About Last Night…LAW & ORDER and SVU Crossover, MATLOCK, LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME, and More

Let’s talk about Thursday night’s TV!

LAW & ORDER and LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: On the bright side, there was some real good here.

Normally, the appeal of these franchise-wide crossovers is seeing beloved characters reconnect or interact. For a variety of reasons, basically half of the characters who were a part of the last crossover on the L&O/SVU sides aren’t here anymore, so it felt like a quasi-blank slate, for better or worse. On paper (and after Mariska Hargitay appeared on the mothership last fall), Brady and Benson’s dynamic was the one I was most intrigued by; the (often uncomfortable) team-up was the best part of the crossover, by far. These are two strong, smart, powerful, badass women who, yes, want justice, but came at it very differently. And both are so used to being in charge—and investigating very different cases, which means a different approach is required—so watching them try to adjust to each other was fantastic. If both shows come back next year, I do look forward to seeing them work together again, whether it’s via an official crossover or just a guest appearance on the other’s show.

Riley and Silva were also an interesting pairing in the first hour, too. Silva’s history with homicide meant she handled things well, the duo had good chemistry together; they just worked well. And the investigation/case had more twists than either show has provided in a long time. (Yes, I guessed where it was going early on, but it worked, at least.)



On the flip side: The glaring, horrifying, upsetting, biggest issue was the Maria of it all. I understand wanting to give the event stakes, but SVU has had a really alarming trend this season of bringing back survivors only for them to be re-victimized. Maria was one of the defining cases of Olivia’s career as a detective. (That’s not even touching on the off-screen impact and legacy, with it helping win Hargitay her sole Emmy for playing this role and how it allowed the writers to tell more unconventional stories.) The show had reintroduced her last season as an officer. What are we doing here? And not only was she murdered, she was likely raped. Her body was unrecognizable.

This would have been problematic no matter what, but because it was a crossover, we also didn’t get the depth of grief and exploration that this loss should have provoked. Yes, we did get a scene with Olivia and Brady when Olivia found out, and then the second hour exposition dump with Olivia and Gomez which reiterated the history she had with Maria. But this was apparently a woman that Olivia was mentoring in the present day, who she helped become a detective (?!).  If you’re going to kill off someone who was important enough for Olivia to seek out last year, there should have been a discussion about what the loss actually meant to her. She should have been allowed to really grieve (beyond the final shot in the church), to receive comfort from a loved one. Heck, Fin was right there when Olivia went through this originally—how did we not have a real scene between them checking in? (Also, it would have been nice to actually see her mentoring her versus ignoring Olivia’s personal life for 17 of the 18 episodes that aired before this.)

Honestly, when I found out Maria was dying, I felt sick to my stomach because it felt beyond cruel to Maria, Olivia, and viewers that this was the end they chose for her. Not her continuing Olivia’s legacy when she left the force, not any number of genuinely interesting things they could have explored. This could have been just as compelling to Olivia if she got a random call, or if it had been someone we never met; we didn’t need this. (Or, truly, why not center a crossover around someone who got away? Or someone released after decades locked away. If you wanted to dive into SVU’s history, there were so many avenues to take that weren’t…this.)

A couple of other things…

• I understand between the different current timelines on SVU/OC (I think? If they care about continuity it should be, but maybe that’s expecting too much from everyone.), letting the first “real” reunion between Elliot and Olivia be on ORGANIZED CRIME/Peacock, etc., there’s a lot of reasons why they didn’t have them interact here. I am wildly fascinated that even with that in play, they specifically brought Elliot back for an entirely personal reason. He’s a cop. The case here was certainly bumping on things that could have fallen into his OCCB territory. He could have easily come in for a brief appearance with Brady (or Fin!) to give intel or whatever. But it was very specifically Olivia reaching out—a marked difference from the BX9 arc—to have him send a message, to protect Noah. There’s a lot to say about how the show/franchise has handled this relationship (and more on that below), but it is also nice to have them be in this good of a place that he’s actually someone she’s letting in like this.
• I’m a little baffled that they brought Rita back for this case and to have that little court time.
• I’m always glad to have more Curry, but it’s also kind of crazy they didn’t use her past experience as IAB as they were investigating Gomez? Keep things quiet, sure, but she could/should have been a vital resource.
• SVU has largely ignored Olivia as a mother this season, but I’m so, so glad we got a beat here where she and Brady discussed its impact on their job.
• It feels like it’s a crazy disservice that arguably half of the times Olivia has felt more human/well-rounded this season was on non-SVU shows in the franchise. (Her two mothership appearances and her guest spot on ORGANIZED CRIME.) She had beats here that went beyond what we’ve been getting of her in non-crossover/guest spots, which was nice. I hope if the show returns for season 27 we get more depth to her on her own show, too.
• (Okay, how/why was Noah talking to strangers…?)

