Thursday, October 18, 2012

Law & Order SVU “Acceptable Loss” Recap & Review


It was a combination that hasn’t been seen before in the Law & Order universe – a Law & Order Criminal Intent character coming over to SVU. “Acceptable Loss” brought Kathryn Erbe’s character Alex Eames back into the Law & Order brand, this time as a Lieutenant working for a joint Homeland Security task force. Eames has her work cut out for her as the SVU team goes rogue again and risks completely screwing up her investigation. Despite Cragen’s announcement that they will start following the rules, he and his team quickly look for ways to get around them. (Will they never learn?) This is one of those times that the SVU team’s sanctimonious attitude got on my nerves. Benson was too self righteous and condescending with Eames (an example was Benson saying that SVU is too important for her to make a change). If there is a trend that I don’t like with SVU as of late, it’s the behavior that the SVU team is above following any rules because they perceive the crimes they work to solve are more important than any others. While I don’t like the idea of criminals being allowed to do whatever they want because a terrorism investigation takes precedence, it would be nice for the SVU team to find ways to play nice with their colleagues in law enforcement. This time things worked out well for both SVU and Eames, but things usually do in a fictional world.

All that aside, this episode had plenty of action and drama, and again the writers crafted an excellent story that brought out the best – and the worst – in the characters. Nice location shots and camera work, too. I was amused during Eames questioning of Sofia when she used the Goren head tilt, and I was sure that all the Criminal Intent fans who were watching picked up on it. For fans waiting to hear about what happened to Goren, all we know is that he’s moved on. (I’m sure Criminal Intent fans are hanging on to hope for Vincent D’Onofrio’s appearance on SVU.)    At the end of the episode, when Eames mentions with all the time she and her partner had together that it was like they were married, and Benson reminds here that they weren’t, SVU fans knew that Benson was speaking from her own experience with you-know-who. I am sure SVU fans would love to have “he who shall not be named” back on the show as well.




Here is the recap:

Cast:
Mariska Hargitay – Detective Olivia Benson
Ice-T – Detective Odafin “Fin” Tutuola
Richard Belzer – Sergeant John Munch
Dann Florek – Captain Don Cragen
Kelli Giddish - Detective Amanda Rollins
Danny Pino - Detective Nick Amaro

Guest stars:
Kathryn Erbe – Lt. Alexandra Eames
Richard Kind - Dworkin
Doug E. Doug - Wiggins
Alon Moni Aboutboul - Lou
Joey Oglesby - Mikey
Angela Sarafyan - Anna
Karen Tsen Lee - Medical Examiner
Evgenia Radilova – Sofia
Jamila Velazquez – Pilar Morenas
Derrick Baskin – Officer Gillette
Shezi Sardar - John
Jack Haley - Reynolds


Captain Cragen walks into his office, pauses, and then begins to unpack. Benson walks in and greets him, asking if he is glad to be back. He says sure, he’s just checking that Harris didn’t steal his favorite stapler. She begins to talk about what happened to him, and he cuts her off and says “Let’s get back to work.” He walks out into the squad room and says he’s glad to see the place hasn’t fallen apart. The rest of the detectives are there to greet him. Cragen noted that Harris had them filing daily memo books and mileage looks. Benson refers to it as busy work, and Cragen tells them to keep it up and try following the rules for a change. When Amaro says there are rules and then there is bureaucracy, Cragen tosses a binder to him and tells him to try following both, adding it wouldn’t hurt to color inside the lines for a while – all of them. He also thanks them.

At the airport, Dworkin talks on the phone and sees a waiting limo driver with a sign that says “Dorkin” and he asks “Dworkin?” – it turns out it is his car heading to the Duchess Hotel. On the way to the hotel, Dworkin complains about the flight from Kansas City. He asks the driver if he has any vodka but the driver says he can get that and more if he wants to let off tension and really relax. When Dworkin asks what he has in mind, the driver says “whatever you do.”

At the Duchess Hotel, one of Dworkin’s colleagues sees him leaving and mentions the open bar, Dworkin says he’ll be there and to save some for him. The car service driver opens up the back door of the car and introduces Dworkin to Pilar. Dworkin is upset, saying he can’t bring that in there, it is a sales conference. The driver explains there is plenty of room in the back seat.

