Raise your hand if you love ME Warner.
Wow. I really liked this episode. I mean, really liked it a lot - as in, this could be one of my favorite SVU episodes.
Of course, a huge reason for that is Melinda Warner. I've loved Warner in her little two-second shots as the ME, and I loved her even more once she got her own episode (well, you know - an episode where she played a large role, anyway). Nothing against Olivia, but I would not be against seeing Elliot and Melinda partnering up. Okay, so she's really a medical examiner and not a detective, but still.
I mean, sure. Fin and Munch each had only one scene (okay, I think Fin might have gotten two) and we all know how I feel about their glaring lack of screentime. I've said it every single week, so I doubt I need to say it again. But if I had to watch an episode focus on someone who wasn't John Munch or Odafin Tutuola, I have to say, Warner would be my first pick. (Okay, Warner or Cragen. But I'm starting to think that Don Cragen is never, ever going to be anything more than a figurehead and the eternal party pooper at the "Elliot and Olivia take it personally and break all the rules!" soiree).
Carly and Daniel's parents got on my nerves, especially at first. I started to come around to Jake near the end - I mean, even as the guy lay there bleeding out, his first concern was still his son's well-being. And his son had just shot him! But at first, they were both so hard to empathize with. The mother was so shrill, and they were both just kind of wooden. Maybe it was supposed to be that way - after all, it turned out they knew all along who had taken Carly.
ETA: Also, I liked that the father was the one who couldn't let go of his son, while the mother had no problem cutting him off. Usually, it's the other way around. So that was something different.
I had the feeling that Jake would get shot. I don't know why, exactly. I guess just that Daniel was a loose cannon, but since Jake was the only one who had stood by him, you knew that the only way for him to take a step back was for Jake to get hurt somehow. I really loved Melinda's insistence that she couldn't leave her "patient". Aww. Melinda rocks. Have I mentioned that already?
Something offhand that made me laugh....as the hostages are all filing out of the bank, I noticed there were definitely a lot of men in there. Yet who was attempting to haul Jake out? Melinda and the scared teller. That's nice - all the men are like "Hmm, help the big bleeding guy or make a run for it?.....Yeah, let's make a run for it. The women will carry him out."
Elliot was going to take over so Melinda could leave! How cute is that. And he was so concerned about letting her make the ransom drop. Protective!Elliot makes me happy. Certainly happier than Raging!Elliot makes me.
I don't quite understand the whole "Elliot sleeps in the station" bit. For a second there, I wondered if he'd lost his house and was living at work or something. But that seems a little too far-fetched for SVU. So I assume it meant he was caught up in the case and didn't want to go home, didn't want to be alone, didn't want to something. I'm still not sure what.
One thing that I loved about this episode is that there were definitely twists that I didn't expect. Sure, I figured the parents - at least the father - knew who had kidnapped Carly. And I figured Jake would get shot. I even figured that Melinda would shoot Daniel to keep him from committing suicide by cop (though I didn't get that one until a second or so before it actually happened). But there were things that surprised me. Like when Elliot popped up in the car trunk. I was all "OMIGOD SOMEONE'S IN THE TRUNK!!!" and then it was like....oh....it's Elliot, that makes sense. Or when the shooting started at the bank. Call me crazy, but I didn't see that coming. So when the gun went off, I jumped about as much as the people inside the bank did.
Randomly, how come there is always a woman with a screaming baby in television hostage situations? Enquiring minds want to know.
I liked the beginning twist, when Carly's friend took off after the puppy (during which I was covering my eyes going "Don't let anything happen to the puppy, you bastards!") and then Carly was kidnapped. You kind of expected the other little girl to get snatched, but it was a red herring. And I thought it was cute that the other little girl actually caught part of the license plate.
I think Mom bugged me right off the bat when she pulled that whole "Weren't you watching her?" bit with the crossing guard. The woman lived right down the block from the school, but she couldn't go out and stand on the front steps to wait for her kid to come home? No, let's make the crossing guard watch our child because we're just too lazy to do it ourselves.
I loved the scene in the warehouse. Elliot is jogging along, intent on finding Carly, and Cragen is meandering around like he's on his evening stroll. Heh. I love me some Cragen.
Next week: Babies in dumpsters - how 1999 of them. I imagine there's going to be some "Wha...?" twist to all of it, though. Or, rather, about eighty-seven twists. They showed a lot of restraint tonight - they didn't strain our credulity all that much. That's kind of an exception for this season. Knowing SVU, next week will more than make up for the actual logic shown in this episode.
