Law & Order SVU “The Burden of Our Choices” Promo

Here is the promo for Law & Order SVU “The Burden of Our Choices” airing on Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 10PM ET on NBC.


My recap and review of Law & Order SVU “The Burden Of Our Choices” can be found at this link.





Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order.

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

Law & Order SVU “Down Low In Hell’s Kitchen” Photos

Here are photos from Law & Order SVU “Down Low In Hell’s Kitchen” airing on Thursday, October 10, 2019 at 10PM ET on NBC. The photos feature Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, Kelli Giddish, Peter Scanavino, Curtis Armstrong as Robert Fischer, L. Steven Taylor as Mathis Brooks, Zuleikha Robinson as Bureau Chief Vanessa Hadid, Ryan Buggle as Noah Porter Benson, Demore Barnes as Deputy Chief Christian Garland, Ernest Waddell as Ken Randall.


My recap and review of Law & Order SVU “Down Low In Hell’s Kitchen” can be found at this link.

Photos by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC 2019 NBCUniversal Media, LLC

Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order.

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

Law & Order SVU “At Midnight In Manhattan” Episode Information

Here are the details for a new episode of Law & Order SVU, “At Midnight In Manhattan.”

Law & Order SVU “At Midnight In Manhattan” Air Date October 24, 2019 (10 PM ET/9C Thursday NBC)

The detectives are spread thin when three major cases come in at Midnight. Rollins and Carisi argue over an arrest. Starring Mariska Hargitay, Ice T, Kelli Giddish and Peter Scanavino. Guest starring Jamie Gray Hyder, Bea Cordelia, Afi Bijou, Ja'Siah Young and Nicole Brydon Bloom.

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My recap and review of Law & Order SVU “At Midnight In Manhattan” can be found at this link.




Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order.

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

Law & Order SVU “The Darkest Journey Home” Recap and Review

“The Darkest Journey Home” was an interesting episode about a girl who experiences a horrific sexual trauma (played expertly by Ariel Winter). It also featured Benson, Fin, and Rollins having to re-live some of their own past traumas to learn a new trauma-based interview technique.

I find it difficult to watch an episode where the SVU doesn’t seem to do anything to get the victim medical help for what may be obvious mental, self-destructive issues.  Issue 1: Raegan clearly is a party girl who enjoys getting high in various ways to the point of blackouts. Issue 2: She’s an admitted liar, thinking her made up life is better than her real one. Issue 3: She lacks maturity, thinking it's funny to  make it appear her fiance hit her. Issue 4: she’s engaging in risky behavior.    Of course, these things, either individually or combined, are not excuses for what happened to her. But they do signal someone who may need an expert - a psychologist or psychiatrist - not only to help her address possible mental "imbalances" but most immediately to help her through the trauma of a serious sexual assault of which she has little initial recall.

The episode highlights the use of the newer trauma-based interview technique, but after watching  Benson, Fin, and Rollins go through the process themselves, and then seeing Benson use it during the investigation, it doesn’t seem like anything we haven’t seen before. Fin explains it as letting the victim go back and the interviewer just staying out of the way. But we’ve seen the detectives do this many times before – even walking the victim through the incident to help them recall – both on SVU AND Law & Order. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think this episode explained what is so new or special about this technique.

Benson, now Captain, still has to be directly involved with the victims, while Fin and Rollins are stretched thin as they are apparently the only two SVU detectives at the 16th Precinct. Benson says she is working on getting help. It's hard to imagine that in a Manhattan precinct they can't get someone else to help cover immediately - at least temporarily. Benson, as Captain, should get out of front-line work.

As Benson, Fin, and Rollins go through the role playing themselves, Benson re-lives her kidnapping by William Lewis; Rollins recalls being in a situation where someone (I assume it was her boss in Atlanta, Deputy Chief Patton ) got rough with her in bed and who hit her, with her ending up bleeding; Fin recalls when his mother was shot in front of him.  I found myself wishing they relayed  a trauma that we’d never heard about before (not that I wish any new trauma on these people!).

Carisi seems more comfortable in the job, and deftly works the suspects in order to get a deal and avoid trial. This doesn’t seem to please Raegan very much, and considering that she didn’t want her behavior that day with a former boss to get dragged into the mix, she should have been grateful. Had her behavior been brought to light, along with her own friends’ testimonies, she would have been hard-pressed to get any sympathy from a jury.

Here is the recap:

Benson enters a room with Dr. Alexis Hanover, explaining her presence is mandatory by the new deputy chief. Benson comments on her 20-year experience and is familiar with trauma-based interviewing. The doctor explains this part of the training is role-playing, asking if Benson can think of a trauma in her life. Benson scoffs, and the doctor suggests something in her life she may have thought about a lot already. Benson says she is ready, and the doctor asks what brought her here, and what happened to her, what she saw or heard. Benson says she remembers she came to and he was still in her apartment. She just remember his breathing. The doctor says Benson asks her victims when they are most vulnerable to go back to a place they would rather not go. Benson nods, and says okay. She is very uncomfortable. We see flashbacks of her attack by Williams Lewis as Benson explains she remembers him pulling the duct tape off her mouth and it was burning, stinging. She felt him breathing in her ear. The whole time she kept thinking, “I’m a cop. How could I have let my guard down.” The doctor asks if she wants water, and Benson says “Sure. Thank you.”

