About Last Night…LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, GREY’S ANATOMY, LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME, and More

Let’s talk about Thursday night’s TV!

LAW & ORDER: Look, absolutely none of this made sense. Price found the victim, so he never should have been the one taking the case to trial. And that’s before you factor in that he hid his past relationship with her from his team (and somehow Jack didn’t know he found the body?), because, yeah, oh boy. Should not have touched the case with the ten-foot pole. But congrats on the chutzpah for trying to get the judge to recuse himself.

That being said: It was enjoyable? Again, not realistic, but Hugh Dancy was good and the hour kept my attention.

(I’m sure the verdict will be appealed instantly. Good luck to them re-trying this.)

GHOSTS: Alberta singing with her relative gave me actual chills. Sure, the girl had questionable taste in men (creepy Todd?!), but she was right about her singing ability. Wow.

But, uh, fingers crossed Alberta’s sister didn’t kill her, because that’s a whole extra layer of messed up.

It was also deeply funny watching Hetty try to tell the other ghosts she and Trevor had been sleeping together, but using euphemisms that were wildly dated.

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: This may be the episode I’ve been most conflicted on this season, because I think some elements worked really, really well, and some others fell really flat. (It was still probably the second-best SVU hour of 2023, though.)

Starting with the good:

• Olivia actually acting like a boss? Finally! Part of the problem is for much of her tenure, she’s been woefully understaffed—and also worked/works with people who have been her peers—and so she’s had to step in to do things she would have done in her detective days. Not to mention her leading a team who has only experienced her in this role is rare. But it was the most in charge she’s felt in a long time/maybe ever, and I do hope the show actually explores this going forward. Responsible leadership is delegating to her subordinates.
• I know it won’t last, but it was nice to have a large team.
• I’m really glad Velasco isn’t blaming Churlish for turning him in. She went about it the wrong way (again, really wish they didn’t have her do something illegal), but she was right to investigate someone who she thought was a dirty cop.
• The case was intriguing and appropriately twisted. I completely suspected the lime was what was drugged, but it being the salt was equally terrifying.
• (Also a good reminder that the “redheads react differently to meds” bit is a real thing.)
• I appreciated Olivia telling Velasco she was proud of him and acknowledging how tough on him she had been.
• The undercover opp may have blown up, but Churlish was smart as hell to think to collect a urine sample ASAP.
• There were some gorgeous directing choices. (Especially that shot of Muncy and Velasco running through the alley.)

And the not-as-good:

• What I kept thinking while watching this episode was how little the drama felt earned. It was simultaneously Churlish’s big episode, but also the first time we met anyone from Muncy’s life. It was a disservice to them both to have this be combined. I would have loved to see Churlish going too far in an attempt to prove herself and actually dig into who she is and why she acts the way she does. (Beyond the exposition dump to Olivia.) I would have loved to explore more of Muncy’s background with her brother and how their tough upbringing impacted their present-day dynamic. But because the episode tried to do both—while also having them being petty and wildly unprofessional (in front of their boss!)—it felt like neither storyline was serviced properly. And that’s a shame, because Molly and Jasmine did a great job with what they could do.
• Tied to that, but an overarching season problem: The constantly changing presence in the squad room means there’s no time to let things gel. Yes, there are contract factors in play with most of the regulars needing to miss a certain number of episodes per season, which obviously complicates things a lot. But look at FBI: MOST WANTED—that show had probably 20 different versions of the team before it settled into where it is now in season 4 and it never felt disjointed. (I truly don’t know if we’ve had the same group of actors in back-to-back SVU episodes at all this season? It certainly has not happened yet in 2023.)
• Maybe this is expecting or hoping for too much, but Olivia’s entire relationship with her half-brother was fraught. He was tied up in cases. She broke the law for him (and nearly lost her job because she sent him money when he was a suspect) and…it was completely ignored within the episode, despite a parallel to what was going on with Muncy. Of course she’s not going to spill her entire sordid family history to the new squad she’s cultivating, but it’s a bummer this wasn’t handled differently: if they were going to do a storyline like this, I wish Fin or Carisi was around to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Or she could have easily said something to Muncy acknowledging that she knows exactly what she’s going through—even if she didn’t share the details—and tried to guide her on the best way to handle this.
• (Also: Was Muncy’s involvement not a total conflict of interest once her brother was revealed to know the suspect?)
• Olivia was completely in the right to tear into Churlish for going behind her back and forcing their hand re: the undercover assignment. It was reckless, dangerous, and wildly disrespectful. But it felt equally odd that Olivia berated her after the operation fell apart. This wasn’t like Churlish did something foolish or pushed herself too hard in an effort to impress Olivia while undercover—she was drugged. But Olivia was also correct that right now it feels like Churlish is more concerned with proving herself than caring about the survivors; hopefully their talk will shift that.