Of course, a huge reason for that is Melinda Warner. I've loved Warner in her little two-second shots as the ME, and I loved her even more once she got her own episode (well, you know - an episode where she played a large role, anyway). Nothing against Olivia, but I would not be against seeing Elliot and Melinda partnering up. Okay, so she's really a medical examiner and not a detective, but still.
I mean, sure. Fin and Munch each had only one scene (okay, I think Fin might have gotten two) and we all know how I feel about their glaring lack of screentime. I've said it every single week, so I doubt I need to say it again. But if I had to watch an episode focus on someone who wasn't John Munch or Odafin Tutuola, I have to say, Warner would be my first pick. (Okay, Warner or Cragen. But I'm starting to think that Don Cragen is never, ever going to be anything more than a figurehead and the eternal party pooper at the "Elliot and Olivia take it personally and break all the rules!" soiree).
Carly and Daniel's parents got on my nerves, especially at first. I started to come around to Jake near the end - I mean, even as the guy lay there bleeding out, his first concern was still his son's well-being. And his son had just shot him! But at first, they were both so hard to empathize with. The mother was so shrill, and they were both just kind of wooden. Maybe it was supposed to be that way - after all, it turned out they knew all along who had taken Carly.
ETA: Also, I liked that the father was the one who couldn't let go of his son, while the mother had no problem cutting him off. Usually, it's the other way around. So that was something different.
I had the feeling that Jake would get shot. I don't know why, exactly. I guess just that Daniel was a loose cannon, but since Jake was the only one who had stood by him, you knew that the only way for him to take a step back was for Jake to get hurt somehow. I really loved Melinda's insistence that she couldn't leave her "patient". Aww. Melinda rocks. Have I mentioned that already?
Something offhand that made me laugh....as the hostages are all filing out of the bank, I noticed there were definitely a lot of men in there. Yet who was attempting to haul Jake out? Melinda and the scared teller. That's nice - all the men are like "Hmm, help the big bleeding guy or make a run for it?.....Yeah, let's make a run for it. The women will carry him out."
Elliot was going to take over so Melinda could leave! How cute is that. And he was so concerned about letting her make the ransom drop. Protective!Elliot makes me happy. Certainly happier than Raging!Elliot makes me.
I don't quite understand the whole "Elliot sleeps in the station" bit. For a second there, I wondered if he'd lost his house and was living at work or something. But that seems a little too far-fetched for SVU. So I assume it meant he was caught up in the case and didn't want to go home, didn't want to be alone, didn't want to something. I'm still not sure what.
One thing that I loved about this episode is that there were definitely twists that I didn't expect. Sure, I figured the parents - at least the father - knew who had kidnapped Carly. And I figured Jake would get shot. I even figured that Melinda would shoot Daniel to keep him from committing suicide by cop (though I didn't get that one until a second or so before it actually happened). But there were things that surprised me. Like when Elliot popped up in the car trunk. I was all "OMIGOD SOMEONE'S IN THE TRUNK!!!" and then it was like....oh....it's Elliot, that makes sense. Or when the shooting started at the bank. Call me crazy, but I didn't see that coming. So when the gun went off, I jumped about as much as the people inside the bank did.
Randomly, how come there is always a woman with a screaming baby in television hostage situations? Enquiring minds want to know.
I liked the beginning twist, when Carly's friend took off after the puppy (during which I was covering my eyes going "Don't let anything happen to the puppy, you bastards!") and then Carly was kidnapped. You kind of expected the other little girl to get snatched, but it was a red herring. And I thought it was cute that the other little girl actually caught part of the license plate.
I think Mom bugged me right off the bat when she pulled that whole "Weren't you watching her?" bit with the crossing guard. The woman lived right down the block from the school, but she couldn't go out and stand on the front steps to wait for her kid to come home? No, let's make the crossing guard watch our child because we're just too lazy to do it ourselves.
I loved the scene in the warehouse. Elliot is jogging along, intent on finding Carly, and Cragen is meandering around like he's on his evening stroll. Heh. I love me some Cragen.
Next week: Babies in dumpsters - how 1999 of them. I imagine there's going to be some "Wha...?" twist to all of it, though. Or, rather, about eighty-seven twists. They showed a lot of restraint tonight - they didn't strain our credulity all that much. That's kind of an exception for this season. Knowing SVU, next week will more than make up for the actual logic shown in this episode.