As they drive, Pilar performs her services and Dworkin tells the driver to keep his eyes on the road. The driver tells him the vodka is in a cooler in the floor, $5 a pop. The driver opens a bottle and takes a drink, and then drops it. He takes his eyes off the road, drives through an intersection, and the car is t-boned by a garbage truck.

Later,  Benson and Rollins arrive on the scene and the officer explains that  SVU was called because a male passenger had his pants down in the back – Dworkin is in pain – and the girl, who is on a stretcher, has a bar code on her neck. Benson is shocked, saying that girl is someone’s property.

At the hospital, Benson and Rollins speak with Pilar. She gives her last name as Jones and says she is 18. When Benson said they found no ID in the car, Pilar says she does not like to take her purse with her. Benson says Pilar means the man she works for does not let her take her papers with her. Pilar says she was on a date. Rollins says they have her date’s ID and asks what his name was again, and Pilar says she does not remember. Benson tries to reassure her she is not in any trouble, and they want to help her and get her away from the man who bar-coded her, But Pilar says that is a joke and does not mean anything,

Meanwhile, Fin and Amaro are speaking with Dworkin who doesn’t know why they are talking to him as he wasn’t driving the car and didn’t cause the crash. Fin reminds him that paying for sex is against the law. Dworkin insists all he paid for were drinks, he came to town and got lucky. Amaro asks he Dworkin noticed the bar code and his friend’s neck, and he replies he was not looking at her neck. Dworkin doesn’t know the name of the driver, he met him outside the hotel and he was going to take them to a club downtown. Fin informs him he was headed north, and Dworkin says driving in a limo is not illegal and neither is having sex, unless Bloomberg passed a law he hasn’t heard about. Amaro sarcastically thanks him for his help, and as he and Fin move to leave, he mentions calling Dworkin’s wife.

Outside, Benson, Fin, Amaro, and Fin share their findings. They realize neither party will talk and Rollins suggests if Pilar sneaked in from Columbia maybe they can hold her. Benson thinks then they can talk to her and help her come to her senses. Amaro get a message and he informs the other that patrol picked up the driver of the town car and they are bringing him in.

Back at SVU, the driver – Wiggins - says he was in a daze and he just wandered off. Fin informs him leaving the scene of an accident is a crime. The driver says to just give him a ticket, but Amaro says then can do better than that. He explains they found the bottles in the car and the driver says the others were drinking. They ask about the girl and he said he met her in the Meatpacking District and she wanted him to drive her around to socialize, and 50 drunk 20 year olds from New Jersey saw him pick her up. She gave him cash, and shows them a passport she gave him, saying she asked him to hold it in case she got drunk.



In the squad room, Cragen informs Benson and Amaro that the DA ran her passport, the passport was issued from Columbia to Pilar Morenas right after her 17th birthday, with a visa from the US Embassy in Bogota. It’s legal, and Amaro is frustrated they can just let her walk out of the hospital and back to the guy who branded her. He got nothing from the driver, who claims he never let her before last night and this perfect stranger gave him her passport to hold. Benson wonders if while he was in a daze, Pilar’s pimp handed him her passport so he’d would have to release her, they take passports all the time so they can’t run. Cragen says it doesn’t matter, the driver and the john and Pilar are not talking and they are stalled. Cragen adds he is not spooked about going after another prostitution ring. Benson asks if they can check with State and make sure that it is legit. Cragen says it is already being done, and suggests while they wait, take another run at the girl. He then calls Amaro aside, and asks how he is doing. Amaro flippantly says he isn’t the one who spent a week in Rikers and they are cleared, both of them. Cragen says he was asking more about his family situation. Amaro says he and Marie are talking, he went to DC last weekend and had quality time with Zara at the Spy Museum. Cragen asks how old is Zara, and when Amaro replies she is 6, Cragen asks if he considered taking her to the zoo.

Outside the hospital, Pilar tells Benson she just wants to go home. She denies doing anything wrong. Benson tries to reassure her they can protect her, and as the car for Pilar pulls up, Pilar says she is going to a friend’s. Benson tries to get details and when the car door opens, Benson asks if this is her friend. Sofia exits the car and grabs Pilar’s arm to get her into the car. Benson tells Sofia they are trying to help her, and she also sees Sofia has a bar code on her neck. Benson says she can help her too, but Sofia says no one can help them. As the car drives off, Benson gets a call, and asks “Where?”