GHOSTS: Somehow, I didn’t see this twist coming. (I had the luck of seeing it before CBS inexplicably spoiled the twist via promo.) But, wow, what a great episode.

I do appreciate that Trevor was really in the wrong here for much of the episode. He wanted what he wanted when he wanted it and it accidentally caused what could have been life-changing mayhem. Instead, Abby handled it as well as possible. Trevor got to know his daughter a bit. She got to know him. I’m so curious where they take this storyline next or if it’s something we don’t see for a while. (Like, we barely see Thor’s son and he’s much closer than, say, Pete’s daughter.)

(The ghosts need to send Sam on vacation for like a year at this point for all she endures.)

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

NEXT LEVEL CHEF: Wow, wow, wow to Beatrice’s domination of this competition so far. It feels like it’s her season to lose, but it also feels like that means things could go very wrong very fast.

MATLOCK: I do appreciate that the writers kept me on this twist-y roller coaster until the very end because, for a precious few moments, I actually thought we might be in the clear and Julian might not have stolen the study. And then. Sigh.

Look, it’s great drama. It’s brilliant. It sets up so much story for next season. But my heart is also sad for Olympia, for Julian, for Matty, too. And how incredible was Jason Ritter when Julian finally broke? The ensemble is just so damn good.

And I genuinely cannot begin to guess what Olympia will do now. If it was just about her, I think she’d pick Matty/justice every day of the week. But can she put her kids at risk? Derail their lives, change their legacy, put them under a shadow they’ll never fully get out from under? I just don’t know.

There’s also the point that it is so many years removed from Julian making this initial, horrible decision. I do believe that modern-day Julian wouldn’t do this. It doesn’t excuse his actions or undo the losses that occurred, but how does that sway Olympia? Does it?

It also leaves Matty and Olympia in a fascinating position: Things can never go back to how they were, really, but will Olympia now be the one spending the majority of the season with a life-changing secret she’s keeping from Matty? Will she do the right thing but also blame Matty for forcing this out? How will they sustain their working relationship without everyone around them realizing everything has changed?

Of course, Matty has her own mess with Alfie’s maybe-father now in the mix. Plus, Edwin was not happy, not trusting Olympia and wanting to think about what’s next for him and Matty after they get their justice…and Matty not being on the same page. There’s just so much delicious mess in store.

I loved seeing David Fumero guest star here (ONE LIFE TO LIVE forever), too. I was baffled no one was picking up on the appendix thing during the case and how it may have actually been the key to the death in question, but good for Sarah for realizing and pulling off the win.

[For more on the finale and what’s to come, here’s what showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman shared.]



LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: Oh, ORGANIZED CRIME, I’ve missed you so much. Going to break this down by episode…

“Lost Highway”: I don’t love Elliot going undercover at this point, but I thought the show at least handled it well—he didn’t want to go, either, but Bell also knows him. Elliot Stabler is going to protect the vulnerable, especially when it comes to women and children. He may not be working at SVU anymore, but this is who Elliot is and will always be in his soul.

And, man, watching Elliot try to get to know Bunny and the girls who were working there was lovely, as sad and tragic as it felt. He wasn’t going to stand there and let someone be attacked. He was going to do whatever he could to protect them both short- and long-term.

