Here’s a countdown clock which marks the time to the season 15 premiere of Law & Order SVU on September 25, 2013 at 9PM ET on NBC.
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This will sound terrible, don't get me wrong, but I hope the beast rapes Benson.
ReplyDeleteAnd here is why.
One, we already dealt with the "almost raped" plot, it would seem strange to repeat that, and have someone save Benson just before she gets raped. It's been done!
Second, It will also seem very out of character for Lewis and go totally astray from the story the writers have built up, if he has her for days without raping her, when he is known to torture and rape his victims within the first 16-18 hours. So for him to have her for two days and not rape her, the writers would have to come up with one hell of a good explanation as to why he didn't get that far. Why he waited...
Third. I really admire the writers for going this route, for wanting to show the audience a survivors journey trough Benson.. Like KevinGFox wrote on his twitter - a hero is a person who has been trough hell and can show you how to survive it... And if that is their goal with this arc, then why not go all the way and make her a rape victim to show survivors that it can happen to anyone, but here is inspiration to you as to how to deal with it...And not again make her an "almost-rape-victim"...
And last, but not least, all the writers, the crew and the cast has hyped this episode up like maniacs the past months, for the episode to end with Liv being saved just in time, would kind of piss all over that anticipation they have build up.
Sylvie has said it all so eloquently, and I agree with her on every point.
ReplyDeleteWhat I would like to see is how the rest of the squad deals with Liv, post-rape. The writers can plumb the emotional depths of every single character with that aspect, since they'll all be grappling with some form of deep guilt. Rollins would also be dealing with a form of survivor's guilt, as The Beast could have easily zeroed in on her instead.
I *really* want to see Mariska and Pablo win Emmy Awards from the episode, since both of them agreed with the writers (WL & Julie) to just absolutely *go for it!*
I am glad you agree with me. And that I didn't get a bunch of "hate" replies for wanting such a horrible fate for Olivia :-)
ReplyDeleteI am sure Warren and Julie has gotten this feedback before, and that people have commented on the things I pointed out in my first post. I also do hope they thought about these things before writing the episode!
Cause I am seriously afraid the writers will disappointed us, like svu often, close to always,does.
I will be very, very surprised if she's actually raped. Somehow I suspect that the scenes with the beast will last two-three minutes all together and the intensity and suspense of the episode has already been shown in the promos..
I know it sounds idiotic, but I am so sure of being disappointed that I actually don't look forward to see the episode.
I would also LOVE to see how the different characters deal with Benson's post-rape, to see how they approach her, and how she approach them. It would be a very interesting journey to witness and svu is at a point where it only seems natural to go that route, to give the audience that perspective of a traumatic event.
Have you read an interview somewhere that Mariska and Pablo told Julie and Warren to "absolutely go for it"? I have read that Mariska jumped right in after she was asked to do stuff she never did before, but I didn't know she had encouraged them to go far before they wrote the episode.
So that's a different interview from the one WL gave to Xfinity or whatever that was? I hadn't seen anything either about them both telling the writers to go for it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I agree with your initial assessment of why this has to end in Benson's rape. I don't feel bad for wishing that fate on a tv character and I don't think anyone should. It's just what makes sense from a story perspective for all of the reasons that you pointed out in your first post and the result that offers the most dramatic, emotionally complicated story telling for future episodes. In the end that's the one that I want to see.
Also, as you both commented, I think the impact an event like that would have on the squad, Barba, Cassidy, etc... is another facet of the potential story here that would be extremely compelling.
I guess we will find out September 25th what the story is going to be, but I think at this point I'm confident that I won't be disappointed. Whether she's raped or not, Benson is not walking away from that encounter unscathed and that is a welcome relief from the unrealistic 'saved just in time' used so often with tv shows.
Yeah I agree with you guys. Especially as far as believability goes, I don't know how they could possibly explain away his failure to rape her when he is a rapist primarily. And I do think it would be helpful for survivors to see how she deals with it. But I don't know that it's going to happen, because even the promo has her with all her clothes on. Either way, it will be intense.
ReplyDeleteYes, I guess we'll see in 4 weeks. No doubt it will be intense either way!
ReplyDeleteAnd my hope is that if she is not raped, the writers try to give the viewers some kind of reasonable explanation as to why he chose not to rape her during all those hours that he held her captive.
Out of respect for the viewers intelligence, they should at least attempt to make the scenario of the violent rapist who lets one woman of the hook, remotely believable. Especially since that particularly woman happens to be the woman he obviously has the most grudge against. I'll be real curious as to how they explain that away!
I completely agree with all of you. Of course I wouldn't want for anyone to get raped however for the sake of this episode, it needs to be done. The torture will not be enough because it will still be just like the episode in undercover. I love liv but Pablo will have to live up to his creepy self. Benson is strong enough to endure and recover with all of us watching. If she doesn't get raped , all this promo hype was for nothing.
ReplyDeleteHi Guys,
ReplyDeleteI am not sure I want to see this fate on Liv. She has had a lot to deal with in her life including "being the product of a rape" - as it is referred to in the past, growing up with a mother who had an alcohol addiction and neglecting Liv the love of a mother, failed relationships and even sexual assault while on the job -Undercover. Liv has devoted her life to help others by bringing justice to victims and for them to heal. The countless nights Liv and her team have had when justice couldn't be made.... As it seemed to me that her team are clueless about this psycho's intention - to rape and/or murder Liv, I'd rather see Det Olivia Benson rescuing herself with the question in mind "What if".