At Hallet’s Cove in Long Island City in Queens, Amaro and Rollins are already on scene, and there is a body of a girl on the beach who has a bar code on her neck. Benson says he brands him, pimps them, and then kills them. Fin says he wants this guy.

At the morgue, the ME explains to Benson and Rollins the girl has no ID and is not in the system. She is in her late teens with bad dental work; she has an old scar or her right cheek and fresh bruises on her shoulders. The cause of death was blunt trauma. The girl was also sexually active - and also pregnant. Rollins comments this is bad for business and the pimp must have been thrilled. Benson said she could have gotten an abortion and gotten back on the street.

Back at SVU in interrogation, Amaro shows Wiggins the photos of the girl and he says he does not know her. When Amaro brings up the same tattoo as the other girl, Wiggins says it is just a kid’s fad. Fin asks about the sex in the car, and the driver gets flip about it and asks if he can go. Amaro says yes, in about 25 years, Fin adding that the girl he was driving didn’t want to be there and they are sex slaves. Amaro says because Wiggins was there he is an accomplice and with the girl being beaten to death, he is looking at felony murder. Amaro continues to push and the driver breaks, saying the pimps name is Lou, he gets a call and takes the girls to their dates. Sometimes it is a hotel and sometimes it is the back seat, either way he gets $50 on top of what he gets form the johns. He then takes the girls to a subway, and says he calls the service and they call him back. Lou did give him Pilar’s passport after the accident, he met him in a diner in Kip’s bay.

Afterwards, Cragen complements Amaro on the nice work, and when Amaro says he will get a black town car from C.E.U., Cragen tells Amaro he is going to have Fin take this one. Amaro asks if Cragen doesn’t trust him in a car alone with a hooker, and Cragen says he trusts him but if it goes to trial, Amaro will have to testify and he does not want some defense attorney dredging…Amaro cuts him off and yells that he knows how to handle himself in a courtroom. Cragen sternly says “my call – end of discussion.” Cragen walks off and Fin pauses to look at Amaro and then he too walks away.

At Nighthawk Diner, Fin, dressed in a suit and tie, asks a guy sitting at the counter  if he is Lou, and he replies he is Mikey, adding Lou couldn’t make it. Mikey asks if he is Harold. Fin replies that’s what they tell him. He asks to see “Harold’s” hack license and Fin complies, he says he drives a clean 2007 town car. Fin knows it is $50 a trip and $80 if it goes over an hour. Mikey says an hour never happens, they are a volume operation. Fin also adds he knows eyes front, no sudden stops, watch out for garbage trucks. Fin asks what happens if a guy makes a mess in the back of his car, who cleans that up? Mikey says the girls, and to tell him if they give him any problems; don’t talk to them, don’t trust them, and don’t do them any favors.

Later, Fin is in a town car waiting by a subway entrance. He is wired and Benson, Rollins and Amaro can hear him in another car. They see a girl approach Fin’s car and get in. She tells him where she wants to go. The other detectives follow. Fin makes small talk with Anna. She says she is from Moldova. She tells him at the hotel he should wait outside and she will run in. When Fin mentions he spoke to Mikey and that she picked a tough racket, she asks if Mikey told her she picked it. When Fin asks if she didn’t, she sarcastically says sure, whatever he says. As Fin continues the small talk, Anna says Mikey has them in a house. Fin says she took the 7 train, and asks if it is in Corona. Anna says he talks too much. He replies he is trying to be friendly, she seems a lot nicer than the other girl he used to drive around, a blond, with a scar. Anna insists she does not know such a girl.

They arrive at the hotel, and Anna exits the car. Fin says to the listening detectives that he say her eyes in the rear view mirror and she is terrified. Amaro thinks they house could be in Corona, Jackson Heights, or Elmhurst. Fin says he is working on it. Soon, Anna  exits the hotel and she is holding up her dress and looked rattled. Fin asks if she is OK and she says sure, but Fin says she should have called him, he would have taught the guy a lesson. She says he was a little kinked and Fin says he is driving her home. She insists only to the subway but he says he is not taking her there looking like that. When she says Mikey said no, he says don’t worry about Mikey, and to get in the car, Mikey can take it up with him.

