“Sightless In A Savage Land” was Law & Order SVU’s first episode of 2021. It opened with our favorite SVU characters, showing how they are bringing in the new year. Everyone seems to be coping and “feeling good” – as good as things can be, considering what’s been going on the past year. They each bring in the New Year in their own way: Benson is enjoying time at home with Noah, Kat brings some bubbly to a close female friend, Rollins and Carisi are spending time together at her place, and Fin is ready to “pop the question”. But Fin, along with the rest of the squad, have their plans interrupted as duty calls.
The episode also featured ADA Sonny Carisi and Counselor Rafael Barba on opposite sides of a case, and Fin is in the thick of it, requiring him to testify in court. It’s great to have Barba back again, and even better, that he’s opposing Carisi – mentor vs. mentee.
The outcome: The jury deliberated for 6 hours, and Mickey was found guilty – man 2. Fin DID pop the question and Phoebe said YES – with one condition: no more herbal teas.
What did you think of the episode? Comments and discussion welcome!
Loved it!!!!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a spectacular episode and so far the best one of the season, definitely on my favorites list. As I expected and wasn't disappointed, Raul Esparza brought a phenomenal performance along with Peter Scanavino, Ice T and Brett Parks. That scene between him and Garland was on point. This felt like a mixture of both "Fat" and "Uncle". The scene where Carisi pushes Mickey to admit that he meant to kill Ajay and he'd do it again felt similar to Novak in "Fat" pushing Rudi to admit that he meant to kill Tommy Strahan. And after the shooting when Fin approached Mickey and asked him what the hell did he just do reminded me of when Elliot approached Andrew Munch and asked him what has he done after he pushed Brett Allen Banks on the subway tracks. Last, the part that made me very happy is that Fin's to engaged Phoebe, he definitely deserves it. Hopefully this means that we'll get more appearances from her and her helping SVU with cases. A+++
ReplyDeleteThis was a solid episode. I liked it a lot. It was a snapshot of their lives outside of SVU and wasn't done in a way that was intrusive. A lot of people like to celebrate New Years and this was a good way to show life trying to go on like normal for the SVU.
ReplyDeleteI still can't get into the Rollins/Carisi thing. I always felt like she was using him. Again he got stuck by having to watch the kids, at least that's what it looked like. I'm glad to see Fin happy and hope this works out for him.
The Carisi/Barba showdown was okay. I was happier seeing ANY Raul Esparza than watching he and Carisi fight it out in the courtroom, though. Overall it was a nice watch!
So much to unpack here. Im happy for fin. I remember the woman he is with from the episode brothel. Finally fin found love.
ReplyDeleteI dont mind a friendship betweeen rollins and sonny, but I hope they leave it there. Someone who is charming and good looking should have no problems finding someone else. She has made it clear she is not interested and he doesnt have to follow her around like a kicked puppy.
As for the scene between garland and barba, the chief has the right to his feelings and barba has the right to defend his client as he chooses. I know sonny is upset but this was nothing personal. Olivia sought barba out "hypothetically" then acts shocked when he takes him on. He was doing his job.
I strongly believe in vigilante justice. I understand that sonny has to do his job, hell barba would do the same if he was an ADA. However it is easy to feel "the law is the law" but the system lets people down. I will give an example
I read a book called shadow vigilantes. One of the many cases they mentioned was a manin Europe, who raped children repeatedly including his young step children. He went to prison only 2 years. When he got out, he kept raping children. People kept calling the police and he would get off. One time the judge wouldnt even take evidence because they said it would be prejudicial. He keeps raping children and one day someone knocks on his door and shoots him dead when he answers it. This is just one of many examples on how people do things "the right, civilized way" just to get let down so they take matters in their own hands. We know there are all kinds of legal loopholes where murderers and rapists get off scott free. We cant always expect people to sit around and not do anything.
This solider took matters in his own hands. If I were on the jury, not guilty. Dont care what anyone has to say about it . George Zimmerman kills Trayvon martin and gets no time but a man who kills his daughters rapist gets 3 years? I dont think so.
The ending was predictable. I liked seeing sonny face off against his mentor. The show decided to split the difference. Sonny wins but not the exact verdict he wanted. I hope they face off again
It's funny how Jennifer Esposito player both Munch's girlfriend & Fins too
ReplyDeleteGreat episode! The only thing I thought was off was that they had all that buildup and no jury foreman to read the verdict. Also, that bar scene at the end was nothing special with barba quickly exiting.
ReplyDeleteI must have been watching a different episode than you because it seemed like they only filmed half the script. What a disappointment.
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ReplyDeleteI thought this episode was great. The first that I really enjoyed for the season.
What I like about Barba being back was that he was actually *in* the episode and not like S21E13 where he was on screen for all of 50secs (I counted). I read something about Leight teasing more returnees. I'll hold my excitement till I can tell what level of involvement they will have in the episode. Otherwise it's just name-dropping. I'm a little worried of them doing this with Stabler, just relying on his quick appearances and not really incorporating him into the story.
