CSI's "Gumdrops" vs. SVU's "911"
I know, I probably shouldn't compare the two. And yet, as I was watching I couldn't help it.
I couldn't help noticing the similarities and just how much better CSI was at their 'showcase episode'. How one could have a series that's foundation is bottle eps and still have character arcs that don't involve assassination, asshattery or asspulls. That there could be a show that was secure enough in its supporting cast to have both of its leads take backstage. And there was character interaction. Lots of Nick and Sara, and I just squeed like a little fangirl because TPTB remembered these two characters are friends.
Yes, the girl surviving at the end was a copout and yet, I fell for it because I knew how much it would affect Nick had the girl died. Nick's a character with a very optimistic viewpoint on life. A viewpoint he's been clinging to like sand in an open palm since the events of "Grave Danger". If the girl had died, it would have crushed him. If the girl had died on 911, not only would I have not cared, I'd also know it wouldn't really matter because, next week, all would be forgotten. "Gumdrops" was about the case, and how that case affected Nick, as opposed to "911" which was the absolute reverse. It was about Mariska..Oliska..Olivia, then proceeded to twist the plot beyond implausibilty so as to make Olivia the hero.
I couldn't imagine a scene where Olivia goes over the edge, assaults a perp (because of her own inner demons - remember, St!Oliska doesn't have any) and Elliot calls her on it and she apologizes. Also, 911 lacked the urgency necessary to make Olivia's frustration plausible. Instead, she was surrounded by Doubting Thomas's rather than friends/co-workers who would do anything to make sure one little girl survived. I never got the sense that Olivia needed the little girl to a) be real or b) alive, because there was never any doubt on Olivia's part. There was no driver to Liv's actions other than 'Liv's always right'.
But, back to CSI, the show seems to have found its "roots" again. Gone back to the basics of what made the show so good to begin with. Something SVU seems to have forgotten in this season where partners never share screentime, and constant manipulative Emmy baiting.
I couldn't help noticing the similarities and just how much better CSI was at their 'showcase episode'. How one could have a series that's foundation is bottle eps and still have character arcs that don't involve assassination, asshattery or asspulls. That there could be a show that was secure enough in its supporting cast to have both of its leads take backstage. And there was character interaction. Lots of Nick and Sara, and I just squeed like a little fangirl because TPTB remembered these two characters are friends.
Yes, the girl surviving at the end was a copout and yet, I fell for it because I knew how much it would affect Nick had the girl died. Nick's a character with a very optimistic viewpoint on life. A viewpoint he's been clinging to like sand in an open palm since the events of "Grave Danger". If the girl had died, it would have crushed him. If the girl had died on 911, not only would I have not cared, I'd also know it wouldn't really matter because, next week, all would be forgotten. "Gumdrops" was about the case, and how that case affected Nick, as opposed to "911" which was the absolute reverse. It was about Mariska..Oliska..Olivia, then proceeded to twist the plot beyond implausibilty so as to make Olivia the hero.
I couldn't imagine a scene where Olivia goes over the edge, assaults a perp (because of her own inner demons - remember, St!Oliska doesn't have any) and Elliot calls her on it and she apologizes. Also, 911 lacked the urgency necessary to make Olivia's frustration plausible. Instead, she was surrounded by Doubting Thomas's rather than friends/co-workers who would do anything to make sure one little girl survived. I never got the sense that Olivia needed the little girl to a) be real or b) alive, because there was never any doubt on Olivia's part. There was no driver to Liv's actions other than 'Liv's always right'.
But, back to CSI, the show seems to have found its "roots" again. Gone back to the basics of what made the show so good to begin with. Something SVU seems to have forgotten in this season where partners never share screentime, and constant manipulative Emmy baiting.