Later, Fin arrives at the house and Anna gets out of the car. The other detectives park close by. Anna enters the house and there are many other girls there, Lou asks her what happened to her, and she says the date was nasty. He slaps her and asks her if she knows how much those dresses cost. He takes money from her and says there goes her secret money for the month. When she says it is not fair, he says so now she is making the rules here. She says it was not her fault. He rips the dress off her and he says neither was this. Mikey suggests that she work it off, and the guy tells Mikey not to mark her up.

Meanwhile, in the car, Rollins moans about having to wait out there. Benson says not for long, and calls Cragen to tell him that Amaro rode back with Fin and she and Rollins are outside the location and will sit on it until he gets the warrant. Much later – it is now light outside – a UPS truck driven by and Benson and Rollins get out and walk up to it. It is Fin and Amaro, and Fin brought them breakfast. Amaro says Cragen is bringing the warrant, the house belongs to Louis Pappas and his son Michael. As the team gets ready to go in, Cragen arrives with Lt. Alex Eames and tells them they are done for now. He explains Eames is working a joint task force with Homeland Security. Eames explains says she is on loan from Major Case. Cragen brings up the passport they checked with State, and Eames explains they have stumbled upon a terrorism case. She explains for now they stand down. When Benson objects that while those guys are holding girls and forcing them into prostitution they just go home, Eames says she does not have a choice – and neither do they.

In a conference room at what may be Homeland Security, Eames says officially she is not supposed to say anything but she gets their frustration. Eames warns them what she is telling them cannot go further than this room. She informs them this started with a passport for Pilar Morenas. Rollins comments they were told that was genuine, and Eames said while it was, her visa was forged with the distinctive characteristics of a forger named Ekram Petar. He is Bosnian, works for sex traffickers, and for a splinter Al Qaeda group in the Caucasus. Fin asks if Eames is telling them the working girls are terrorists, and Eames replies no, Petar forges visas for the sex traffickers for the money and supplies terrorists for the cause. Benson does not see why this shuts SVU down. Eames informs them that they picked up chatter that the terrorists, using documents forged by Petar, will be coming into the United States to join and operative who is already here to launch an attack. Amaro counters that he worked military intelligence and there are a hundred false alarms for every real one, and Eames confidently replies they do not think this one is false. Rollins comments that Eames knows this person is coming and what his documents look like – nab him when he lands. Eames says they want to pick him up after he joins his accomplice so they can get them both, and that won’t happen if he hears a sex ring using the same visas got busted. If he thinks they are on to the forgeries, he could come in with other papers and they do not want to miss this guy. After they have the terrorists, they can raid the Pappases, arrest them, shake and bake them however they like. Amaro asks when they expect that to happen, and Eames says they hope soon. When Fin expresses sarcasm, Cragen says they are done here. They exit unhappily. Eames comments to Benson that she knows how hard this is. And Benson asks “Do you? How long were you Major Case?” Eames says she was there 11 years, her partner moved on and she decided it was time for a change. Benson says she couldn’t do that because SVU is too important. Eames replies she is aware of that, but Benson is not sure, describing what the girls are going through. Eames reiterates she gets it, and Benson wonders how she can ask then to stand down. Eames says Benson was there for 9/11 and this is the right decision.

As the SVU team exits the building, Cragen says this goes up very high and reminds them until they get the green light it is hands off the Pappas operation. Benson wonders what happens if they don’t go after Pappas, and Amaro suggest routine anti-prostitution sweep, and Rollins suggests picking up one or two of the Pappas' girls. Benson thinks they won’t suspect they know about the forged visas, and Fin adds they are cops going about their business. Cragen says they really got used to rouge operations while he was gone. Cragen says he wants to know everything and if he says stop, to stop.

Later, Fin is back undercover and he is driving with Sofia and a john in the back seat. A “taxi cop” stops them and Amaro and Rollins, dressed as police, get out. Amaro says he does not see a TLC decal on his right rear window, and Rollins opens up the door to the back seat and tells Sofia and the john to step outside the car so she can make sure their seat belts are operational. Amaro has Fin step out and put his hands on the trunk, and Sofia wonders if they should get another car. Rollins assures her it will only be a minute, and then adds that the right rear seat belt is not operational. She also asks if they asked for the air conditioning to be turned on and if the drive complied, The john asks “what”? and Rollins says it is their right. Sofia says the temperature was fine. Rollins asks if this is her husband, and Sofia says he is a friend. The john gets uncomfortable and says he will walk from here, and he leaves, Rollins says, “Some friend” and Sofia decides to walk off. After she does, the detectives moan they had nothing, Fin says he can’t help it if the guy was slow, he couldn’t jump back and help him. Amaro suggest plan B, Fin says to call Lou’s service and ask for Anna, he is the girl he drove the last time, and she seemed unhappy enough to jump. Amaro asks if Cragen will be OK with that, and Rollins says it will be OK, they will be watching.

