Law & Order SVU “Wildlife” Episode Information

As reported here on my blog on October 20, Big Boi and Carlos Leon were going to be appearing in an upcoming episode of Law & Order SVU. NBC has released the epsiode information; it’s called “Wildlife” and the epsiode information is below.


Law & Order SVU “Wildlife” Air Date November 18, 2008

DETECTIVE ELLIOT STABLER (CHRIS MELONI) JEOPARDIZES HIS MARRIAGE WHEN HE GOES UNDERCOVER TO INFILTRATE AN ANIMAL SMUGGLING RING WITH DETECTIVE OLIVIA BENSON (MARISKA HARGITAY) POSING AS A PROSTITUTE.

Detective Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni) arrives on the scene of a murder to find a young woman brutally killed, and carrying a rare bird species found dead in her purse. Dr. Melinda Warner (Tamara Tunie) comes back with some startling evidence – the saliva found in the cuts on the victim’s body shows she was mauled by a tiger. Oscar Assadorian (guest star Carlos Leon) leads the detectives to the victim’s twin sister, Anna Bleers (guest star Caitlin Fitzgerald) who in turn leads the detectives to Hip Hop artist, Gots Money (guest star Big Boi). Gots, who admits to working for an animal smuggling ring, agrees to go undercover with Detective Stabler to catch the smugglers, Andre Bushido (guest star Andrew Divoff) and Tybor (guest star Reg E. Cathey). But when Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) poses as a prostitute to help out her partner undercover, Detective Stabler finds himself wounded and his marriage in disarray.

Also starring: Richard Belzer (Detective John Much), Dann Florek (Captain Donald Cragen), Ice-T (Detective Odafin Tutuola), Michaela McManus (A.D.A Kim Greylek), and B.D. Wong (Dr. George Huang).

My recap and review of “Wildlife “ can be found here.






Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order SVU “Lunacy” One Crazy Story (Recap & Review)

This much-touted appearance of James Brolin in this episode of Law & Order SVU, “Lunacy” was probably one of most obvious “guest star cast as the murderer” stories in a while. It was also the most shameless use of a promo teaser by hyping Olivia as a blonde and then only showing her that was for probably less than 30 seconds. And, just when we thought we were done with the Stabler family for a while, we get Dickie – er, I mean Dick – forced on us.

The episode opens when the body of woman is found floating face down in the river, her hands severed off and she appears to have been sexually assaulted. Lucky for Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni), some people were filming in the area, which just so happened to give them a lead to a cab spotted in the area. While checking out the cab, they find that someone is also using the same cab number, which has been spotted at another crime where a woman was assaulted.

Meanwhile, ME Warner (Tamara Tunie) is working to identify the body, and concludes that the hands may have been severed by a passing boat, and what looks like a sexual assault was done by some kind of weird water creature. But, luckily for her they find, through a retinal identification, that the murdered woman is none other than astronaut Marga Janssen, from Belgium.

This brings the SVU detectives to a space symposium, where they run into an old mentor of Stapler’s Dick Finley (James Brolin). He points them in the direction of Jenssen's girlfriend, who admits to arguing with Jenssen that night. She also notes that Jenssen’s necklace seems to be missing from her body; they had matching necklaces and they never took them off. They also check out reports of a payload specialist who argued with Janssen on one of the ISS missions. But, he’s a red herring. The detectives also find a similar crime to Jenssen's assualt where the same cab number may have been implicated, thinking there is a pattern to the crimes. The victim does not recall her attacker’s face though, just the voice. By the way, this whole thing is a red hering so let’s get it out of the way first. They nab the fake cabbie by a ruse with Olivia disguised as a blonde carrying lots of shopping bags, But, while he admits to the other similar crimes, he has a perfect alibi to avoid getting nailed for killing Jenssen – he was off assaulting someone else at the same time, and that person verifies his story.

They also find that someone is using Janssen’s credit cards, and in a flash, they go to the gas station to pick him up. It’s amazing how lucky they are that the gas station was so close and that the person was still arguing there with someone at the gas station about the credit card. Wouldn’t the normal reaction when someone is using a stolen card that gets flagged to leave the area as quickly as possible? No, of course not. And it just so happens that Elliot lets Finley come along with them (not sure why this would be considered OK). But when the guy tries to escape by hitting the fire suppression button, which stuns and disorients Olivia and Elliot, Finely managers to punch him and prevent his escape. How convenient. He is later identified as Vince Beckwith.

