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

Let’s talk about Thursday night’s TV!

LAW & ORDER: Oh my God, Brady and Riley are funny together; her deadpan made me laugh out loud. I’ve also really enjoyed seeing Brady out in the field and in interrogation this season, so I do hope that can continue.

I really liked the pacing of the episode, too. Once Brady and Riley got to the crime scene and it was clear what was going on, everything felt frantic. Riley and DeLuca were off trying to find a suspect, Brady and Vi were at the squad room trying to get information from technology (drones?!); the urgency felt baked into the cop portion of the episode. (I’m also interested in seeing how and/or if they incorporate DeLuca into another storyline, especially now that he had this experience with Riley.)

I’ve really struggled with a lot of Baxter’s decisions and storylines in the past few months, but this felt like the best/smartest he’s been in a while. He was supportive, but not naive, as Price insisted this case should be tried. And Price…yeah, he should have listened to the people around him. (Especially given, presumably, he may have been a little too close to some elements of this case…surely his father’s healthcare wasn’t all sunshine and roses?) But, uh, yeah, I’m curious if we’ll see that judge back again at some point because it was also clear the man was biased during this case…

I was really wary about the episode going in given how close this was to real-life events (and how another show in the franchise’s recent ripped-from-the-headlines turn actually felt harmful/disrespectful), but this didn’t end up bothering me because of how they handled things. I don’t know if the decision to not show a verdict played into that quick turnaround or was just a dramatic decision, but that really worked for me, too.

[For more on the episode, here’s what guest star Jesse Metcalfe shared.]



NEXT LEVEL CHEF: Aw, poor Meg. It’s always a shame when people have to drop out during the competition. (And, presumably, at some point, they won’t have someone eliminated that week now?)

But, uh, PIGTAIL IN RAMEN?! Wow. That does feel like such a difficult protein to potentially have to work into a dish, though.

I’m kind of obsessed with Beatrice, though. Hopefully she’s not peaking too soon.

9-1-1: Ha, the 118’s reaction to Bobby revealing that Ann was his mother made me laugh. I can’t believe even Athena didn’t know his mother was alive, though.

This is not excusing Ann—at all—but I hope Bobby is able to find some peace with her before she dies. Not for her sake, but for his own. He deserves to have whatever closure he needs.

But, uh, WHY WAS THERE A PERSON BURIED ALIVE?! Absolutely not, nightmare situation, terrible husband, may he never know peace for the rest of his life.

There’s a really delicate line between baiting (with no planned resolution) and laying the groundwork for an intentional storyline, and I truly hope the 9-1-1 writers know what they’re doing with Buck and Eddie.



LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: The second-best episode of the show in 2025 for me (I’d be shocked if “The Grid Plan” gets overtaken in the final stretch of episodes, but I’d be happy to be proven wrong), due entirely to the fact that the writers seemingly remembered Olivia actually exists.

The case itself didn’t quite work for me. “Rorschach” was one of the stronger episodes of the first part of season 26, but they revisited the weakest part of that hour. Also, my brain couldn’t turn off while watching: They didn’t do constant tests on Ellie when she was first admitted? (Which would have shown if she was pregnant, you’d think.) They only discovered it when she was this far along? If they had to come back to this storyline, it would have been more effective to be in the almost immediate aftermath or it be unquestionably rape due to the timeline. It also didn’t feel like there was enough actually there to cover a full episode, investigation-wise, so the Chris stuff was added as padding; if that was the case, it might have worked better as a subplot. (Also, I’m sorry, I know Ellie’s mother was grieving, but she’s now okay with the man who did this to her daughter?! Oy.) On the flip side, it wasn’t horrifically offensive/harmful to survivors, so it’s still, somehow, a win.

