About Last Night…LAW & ORDER, LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME, CRIMINAL MINDS: EVOLUTION, and MOre

Let’s talk about Thursday night’s TV!

LAW & ORDER: Last year, we got a quasi-cliffhanger. This season, we got a CLIFFHANGER.

And it’s multi-layered, because is this leading to us losing an actor from the show? Or are Sam and Nolan going to have to drastically rebuild their relationship after everything (figuratively) exploded? I can’t believe Sam actually killed Carter, but presumably Nolan won’t be the only one to think she did. What the heck comes next?

The DNA of it all was fascinating because I vehemently oppose sending genetic materials to companies like that, but I do wish there had been room to explore more of the fallout from that action on the cop side. Brady made the decision to utilize that tool, and Shaw warned her (and us) that it could fall apart. And then it did. Was there any kind of real ramification? If this case continues into next season—or, at least, Carter’s murder—will it come up again?

NEXT LEVEL CHEF: Well, the bait and switch editing worked on me, because I was actually kind of surprised Austin won.

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: As action-packed as the episode was, it felt shockingly lifeless and dull. There was no urgency to the chases; the lack of energy in everything really surprised me.

It was an odd hour, overall. It was nice to see Betsy Brandt (they’re all-in on the Schraders in the L&O world), but it also felt like she was largely underutilized. This could have been a solid-ish episode at any point in the season, but it being a finale just made it feel like it fell short.

And then there’s the Velasco and Silva of it all. For as many cast changes as the show has had in the past four seasons, the regulars have at least gotten actual exits. We saw Velasco get promoted, but there was no indication he was leaving the unit. Silva, who was one of the bright spots of this season, got nothing. It’s hard to watch that lovely squad surprise celebration of Velasco’s promotion at the bar with the knowledge that several of them were going to be vanishing soon. Hopefully, somehow, they are able to properly wrap up their stories next season.

But I guess in a season that has frequently betrayed its own characters, at least the finale wasn’t overwhelmingly offensive. It remains wildly depressing that we got a single Olivia-centric episode, and the most in-depth conversation we got from her outside of that was with a character from the mothership during that crossover. Fingers crossed, somehow, that next season is better.

GREY’S ANATOMY: There were so, so, so, so many parallels to “It’s the End of the World” and “As We Know It.” I loved that arc, a lot, so the finale largely worked for me. (But it was also funny how there was urgency, but also not over-the-top panic. Richard and Meredith have survived bomb threats in the OR before.) And of course Meredith went and put herself in harm’s way. Piper Perabo was also great in the episode; her collapse when the hostage situation was over was just gutting to watch.

FOUND: It’s a bummer that the show is seemingly ending on a cliffhanger because I would have really loved to see what comes next. Is Sir gone? If so, what does Gabi’s life look like? If not, where would either of them go in the aftermath of the latest mess? Sigh. I’ll miss the show.

LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: A really solid hour, minus one thing that really bothered me. (More on that in a second.)

There were points during Elliot’s tenure on SVU where he was paired up with another similar, but less in control, law enforcement-type, which allowed him to reflect on his own journey, and this felt akin to that. In this case, however, the parallel was even more painful because this was a man Elliot was friends with, who he had known very early in his career. There were so many ways Elliot could have become this man.

But this episode also showed how much Elliot has grown, how much the therapy does seem to be working. He was contemplative about how, yes, he can slip into violence (which is not surprising given the physical and emotional abuse he suffered as a child from both of his parents), but he recognizes he doesn’t like it or how it makes him feel after. He was able to at least quasi-reach McKenna, too. (I’m also so grateful Elliot ultimately had Bell’s back, too, and didn’t make his quest for justice—or his loyalty to an old friend—jeopardize the team he’s built now.)

Just want to point out one of my favorite scenes in the episode (and more on this elsewhere on the site soon, too): I loved the interrogation Stabler, McKenna, and Reyes had with Lucero. Reyes and Stabler together this season have been delightful in general, but they’re different kinds of cops and have very different energies, which can play out in something like an interrogation. And then when McKenna entered the room, the energy shifted again. Great job by director Eriq La Salle and a really effective use of the score from composer Ruth Barrett. 

Overall, really fantastic acting from Chris Meloni and Rick Gonzalez. The beats where they saw the initial brutal crime scene were quiet, but painfully loaded. Gonzalez portrayed Reyes’ roller coaster of emotions in this episode incredibly well; between Reyes not knowing how much he could trust McKenna or Stabler to the careful kindness to Lucero, Gonzalez was fantastic. I hope they give him more to do, especially with the team being smaller, as the season/series goes on. 

And with Meloni, Stabler just seemed so pained this hour. Hurting from the people he lost. Hurting because of McKenna’s obvious turmoil and regrets. Hurting from the realization that someone who saved his life was dirty and it led to tragedy. You could see and feel the toll this was taking on Elliot as the episode progressed.

That being said: I just don’t think it was remotely necessary to bring Anne back and brutally murder her. This is a character we haven’t seen since season 2, someone who was interesting to have in the world, and she was beaten so bad “her family won’t even be able to ID her”?! I understand writers want to add stakes to storytelling, but in this case, there was so much drama baked in with Elliot having history with a killed (and ultimately dirty) detective. He was invested in the case beyond the norm from the jump. Anne’s death felt like a (disappointing) hat on a hat.

CRIMINAL MINDS: EVOLUTION: Nope. Nope. Nope. Absolutely not to that case.

On a lighter note, I absolutely lost it over Voit calling Rossi “dad,” and Rossi’s reaction to it. Rossi is going to be freaking miserable about all of this (fairly); I don’t trust Voit, but I’m curious where the heck this goes. And how much he might torture Rossi in the meantime.

I’m absolutely heartbroken for JJ, though. A.J. Cook was quietly stunning as JJ broke the news that Will was gone. I just know she’s going to destroy me, somehow, next episode.

[For more on the episode, here’s what Kirsten Vangsness and Paget Brewster shared.]

Which shows did you watch last night?

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