When Janssen’ necklace is located at a pawnshop, the pawnshop owner identifies Beckwith as the person who pawned it. Beckwith admits he pawned it, but he got it out of a dumpster, and saw the man who dropped Janssen’s purse in as well. Lucky for the detectives that Finley knows someone named Anton Thibodeau (Chris Elliott) who matches the description, and there just so happens to be evidence of stalkerish letters from him to Janssen that Finley produced for the squad. They easily pick up Thibodeau, who shows Stabler his astronaut memorabilia, including someone’s undies. Behind the one-way mirror while Stabler interrogates Thibodeau, Dr Huang (B.D. Wong) mentions that Thibodeau isn’t showing the rage that someone capable of the crime would be showing. Of course, Thibodeau suddenly gets enraged.

They put Thibodeau in a line up, but Beckwith says he doesn’t see the person who dropped Janssen’s purse into the dumpster. Thibodeau must be released. Meanwhile, Elliot brings in his son to introduce him to his namesake, Dick Finely. When Olivia spots him, we get this encounter:


Olivia: "Dickie?"
Dickie: "I go by Dick."
Olivia: "of course you do."

I found this amusing as I always cringed every time Elliot referred to Dickie. I suppose most viewers did too. Anyway, Finley gives Dick a small replica of the launch vehicle that is supposed to be taking him to the moon. But, trouble ensues when, as Thibodeau is walking through the squad room, he spots Beckwith, and grabs a gun yelling” You killed my friend” and shoots Beckwith point blank. While everyone runs for cover, Elliot protects Dickie – er, I mean Dick – and Olivia holds a gun on Thibodeau. Finley, however, takes matters into his own hands and knocks Finley to the ground, and the gun goes off and Thibodeau is dead. It seems both suspects are now conveniently dead. Finley then asks Olivia out on a date, to which she agrees.

But a light bulb goes off when Elliot is talking to Dickie – er, I mean Dick – and, looking at the model of the rocket, Dick mentions how someone would do anything to do to the moon. What we don’t see is Elliot taking that model rocket and getting Finley’s fingerprint off of it, which matches the fingerprint on Janssen’s necklace. He goes to Finley’s place to confront him, and breaks up a tryst with Finley and another woman (who I think we are supposed to think was Olivia at first). Finley think Eliot is there to block his date with Olivia, instead, Elliot confronts him about him murdering Janssen, telling him of the evidence. They argue and it comes to blows, but Elliot gets his man. He’s loading Finley into the squad car, when Olivia, dressed to the nines, arrives in a cab for her date…, which won’t be taking place.

This episode should win all kinds of awards, such as:

1. Highest number of red herrings in an episode
2. Most obvious use of a guest star as the perp
3. Most overhyped tease of a main star dressed in costume (Olivia’s 30 seconds as a blonde)
4. Highest number of excuses to get the main star to “dress up” (Olivia in her “bait” attire, and dressed for her date)

There were other things that were notable in this episode that I felt made the episode bearable. Of course, these things usually involve Munch and Fin. I found the amusement over Fin’s knowledge of the use of urine bottles amusing myself. I also found it funny when Munch was getting in his conspiracy theory mode with Finley, but later gets his autograph, just in case he was “wrong.” Of course, Fin has to comment that he thinks it just started snowing in hell.

Seriously though, I liked this episode in some sort of weird way. It’s almost in a CSI Miami kind of way. You know, the story, the scenarios, the evidence, the acting, all add up to something that is so bad that you can’t miss it. In a way, in its attempt to put more focus on its main stars – Hargitay and Meloni – the show seems to have sacrificed the drama. I miss the drama. I think the show can get it back if it quits trying so hard to shamelessly promote and overhype Meloni and Hargitay. Sure, I like them both, but I don’t like it when the show seems to focus on those two at the expense of everyone else. Is it too much to ask for more Munch? Or Munch (Richard Belzer) and Fin (Ice-T) together? I would even settle for a little more Cragen (Dann Florek), who always seems to have so much to offer in even the tiny scenes he’s in. This series could be doing much better in the ratings if they weren’t so intent on making it the Meloni/Hargitay hour. There was one high point: the absence of ADA Grayleck (Michaela McManus).

And please, enough of the Stabler family drama. Because any more will drive me to lunacy.





Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information,here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

SVU, Law & Order Casting News, Episode Updates

I already reported here back on October 9th that Lynn Redgrave was going to be a guest star on an upcoming November episode of Law & Order Criminal Intent. Some additional guest stars have been named for upcoming episodes of Law & Order and Law & Order SVU.

Legendary tenor Placido Domingo won a bid for a walk-on role on "Law & Order, during a live auction at the Princess Grace Awards last Wednesday night (October 15). According to the New York Post, bidding for the role “became heated after producer Dick Wolf interrupted the auctioneer to change the prize from a cameo to a speaking role. Domingo coughed up $16,000 for his shot at small-screen stardom. "It's probably going to turn into a singing role," chuckled one attendee…” The episode and date has not been named.

As if Law & Order SVU didn’t have enough rappers with Ice-T in the cast, it will now feature an additional “outcast” – that is, rapper Big Boi, a member of “Outkast”. Several sources are reporting that Big Boi will appear as a rapper (no, really?) in a November episode. His name on the episode is reported to be “Gots Money”.

Also, Carlos Leon, the father of Madonna’s daughter Lourdes, has just wrapped up shooting a guest spot for SVU for an episode called “Wildlife” scheduled to air November 18. He will play Oscar Assadorian, a witness in a murder case that Benson and Stabler are working.

And, just to bring everyone up to speed, here’s the latest information for the next four episodes of Law & Order SVU:


Law & Order SVU “Lunacy” Air Date October 21, 2008

A FAMOUS ASTRONAUT IS FOUND DEAD, AND DETECTIVE ELLIOT STABLER’S (CHRISTOPHER MELONI) OLD MENTOR, DICK FINLEY (GUEST STAR JAMES BROLIN), HELPS INVESTIGATE THE CASE.
After famous astronaut Marga Janssen’s corpse is found afloat in the waters of Battery Park, Detectives Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni) and Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) initially believe the murder is linked to a string of serial rapes. Upon further investigation, this theory is proven false when their suspect’s alibi checks out. At a dead end, Detective Stabler turns to his old mentor and former colleague of Janssen’s, NASA astronaut Dick Finley to shed some light on the case. Finley’s advice exposes several more suspects, but possibly takes the detectives further from the truth. Also starring: Richard Belzer, Dann Florek, Ice-T, Michaela McManus, and B.D. Wong.

My recap and review of “ Lunacy “ can be found here.



Law & Order SVU “Retro” Air Date October 28, 2008

DOCTOR MELINDA WARNER’S (TAMARA TUNIE) EXPERTISE COMES INTO PLAY WHEN HOMEOPATHIC DOCTOR GIDEON HUTTON (GUEST STAR MARTIN MULL) GOES ON TRIAL FOR THE DEATH OF A YOUNG GIRL WITH AIDS.
Detectives Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni) and Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) find themselves in unfamiliar territory when Doctor Raye Massey (Donna Murphy) calls them in to investigate the case of a baby infected with AIDS. The detectives enlist the help of Dr. Melinda Warner (Tamara Tunie), a member of an AIDS surveillance team along with Dr. Massey. While Dr. Warner investigates the baby’s medical case, Detectives Stabler and Benson discover that the baby had been prescribed ineffective vitamins by Doctor Gideon Hutton (guest star Martin Mull), who runs a “voodoo” medical practice. After the detectives probe for more answers, similar cases of mistreated AIDS surface, such as the death of Susan Ross’ (guest star Paula Malcomson) daughter. Her 18-year-old son Tommy Ross (guest star Aidan Mitchell) also gets pulled into the case, forcing him to decide whether to take on his mother’s belief in homeopathic medicine or fight against it. With Dr. Warner’s medical research and testimony, the case calls the ethics of Dr. Hutton’s practices into question. Also starring: Richard Belzer (Detective John Much), Dann Florek (Captain Donald Cragen), Ice-T (Detective Odafin Tutuola), Michaela McManus (A.D.A Kim Greylek), Tamara Tunie (Dr. Melinda Warner), and B.D. Wong (Dr. George Huang).


NO EPISODE NOVEMBER 4, 2008 – ELECTION DAY – PLEASE BE SURE TO VOTE!