And it also allowed Olivia to be a freakin’ human, to acknowledge her history, for the first time in far too long. It’s inexcusable it took until more than two-thirds of the way through a season for Olivia to have more than a line about herself, but we saw her visit her mother’s grave. She acknowledged she’s still doing therapy (and seemingly taking it seriously for the first time in years) and she’s working on forgiveness. Would this have been nice to have early in the season so viewers could at least know she was doing this work on herself off-screen rather than wonder WTF was going on with Olivia Benson for 15 episodes? Sure, absolutely. It also would have allowed for the focus on other characters to feel more natural versus frustrating; if we knew Olivia was doing this—rather than it feeling like they were trying to ignore almost everything that happened last season (outside of Curry joining the team), as if we were in some alternate universe—you could authentically work on giving the ensemble behind her depth. But given how tossed to the side she’s been in season 26, I guess I am glad it was brought up at all. And it allowed Mariska Hargitay to do some of her best work of the season.

Do I have other nitpicks? Sure. Olivia works on these cases constantly and has dealt with numerous rapes that resulted in pregnancies. She was triggered by this so instantly, to the extent that Fin noticed…and talked about it with her subordinates? I thought the one-on-one scene with Curry was great, but he said enough to make Silva and Bruno suspicious in a way they weren’t before.

But I’m also grateful the show finally dug into Olivia and Fin’s relationship after ignoring them for far too long; he’s arguably her best friend, is really the only person who called out her spiral last season, he’s been by her side for nearly 25 years, and they can be honest with each other in a way no one else can. He knew when to call her out here, he knew when to give her space. I really, really, really hope this is the start of them actually utilizing that dynamic again this season. I also hope this episode reminded TPTB that Olivia Benson as a fully-rounded character is the heart and soul of this show. It’s been missed.



DOCTOR ODYSSEY: Athena Grant makes literally everything better. I wish she could be here every week. (I mean, for my own selfish reasons. I don’t actually wish that PTSD/trauma flashbacks on her constantly.)

I know they got caught, but it was kind of brilliant to steal/swap jewelry. Good try, at least?

FOUND: Oh, God, Jamie, what have you done?! At the very least, going to see Sir…yikes.

I mean, Heather had to know taking this case was going to demolish her relationship with Trent, but she’s also not entirely wrong about his hypocrisy when it comes to Gabi. Also, Trent is taking Gabi’s agency away from her by not giving her Sir’s message. Yes, he’s trying to protect her, but he’s still keeping a secret from her and making this decision for her. So.

GREY’S ANATOMY: Okay, the scavenger hunt was funny and an absolute mess. (I also got the clue wrong; I was thinking of a payphone. I may be 100. But a toe tag?!)

The transplant storyline wrapped up much faster than I expected—though I suppose the organ needing to be dealt with instantly put a ticking clock on the matter—but I’m glad the transplant could go to both patients.

And, well, I guess Teddy and Owen were at least honest about things…

THE PITT: Hi, this was stressful.

It’s interesting because I don’t think this was the very best episode of the season, but not because the episode itself was bad. It just felt like the first part of an arc more than any other installment this season. And I can’t wait to see (and am entirely dreading) how they handle what comes next.

But, man, they are all badasses. (Mel insisting on donating blood? Oh, she’s a hero.) They’re competent. And how fantastic to see them placing their calls and handling their lives before the mayhem started. (And Chad having to see what McKay actually does at work, to see what everyone there puts up with? A really good look at how a civilian would process the trauma compared to the way the healthcare workers were operating.)

The traumatic injury/wound of the week was that FREAKING NECK WOUND. The gurgling? Oh, writers, that was a lot.

I know I should be wary about Langdon being back, but I hope he can quasi-prove himself here. It’ll be a long road to actually get things back on track, but maybe this can be a good start? (Also, I laughed at “Trust me.” “Oh, we’re a little late for that.”)

Which shows did you watch last night?

Follow @GiveMeMyRemote and @marisaroffman on Twitter for the latest TV news. Connect with other TV fans on GIVE ME MY REMOTE’s official Facebook page or our Instagram.

And be the first to see our exclusive videos by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases made through links/ads placed on the site.