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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Greed (2002) Season 3, Episode 20

Great episode but...

[8/10 · 9 July 2020]

Henry Winkler is a piece of work as a con artist married to a widow. He will make you forget all about the Fonz. Two things though are irritating:

1. Stabler calls Winkler Henry instead of Edwin, his character's name in one scene. They didn't notice that and do another take?

2. In the beginning the CSU tech says the victim is Jessica Todd, early 40s. Mary Beth Hurt was 56 years old. Either that was a slip and should have been early 50s. Or they thought the audience wouldn't catch that.

The story is a tricky one and it takes time to get the wife on board. The performances were overall top notch.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Amaro's One-Eighty (2014) Season 15, Episode 11

Good but something doesn't make sense

[8/10 · 9 July 2020]

After another party to celebrate Benson's promotion Amaro and Rollins come upon a scene and give chase to a suspect. another officer shoots at him because she thinks he has a gun and she gets hit. Amaro pulls her to safety and fires at the suspect. The kid is hit only by Amaro's gun? All those shots the other officer fired and not one hit him? She's a lousy shot. Turns out the kid didn't have a gun and she got hit by a ricochet from her own gun. Cassidy is assisting the investigation which should be a whopping conflict of interest as the investigation involves his girlfriend's unit.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Baby Killer (2000) Season 2, Episode 5

Good episode

[8/10 · 7 July 2020]

Like most of the early episodes this one is good. But they couldn't come up with a name for the villain that didn't sound like the name of a knife?

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Stalked (1999) Season 1, Episode 8

One of the better one but...

[8/10 · 6 July 2020]

Richard White was one creepy guy. His fixation on Olivia was unsettling. Cragen and Elliot's concern for Olivia was touching as was Munich's. The acting in the episode was top notch from everyone. Two things bugged me though:

1. Elliot has a list of places from White's notebook and calls them. But it's only after he comes back to the squad does he realize they're place's Olivia frequents. He didn't see that when calling them?

2. In the scene where Elliot comes to Olivia's apartment she puts her bag on her shoulder then looks as if she's putting her keys on the side pocket but they're still in her hands when she picks up her glass of OJ. It was clear she put nothing in the pocket. What was that about?

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Solitary (2009) Season 11, Episode 3

Plot that really doesn't make sense

[6/10 · 5 July 2020]

This is another episode where we start with one case and end up with another. A girl is missing and her boyfriend mentions this creep who lives downstairs from her. She also just happens to mention him too. And he just happens to be someone Stabler arrested twenty years earlier that made his career. Of course he jumps all over this guy being the one despite flimsy evidence at best. Then it turns out the girl wasn't kidnapped at all. But she jumps in the river. Never mind the fact that she could drown before anyone would find her. She was emailing her meth dealer from a copy shop. I know this is 2009 but people had cell phones and texting then. Who emails someone when they want to get a hold of them right away? Anyway Stabler goes to apologize to the guy she accused but he freaks out and throws him off the roof. He gets into it with the new DA who wants to prosecute. The guy claims spending years in solitary made him do it. Stabler starts to feel for the guy and spends three days in the hole. The DA accused him of going soft when he wants her to cut a deal. This isn't the first time Stabler has gone after someone who was innocent of the crime they were investigating. In season 2 or 3 there was Leon Tate. Cragen did the same thing and ruined a man's life.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Spring Awakening (2014) Season 15, Episode 24

Overall Good Episode but...

[7/10 · 3 July 2020]

"He's my gangster. He's my daddy." Nobody actually talks like that. And as for Amaro he actually thinks he did nothing wrong beating the crap out of Simon Wilkes. Shades of Elliot Stabler who thought there was nothing wrong with beating up perps. If Amaro had just brought Wilkes in fur questioning or simply arrested him there wouldn't be a problem. Except he was acquitted of all charges. Then there was that weird moment with Benson and Trevor Langan with him stumbling over his line asking her how she was doing. Peter Hermann and Mariska Hargitay may be married but they have zero chemistry on screen.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Poison (2004) Season 5, Episode 24

Decent but flawed

[6/10 · 1 July 2020]

A judge let's a woman off for poisoning her daughter because he's biased toward upper middle class mothers. He wrongfully convicted a poor woman for the same thing years earlier. Something didn't make sense to me. Rosalind's baby had crystals in her brain that the hospital concluded had to be from anti freeze. Rosalind is arrested and convicted. ME Warner did a test that proved the baby had MMA but she said the crystals were actually caused by an ethylene drip to treat the anti freeze poisoning but it was the wrong thing for MMA. So the head CTs she looked at weren't done prior to the drip which would not have shown any crystallization if what she said was true?