Law & Order SVU “Babes” Air Date November 11, 2008

A TEENAGER BURNED TO DEATH PUTS DETECTIVES ELLIOT STABLER (CHRIS MELONI) AND JOHN MUNCH (RICHARD BELZER) ON THE CASE, ONLY TO REVEAL A COMMUNITY IN CHAOS WITH A GROUP OF TEENAGED GIRLS IN A “PREGNANCY PACT” AND A HIGH SCHOOL “SAINT”, MAX MATARAZZO (GUEST STAR JESSE MCCARTNEY).
When a boy is lit on fire, Detectives Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) and John Munch (Richard Belzer) investigate the malicious crime. In search of a lead, the Detectives end up at Blessed Heart High School, where their student escort, Max Matarazzo (guest star Jesse McCartney) introduces them to the ‘Blessed Heart Chastity Circle’ and senior Alec Bernardi (guest star Philip Ettinger). Alec admits to hurting the victim, but in turn opens a new door for the detectives when he unveils a group of pregnant teenage girls. A strange web of secrets and bad blood in this “close-knit” neighborhood offers a challenge for the detectives. Also starring: Mariska Hargitay, Richard Belzer, Dann Flore, Ice-T, Michaela McManus, Tamara Tunie, and B.D. Wong.

My recap and review of “Babes “ can be found here.



Added October 23:

Law & Order SVU “Wildlife” Air Date November 18, 2008

DETECTIVE ELLIOT STABLER (CHRIS MELONI) JEOPARDIZES HIS MARRIAGE WHEN HE GOES UNDERCOVER TO INFILTRATE AN ANIMAL SMUGGLING RING WITH DETECTIVE OLIVIA BENSON (MARISKA HARGITAY) POSING AS A PROSTITUTE.

Detective Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni) arrives on the scene of a murder to find a young woman brutally killed, and carrying a rare bird species found dead in her purse. Dr. Melinda Warner (Tamara Tunie) comes back with some startling evidence – the saliva found in the cuts on the victim’s body shows she was mauled by a tiger. Oscar Assadorian (guest star Carlos Leon) leads the detectives to the victim’s twin sister, Anna Bleers (guest star Caitlin Fitzgerald) who in turn leads the detectives to Hip Hop artist, Gots Money (guest star Big Boi). Gots, who admits to working for an animal smuggling ring, agrees to go undercover with Detective Stabler to catch the smugglers, Andre Bushido (guest star Andrew Divoff) and Tybor (guest star Reg E. Cathey). But when Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) poses as a prostitute to help out her partner undercover, Detective Stabler finds himself wounded and his marriage in disarray.

Also starring: Richard Belzer (Detective John Much), Dann Florek (Captain Donald Cragen), Ice-T (Detective Odafin Tutuola), Michaela McManus (A.D.A Kim Greylek), and B.D. Wong (Dr. George Huang).





Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Introducing Detective Zach Nichols (Jeff Goldblum); Criminal Intent Promo Clips

The USA Network has released a character profile for Jeff Goldblum’s character, Detective Zach Nichols, on Law & Order Criminal Intent. Here’s how USA describes him:

After September, 11th 2001, Detective Zach Nichols left the police force to discover the meaning of life. But a cerebral, quirky and efficient cop doesn't stay away for long. Now, Det. Nichols' Socratic approach to crime scene investigation has his new partner, Det. Wheeler, and his old partner, Captain Ross, just trying to keep up.

A child of two psychiatrists, Nichols naturally shunned the shrink profession. It didn't have the closure like solving a crime does, at least for him. Even though becoming a cop was a means of rebellion for Nichols, he has found his father as an expert psychiatric witness in many of the cases he's been involved in.

Whether it's taking in a matinee movie to clear his mind or thinking outside the box about a criminal's motive, Zack Nichols is the x-factor on any crime scene investigation.


USA Network also provided summary of Jeff Goldblum’s impressive career, which can be found here. By the way, Jeff’s 56th birthday will be coming up on October 22.

And, in case you haven't already seen them, here are a few promo video clips of the new season from USA Network (the links under the clip direct to higher quality videos on USA's web site):


Clip #1 ("Cuffs")



Clip #2


Don't forget, the season premier will be Friday, November 7th, at 9:00 PM ET. The episodes scheduled for November are as follows:

November 7: "Faithfully" (Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe)
November 14: "The Glory That Was" (Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Nicholson)
November 21: "Folie A Deux" (Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe)

And, as an added bonus, here is a cute promo with Kathryn Erbe:



Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Chris Meloni on The Tonight Show; “Lunacy” Preview

If you missed Chris Meloni’s (Law & Order SVU) appearance on The Tonight Show, here it is, courtesy of NBC. It also includes a clip from next week’s episode, “Lunacy”. Update: I am sorry - the preview is no longer available!

