About Last Night…MATLOCK, GREY’S ANATOMY, THE PITT, and More

Let’s talk about Thursday night’s TV!

NEXT LEVEL CHEF: From the outside—as someone who is not remotely a professional cook/chef—it felt like this might be an instance where doing BBQ in the basement was not quite the disadvantage other themes might pose. The real problem would be the meat/protein that is available down there. (Also: Cornbread felt like such a curveball given the time and expertise to make it. Not even just a general side, which could have given people a lot of leeway to be creative and rise/fall?)

Nyesha remains such a good mentor, though; she was especially great with Becca during the main cook.

I still hate that Richard is sending in his “best” as a way to try to take out the other teams…and I hate that it’s working. Poor Cathy.

(But wow to Beatrice winning it with the lamb heart. Deserved for Team Ramsay because who cooks that?!)

LAW & ORDER: I really appreciate that we’ve gotten so much personal this year on the show, but this was definitely a case where we needed a little more context. Baxter is a public figure, with political ambitions, and he’s seemingly quasi-seriously dating someone he’s known for a while. Is he divorced or just separated? Is this someone he was circling (or involved with) prior to his marriage ending? Because Kate and Baxter felt pretty settled into this new relationship…

It does feel like the male lawyers have gotten extremely…cold, for lack of a better word…when sexual assault or abuse is brought up in recent weeks, though. They have a job to do, especially if someone commits a crime; I get that. But there seems to be no care about the circumstances that might have led to it and how that might at least change their approach to their case. It’s very odd. (What Kate seemingly did was obviously ethically not correct! However it also does feel like those could have been relevant to the line of questioning given so much of what was working against her client was public perception of a scandal, which meant his own troubles could impact the witness’ view on the matter. But.)

But Maggie Siff was also really great on the show. Not sure what the future holds for her and Baxter (who, by the way, should have absolutely had this case moved elsewhere. Who did not see this conflict coming?!?), but I do hope we get Kate back as a lawyer because Siff was a powerhouse in the courtroom.



9-1-1: Wow, wow, wow to Jennifer Love Hewitt and Abigail Spencer. Absolutely gritty, gutty performances from them. (I don’t know how Maddie survived that wound, but we’ll ignore that for now.) I will also acknowledge my awareness of DID is via television, and I know there have been complaints about how it has been portrayed, historically. I assume this would not necessarily be a portrayal people with experience would be happy with. I will fully acknowledge my limitations there and just speak, specifically, to the performances versus the writing/accuracy.

I also appreciate that Chimney was struggling, but also had overwhelming faith that he knew who his wife was/that something was wrong. Kenneth Choi was fantastic in a less flashy, but still emotionally brutal part of the episode.

(It felt like a disservice to have Eddie’s farewell in this episode, but hopefully there’s an actual story reason why it needed to happen ASAP.)

GHOSTS: Oh my God, Hetty’s power was wonderful and actually made me cry; Rebecca Wisocky was just fantastic. I was so happy for her to get to experience other humans. And she met Jay!! Oh, that made me happy. (I mean, she already possessed him, but still.) And I loved how Jay was bemoaning/amused the ghosts want to date his family. (They have limited options, Jay!) The show was really (intentionally) vague about the origins and limits of Hetty’s powers, but I do hope this becomes an annual thing.

But I have approximately a hundred questions about Chris’ ability to leave the property now…

MATLOCK: As subtle and small as it might be, it felt absolutely brilliant opening the episode with everything flipped upside down. Matty has been so determined, so focused, and the thought that the one person she had actually trusted, really befriended, might be the person she was looking for/could trust the least was…everything was upside down in her world. And the revelation, later, that Olympia was her first real, non-work/mom, friend since she was 38? Oh my God. (I swear to all that is holy and unholy, Kathy Bates better at least get an Emmy nomination for this season.)

I wasn’t entirely sure what to make of Bitsy at first, but I think a lot of that was projection based on what Matty was feeling. She was stressed about Bitsy’s arrival, concerned it was going to ruin everything. But since we got a few episodes (at least) to watch things play out, it’s been fascinating to see Bitsy’s depth. She was hurt when she felt mocked and minimized by Matty’s work persona. She was there for Alfie. She’s there for Matty, too, in her own way. I’m glad Matty has her, in whatever capacity,

Oh my God, as someone who is casually aware of Barry Manilow songs—I know the hits, but not deep cuts—I’m so curious if diehard fans of his pinged what was going on with the bait before the song started playing. (I did not; I know the song, but didn’t place the baiting lyrics until the music kicked in.) I can’t wait to see the fallout and (hopeful) team-up between Matty and Mrs. B. 



LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: The frustrating thing is I think there was a really interesting core of an idea here, but it ended up falling apart in execution.

This was a messy case, which if done well, would have been actually fantastic. There have been plenty of engaging he-said, she-said and/or ethically awful cases on this show, which can allow the characters to disagree in a really natural and authentic way, while making the audience at home question what they’re watching, their own biases, and be left uncertain about where they stand.

