, uh, yeah, she shouldn’t have been contaminating the crime scene. We all knew she was going to get out of the car. He couldn’t have dropped her off with one of the kids? Or had another detective investigate the scene?

And then…there was the end. To be clear, I’m actually not sure how much of any of that end part was real. I’m torn on whether Bell was even there, because even ignoring that Elliot was open about his hesitations to be with his mom as she was struggling and how rare that was, Bell’s almost non-reaction to his clear struggle makes no sense in the context of their partnership. She is his boss, she cares about him, but it’s also because she knows him so well that his expressing that pain and distress should have made Bell pause. And she would have reacted to him calling out to Jet. So part of me is hoping that is all part of a larger hallucination/dream.

Because, yes, clearly Kathy is still dead. A woman doesn’t return from the dead, find her husband’s new job, all while remaining in a hospital gown, and then casually walk and lead him into interrogation. But the very real question is Elliot dreaming of her? Hallucinating? And if it’s the latter, how concerned should we be? (At least he’s not hallucinating FAMILY GUY’s Stewie, I guess.)

My bigger issue is…why now? Grief is not linear. PTSD is not linear. I’m absolutely fine with them addressing its continued impact on Elliot’s life. (And welcome it, frankly. Let Elliot talk about his feelings!) But this? This is cheap.

As it is, I struggle to picture what could be said—if they come back to this—that couldn’t have been expressed by Elliot in therapy or in church. Or talking to his family or friends. I truly hope I come back to this in a week and say, “You know what? I was wrong. Worth it.” This is nothing against Isabel Gillies, but right now, I wish that 30 seconds had been used to actually have Elliot go deeper into his grief and how it’s been moving on with his mother or Bell.

And the thing is, for as much as grief/PTSD is not linear, this is also very much a fictional show. The writers are in control of when and where that flares up for him. We saw Elliot dealing with a man whose wife was attacked a couple of months ago. We saw him experience another car bomb. There have been, quite literally, a dozen times the writers could have chosen to explore his PTSD flaring up. With the end of the season approaching—and, uh, a very, very crammed final few episodes, character-wise—and Elliot also dealing with the slow loss of his mother, this feels like a hat on a hat. If this is a story the writers genuinely want to tackle, I just wish it had been done at a time when it could have been explored in a meaningful way.

Not to mention, with SVU/OC colliding in the next few episodes, the next time we see Elliot…will be on SVU. Which means that even if there is a resolution to this moment, we’ll almost certainly see him in an entirely different show, in a different context, before we get it.

(Also: L&O’s Frank investigated the death of a Mr. Elliot. OC’s Elliot investigated the death of a Frank. On the same night. Guys…)

Which shows did you watch last night?

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