My recap and review of Law & Order SVU "Lunacy" can be found at this link.


Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information,here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order SVU “Lunacy” Episode Information

Here is the episode information for the October 21st new episode of Law & Order SVU, “Lunacy”. It will feature guest star James Brolin, and, according to the NBC preview, it also will have guest star Chris Elliott. The NBC preview also included the line “Another astronaut in a diaper story.” That sounds like a similar twist to the Law & Order Criminal Intent episode “Rocket Man”, doesn’t it? I don’t think astronauts will ever live down that real-life diaper story.

Law & Order SVU “Lunacy” Air Date October 21, 2008

A FAMOUS ASTRONAUT IS FOUND DEAD, AND DETECTIVE ELLIOT STABLER’S (CHRISTOPHER MELONI) OLD MENTOR, DICK FINLEY (GUEST STAR JAMES BROLIN), HELPS INVESTIGATE THE CASE.
After famous astronaut Marga Janssen’s corpse is found afloat in the waters of Battery Park, Detectives Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni) and Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) initially believe the murder is linked to a string of serial rapes. Upon further investigation, this theory is proven false when their suspect’s alibi checks out. At a dead end, Detective Stabler turns to his old mentor and former colleague of Janssen’s, NASA astronaut Dick Finley to shed some light on the case. Finley’s advice exposes several more suspects, but possibly takes the detectives further from the truth. Also starring: Richard Belzer, Dann Florek, Ice-T, Michaela McManus, and B.D. Wong.

My recap and review of Law & Order SVU "Lunacy" can be found at this link.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order Criminal Intent Season 8 Cast Photos

The cast photos from the upcoming season 8 of Law & Order Criminal Intent have been released. Here they are, courtesy of Spoiler TV. Enjoy these pictures of Vincent D’Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, Julianne Nicholson, Jeff Goldblum, and Eric Bogosian.

Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order SVU “Swing” A Moody Story

I think that this episode had two distinctive mood swings of its own. Fast paced and interesting in the first half, slow and melodramatic in the second. It also offered a bit of a break from the usual SVU story lines, but not necessarily in a good way. They probably should have titled this episode “ The Meloni and Burstyn's Emmy Nomination Reel.”

First, the recap:

The episode begins with someone in the shower. She’s singing. (The song is an old sea song "The Eddystone Light". ) But, a man comes into the bathroom with a baseball bat, clearly to defend himself against what now seems to be an intruder in the shower. The man opens the shower curtain, threatens with the bat, and the naked girl flees the shower and the bathroom by jumping through the bathroom window, taking the shower curtain with her. We can only briefly see her face.

Later, Olivia (Mariska Hargitay) is already at the scene, and Elliot (Chris Meloni) is arriving. (I assume he’s off suspension?) He wonders why they got the case, did Olivia’s “spidey senses” tell her because it was a naked girl that she must have been a rape victim? Olivia looks at him with a serious glare and says the girl who fled the scene was his daughter, Kathleen.

Elliot talks to the owners of the home, and while he himself seems to be searching to explanations for his daughter’s behavior, he suggests that maybe this was just a harmless college kid prank, The owners are not receptive to Elliot’s suggestions, and become hostile when, after asking for his name and badge number, the realize that the intruder was Elliot’s daughter.

Stabler and Benson later find Kathleen (Allison Siko), still clad in the shower curtain, in the park, on the swings. Kathleen is glad to see her father, and she wants to play. They take her home. Later, while Kathleen is in her room, Elliot enters, and while he talks, she removes a necklace and puts it in a drawer. She admits she took some pills, and doesn’t know what they were. She also said it’s the first time she’s tried anything other than vodka.

Elliot talks to her dorm roommate, Julia, who indicates that Kathleen has been acting odd. Kathleen wildly painted their room the week before and said she wanted to be inside the sun. She was also hanging with a wild crowd. Julia points Elliot in the direction of another girl, Mickey Braithwaite.

Mickey is hanging with a group of guys when Elliot approaches and tells them to get lost. He grabs her backpack, despite her objections, and finds what he thinks is cocaine. As he is arresting her, she quietly says she is really and undercover cop, Nicki Breslin, and he’d better make the arrest look good so as not to blow her cover.