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Hothouse (2009) Season 10, Episode 12

Good episode but the prosecutor was a moron

[8/10 · 1 July 2020]

Sarah Hyland did a great job as a mentally ill girl suffering from psychosis and kills her roommate. This case is tried in New Jersey because of where the crime took place on the ferry. So the DA wants to prosecute her as an adult. Olivia finally talks her into reading the girl's journal and she is sentenced to a juvenile facility until 21. Then the DA asks Olivia & Elliot if they want her next case out by 21. A piece of crap who molested his younger sister with no remorse and said he'd do it again. You can't compare a girl who was on some kind of psychotic drug and had a mental break with a a kid who is clearly evil. The DA was stupid.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Criminal Hatred (2013) Season 14, Episode 12

Maybe these guys shouldn't have cheated

[6/10 · 21 May 2020]

A guy goes after closeted gay men who chest on their wives. Charles Murphy, a whiny little pissant, doesn't want to testify but does and blames the cops for his marriage crumbling. Nick Amaro said if he'd just gone out of town with his wife like he was supposed to he would have been fine. He's right. He lies about having to work and goes out trolling gay bars. He doesn't deserve sympathy. The actor who played Jeremy Jones did a great job but Nia Vardalos is terrible. Not a terrible episode just largely unforgettable.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Wildlife (2008) Season 10, Episode 7

When the episodes were good

[8/10 · 7 May 2020]

This was a creative episode. I loved the scene with Liv and Elliot When she pretended to be a prostitute. But why is it when they found Natalie's twin sister they act like they've never heard of twins before or when they saw her it didn't occur to them it could be a relative. The expression on Elliot's face and he HAS twins. Anyway, overall good episode. But it was kinda ruined by Kathy whining about Elliot.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: The Things We Have to Lose (2020) Season 21, Episode 20

Meh

[5/10 · 24 April 2020]

I have to agree with the other reviewer. Benson comes across as angry and miserable. Frankly she acts like she's got a stick up her ass all the time. There used to be some nuance to her character. Now there is none. I want to care about the characters on the show and I just don't anymore. I didn't feel anything for Ivy, Lachera or Jonelle. Or Carisi and Sir Toby's trial. There used to be interesting cases once upon a time. Either you care about the victims or the story drew you in. The last interesting case was probably Carl Rudnick and Greg Yates. I'm still amazed this show got renewed for three more seasons.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Poisoned Motive (2013) Season 14, Episode 22

Good but these cops will do anything

[6/10 · 14 April 2020]

While this was a god episode and Jessica Camacho stands out but these cops have no qualms breaking the rules. Planting guns and threatening people and beating up people when it suits them. Of course they're angry because one of their own and the son of one of their own are shot. But this isn't the only time something like this has happened. In reality none of these cops would have a badge.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Manic (2003) Season 5, Episode 2

Big corporations bad

[6/10 · 9 April 2020]

Another instance of blaming big corporations for a decision made by an individual. Joe Blane, a troubled teen, kills two classmates and it is revealed he took Aptrol, a drug for depression that was sent in the mail to his mother. It's for her but she decides to give it to him because he's causing trouble at school and her boss is on her case about all the calls she's getting. But she's not to blame it's the evil pharmaceutical company who sent it to her. So Joe goes off to a mental hospital and Cabot goes after the company. Give me a break. Another example of a lack of personal responsibility.

