Law and Order Franchise

[BarbR]

Thanks, InchoateDetails, for the summary. I can't believe all that happened in the last 15 minutes or so!

[Beyle]

Tonight's Criminal Intent episode was about a child star nicknamed Skater. A total knockoff of Screech.

Only Dustin Diamond lives so that he can sell off that sex video.

[Deleted]

A collective sigh of relief was breathed at the Noir household when The Braided Detective said goodbye tonight on SVU. We've both disliked her character from the beginning (are we the only ones?) and every episode just deepened our feelings. When she and Elliott started getting touchy-feely, we began talking back to the television. By tonight, we'd progressed to swearing and shouting. If she were staying another week, we might need a new TV. I'm sure Ms. Nielsen is a good actress and all, but I doubt her character would have been given the job in real life or have kept it as long as she did. The wounded, noble, idealist rebel, never going home, working around the clock! She cared too much... <slaps back of hand against forehead> Oh, and Helga? (Apologies to Andrew Wyeth) Learn. To. Dress. For. Work. Has that leather jacket put out tendrils and attached itself to your skin yet? And take an Ambien once in a while while you're at it: even martyrs need sleep. Considering how often the real SVU detectives (who are trained to deal with the crimes they investigate and have years of experience to boot) are forced to seek counseling, why has no one put her on too-messed-up-to-function-in-this-unit leave and flung a shrink at her?
Yeah, all Elliott needs is a partner as dysfunctional as he is... Feh!

But mainly... OLIVIA RETURNS NEXT WEEK!!!!
;D ;D ;D ;D

[india7]

I'm glad the Connie Nielsen era was short lived. I didn't see the show, but how does she wind up leaving? I totally hated that she and Stabler made out, because the one thing I always loved about him and Olivia was that they had great chemistry without sexual attraction entering into it, although I didn't see some of the episodes before Mariska Hartigay left for maternity leave - I know Olivia didn't want to be his partner anymore. Was that because the writers took the "oh, no, now we're sexually attracted to each other!" route? It kind of had that vibe to it from what I saw right before she left, especially now that Stabler's wife was filing for divorce.

[shawnalanne]

india7 said:

- I know Olivia didn't want to be his partner anymore. Was that because the writers took the "oh, no, now we're sexually attracted to each other!" route? It kind of had that vibe to it from what I saw right before she left, especially now that Stabler's wife was filing for divorce.

No it's because Stabler was a total asshole and in the serial/rapist/killer episode with Lou Diamond Philips (who was way creepy) last season he Stabler saved Olivia rather than getting a kid out and he told her he was tired of carrying her weight around. He was worried that there friendship was having a negative impact on his job. This did not go over well with Olivia, because he doesn't carry her -- and he was an ass. And that is why there is a distance between them.

[Deleted]

india7 said:

I'm glad the Connie Nielsen era was short lived. I didn't see the show, but how does she wind up leaving?

Beck left because she got way too over-involved in the case at hand (adopted children with Reactive Attachment Disorder - she brought the little girl home with her (always a bad idea) and the girl set her apartment on fire) and she realized that she can't disconnect as much as she needs to to do the work. In addition, Elliott got stabbed with a pen (different kid, same diagnosis) and Beck went to the hospital to check on him. The captain called Elliott's wife (who was introduced as wife, not ex-) and she and the eldest daughter showed up at the hospital as well, which freaked Beck out.

I think it was a good idea to bring her in for the short term, especially as someone who isn't suited to that particular kind of police work. It points out exactly how hard that kind of work is, and they haven't really done that since Dean Winters' character in the first season.

And my opinion on ShawnaLanne's point would be that Elliott acted like an asshole because he needed to disconnect from Olivia because he felt he was getting too close in a more-than-coworkers sort of way. (But I could be wrong, because I have lousy social subtext reading skills. )

[bklynred]

I thought Beck was earnest, even if she tried too hard. And even though I knew she was a temporary character, she didn't feel like one to me (like the other redhead on Criminal Intent). I'm glad they didn't set up a Beck vs. Olivia competition re: Elliott in a romantic sense.

And because it doesn't take much to please me, I'm glad the writers let her speak french at every opportunity. It sounds pretty.

[india7]

shawnalanne said:

india7 said:

- I know Olivia didn't want to be his partner anymore. Was that because the writers took the "oh, no, now we're sexually attracted to each other!" route? It kind of had that vibe to it from what I saw right before she left, especially now that Stabler's wife was filing for divorce.

No it's because Stabler was a total asshole and in the serial/rapist/killer episode with Lou Diamond Philips (who was way creepy) last season he Stabler saved Olivia rather than getting a kid out and he told her he was tired of carrying her weight around. He was worried that there friendship was having a negative impact on his job. This did not go over well with Olivia, because he doesn't carry her -- and he was an ass. And that is why there is a distance between them.

Ohh, I saw that episode! Great acting all around, and yeah, LDP was totally scary. I didn't realize that was the episode that's supposed to make Olivia decide to break from Stabler.

Thanks for the explanations, Shawna and Spordelia!

[Gracie]

nursenoir said:

We've both disliked her character from the beginning (are we the only ones?) and every episode just deepened our feelings.

No! We here in the Gracie household did not like her from the first time we saw her. Can't pinpoint it, but something about her grated.

spordelia said:

And my opinion on ShawnaLanne's point would be that Elliott acted like an asshole because he needed to disconnect from Olivia because he felt he was getting too close in a more-than-coworkers sort of way. (But I could be wrong, because I have lousy social subtext reading skills. )

Again, the Gracie household voted Aye on this as well. Hmm...since I said "Aye", does that make me fae? I promise that my eyes change, my hair is ringlets of a color only found in the 64 ct. of Crayolas and I write craptastic versions of things Mr. Gracie says to me. I'll flutter my way out of here now.

[Witchie]

bklynred said:

I thought Beck was earnest, even if she tried too hard. And even though I knew she was a temporary character, she didn't feel like one to me (like the other redhead on Criminal Intent). I'm glad they didn't set up a Beck vs. Olivia competition re: Elliott in a romantic sense.

And because it doesn't take much to please me, I'm glad the writers let her speak french at every opportunity. It sounds pretty.

I liked her character. I liked what she brought to the show, the earnestness and intensity of Dean Winters' character. The others are so jaded at times, it makes me crazy when they jump to the wrong conclusions and we have to backtrack to the right one.

I'm also not in love with Oliiva. She's a fine character, but I don't ever want to see her and Eliot romantically. They are friends, and should remain as such. Eliot was right. If his head is wrapped up romantically in her, he can't make the hard decisions. And vice versa.