Back at the SVU squad, Nicki tells him that Kathleen was not her target, she’s just a user who’s been using coke and downers. Stabler’s wife Kathy (Isabel Gillies) also arrives at the squad in a panic. It seems that Kathleen left the house, escaping out a window. Elliot seems to be blaming Kathy, but she tells him not to blame this one on her. As Elliot thinks where to look for her, Nicki suggests a place by an abandoned dry cleaners that is a drug hangout. Elliot finds Kathleen there, laying under another guy and clearly unconscious.

They take her to St. Mark’s Hospital, and the treat her for an overdose. The doctor tells Elliot that Kathleen was very agitated and had to be sedated, and that she is very sick. He believes she has been self medicating, but the signs of alcohol abuse, hypersexualization, her DWI and credit card theft indicate she is bipolar. Elliot declares, “My daughter’s not crazy” and the doctor reminds Elliot that he didn’t say she was crazy, he said she was sick. Eliot gets a little freaky and walks out, punching the hospital parking sign in his frustration. Cragen (Dann Florek) and Olivia approach him, telling Elliot that the victims now want to press charges, because Kathleen stole jewelry. He said the diamond necklace in question was a CZ and a gift from him for her birthday.

He goes to ADA Grayleck (Michaela McManus) for help, who tells him it’s now a charge of grand larceny 3 and “burg” 2. Since they claim Elliot used his badge to sweep this under the rug, her hands are tied. She tells him to get a good lawyer, but hypothetically, if Kathleen is mentally ill this could help things.

He gets a lawyer (CCH Pounder) who he knows will be tough on the prosecution. When Elliot wants to be present while she talks to Kathleen, she tells Elliot that he can’t be there, it would void the attorney-client privilege. Later, Olivia is approaching Elliot, with two detectives in tow. They are there to arrest Kathleen. Kathleen could avoid it if she admits he is mentally ill but she refuses to do so, and goes a little nutty. While she looks almost leeringly at one of the detectives, she gets arrested.

While Kathleen is in central booking, her lawyer tells Elliot and Kathy that the DA is amendable to a lesser charge but the victims are out for blood. Since Kathleen won’t admit she has a mental problem, the lawyer proposes a “story”, and Kathy is appalled the lawyer – and Elliot – would even consider a lie. The lawyer says since BPD runs in families, if they can show a family member has the same problem this could also help.

We then see Elliot at his mother’s home on Long Beach Island. Apparently he hasn’t seem her for three years. Bernadette Stabler (Ellen Burstyn) seems a little wired, and Elliot explains Kathleen’s problem and asks her to help by admitting her own mental issues. She refuses to admit she has a problem, and they argue. She accused him of being just like his father – “no spirit.”

They walk onto the beach, where she reminds Elliot he wanted to be an architect. He says he wanted to be a cop. She starts to build a sandcastle, he says he just wants her to admit she’s sick to help Kathleen. He recalls a situation where, during one of her manic periods, she shot at his father and Elliot. She’s now ignoring him, as if he isn’t even talking to her, clearly absorbed in her own mania. He leaves, dejected.

Later, Elliot returns to the home of the victims, and returns the necklace Kathleen stole. The man is a little confused, saying that this could be used as evidence against Kathleen, but Eliot says this is the only way to save her. In court, the necklace is indeed used as evidence against Kathleen and when she hears that her father turned it in, she flies into a rage and is taken away. Kathleen’s lawyer is stunned and so it Kathy, who proceed to slap Elliot and call him a bastard.

Back at the squad in the sleeping area, Olivia comes to talk. She doesn’t seem to understand why Elliot never mentioned the issues with his mother. He says, “I’m through the looking glass here, Liv.” He never thought he’d see his daughter locked up, but he's glad, it was his only option.

Olivia decides to go to Long Island and meet with Bernadette, who, upon meeting Olivia, says that she can see why she scares the pants off Kathy. Bernadette brought pictures of Elliot as a child, one of him dressed as a giant carrot (!) for a Thanksgiving Day pageant. (Yes, a giant carrot.) She tells Olivia that Elliot erased his whole childhood, but that she tried to be a good mother. He was embarrassed by her “flamboyance.” She admit she never saw a doctor about her illness, but had tried meds once when they were forced on her when her husband had her committed after she had a fight with him and the “gun went off.” She won’t go to court and announce she’s crazy. But Olivia asks her to help – for her granddaughter.