At the Promenade Hotel, Amaro is in a hotel room which is wired with cameras while Benson, Fin, and Rollins watch from another room. Amaro asks if he should keep his hands where they can see them, and Fin asks if he will ever get over this. Benson says he will. There is a knock at the door and Amaro lets Anna in. She declines a drink, and they make small talk. She asks to see his driver’s license, and he reluctantly pulls one out – a Florida license. She sits on the bed and he asks now what. She says whatever he wants, it is $300 for straight. He pulls out he badge and she tries to bolt but Fin, Benson and Rollins enter the room and stop her. Fin says they are not here to arrest her, Rollins adds that Lou and Mikey are going down.. Anna says they are going to kill her. Benson asks if it is like they killed her friend, the one who was pregnant. Benson adds they will keep her safe, Fin saying that is a promise.

A SVU, Benson shows Anna photos of the dead girl and Anna says her name was Vika. Mikey took her to get the abortion from a doctor in Jackson Heights and she told her she was going to run. Fin asks if she is saying Mikey did it, not his dad, and Anna says Mikey is an idiot. All he does is grope them and makes then do things. With Rollins and Cragen watching from the observation area, Rollins tells Amaro that Anna answered an ad for a nanny job. Cragen adds they sent her to Mexico first where she was broken in. Rollins says then the Pappases bought her. Anna continues to tell Benson and Fins and says when she first got there Mikey locked her up with no clothes and said welcome to America. Benson brings up Pilar and Sofia and asks how many others, and Anna says 8 or 9, but Sofia is new and has her own room, she does not know why. There is a knock at the door and Benson exits. As Fin tells Anna she is free now and they will keep her safe, Benson walks out to see Eames standing there, asking if Anna is one of the Pappases. Benson replies it was a random operation and no one would have any reason to think they are on to them. Eames says will all due respect, they are smarter than she is, adding they picked up a conversation this morning that the terrorists they have been waiting for is in the country and they missed him. Cragen stays stuff happens, but Eames counters that if he used the papers they had been looking for, they would have spotted him. It seems someone got wind of their “random” operation. When Cragen asks when did this guy get here exactly, Eames says they are not sure. Amaro comments he could have come in weeks ago. Eames says he can tell himself that. She has to explain this to her bosses - and theirs. Eames phone rings and she says “here it comes.” She leaves the room. Rollins asks what how, and they hear Anna crying in the other room. She tells Fin they showed her pictures of her little sister back home and Anna was told they would take her if she didn’t do everything they say. Cragen turns off the monitor and says if they want to fire him, they know where to find him, and to go get these sons of bitches.


Later, the SVU team, with full back up and a warrant, enter the Pappas home and arrest Lou. Benson sees Pilar. Mikey is not in the house and when Benson asks Pilar where is Mikey, she points outside to the hot tub, where Mikey is sitting in with headphones on. Amaro pulls the headphones off and yells for a shocked Mikey to stand up, and he raises his hands. But Mikey is naked so Fin tells him to put his hands down. The detectives lead Mikey and Lou out of the house.

In interrogation with Fin, Mikey kicks a chair and Fin tells him it is over. Mikey says he is not talking to them, but Amaro reminds him they have multiple counts of rape. Mikey says you can’t rape whores, but Amaro counters that you can murder one. He informs Mickey they found the doctor who he took Vika to and she ran out on him, and she ran after her sayi8ng he would kill her. Mickey denies it.

Meanwhile, Benson and Rollins question Lou in another room. Lou said Mickey was running an nanny service and he doesn’t even live in that house, he has a condo in Long Beach. He says he stopped by to watch the game. When Amaro tells Mikey his dad is putting it all on him, Mikey says he is lying. Amaro and Fin try to push Mickey’s buttons, Amaro saying his dad called him a fat moron, asking if that rings a bell. Mikey looks dejected.