I remain impressed with how committed the (then-)writers were to continuity. Bringing back Elliot’s Hank persona for this undercover operation was brilliant. But, man, what really got me was seeing Whelan’s name on Reyes’ phone list. John Shiban and Amy Berg, how lucky we were to have you in this world.

• I would pay money to see Bell and Randall’s “bestie” texts.
• I’m not saying Bell deserves to hit people who disrespect her, but I’m not not saying that. (I’ll be your alibi, Bell.)
• “Do not forget you came to us. And we for damn sure know what we’re doing, so let us do it.”
• I do love that in addition to Reyes’ phone still having Jamie there, there was also a difference in how Jet was listed compared to Bell/Stabler/Whelan. A small little touch that said so much, and, again, alluded to the show’s history.
• I’m still torn on Eli as a cop, but that message Elliot left for him was lovely.
• Poor Bunny. God, I loved the Elliot and Bunny dynamic. Worth repeating.

“Dante’s Inferno”: When an actor writes/co-writes an episode, it’s always interesting to see what they do. I wasn’t kidding when I said I would have gladly spent multiple hours in this world, both for the dream elements and the Olivia of it all.

For as much as we know about Elliot, Elliot himself has frequently been in denial about key elements of his own life. (For a very easy example, see the juxtaposition of him insisting he and Kathy were happy in Italy, while a) she did not believe he and Olivia hadn’t talked in a decade (and wrote the letter) and b) he was lying to her about how dangerous his job overseas was.) So to get insight into his inner mind via dreams/nightmares was fascinating, contradictory, and layered, and something I would have loved to see more of. His following the old-school officer, especially, intrigued me, because we know Elliot has followed in his father’s footsteps, career-wise, but there was also a similarity in build to the officer to Eli, who, of course, is now also an officer.

And then there’s the Olivia and Elliot of it all. There is quite literally no duo in primetime television history with the kind of legacy they have, almost certainly never to be repeated elsewhere. It has sometimes felt like the writers take that for granted because you can put Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni in a scene together and the depth of their bond, on-screen and off, gives everything instantly more weight. But it felt utilized in a really special way here.

Meloni has spoken repeatedly about how no one knows the relationship between Elliot and Olivia as much as he and Hargitay do, which makes those dreams even more interesting to me in some ways. Was he bringing Elliot’s confession that he wouldn’t have been able to leave SVU if he heard Olivia’s voice into play? Was he drawing on the number of times we’ve seen Elliot admit he just wanted to hear her voice in moments of difficulty (when he thought he was walking into a death trap and left an aborted voicemail message in OC season 2; when he returned from his first undercover operation last year)? Is that reading too much into it and it was just simply Olivia is always there with/for him in his heart and mind? There are so many ways to look at that opening scene, especially because Olivia was physically by a comatose Elliot’s side, but not actually speaking.

I can’t decide if the final dream/nightmare sequence was supposed to read as intentionally tragic as it felt to me, too. There have been a few moments in Elliot and Olivia’s history—going back to their days as partners, I’d argue; there’s a real case to be made this specific issue started with the hospital conversation in “Fault”—where it felt like the two accidentally have been having different conversations and therefore thinking they’re not on the same page about whatever (personal matter) is in front of them. Elliot dreaming he’s lost Olivia while we, as viewers, saw she never left his side? A gut punch. He hasn’t lost her, he just doesn’t seem to realize it quite yet. (And she’s not ready to tell him, either.) And it’s also telling that when he’s not dreaming about work, he’s dreaming about her; about not quite being able to reach her even when she’s so close.



But that uncertainty also played out in the real world in a really beautiful, arguably understated way. The scene in the car may not be the flashiest the duo shared, but the vulnerability and honesty were gorgeous. It feels absolutely undeniable Elliot and Olivia are in a better place now* (and in the L&O crossover event) than they’ve been since he returned, but they’re still not in unquestioning lockstep the way they were for 13 years as partners. It’s clear it bothers Elliot that Olivia may have lied to protect him, that she may have been treating him like someone who needs to be, well, handled, and she reassures him she didn’t; there just wasn’t a good time to tell him Bunny wasn’t going to make it. And he didn’t need an apology, but he did want her to tell him this was a bad dream—we know he would trust her if she told him this wasn’t real.

