About Last Night…LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, MATLOCK, THE PITT, and More

Let’s talk about Thursday night’s TV!

LAW & ORDER: While there absolutely needs to be reform to the justice system and non-prison alternatives for some crimes, this was an odd case to make that point. This wasn’t even the assisted suicide case from a few weeks ago, it was murder.

NEXT LEVEL CHEF: …How did Jimmy not know a potato was a potato? Was it the nerves? But, yeah, after he was on the block in the first two rounds, it felt like either he’d be cut in the final one (like he was) or he’d, like, go on to surprise us all and make it to the finale.

But also it’s so funny that Nyesha outed Richard’s request to team up against Gordon to Gordon. Good luck to them all.

GHOSTS: Oh my God, Pete was working for the mob?! Of course he didn’t know, but oh my God. What would his life have turned into if he hadn’t accidentally died at the mansion?

I was really impressed by everything that Rose McIver handled as a director in this episode, too. The flashbacks were one thing, but we got so many different group dynamics as the ghosts tried to handle their rooming situation, plus there were a lot of guest stars as Jay, Sam, and Pete handled the blackmail situation from Carol’s family. It seemed to have a lot more pieces than a “normal” episode, and she navigated it so well.

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

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: One of the frustrating things about how this season has played out has been how glaringly uneven it has felt in terms of which characters actually have gotten anything personal to do; it’s been wildly lopsided. And Octavio Pisano was the only season 25 series regular who didn’t have any kind of real showcase storyline episode that season, too. So Velasco finally getting an episode where he took center stage was long overdue.

The episode itself was solid, too. I appreciated that we got to see Fin and Velasco interact, and Fin quasi-mentoring Velasco (both personally and professionally), because that hasn’t been explored as much in recent years. It was nice to see Olivia as a boss, again, having her team do the bulk of the work and actually giving Velasco well-deserved praise at the end. It was also a good use of utilizing the main characters in a cold open, too. The show has been known to bring back police-adjacent characters in the past, so I’m curious if we’ll see Danny again in the future.

(Also, Velasco is a better person than I am…that music was too loud for that time of night.)

MATLOCK: Oh, the flashbacks of Matty and Edwin having to sue their daughter for custody—and that happening right before their daughter ODed—were absolutely brutal. And juxtaposed with Edwin, in the present, admitting that he sometimes blames Matty for Ellie’s death? Ow. Just ow. It gives additional layers and depth to Matty’s current mission to get justice and Edwin’s potential quest to find Alfie’s father, too.

While Olympia and Julian were on another level as they fought the custody case, it was also really hard to watch their respective clients. They loved their kid! But watching the mother barricade herself in the room and her child being so distressed…it hurt. And the father was selfish, too. Hopefully they do actually work together to parent in the future. (But, hey, being held in contempt worked out for Olympia and Julian, maybe, as they potentially came to some sort of peace.)

FOUND: Anyone else completely unnerved by how little Sir reacted to the news his brother was dead? I’m also deeply concerned that it seems like Jamie’s kidnapper might be someone who is/was close to Margaret because WTF? It makes sense, I guess, but how can you put someone you know through that?! Lots and lots of worries over here about how these things are going to be resolved.

[For more on the episode, here’s what Mark-Paul Gosselaar shared.]

ELSBETH: I was really, really upset when it seemed like the cat was killed…but thankfully that was just a ruse. (So, was the plan to re-adopt the cat a few weeks later or…?)

But I laughed at Elsbeth interrogating Teddy’s boyfriend for 83 minutes. Poor Teddy. Poor Roy.

As soon as Elsbeth said she was done with black cars pulling up, I knew that Crawford would be doing the same. It’ll be interesting to see when they actually dive into that more thoroughly.

THE PITT: This may have been the most painful episode of television I’ve watched all year. (I mean that in a positive way, but also WTF writers. WTF.)

It started off with a bit of good news: The caretaker who seemed to have abandoned her mom just fell asleep in the car. Which, while insane, was also something you can do in a real-time show like this. You could feel the stress of the medical professionals as they’re worried about potential abandonment, but it’s also a realistic amount of time for a nap. (Whoops.)

But then there was just non-stop pain. The child drowning victim felt grim to start, but then the reveal that she was in that position because she saved her sister was a whole bucket full of salt in the wound. And then they couldn’t save her. There was a small part of me that had hope it would turn out differently, but the larger part felt like the grimness from the doctors was telegraphing where it was likely to lead. And it hurt. It was raw. I’m actually tearing up thinking about it.

And then we got the decision, finally, from the parents of another young man to donate his organs. When we saw all the people lined up down the hall to pay their respects as his body was transferred to another hospital to do the actual transplant surgery…ow. It was beautiful. It was lovely that the workers apparently will go to the funeral if the family is comfortable with it. But it’s also incredible how this lands in a different way when you basically have a real-time experience of the shift. I love shows like ER and GREY’S and CHICAGO MED; I’ve been emotionally destroyed by those in the past. But they don’t have the luxury of this much time in a single shift, which has given a whole new dimension to some of these cases.

But, yes, emotionally destroyed by THE PITT. And these guys are only halfway through their shift. (Help.)

Which shows did you watch last night?

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