Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series) Surrendering Noah (2015) User Reviews

The greatest heartache

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 20 May 2015]

Sergeant Olivia Benson's time as an adoptive mother could get terminated in this episode of SVU. A guy she and the rest of the squad locked up has been proved to be the father of little Noah who Mariska Hargitay has taken in.

This is the greatest heartache that Olivia Benson has had in her years with SVU. She has the longest tenure of anyone on any of the Law And Order franchise shows, but her personal life has been a bust. The relationships she's had have never lasted, including one she resumed with Dean Winters who was in that first season of SVU. Talk about married to her job. That all changed when little Noah came into her life and now one of the bigger lowlifes she's busted could take it all away.

This episode is climaxed by a courtroom shootout when the defendant sees he's got nothing to live for. I'd like to say that this is the first courtroom shootout on the series, but it's not, nor is it the first on any other Law And Order show. It does however signal some cast changes for the following season.

A great climax to a season is a reason to see this.

A Different Take On Benson's Unfavorable Comments About Stabler

[markthurman-44228 · 8/10 · 23 August 2022]

I just read the reviews here for this episode and see that some reviewers do not like the comments made near the end of the episode by Benson in regards to Stabler. She said that she grew more during her four years with Amaro than she did during her twelve years with Stabler. My opinion is that there is a key point that can never be set aside whenever Stabler crosses Benson's mind, and that point is that Stabler did not grant any form of closure for Benson when he suddenly left SVU. He left without a single word to Benson. He ghosted her. That is a very traumatic way for an important relationship to end. Unfortunately, I know that from experience. As fans of the show, we always had much affection for the relationship between Benson and Stabler. But, if you were on the receiving end of a relationship that ended in that manner, you cannot forget the pain that person caused by leaving without a single word. I can understand how Benson appreciates and respects Amaro in a way that Stabler willingly forfeited.

Pretty decent

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 26 August 2022]

Season 16 was not too bad a season overall at all, though it was an uneven one. Especially the second half of it. There were a few great episodes, especially "Holden's Manifesto" and "Pattern Seventeen" and found a lot to like about the 'Chicago PD' crossovers. There were also episodes that disappointed, particularly "Decaying Morality" and even more so "Intimidation Game" (one of the show's all time worst). "Surrender Noah" also looked so good from its advertising.

Overall, "Surrender Noah" is a worthy season finale and a more than decent way to end the season. 'Special Victims Unit' wildly varied with its previous season finales, with winners such as "Slaves", "Scourge", "Screwed", "Rhodium Nights" and "Her Negotiation". But also major disappointments such as "Cold", "Zebras", "Shattered" and "Smoked". "Surrender Noah" is in neither extreme of best or worst, but had potential to be better than it was considering the hype (which it doesn't quite live up to).

A lot is good. Mariska Hargitay and Danny Pino are excellent, particularly in the second half. All the acting is of good quality, but those two stand out. Everybody has an active role and an active role that is substantial and the teamwork is cohesive and never looks stiff or disconnected. The episode has a consistently gripping and intriguing case that did have tension and wasn't too simple or convoluted. It also feels like a finale, whereas some previous season finales of the show don't do and feel more like excuses to get rid of panned characters with a thrown in melodramatic event, "Zebras" being a prime example. The second half is compelling and tense.

Writing is taut and thought provoking, while being respectful of target audience. The episode is a good farewell to Amaro, who has a bit of an inconsistent journey when on the show (liked him in Seasons 13 and 14, less so when his personal life started to dominate too much). Unlike Stabler, whose exit was anti-climactic, Amaro's final appearance is rounded off and poignant as well as treating his character with respect, clearly written by somebody who liked the character. The production values are still slick and suitably gritty (without being too heavy in it). The music is not too melodramatic and is not used too much, even not being too manipulative in revelations. The direction lets the drama breathe while having enough tautness too, so things don't get dull.

Not everything works. There is too much of Olivia's subplot, which is also rather soapy. Was mixed on the climax, it does have tension but the promos gave so much of the episode away that the shock and surprise factors were lost.

Lots of fans talk about the final scene between Olivia and Amaro, both good and bad. Was mixed on it myself. It is heartfelt in acting and character interaction but the Stabler diss was not needed or in good taste. Was mixed on how true what Olivia said was, Amaro was the most respectful and most sympathetic character towards her in his tenure though his anger issues did dominate and frustrate a lot. Stabler did actually support and help her a lot and did help her grow (actually think the two are about equal here), his problems were that his loose cannon personality affected his peoples skills in seasons 8-12 and his very anti climactic exit.

Concluding, not perfect but worthy. 7/10.