Later, Fin says they found Lou’s books right where Mikey said they would be, in a hole in a wall behind the refrigerator. Cragen notes the girls names and the dates and what they charged and what they did – Benson has the girls in another room. Amaro says the women did 15 jobs a night and the grossed thousands. Fin says they made $30 for themselves for cosmetics and energy drinks and underwear. Benson is alarmed, saying they are missing somebody – Sofia. Cragen notes there is no Sofia in the book. Rollins said she had at least one, she was with a john that night. Fin says she and the john were not having sex, they were just talking. Amaro asks what language and Fin says something foreign. Amaro recalls that Anna said Sofia had her own room in the house, and she is new. Benson recalls that Eames mentioned intercepted communication about the terrorism – did they say it was a he? They all look at each other and Cragen says he will call Eames. Benson looks stunned.

In the holding cell, Benson and Eames questions Lou about Sofia and the think someone was paying him to babysit her. Lou points to Eames and asks Benson who is she, and asks Eames how much it is worth to her. Eames says it depends on what he tell them. He asks if that means he can walk out of here and go back to Long Beach and catch the end of the game. Eames asks him to give them a taste. He says she came in two week ago but did not come in to hook she was in to something else. When they press him for more details, he says he might remember that once his lawyer works out a deal.

Later, Cragen tells Benson and Eames that is a hell of a cover for a terrorist to come in to the country as a smuggled sex slave. Benson says with sarcasm that  it’s just another women being bought and sold and no one is going to look too carefully at that. Eames says he has to call her people, and Benson snaps, “And then what? They whisk Lou away and give him whatever he wants?” Eames replies to prevent a major terrorist attack, yes they will. Benson gets even testier and then asks Cragen where did Fin pick up Sofia with the john, and Cragen says it was an apartment building on Amsterdam. Benson pleads to Eames for one more crack at this before she makes that call. Eames questions that Benson wants to go after an operational terrorist by themselves – SVU takes on Al Qaeda? Benson says Eames can come with.

Later, with SVU and Eames  at the apartment building in the stairwell, they prepare to enter. As they walk up the stairs, Sofia opens the door to her apartment and goes to the door of another unit. Rollins grabs her and covers her mouth and tells her not to yell.  Sofia says there is a date in there, and Eames asks how many and what weapons do they have. Sofia says she is just a whore and she works for Lou. Eames asks if she knows that tattoos are forbidden in Islam. Eames wets her thumb and smears the tattoo on Sofia’s neck and she repeats the question – how many and what weapons.

Soon afterwards, the detectives break down the door and see a man holding some wires and Amaro tells him not to move. The man lunges for a what looks like a box with wires and Amaro tackles him as Eames holds a gun on the man. Amaro cuffs him.

Later, with Sofia in what appears to be Homeland Security interrogation, she tries to tell them she was there for sex and Eames tells her they can check to confirm she is a virgin. Benson says it must have been awful for her living in that house, and Eames says she is sure she had a good reason.

Eames asks what happened to her and when Sofia says Eames knows, Eames says she does not and wants to understand. Eames asks if it happened to her or someone in her family. Eames says Sofia is from Waziristan and asks what village, and when Sofia does not respond, Eames leans in, tilts her head and adds “Don’t you think people should know?” She adds they call Sofia a terrorist and doesn't she want them to understand? Sofia says her father was a doctor; a drone struck some people where they lived and her father went to help. He was not a fighter, he was trying to save lives and stop the bleeding. Another drone hit, and it is standard policy that our government targets the rescuers. Her father was blown into pieces, and they buried what they could find. She came her as this is where the drones came from. Benson comments that Sofia hid among young girls who were being raped and who were enslaved, and Sofia let that happen. Sofia says she was sorry for them, but there are so many people to be sorry for.

Afterwards, Benson and Eames are in the bar talking over drinks. Benson said it was a rough story about the father, but Eames says they always have a reason. Benson comments that is how Eames breaks them – get them to tell a story. Eames asks Benson isn’t that how they do it? Benson says she doesn’t always do it leaning over sideways. They laugh, and Eames says she learned that from her partner at Major Case, it was his way of keeping eye contact. Benson says that is a little eccentric, and Eames replies she has no idea. Eames comments that all that time together, the two of them, it was like they were married. Benson replies. “But you weren’t.” Eames nods as we fade to black.




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18 comments:

lois said...