Bernadette goes to jail with Olivia to see Kathleen. They have a talk about their problems, and while Bernadette won’t openly admit her mental issues, they are implied. She tells Kathleen that “the higher you fly, the farther you fall.” Kathleen says “THEY put me in here” and Bernadette says “ YOU put yourself in here.” She recounts a story where, in one of her moods, she went for a drive in a blizzard in 1969 with the family and crashed into a lamppost, and Elliot broke his arm in the process, She said she was chasing the snowflakes. Clearly she is trying to tell Kathleen that she understands her problem and that she needs some help. She also tells Kathleen to take responsibility for her own actions. She also tells Kathleen that she paid a terrible price by living her life the way she had.

At the arraignment, Kathleen pleads guilty to a lesser misdemeanor and will be required to have inpatient psychiatric treatment and take meds, and must come back in 6 months for review. She agrees. Elliot seems surprised at the events, and Olivia tells him, “Maybe God remembered how cute you were as a carrot” and the episode ends as he watches Kathleen be taken away.

Now, my comments. During the first 20 minutes or so of this episode I thought it wasn’t all that bad. Sure, it wasn’t like the usual case, and yes I am tired of all the Stabler family drama, but I hoped that maybe Kathleen’s problem would lead to something bigger. But it dragged in the second half with far too much screen time given to Ellen Burstyn. It’s not that Elliot’s back story with his mother wasn’t interesting, it’s just that there was too much of it. For example, when he goes to her house, the scene should have either started and ended in the house, or started and ended on the beach. By having a scene in the house and the beach, they stretched out the story of his childhood and her issues too much. To add insult to injury, we seem to have to relive more of her story when Olivia meets Bernadette to get her help, and again when she talks to Kathleen in jail. The whole bit about “chasing snowflakes” seemed to almost romanticize her disorder, but I suppose that is how Bernadette saw it. As far as Burstyn’s performance, it was trite and wasn’t that memorable. Besides, no one can quite do “bipolar mom” like Sally Field when she was on ER.

The greater mystery is why, with Elliot knowing how his mother acted when he was growing up, that he didn’t see similar behavior in Kathleen and take steps to get her help? For someone whose job it is to be observant, he really botched this one. And why didn’t tell his wife or Kathleen’s lawyer BEFORE they went to court that he turned in the necklace is beyond me. While he felt that putting her away was the only way to get help, he could have at least told Kathy he’d done it so she wouldn’t have gone off on him in public. I guess Elliot doesn’t trust anyone and now there will probably be MORE turmoil with the Stabler marriage. Personally, I’m tired of all the Stabler family drama.

Was it also intentioned to highlight his mother’s illness by showing his picture dressed up in a giant carrot costume? I suppose that the choice of carrot for a customer must mean you’re nuts. Or, was it only to give Olivia that absolutely horrible, strange closing line, “Maybe God remembered how cute you were as a carrot”? I could have thought of a lot of better things to say, rather than what basically what translated to “I saw your mom and she showed me the humiliating picture of you in a carrot costume.” Of course, it was Olivia’s way of taking credit for getting Elliot the help he needed with Kathleen. Maybe her kind of help is not what he wanted.

While it seemed that Elliot was off suspension, it was almost as if it never even happened because no reference was made to it at all.

The only thing we can be thankful is for the short screen time given to Michaela McManus, whose blank stare is really bothersome to me. CCH Pounder did a great job as Kathleen’s attorney, however. I was a bit perplexed, though, when Elliot seemed to be so willing to go along with the clearly false story she suggested. Kathy did the right thing by reminding him of all the problems he’s had in the past with dishonesty with lawyers. It just surprises me how the main characters always suddenly seem to forget their life experiences the minute they are faced with a personal crisis.

The preview for next week actually made me groan when they showed Olivia looking like a blonde hooker. It also looks like they have moved the episode “Retro” that was originally scheduled to air that date, and will instead show “Lunacy” which is about astronauts. I think diapers were mentioned. Didn’t Criminal Intent already do an astronaut and diapers episodes?

I’m not quite sure what is happening to this show. I can only hope that the Stabler drama goes on the back burner – for a long time.

Two Minute Replay “Swing”


Scene from “Swing”




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