About Last Night…GHOSTS, ELSBETH, LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME, and More

Let’s talk about Thursday night’s TV!

NEXT LEVEL CHEF: I know it happens frequently, but I always remain shocked when people use their time token against others versus for themselves. Yeah, ten seconds off a grab can hurt one person, but an extra ten seconds for yourself means you have an advantage over the entire group.

And in this case, Beatrice was safe, but Austin still ended up as one of the top dishes. It’ll be interesting to see what Megan does with her perk next week.

GHOSTS: Alberta and Pete?! It’s been so long since they’ve gone down that road that my jaw actually dropped. And he palmed her face to stop the kiss—oh my God. I know Pete’s seeing Donna, but I’m glad they’re revisiting this and curious where they go from here.

Poor Sam has really had a rough couple of weeks where the ghosts put her in really bad situations. Stephanie is always so much, but lying about this almost ruined everything. (Poor Jay, too.) I get why Stephanie was upset about her former boyfriend and friend getting together after her death, but it makes sense. (And it made sense they would find comfort in each other in the immediate aftermath, too, even if it hurt Stephanie.) But it’s so sweet they named their daughter after Stephanie. 

ELSBETH: Michael Emerson has long been one of my favorite actors, and watching him get to go all out in his final scenes? Oh, it was delightful. The “If I did it” hypothetical speech was deliciously campy and, well, evil. And it was so, so much fun to watch him pull that opposite Carrie Preston. 

Preston was also fantastic in the last scene when it was clear they had basically lost. Maybe it’ll change going forward, but after Elsbeth having her life and career upended by Crawford—even if it was temporarily—he got to go out a martyr. He died, but he won. He will never actually be held accountable for his actions and one of his victims might have the rest of her life ruined. Yeah, Elsbeth may have peace now that Crawford is not gunning for her, but it’s hard to view this as a win.

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



LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: This episode felt a lot more uneven than the first two, but it was also trying to juggle a lot. 

To start with the most important element for the series, I’m torn on Jet’s decision to leave. First of all, she deserves it; she’s gone through hell. So good for her to realize she reached a breaking point. Danielle Moné Truitt said this during our recent chat, but it’s very true and something I’ve thought about constantly throughout the years: Jet was brought on to be the hacker, their computer expert. Instead, yes, she utilized that, but she also became another detective.

But I also think her dynamic with the team was so special. When the show actually wrote to Truitt and Ainsley Seiger, in a way that extended beyond “just” the case elements, both women freaking knocked it out of the park. And, obviously, Jet’s dynamic with Elliot was precious; there was genuine care and respect there. I’ll miss them teasing each other so much. I’ll miss those moments where Jet showed how much this team really meant to her.

It’s unfortunate that it largely felt like the show was unsure what to do with Jet beyond season 1, though. We got bits of her backstory here and there, but (much like Truitt) it often felt like they didn’t know how to write more for Seiger. (The season 3 arc with Seamus is probably the highlight of her time on the show, in terms of how much they actually wrote to her/how complex Jet got to be.) It’s also wild that the show revealed now that Reyes and Jet were still sleeping together this entire time. That could have been an interesting mess to explore! Sigh.

I do hope Jet returns at some point, though. I’d love to see her working with the team on a case, as part of another joint task force, etc. But if this is the end, I’m glad we at least got lovely farewell scenes with Ayanna and Elliot.

That being said: I don’t know if it was the functionality of having a short season or any other of a dozen plausible reasons, but putting Jet’s exit at the start of a whole new arc, which also called back to a storyline that was first started last season, also meant that it was a little more jarring than maybe it could/should have been. Alas.

I’m also torn on the flashback elements of Elliot’s time in Italy six years ago. There is so, so, so, so, so much unexplored about his decade away from the franchise, but it also feels in many ways like it’s a dangerous box to open. The last time the show tried, it arguably made things more complicated, raising more questions about his time away versus providing any answers. I wrote this back then, but it remains true: Digging too deep into his time off-screen would likely cause a logical and logistical mess or risk major character assassination. So I’m wary about how this arc will be handled, in general. But hopefully I’m surprised.

This is probably reading too much into things, but I do find it fascinating that after an episode that saw Elliot having nightmares/facing the things he thinks he’s lost, he was confronted in reality by situations paralleling his own missteps. He’s watching Eli throw himself into a career and a life he might not be ready for, as the sins of his father are (maybe?*) being held against him. With Jet, Elliot insisted he didn’t like Irish goodbyes, something he notoriously did—and has been living with the consequences of for almost 14 years. He’s seen the fallout of his choices, good and bad, and is now watching people he cares about start to make the same mistakes and he’s trying to steer them in a quasi-different direction. Jet, at least, seemed to listen. But it’ll be interesting to see what happens with Eli.

A few other thoughts…

• If we’re taking them at their timeline word, it seems like we’re at about November 2024 in the L&O timeline.
• I’m really glad the show isn’t ignoring that Elliot just went through a major medical ordeal. Multiple times. But the TBI, in particular, could be serious, so I’m glad there are people who are making sure he’s taking care of himself. (I know the scene got cut, but Bell, Randall, and Olivia have to have a group chat updating each other about the dumb stuff Elliot’s pulling, right?) 
• Absolutely wild that SVU’s Carisi was better utilized as a lawyer here than how his own show uses him 95 percent of the time.
• Bell was correct when she acknowledged Elliot had no choice but to open fire at the courthouse, but the sigh she let out when she said, “You know the drill” about her needing his gun…she has lived 90813 lives as the boss of this task force.
• Warner is working with OC on this case? Oh, my heart. What a fantastic way to acknowledge the franchise’s history in a small beat.
• Given Joe Jr. is MIA, how did no one really think, hm, maybe Bernie actually does know what she’s talking about and he is calling her? And now that Randall got the call, will he try to pursue it himself or will he tell his brother (or his new bestie Bell) what’s going on?
• “Should you be doing stairs?” “No.”
• I would have really loved to see the farewell drinks, so the whole team could have gotten a legitimate goodbye with Jet. Sigh.
• *Eli’s training officer could just be a jerk, but the Stabler legacy runs deep in the NYPD. Not only did Joe Sr. cast a long shadow, but one of the biggest things Elliot has had to contend with on OC has been how his own actions (especially taking down the Brotherhood) have made things complicated for him with other cops. So was Eli put in a more dangerous/advanced unit a few weeks out of the academy as a warning/threat to Elliot? A test? Pure luck? Or…
• (But, also, Eli, you’re a child having a child. Maybe appreciate your family is there for you and Becky?)
• (Okay, sorry to Randall, but that hilarious doll looks way more like you than Elliot.)

LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION: It’s weird to call an episode where grandmas get conned fun, but, hey, LEVERAGE—it works!

I absolutely loved Parker having no patience over grandmas being screwed over. She can be at her best when she’s so, so mad about an injustice like that. I also appreciate the con impacted Harry’s family, which made it personal for him. It’s also alarming and proves again why the way technology and scams evolve means there will always be stories for this show to tell. (That fake video of Harry’s daughter was alarming.)

Which shows did you watch last night?

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