Thank you for your first paragraph! I was also irritated that they would risk a terrorist attack because they could not wait a few days to shut down the pimp. Sometimes Liv needs to give it a rest.
I have recently started watching LOCI and love it. Goren is awesome and it was fun to see Eames getting in Sophia's face like he used to.

The Invisible Observer said...

I was also annoyed with the SVU detectives. I loved when Eames did the Goren lean and when she and Benson were discussing the long partnerships they had. I wonder what Goren is doing now that he "moved on" from Major Case and Eames.

ConnorBehan said...

In the scenes that were left in, Eames talked about Goren and Benson basically chimed in with "filler lines".

The beginning also had filler. If Dworkin is such an unimportant character, then start the episode with the car crash. No one is going to care whether the car picked him up at the airport or a hotel or some other venue.

Most of episodes in the first 12 seasons had 45 minutes of content. Once again, I'm afraid that season 13 and 14 episodes will turn out to be 30 minutes once I get around to buying the DVDs and editing out all the dumb parts.

Chris Zimmer said...

FYI - I received clarification from Warren Leight that these were not deleted scenes. They were not part of the script and written on set as bonus webisodes!

Nantz said...

Excellent recap as per usual, Chris...thank you very much!

Anonymous said...

Goren moved on? I just hope Eames wasn't using it as an excuse to hide the real reason, considering his family's history of mental illness.

Leigh said...

Excellent recap as always. I loved seeing Kate and Marksman together, both in interrogation and at the bar at the end. Always miss Goren, but great to see Eames in charge, especially doing the Goren lean!

Leigh said...

Obviously that was meant to be Mariska, not Marksman, my ipad was playing up!

red said...

deleted scenes mention goren is now in maine writing down his cases from major case

Leigh said...

Forgot to write, completely agree with Lois about the first paragraph.

janethyland said...

Allthings,Great captured photo of "The Magnificent Five" doing the "Magnificent Seven" walk! Loved that bit...

Got to see the girl talk videos.So Eames has a firefighter and Olivia still keeps her secret about the wine glass...red wine i think.

Casey_Olivia_Forever said...

janethyland: Olivia is not with anyone. Two wine glasses means nothing. She is not with that rat bastard David, or anyone else. Or we would know. Casey&Olivia forever.

OhSusannah said...

IN that scene with Liv sitting up in bed, there are two wine glasses next to her bed and her shower is clearly running in the background through an open bathroom door. Warren Leight has suggested on Twitter that she was in bed with whomever you the viewer wanted her to be in bed with:whether that's Haden or Brian Cassidy.He says it will most likely not be revealed. The cast of SVU is on Tuesday Oct 23's NBC Today Show so maybe someone can text or email Mariska or the show host and ask them!

Ink said...


This episode started out good then went downhill. It minimized the effects on being a victim with Sofia's character being assassinated by Olivia and Eames.I was surprised when Olivia said that statement of trying to shame Sofia for being in that house with those girls.People are always being manipulated into joining such groups when a tragedy falls on them.

It's not like she liked the sex ring and accepted its take on women.

This episode was very biased and I hope that SVU does not send these kinds of messages in the future.

Yes,there are terrorists but don't generalize people.

I liked it when SVU looks at things from all angles and opts for a response and solution not when they act like all flawless and righteous.

ConnorBehan said...

It will not be revealed? This is the kind of smart move I didn't expect from Warren Leight! Hopefully all relationships involving SVU characters from now on will be with people that are never shown or named.

Asking Mariska who it was will be like asking Michael Cane if the end of Inception was a dream. You will just get some bogus, non-canon answer for something that was clearly designed to be ambivalent.

gahks said...

The episode was well-written, but I really have to agree with everyone else about Benson's self-righteousness... (facepalm)

Also loved the Goren lean moment. I miss 'Criminal Intent' :(

Unknown said...


dang...dang...dang! need to seriously look at that limosine company, driver policy and practice...seem like the
victims could not opened the door from the inside...driver may have had the children safety aka drunk passengers
lock-on...mmmm, so only the skinny people got out??? dry them tears...time to sue...driver not shaken playin stupid...

Unknown said...

Filming error??
When the garbage truck t-bones the limo that is supposedly being driven by the inattentive limo driver, the traffic signal appears to have been green for the limo because as the truck is pushing the limo through the intersection the crosswalk is flashing red in the direction that the limo was driving and solid red for the direction of the garbage truck.