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: Shaw and Cosgrove seemed to gel a lot better in this episode than the premiere crossover event. Some of it may be because they’ve now had more time working together, some of it may just be this is their show, but it made me hopeful for what their partnership could be.

Also, yes, it was clear the witness was going to be killed at the end, but eesh. Props to Hugh Dancy and Odelya Halevi for how they played that final sequence of horror.

GHOSTS: Oh, I missed them all. While I get it might have been cheesy, part of me really wanted Jay to be able to see the ghosts, even if it was temporary. He just wants to be included! (And Pete needs a few real minutes with his friend.)

Speaking of friends, A) we should all use Spice Girls as guidance (okay, maybe use this advice sparingly) and B) Thorfinn and Nigel discovering they have things in common (outside of their affection for Isaac) was precious.

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: Going into this episode, I was a little bit nervous: frequently, the premieres are not among my favorite (or top 10) episodes of the season, and they needed to weave in Rollins’ major injury, plus the addition of a new detective. But I actually really, really enjoyed it.

The show was respectful about handling Rollins’ injury, both with Carisi’s more overt care, and with Kelli Giddish’s physicality, as it was very clear in moments what it was taking for her to move around like “normal.” It was incredible, understated acting, but so important given it had only been six weeks since Rollins was injured in a real, traumatic way.

Muncy, so far, is holding her own, which is not an easy thing. We’ll see how she handles herself when she’s officially a part of the team next week, but I appreciated her dynamic with Benson and Velasco in this opening episode.

However, I’m extremely torn on the Olivia and Amanda scene. On one hand, Mariska Hargitay and Kelli were incredible in it, and it was so, so, so good to see Amanda acknowledging the trauma she went through and the fears that came along with it. So frequently we’ve seen these women be put through horrific things and then it never gets touched on in any real way; we see them power through it, as if it doesn’t take a toll, even if they’re “fine.” It’s not realistic. And as her friend and boss, Olivia should be concerned. I just wish it wasn’t implying this was the first time they had really talked in six weeks? Sure, you might not push her in the hospital, but they had no serious talks before she returned to work? Even just a check-in to really make sure she was in the right headspace to come back to a job like this?

But: We got some excellent (deserved) Benson sass and snark in this episode elsewhere. And I’m honestly so relieved our guys got the win, too. Last season, the first six-ish episodes found the squad (and, frequently, the survivors) ending up on the losing end of things, and I was worried that pattern would be replicated here. I’m really thankful that wasn’t the case.

CSI: VEGAS: Ohhhh, Catherine. This won’t end well. But I did love seeing the relationship between her and Max…hopefully we get a lot more of that this year.

LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: The first episode of every new arc tends to be a lot of information overload, and, in this case, they had to also account for Bell’s crumbling marriage and the new faces at the task force on top of introducing the new baddies. Going to bullet point this to cover as much as possible:

• Denise, come on. So much of her actions, now, feel like she’s reacting in embarrassment to Ayanna being right last season. Ayanna warned her, repeatedly, that Kilbride was dirty, and when the cops moved in, Denise left her and took their kid. Now that Ayanna knows their marriage is really over, I hope she can steady herself and fight for her son.
• Speaking of failed marriages, I appreciate that Elliot and Ayanna had their conversation about maybe not being the best spouses. It’s lovely to see how much they have in common, and how much they do, truly, like each other. But if they were going to open that door, I wish Elliot had acknowledged, uh, Kathy left him, too. It wasn’t a brief separation—he had divorce papers for over a year, and even though he asked to move back in and she (eventually) agreed, he still dragged his feet…and only went back when she told him she was pregnant with Eli. Should Denise and Ayanna get back together? Probably not! But Elliot has a lot of experience with what she’s going through. (But Elliot acknowledging he wasn’t a great husband is, hopefully, a good step forward for him.)
• I was also really glad, work-wise, Bell put Stabler in his place. She’s the boss, full-stop. It’s a very, very, very delicate balance, because they do work so well together as partners—and I love seeing them together in that environment, which does make them feel a bit more equal, despite their differing ranks—and she does respect him. But if she gives an order…he should be listening to her. And it was one thing when he ran wild undercover, but if they’re actually going to be working together regularly, he can’t just follow his instincts. She’s in charge.
• So far, Jamie kind of feels like a puppy—and I mean that in a good way. He’s so excited to work with the team, especially Elliot. (Also, I’m glad they’re continuing with the through-line of the Brotherhood, both with some cops being morons about it, as well as Jamie seeking him out because of Elliot’s work of taking down bad cops.) We got a little less time to know Bobby, but I’ve enjoyed Rick Gonzalez in his other roles…intrigued to see what things feel like with them next week.
• I’m not entirely sure what to make of Pearl and Teddy, so far. The show has a history of very, very dynamic villains, but also under extremely different pacing; in theory—and certainly things are now a bit more murky with the BTS changes—they’ll be around for a while, so we don’t need to know everything ASAP. I wish we had gotten a tiny bit more, though.
• (Okay, but Elliot actually has experience with wild animals.)

Which shows did you watch last night?

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