Meanwhile, Raegan is drinking at a bar with friends. One asks where is her ring, and Raegan says she didn’t want to lose it. When asked if it is about Richard working a double shift this weekend, she says she doesn’t know what they are talking about. She says she loves Richard. Clearly they’ve been drinking a lot.

Back with the doctor, Benson recalls he gave her something to drink. It wasn’t water, it was vodka, which he forced down her throat. She felt his hand gripping her face, hard, and then he put the tape back on, and he kissed her and she couldn’t breathe. She becomes more distressed, saying she was so scared and she knew that she was going to die.

Back at the bar,  Raegan and her friends are outside to leave and Raegan says she has coke, waving it at them. One girl tells her to put that away and she calls them both pussies. She walks away from them and sees on her phone that her Quik Ride is Nick, saying he is cute. They ask if she is okay and she says she is. A car pulls up and she asks the driver if he is Nick, and he says yes. She says she is Raegan and gets in the car. As they drive away, she sees another man in the back seat who says he is Julius, a ride share. He says she is pretty, and she says Shakespeare has nothing on him. She takes some pills and he notes she is wasted. He asks the driver if she gets dropped off first, and Raegan tells him to shut up. Later, Raegan wakes up in bed and holds her head, feels the bed, and looks at her disheveled self in the mirror, knowing something bad has happened.

At SVU the next day, Benson enters and Fin and Rollins greet her, Fin calling her Lieutenant… then says, “I mean Captain.” He and Rollins smile and Rollins asks if they should throw her a party. She says please don’t, adding if they want to make her happy, sign up for their trauma informed interview training, saying it is actually quite helpful. Fin asks if this is a new chief mandate, and Benson admits it is; he wants them to be better at their jobs, asking Fin doesn’t he? Fin says if he wants them to be better, they should get them more detectives. She says they are working on that, and as they walk off, she adds nobody wants that more than she does. He responds, “I hear you.” Benson sees Raegan walk into the squad room, asking if this is Special Victims. Benson says it is, and introduces herself. Raegan gives her name, and Benson asks if something happened to her. Raegan admits she has no idea.

In Benson’s office, with Rollins, Raegan explains that she was with friends, and took a Quik Ride home, thinking she was going home. Rollins asks to see her phone, and Raegan reluctantly hands it to her. She goes on to explain that she woke up in her bed and was all sticky and sore. She thinks she was raped but doesn’t remember. Benson tells her it’s okay Raegan, they will figure that out together. Rollins comments that Raegan took a Quik Ride from Chelsea to Sheepshead Bay, and this shocks Raegan, who doesn’t know what that is. She looks at her phone and sees a charge of $140 and said it should have been $15. Rollins asks for her phone back to get a screen shot. Benson asks if she remembers anything else, and Raegan states she thinks he had his hands on my leg. She asks for some water, but Benson asks her to wait as she wants to go to the hospital to get Raegan a rape exam. Raegan explains she can’t go to Mt. Sinai. Benson says she will make a quick call and be right back.

Benson asks Fin and Rollins if they have anything, and Rollins has the information on the Quik Ride, saying she was picked up in Chelsea and explains the ride share stop, going home, but then changed her route and eventually went to a bar in Sheepshead Bay – Clemente’s Maryland Crab House. Benson tells them to check Clemente’s, her ride share, and the friends. Fin reminds her there are only the two of them, and Rollins asks who is going to take the girl to the ER. Benson says she will.

Law & Order SVU “Down Low In Hell’s Kitchen” Promo

Here is the promo for Law & Order SVU “Down Low In Hell’s Kitchen” airing on Thursday, October 10, 2019 at 10PM ET on NBC.


My recap and review of Law & Order SVU “Down Low In Hell’s Kitchen” can be found at this link.








Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order.

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

Law & Order SVU “The Burden Of Our Choices” Episode Information

Here are the details for a new episode of Law & Order SVU, “The Burden Of Our Choices.”

Law & Order SVU “The Burden Of Our Choices” Air Date October 17, 2019 (10 PM ET/9C Thursday NBC)

Rollins clashes with the parents of a teenaged runaway. The squad comes together for a special event. Starring Mariska Hargitay, Ice T, Kelli Giddish and Peter Scanavino. Guest starring Jamie Gray Hyder, Zuleikha Robinson, Demore Barnes, Peter Hermann, Kira McLean, Lucy Walters, Jamie McShane and Zach Gilford.

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My recap and review of Law & Order SVU “The Burden Of Our Choices” can be found at this link.



Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order.

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

Law & Order SVU “The Darkest Journey Home” Photos

Here are advance photos from  Law & Order SVU, “The Darkest Journey Home” which will air on Thursday, October 3, 2019 at 10PM ET on NBC.   The photos feature Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, Kelli Giddish, Peter Scanavino, and Ariel Winter as Raegan James.


My recap and review of Law & Order SVU “The Darkest Journey Home” can be found at this link.

Photos by: Barbara Nitke/NBC 2019 NBCUniversal Media, LLC

Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order.

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

Video: Law & Order SVU at The Paley Center for Media

Here is a video excerpt of the stars and producers of Law & Order SVU at the "Law & Order: SVU" Television Milestone Celebration at The Paley Center for Media on September 25, 2019 in New York City. The video includes Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, Kelli Giddish, Peter Scanavino, Warren Leight, Julie Martin, Michael Starr, and Dick Wolf.





Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order.

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