As someone who can have mixed feelings about the whole Rollisi romance (and not for reasons that others have mentioned- I really like Rollins) I did like their relationship in this episode. It was just enough and it felt realistic unlike that scene where she yells at him in the middle of the squad room for leaving policing. It felt so forced and was cringey. However, as someone who likes Rollins and thinks there's so much that can be done with this character, I hope the be-all and end-all of who she is is not Carisi's love interest. Case and point- her abduction story. I will never stop complaining about this episode from Rollins having therapeutic moments with her abductor to the abandonment of this important storyline altogether. She is kidnapped during a *therapy session* a place where she should feel incredibly safe. Add to this that it's Rollins who was never able to feel safe with the idea of therapy and ran away from a first session during Forgiving Rollins. She finally reaches the point where she can open up to a counsellor and this happens. There is so much to take in there and while it is true that in many ways the episode was anticlimactic I was surprised at how much of the commentary on this heavy episode was that Rollisi should have kissed in the elevator. I'm glad they didn't and I think the comfort he gave her is something she is less use to, I'm not sure her own parents have just held her and let her cry. But amazing to me that that was the takeaway for many. Her nephew and mother come to stay in New York (a storyline that should have been just for 1 episode) and it basically leads to these little check-in moments with Carisi. (1/2)
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that Rollins' character proves is that information does not equal understanding. People (in this case other show characters, viewers) can have key information about you and still not get you at all. Without necessarily having Amanda's experiences I think many viewers can relate to that sentiment and the loneliness that comes with it. There's so much that can be done with her character I hope her whole entity isn't reduced to "will she or won't she end up with Carisi". I don't mind them falling in love and like I said actually liked their scenes-all of them- in this episode but I just worry that anything that is happening to/for her is just a conduit for the Rollisi storyline. I will say too that there are still many of us wanting to see more of the Benson-Rollins friendship. That has been lagging.
And since I've mentioned both Stabler and Rollins- I hope that when he returns that the extent of any conversation between Liv and Amanda about him is not just a "he's cute" convo like when then they talked about Trevor Langan. Liv *despised* Amanda because she saw her as stealing Elliot's place. Their breakdown in relationship happened from jump but everyone coming after Amanda right up to Kat has seen warm welcomes from Liv. There was even that scene in Educated Guess where Amanda tried to disclose and Liv couldn't be bothered. I know there were fans waiting to see that moment redressed in Forgiving Rollins and it wasn't. I hope the same doesn't happen here- that when Stabler returns the extent of Liv & Amanda's convo about it isn't just flighty but it could lead to a real look at how they started off and the strain that put on their rel even just as colleagues.
All that broader stuff said though, I did enjoy this episode overall. They calmed down a lot with the on and off mask thing which was great! I could actual focus on the show. I wouldn't mind them dialing back even more on the masks and just leaving it on characters in the background. Some jury members wearing masks and some not didn't work. Frankly they could have all kept them off since they were in the foreground. I also like when they delve into more than one character in the same episode instead of it being the Fin episode or the Barba episode. There will be times that require that, sure, but I like this format of looking into more than one character in same episode. To quote another show, "This is the way". (2/2)
I was glad that it turned out Barba wasn't defending the rapist, but part of me still wishes that he did. I had thought that the case to bring him back would have to be something really exceptional and involve some complexities on the part of the defendant, like we'd be in for another episode like the Treat Williams one or the first Richard Thomas did. But no, it's a garden variety revenge killing with someone we're just introduced to. Instead, why not, say, have Sofia Vassilieva's character come back and kill her rapist? That was legitimately a case where the justice system failed and the characters would have reason to take her side.
ReplyDeleteThe engagement is an interesting development and most certainly means that we'll be seeing Ken sometime soon. Maybe they can get Ludacris back and finally bring that one to a close. I'm also curious as to who Kat's gal pal is and where that might be headed. We've come a long way from the Serena Southerlyn days.
Decent episode but they shouldn't have had Sonny and Rafael face off if they weren't going to dive into it. The next time they go against each other Barba should destroy him just to keep the balance of power (and I like Carisi a lot but let's not turn Barba into a jobber.)
ReplyDeleteCase itself was by the numbers. Furthermore, the killing was so telegraphed. Finn should have intervened 3 separate times and didn't.
A very weak episode. The story's abrupt turns from one thread to another were simply tiresome, especially when it settled on such a predictable case for the main thread.
ReplyDeleteLoved loved loved this episode. Best episode in a very long time and the only one I have rewatched a couple of times
ReplyDeleteIt was absolutely brilliant to see Raul back as Barba. He has been badly missed and brought a spark back to the show. And he was the old spiky quick Barba not the wishy washy one Liv and the team had pushed him into. I really hope we get to see more of him
Absolutely loved Carisi vs Barba. While I don't want to see the two friends arguing their confrontations were brilliant. I just wish Barba had won and if we're lucky enough to get this again please let Barba win
I liked how this episode blended telling us about the personal lives of the main characters along with telling a story about crime and justice. I also liked how they showed that the lawyers on both sides were honorable and 2 sides of a case deserve to be heard. I did not sympathize as much with the father her murdered the rapist as other here did. It would be one thing if he had not been arrested and if there was not a strong case against him, but there was and the murder was premeditated. I also thought it would be unlikely in real life for a defense attorney to take that big of a risk. Overall though, intriguing episode.
ReplyDeleteThis episode has just reached the UK and me and my partner hated it. The case was so open and shut - the murder was premeditated, the PTSD business obviously phoney. I could not believe for a second that Barba would be so into defending the guy. The jury were looking at a guy who didn’t respect the jury system; it doesn’t matter whether AJ turned out to be guilty, he was entitled to his day in court, like Mickey.
ReplyDeleteAnd Fin’s ‘veterans can do no wrong’ attitude really hurts his character. Either the SVU team uphold the law, or they don’t.
Plus, as another poster said, Liv’s ‘I wasn’t trying to get you to get involved Rafael’ nonsense was just awful.
I always liked Barba a lot, this pod person wasn’t Barba. I was hoping this episode would clearly show that Sonny can more than hold his own, and get a clean win.
In the beginning of the episode Phoebe offers Fin tea and says: "Rooibos, it's herbal". Rooibos (translates as red bush) is only grown in South Africa, although now sold all over the world.
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