Little Fires Everywhere (2020)

Meh

[5/10 · 25 March 2020]

I haven't read the books but I try watching this show and it's just bad. Kerry Washington can't act. The whole time I want throat punch her because Mia is god awful. Reece is well Reece. I don't know if I can finish it.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Pique (2001) Season 2, Episode 20

When SVU was at its best

[7/10 · 6 March 2020]

Chad Lowe and Margot Kidder stole this one as a creepy mother/son team. The murder of a woman Lowe worked with is the subject of the investigation for SVU detectives.of course they do their usual Cracker Jack investigating by inventing fairy tales about the woman cheating on her husband just because he didn't know she was pregnant. It was stated she was 7 weeks. Maybe she didn't know yet. Turns out she did and had ordered a new camcorder as a way to surprise him with the news. He rips Benson a new one, which was well deserved. Her husband not knowing she was pregnant is no proof of cheating. If they had gotten wind of an affair after talking to co workers or friends that's different. Anyway, I give this 7/10 for Lowe and Kidder. The creep out factor is off the charts.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Eternal Relief from Pain (2020) Season 21, Episode 16

Decent episode

[7/10 · 28 February 2020]

This episode was better than most of the ones this season. Kim Rollins is back with a kid in tow. No mention of who the baby daddy is though. But whatever happened to her plotting to kill her boyfriend back in season 14? I remember she took off but this is her second appearance since then. They just let her walk? Seems the writers don't know how to follow through ion plots. Anyway they go after a pharmaceutical company for pushing pills for sex. Carisi's boss has a connection but in the end does the right thing. We also meet Rollins father. He's no prize and ends up disappointing her and Kim again. I'm waiting for Fin to have more to do. It's like he's just window dressing. I'm also waiting for episodes where you either care enough about the victim to want to see justice or where the plot twists just blow your mind. I saw the show was just renewed for three more season. I think that's a bad decision.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Valentine's Day (2012) Season 13, Episode 18

Actually a decent episode

[7/10 · 24 February 2020]

This episode wouldn't be done today. Not in the climate of #MeToo garbage. A woman fakes being raped as her husband watches on video. Even Benson goes after her. A more recent episode has Olivia saying how she doesn't want to hear that women lie. Well they do sweetheart. This woman did and again Benson pushed Novak to retry her when it was declared a mistrial. I don't like that women lie because it harms real victims getting help. I wish SVU would do these episodes more often and where a man is assaulted.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: The Longest Night of Rain (2020) Season 21, Episode 12

This show has really gone down hill

[5/10 · 31 January 2020]

I had high hopes after the first episode of this season but they've gone steadily downhill. First off, I've always like Mariska Hargitay but her acting lately is just awful. If you go back and watch old episodes it's like she's phoning it in and awkward now. She looks terrible. Old and tired and she's clearly put on weight which they try to cover up by having her always wear a coat or jacket so it's supposedly not noticeable. But it is. I've seen her own pictures on social media and she looks much better.

Then they bring Ed Tucker back just to kill him off. The same thing they did with her brother Simon. Why not let her be happy for once? They killed her mother way back in season 2 and ruined every relationship she tried to have. I'm no fan of Tucker and Robert John Burke is a terrible actor but this was more like a soap opera.

Kelli Giddish looks anorexic and not just since that thing with Bucci. She's pale as a ghost now. It's like the hair and make up people don't even try with her and Hargitay. I know they're cops but that doesn't mean they can't look halfway decent. They used to. Their hair is always a mess. I don't get it.

I just think this show is done.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Criminal (2004) Season 5, Episode 21

Keystone Cops

[6/10 · 29 January 2020]

What kind of cops are these people? Cragen jumps to conclusions and gets an innocent man convicted. And only after that do Benson and Stabler have the genius idea to check cameras and the license plate of the car that supposedly belonged to Vega. Maybe if they'd done that in the first place an innocent man wouldn't have been railroaded. In the real world none of these people would have a badge. James McDaniel gives a top notch performance as Vega though.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Svengali (2007) Season 9, Episode 6

Twists and Turns

[7/10 · 25 January 2020]

Overall good episode. Shows how dumb people can be to be sucked in by a serial killer. Acting was very good and the face off between Casey and Robert Morton was electrifying. A funny note did anyone notice how Benson's hair kept changing? It would go from short and spikes to a little longer and flat through the whole episode? I guess scenes were filmed at different times.