This can still be played out nicely as Liv knows what he is capable of and which ego trips this psycho is on. I agree that something dramatic needs to happen but it doesn't have to be tortureing or raping Liv.
On a personal level, especially with continued episodes, I imagine Liv to be a very hard character to play for Mariska if her character is to be raped and tortured. Mariska is a fantastic actress and if anyone can pull this off, I truly believe in her being and giving her best. I also believe that playing a character in Liv's situation, such as, the pain, anger, frustration, constant reminder and conversations during several episodes are not whithout cconsequences though. Mariska is an actress who devoted her spare time into helping victims in the most amazing way. I imagine it to be heartbreaking and exhausting to play a rape victim to such extent. I may be wrong but I find it hard to believe that after 10-14 hours a day pretending to be a victim of such crime rubs off easily, especially if an actress is involved helping victims outside of work.
I totally understand what you are saying Nancy, the Olivia character have really gone through so,so much already!
ReplyDeleteBut then again, since the writers already have "gone there" with this plot, and now while they are "there" are hyping it up to this degree, they might as well take it all the way.
Especially since the writers obviously wants to tell a story of a survivor, and that survivor being Benson, they should not chicken out with yet another "almost raped" plot. Something real serious needs to happen to her for the hype not to have been totally in vain.
The "what if" issue has been dealt with before in and after the episode "undercover". We don't need a repeat of that.
I think using Benson to portray the journey of a survivor is magnificent idea! We, the audience, have grown to love this character. So it would give us a different view of how traumatic such an experience really can be, from everything to dealing with it, to the reactions of the people close to you, to the victims behavior after such an event etc…
I think it will be a much more powerful experience to witness this journey when it happens to someone we care more about than just another random character.
And something tells me that this is exactly what Mariska wants to act out. She has been so devoted to these issues over the years, and gives so much of herself to fight it, to enlighten people about it, to get people to see the aftermath and effect of it. It would only seem natural for her to want to portray this journey herself if that will get more people to realize the seriousness of such an experience!
I wonder if Warren and Julie reads the comments on this (I must say amazing) blog (I wonder because I know the pay attention to the blog itself) and have thought about the issues mentioned in all these posts before they wrote the episode.
To see if they do, I'm gonna try something just for fun. Okay, here it goes: Dear Warren or Julie, if you have read all the posts under this entry, maybe you would humor me and post a cryptic tweet saying “Offcourse we have” on twitter ;-D
Anyhow, if you read this, keep up the amazing work! I am in aw of what you guys have done to this show!!
I totally understand what you are saying Nancy, the Olivia character have really gone through so,so much already!
ReplyDeleteBut then again, since the writers already have "gone there" with this plot, and now while they are "there" are hyping it up to this degree, they might as well take it all the way.
Especially since the writers obviously want to tell a story of a survivor, and that survivor being Benson, they should not chicken out with yet another "almost raped" plot. Something real serious needs to happen to her for the hype not to have been totally in vain.
The "what if" issue has been dealt with before in and after the episode "undercover". We don't need a repeat of that.
I think using Benson to portray the journey of a survivor is magnificent idea! We, the audience, have grown to love this character. So it would give us a different view of how traumatic such an experience really can be, from everything to dealing with it, to the reactions of the people close to you, to the victims behavior after such an event etc…
I think it will be a much more powerful experience to witness this journey when it happens to someone we care more about than just another random character.
And something tells me that this is exactly what Mariska wants to act out. She has been so devoted to these issues over the years, and gives so much of herself to fight it, to enlighten people about it, to get people to see the aftermath and effect of it. It would only seem natural for her to want to portray this journey herself if that will get more people to realize the seriousness of such and experience!
I wonder if Warren and Julie reads the comments on this (I must say amazing) blog (I wonder because I know the pay attention to the blog) and have thought about the issues mentioned in all these posts before they wrote the episode.
To see if they do, I'm gonna try something just for fun. Okay, here it goes: Dear Warren or Julie, if you have read all the posts here, maybe you could post a cryptic tweet saying “Offcourse we have” ;-)
Anyhow, if you read this, keep up the amazing work! I am in aw of what you guys have done to this show!!
Good comments and I totally agree with Nancy: Olivia can not be raped. It would be a terrible tragedy for the character. And even if the criminals are arrested or die, it would be a victory for him. Olivia has suffered much and does not deserve to go through this pain. It would be unbearable for my heroine.
ReplyDeleteI saw season 15 episode 1 "her negotiation/save Benson" aired 9/25, now they are airing it again 10/30. I was disappointed since I was waiting for episode 7 "Dissonant Voices", episode 8 "Military Justice", episode 9 "Rapist Anonymous".
ReplyDeleteIs Law & Order:SVU going to have 10 more episodes besides what we know from wikipedia?
I hope so.
So far the show is doing well, every episode the characters get better.
Hope Law & Order:SVU continues for another 5 to 10 seasons.