(Can this also be read as an explanation for why we’re also not getting any deep, long-overdue conversations here? I’d argue yes. As much as I’d kill for these two characters to have a real, serious conversation, Elliot just had a freaking brain injury. He was working the case while also not, uh, entirely there. They both deserve to have a conversation clear-headed.)

It was also absolutely fascinating how new some of their dynamic felt, too. I could write a thousand words about the physicality utilized in the scene where Elliot told Olivia he was leaving the hospital to keep pursuing the case. The ease and intimacy with which Olivia grabbed his face, which also rendered Elliot a little slack-jawed at first; him noting she sounded like Randall, which broke the moment; Hargitay being laugh-out-loud-funny-worthy with how fast Olivia snapped back to Elliot when he said she could either help him out by starting her car or watch him get naked. Yes, it’s funny and flirty and absolutely them. But it’s also thrilling to see Hargitay and Meloni navigate these beats their characters don’t get to normally play, especially together, after hundreds of hours of on-screen time together.

And despite the more out-of-the-box elements, we still got some of their classic beats, too. How delightful and unexpected to see them in the interrogation room again, for instance. Benson and Stabler forever, in whatever way we can get them.

But it was also lovely, in an hour co-written by Meloni, that we saw all of the regulars get a beat to shine. That guest stars Ellen Burstyn and Hargitay really got standout moments. (Burstyn with her speeches, certainly. But, my God, Hargitay’s microexpressions at the start, the way Olivia’s struggling to breathe and shaking, as Olivia is hearing about Elliot’s injuries and it’s clear she’s not processing what the doctor was saying…I had a verbal reaction and my jaw dropped. Absolutely stunning work from Hargitay.) It felt like an intentional love letter to the other talent on this show.

• *I am absolutely fine with these two rebuilding their relationship off-screen. One of my pet peeves from season 24 of SVU/season 3 of OC was that they kept stop-starting because they would only let them progress while we saw them. A lovely notion! But unfair to these characters if you can only have them appear together a couple of times a season. As many things that can be said about their one call in SVU’s season 25 finale, it also felt apparent there they had been talking, even if they hadn’t seen each other. Let them be friends and get this comfort back off-screen so they can be the duo we love and utilize their limited time for new things.
• Oh my God, Randall. The chutzpah of hitting on Olivia over Elliot’s nearly-dead body. Absolutely hilarious. However, I do find it fascinating how Randall still seems to be convinced Elliot wants to be their father versus being stuck in this cycle and doing everything in his power to not be Joe Sr. as a patriarch. I do hope we get to dig into that and dispel that notion at some point.
• (Okay, if Elliot has had Olivia’s coleslaw, it had to be in modern times, right? But, hey, if Olivia is willing to hang out with Elliot’s brother—and Randall knew about her, even if they hadn’t met—another point in the column showcasing how they actually are seeing each other off-screen.)
• Bernie freakin’ Stabler. How lucky are we to have Burstyn in this world?
• We didn’t get enough of Bell and Stabler’s friendship in the first two hours for obvious reasons, but I did love the end scene. How lovely are they? I can’t wait to see more of them, hopefully, this season.
• One thing I really do wish we got any kind of story on was Elliot’s kids. A few were there! But their father was near death (mere years after they lost their mother) and we didn’t see anything about how this was impacting them, see what they would say to him, etc.
• So, is Elliot going to be wearing/utilizing that chain from Bunny (or Dream!Bunny, I guess) now?
• I really hope we get to see this scene at some point.

LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION: Okay, the highlight of the first three episodes for me, by far, was the opening with the original show stars just doing their thing. It was so fun, engaging, and just delightful to see them be together like that. And with Aldis Hodge being so, so, so busy, I really appreciate any amount of time we can get that core four together.

But I’m also glad that we got a Christmas episode, too. The show has obviously done them before, but when it comes to streaming things are a bit more wonky. What a delight.

Which shows did you watch last night?

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