The problem here was everything was just sloppy. Carisi minimizing that the teen wasn’t a criminal mastermind with his drugs…Carisi worked as a cop and now as an ADA in SVU for how long and we’re supposed to think he believes that you need to be a mastermind to drug a woman without her consent?! The kid had also just lied about having drugs, and then lied about what the drugs were. Then, during the trial, they had a person who was inebriated when witnessing Ryan and Stacey’s encounter put on the stand to testify to Stacey’s state of mind?! (I’m glad the defense brought up that was a problem, because, uh…) I have desperately wanted the show to actually showcase more of the trials, but this felt like the absolutely wrong case; them pursuing the case this hard, especially with evidence that Stacey had been drugged, felt akin to the way they tried to bring a case against Matthew in “Calculated.”

(Not to mention the cold open felt completely lifeless and actually harmed the episode, I’d argue: If the audience was supposed to be torn by the complexities of this case, we should have seen as little as possible of the duo prior to and during their encounter. One of the show’s most memorable he-said, she-said episodes, “Doubt,” wisely brought us in in the aftermath so all we could judge was what the main characters experienced/learned, too.)

Also: Kevin Kane was fantastic when Bruno revealed his history of being assaulted by an older woman, but it also felt undercut because the scene felt like a last-minute addition because they realized they hadn’t actually given Kane anything of personal substance since making him a series regular. (Not saying it’s literally the case, but it’s not good when that was my second thought—after “Poor Bruno”—while watching a scene.) That’s a huge revelation he made to his boss, something he acknowledged it was the first time he talked about, something that could/should have impacted nearly everything he did in this episode. Olivia didn’t need to make it a Thing—and I’m glad she didn’t!—and, again, Kane and Mariska Hargitay played it well. But we didn’t even get to feel real ramifications of what that moment meant for/did to Bruno in the aftermath. This is a man who just revealed a secret he had been holding on to for decades. This show desperately, desperately, desperately needs personal scenes, specifically for the characters that have been underserviced this year, but I wish this had been handled with a little more respect and depth.



DOCTOR ODYSSEY: A serious question: Are we supposed to care about any of these couples or potential couples at this point? Because…

ELSBETH: Ah, yay for Kaya being made a detective! And lead on the case. I do mourn for what that means for the Kaya and Elsbeth partnership, but I’m happy for Kaya. I also really appreciated the continuity as they were working this case and their suspect had a phone alibi…they just had a case with that kind of trickery and it’s good when shows actually acknowledge their characters’ lived experiences.

And, uh, Marilyn may have been a killer, but she certainly knew some psychic-y things. And that final warning was alarming…

FOUND: Well, this episode got me—I cried at the reunions.

It was fun (to use the word loosely, but you know what I mean) to see Gabi and Trent working together in this different kind of way; when it was this personal to him and his family, the stakes were different. But, ooh boy, Trent hiding that note from Gabi won’t end well. We know Sir won’t be deterred. And now that Heather is representing Sir? Trent really cannot get that man out of his life.

(I remain deeply worried about who kidnapped Jamie and why. Sigh.)

GREY’S ANATOMY: I have approximately 9709312 questions about Link’s breakfast sandwich. It sounds disgusting. (I would also like to try it.)

Absolutely loved seeing Eugene Byrd on the show, and I laughed out loud at how the interns traumatized his poor character. (But, man, if he thought this group had it rough, he should have seen what our OG crew went through.)

What a mess for this transplant surgery, though. I’m actually kind of shocked that Catherine may have been blindsided, even though it would have clearly been an unethical move if she was trying to help people she cared about procure an organ under false pretenses. But, oy, what now?



THE PITT: I need these characters to go through approximately 872 less traumatic things, but I also don’t want this season/series to end, so…

But, man, poor Collins cannot escape pregnancies during this shift. I’m honestly in awe of how over the course of a day and, honestly, minimal interaction, Robby and Collins have become one of the best-developed potential (and former) couples on TV. The scene when she talked about her pregnancy attempt this go-round, and the vulnerability expressed there was gorgeous. And then Collins opened up about a previous pregnancy she had with a former boyfriend—who didn’t know about it—and her worries her, uh, ex wouldn’t forgive her…and you can see Robby process what she wasn’t saying, how it directly impacted him, and Robby reassured her this man would forgive her and be concerned about her. What a freaking powerhouse scene. I expect Noah Wyle will get a (deserved) Emmy push this year, but Tracy Ifeachor should absolutely be in the conversation, too. My goodness.

Look, Santos was correct, but she’s also flailing in the aftermath and I’m nervous she’s going to make things so much worse for everyone including herself.

So, full disclosure, the ending was something that was spoiled to reporters during my set visit earlier this year. I didn’t know how exactly it would come into play—and it took until the “previously on” before I realized exactly why the shooting at the festival was going to happen—but I have been dreading this for months. And given how much they’ve already broken us? Help.

(Also, sorry to Dana, we cannot allow you to quit. This show needs you forever, please and thanks.)

Which shows did you watch last night?

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