Episodes like these hurt my heart

[HaveYouEverNoticed · 9/10 · 12 May 2019]

I love my country, and I totally understand that we are all presumed innocent until a jury of our peer hears compelling enough evidence to render a guilty verdict. I understand that these laws were written, because of past terrible treatment of people who were arrested and tried over and over again. What I can't understand for the life of me, is how lawyers can know that they are defending the most despicable sub humans, who do these terrible crimes. If you are a lawyer, who truly believes in your client's innocence, then by all means, defend them with everything you got. Every single time I saw that weaselly, smarmy lawyer on the tv, I almost threw something at my screen. He made my skin crawl! How could someone want a POS like Johnny D to raise a sweet innocent child? How could that lawyer excuse every terrible thing he did? What hurts the most, is that this goes on, every day all over the country...heck the world. I understand why Olivia wanted to be honest, and not build the adoption on a lie, but I agreed with Barba she should not have said ANYTHING! This episode literally gave me nightmares. I'm glad it ended the way it did. There is a special place in hell for people like Johnny D...oh and his lawyer too!!

You Helped Me Grow

[yazguloner · 10/10 · 21 December 2021]

Nick Amaro is the greatest support, solid soul, rebellious gaze, uncontrollable stone and endlessly truthful in the history of svu.

Nick Amaro really helped Liv grow up. He is always a supporter in Olivia's partnership, boss and motherhood life.

I will miss you so much.

Loves Nick Amaro, I hope to see you sometime.

Mixed feelings

[SarahKSeraSera · 8/10 · 29 April 2023]

As someone who was a Stabler fan, I watched only a few episodes after CM left. I saw then ending to this show years ago but I never saw the episode in full. I recently started watching from the time Stabler left and I am up to Surrendering Noah. Like many others, I was bothered by Bensen's statement about Stabler leaving and how she grew more with him in four years than she did with her 12 with Stabler. Elliot IMO was more supportive and stood by her than Nick, but she couldn't grow as a person, as an officer with Elliot. They were a co-dependent relationship and if he'd stayed, she might have not moved up in the ranks and became Captain.

An Episode Built on a Bizarre Decision by Olivia

[rcade-1 · 4/10 · 24 September 2015]

This entire episode spins out of a decision by Benson I think no one in her position would ever make. After finding out that the biological father of her adoptive son Noah is a murderous psychopath sex trafficking pimp her squad just arrested, she chooses to disclose this fact on his birth certificate.

DA Barba tries to talk her out of this, believing quite correctly it will lead to nowhere good, but she thinks it might be filed in court and never noticed by the psychopath or his lawyer.

Cut to the next scene, where it has been noticed by the psychopath and his lawyer.

Things spin out of control after this and the lawyer uses Benson's conflict of interest to give his evil client a decent chance of acquittal -- and a chance to assert his parental rights and damage Noah's life for years. Only a last-minute courtroom shootout saves the day.

This episode writes out the character of Nick Amaro, which is a shame since Danny Pino is a welcome presence on any cop show.

At the end, it was weird to hear Benson talking about Stabler after all these years and compare him so unfavorably to Amaro. I know she and Stabler were close, but I fail to see how he stood in the way of her establishing her own family.

Stupid

[byablue · 1/10 · 26 July 2022]

The idea of Benson feeling compelled to reveal that Johnny D is the biological father of Noah is straight stupid. Prior to season 13 Benson was an intelligent person. How could she not predict the possibility that Johnny D would use that info to his benefit and the possibility of court-ordered visitation? "Oh, woe is me, now I might have to do something horrible that will have a devastating effect on my child's life because I couldn't keep my mouth shut." Ridiculous out-of-character writing to create drama. Surely the writers can create some better storylines. If not, maybe the show needs new writers. The stories have pretty much gone downhill since season 12, anyway. I'm struggling to continue the series in hope of better things.

What a shame...

[stephanie-goud · 5/10 · 15 November 2015]

Are you kidding me? What does that mean, this non-sense end?

I admit the trial part is quite good, and the Benson/Langman part too (especially knowing that they've got adopted children together in real life). Very touching. But the last five minutes are so disappointing...

Why does Olivia need to destroy her relationship with Elliott Stabler, a 12 years loyal partner which viewers still really love? Especially for Nick, a less than perfect character! It's not at all realistic. And neither are the last sentences, in a ridiculous cheesy tone: "Friends forever"... What are they, 5???

It almost ruins the entire season!

Turned it off

[heno-45762 · 1/10 · 5 December 2023]

First minutes of the episode, he we go creating drama. Olivia is stupid enough to put her child in harms way and to make her life difficult by saying that she knows who the father of the baby is. Wake up there is no way in the world this would actually happen. She states she doesn't want her life more difficult so why say anything at all. This explains that she doest't have the best interest of her child at all, placing the child at risk .Makes me so angry what a F waste of an episode. Get your F Facts right about crap rather than waste my time. Its so stupid that I turned the whole episode of,couldn't watch.