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: Oh, this was messy. I honestly don’t know what the right thing would be to do if it meant letting a killer (quasi) get away with it versus having the peace of mind of being able to properly bury a body. I’m glad Price and Maroun got their verdict, but…yeah, I probably would have made the deal. A no-win situation.

GREY’S ANATOMY: There was so much going on that for a second I forgot when Tom went to save Owen that I FORGOT ABOUT THE AFFAIR HE HAD WITH TEDDY. (Considering how much it annoyed me at the time, it feels like a billion years ago now.)

With Hamilton’s procedure done, I’m curious how things go…now? Will the storylines start to transition entirely back to Seattle? Meredith and Amelia certainly have personal ties out of town now, and it’s not like Hamilton will be magically healed, but it feels like there are a lot of ways this could move forward.

I still deeply don’t enjoy Link and Jo together, but Jo and Teddy at the bar together lamenting about life? Fantastic. Just fantastic.

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: SVU first introduced the idea of rape being charged as a hate crime all the way back in 2008, when ADA Greylek was still in the mix. At the time, she used it to get the perp (played by Luke Perry, who was great as Noah) to plead out, but she made it clear to the detectives it was something she took seriously and hoped to be able to successfully pursue during her tenure with the unit.

It didn’t end up working out, but it was fascinating that they brought the idea back for this episode, especially since Parlato-Goldstein was initially looped in because he had ties to the frat, not because of his hate crimes experience. The frat was abhorrent, and I’m glad the squad and Carisi were able to take them down and utilize the threat of the hate crime to actually get the rapist. With the show re-introducing this possibility, I’m curious if they actually really follow through and find a way to charge/convict someone with the hate crime attached at some point.

PIVOTING: Well, that was an entirely unresolved season, with basically everything being a (needless) cliffhanger. I wish I had liked this show more, but it felt like it really never found a great balance.

LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: Well, we can’t say Elliot doesn’t, uh, commit to his undercover work. (I know it wasn’t his first tattoo, but it is big, and going to be a pain to either remove or cover up…this isn’t going to be as simple as shaving off your Eddie beard, Stabler!)

I figured it was fake as it was happening, but that Ayanna-Elliot-Olivia fight was delicious. (As is imagining them having to coordinate everything, down to their timing, because there is no place to be stealth and listen/lurk in that—gorgeous?!?!—One PP lobby.) SVU viewers spent 12 seasons watching Elliot and Olivia bait perps, including staging fights to get a suspect to open up, so it was surreal to have them back in that mode, and extra delightful Ayanna was a part of the mix, going toe-to-toe with them.

I’m so incredibly happy the show immediately dug into the complexities of Elliot embedding himself with dirty cops. Yes, Olivia was correct that he’s doing the right thing, but of course this would trigger memories of Elliot’s abusive father. Joe gave up his career in order to not turn on his fellow cops; Elliot is actively trying to take dirty cops down. And given Donnolley knew Elliot’s father, I’m wondering if we’ll learn more about Elliot’s childhood, which remains a fairly big question mark.

For as long as it’s been since we’ve seen Elliot and Olivia together—and for as short as this actual conversation was—it felt like that scene said so much. It feels clear, even outside of their (increasingly flirty?!) “my friend” acknowledgments, they’ve been talking and continuing their relationship rebuilding post-“The Christmas Episode.” We’ve seen Elliot and Olivia after periods of estrangement and this was not that, at all. Not to mention there was zero talk of Wheatley and how he was doing after that end; Olivia knows what that case has done to him, and if that was even their first time seeing each other since the Wheatleys went over a cliff, she would have checked in to see how he was handling that. It’s bittersweet, but necessary, that some of their progress is happening off-screen, but I truly hope they save the important conversations for on-screen exploration. (Lewis, especially; I don’t want to see Olivia going through the pain of reliving the experience, but it’s important to know where the hell Elliot was and verify he didn’t know, because if he did…)

I do love that Elliot has, in what we’ve seen, been clear that he doesn’t just want Olivia in his life, he wants Noah, too. Elliot was a vocal supporter of Olivia’s desire to be a mother, back when they were partners, but he missed so much. Now, he’s making it clear he knows she and her son are a package deal. And, yes, Noah has gotten attached to others, and I absolutely get why Olivia would want to limit their time together until Olivia is certain Elliot is there and can be there for them both. (Also, not saying this is an exact parallel to have Donnelly have five kids with his first wife and a baby on the way with wife #2…but Elliot had five kids with his first wife, and Olivia has a kid.)

I know Nona Parker Johnson was just made a series regular, but I am worried about Nova being the Marcy Killers’ second-in-command. She was already wildly in danger with the UC work, but now?? Protect her!!! (And I’m so intrigued to see how Bell and Nova navigate this, because it feels like Nova shouldn’t be able to check in as much?)

Eric Haywood wrote a really great episode. There were a lot of elements to the hour that felt like vintage ORGANIZED CRIME/Ilene Chaiken; I’m going to deeply miss her influence on the show when her final episodes finish up.

Which shows did you watch last night?

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