GREY’S ANATOMY: Addison got her shoulder messed up in the hit-and-run and was still an absolute badass doctor? WE LOVE TO SEE IT.

With Maggie on the verge of leaving, I’m not sure if we’re supposed to be rooting for her to reunite with Winston? Because, if so, uh…it’s not going so well. She’s treated him awful in recent episodes, and I’m glad he finally stood up to her.

Tia was the first patient I felt something about in a while. I’m really glad she and Conner seem to be okay.

I really miss Link and Jo being friends. I’m glad he was there to support her as she sobbed in the aftermath of Tia waking up, but I was dreading that it might turn into a romantic moment. I miss them just being there for each other, wholeheartedly, without it being tinged with possible romance.

LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: I spent the entire episode worrying Wen or his son would die—and it kicked to a fever pitch when they embraced right after Quan was arrested—because I was too invested. It sounds silly, but there were so many ways this could have been catastrophically bad.

This might sound obvious, but it’s not easy to make a guest character compelling. Bell and Stabler’s partnership is the best in the L&O universe right now, so for Elliot and Wen to work so well I didn’t even miss that dynamic being at the forefront* speaks to what Chris Meloni, Michael Tow, and the writers were able to pull off.

*Okay, I’d miss them if it lasted longer than an episode. And it helps that Bell and Chang had their own special kind of spark, and I’m so, so happy for Ayanna that she asked her out. Fingers crossed she gets a bit of happiness.

And some of it absolutely may be just the pure joy of getting to see Elliot actually in dad-mode. Long before Eli showed up, it felt like Elliot’s heart and soul were back just at the notion of being a father.

The conversation between Elliot and Wen in the car was one of my favorite Elliot-related scenes this season so far; you could see the physical change in Meloni as Wen talked to Elliot about his son and then Elliot shared about his family. Even through his PTSD and trauma of the first couple of seasons, Elliot’s family was his throughline and it’s been hard to reconcile with that absence this year. And, again, broken record on this, but if the decision was to take that away for a few months, I wish they had further explored what that loss had been like in the immediate aftermath. (I’m glad we got the therapy scene in January and now this conversation, though.)

It’s also not easy being Stabler’s partner. And, no, it’s not because he can be unpredictable, but he’s had an iconic partnership and is now the gold standard of duos with Bell. But Elliot and Wen worked. Even if I laughed a tiny bit when Elliot Stabler was encouraging the teacher to be calm and not lose his temper while undercover. (Again: Growth and therapy. MIRACLES.)

Even before we got to the Eli scene, it felt like we got to see Elliot relaxing into himself in a way he hadn’t been allowed to be in months. Honestly, I would have been thrilled if the episode had ended with Elliot at home just calling Eli. But then Eli was there, and, oh, my heart. I’ve missed this. I’ve missed them.

And, frankly, we barely got to see them in good moments. So much of the first couple of seasons was Elliot in crisis or undercover, so his interactions with his youngest were tinged with that tension. This was just a father and son, so happy to be together. (Elliot interrogating Eli similar to how he tried to question Olivia about her romantic history? Hilarious. Very different motives, but hilarious.) It was a beautiful note to end the episode on.

[For more on the episode, here’s what Tow shared about filming the car scene.]

Which shows did you watch last night?

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