It's SVU on USA!
Yes, it's a Monday holiday and i'm up earlier than on a working Monday. Well, technically, I still haven't gone to sleep, so that's celebratory, I guess. I'm watching the USA SVU marathon, which is chock-full of episodes from the Glory Days. Season Three goodness - lean, not-always-mean Stabler, unwinged Benson and be-spectacled Cabot.
Speaking of the HToL, I think slammerkinbabe was going to try to organize a ficathon for hurricane relief. So I can finally procure theholyinnocent's services legally. Or, you know, at least for a good cause. There is already a community doing this: fandom_charity, but there aren't any SVU (or Oz) volunteers that I can see. If anyone knows the authors of "Fide et Amour" (unfinished SVU classic) or "Nine Tenths of the Law" (unfinished Oz masterpiece), I'll pay big bucks for those to be done. For the victims, people, for the victims!
Random marathon observations:
Episode 1 - Sacrifice (Saved by the Bell star does gay porn):
What's the deal with that odd moment where Fin goes all T!I!P! on Olivia in the squadroom. Olivia even asks what's up, but no one explains. And then it's just dropped. I hate it when they do shit like that. (I've been up all night, my vocabulary isn't at its best.)
I never noticed before, but when Stabler is offering theories as to why Mark Paul Saved-by-the-Bell was attacked, he says, "Jealous gay co-star, maybe?" while looking at BD Wong/Huang. Hee!
Is it wrong to love the moment when Stabler "frisks" Mark-Paul SBTB and slams him against the wall?
Oh, and though it will never be counted in his favor, I will note that Stabler is exceedingly sensitive to the gay cop at the beginning and never shows any repulsion or disgust for either the gay porn being discussed or the ex-teen-stud doing it.
Episode Two - Repression (Amy Irving's family is fucked):
Ah, those early seeds of St. Oliska. Benson annoyingly and unperceptively snaps when Elliot mentions the daughter has a history of making up stories, then snaps again at the bar when the guys are bemoaning said lying daughter's messing up their case. Thank god Olivia's on the squad, to remind them that the daughter might be a rape/incest victim. The other three just think she's a lying whore!
Despite the nascent martyrdom of Olivia, Arbiter of Victimhood, the Stabler/Benson partnership is running like the smooth, sexy machine it should be. Sigh - the good old days.
Because Amy Irving is so distracting in this episode, I always forget how depressing the denouement is.
The black leather jacket. MH should be forced to wear it in every episode.
Ha - they all look like crap at the end. Cragen, Cabot, Benson and Stabler all look so guilty and shamed. It's very rare for all of them to be deflated. I swear, Alex looked like she was about to let loose some pretty crying.
Episode Three - Inheritance (Olivia T!I!P! but it's done well):
Mobay!
Dr. Obvious is on the case! God, I despise Huang. The whole "I heard you order takeout once" conversation is just bizarre, but I love it because Stabler is completely unmoved by Huang's faux outrage.
Look how sensitive Stabler is, first asking Olivia if she's okay and then trying to draw her out. Yes, later on today we'll be treated to the classic pot/kettle scene where St. Olivia berates Elliot for not opening up to people. Oh, how I'll laugh. If I'm awake.
I love Olivia going behind the counter and pressing a few keys and printing out the pharmacist's delivery schedule. Classic Hollywood computerizing.
I love this gray suit Alex is wearing. Yes, I know you can't see it necessarily, but still. I felt the need to say that. I also love the way she rips the pseudo-science apart. So much more effective than Casey's attempts in whatever that dreadful episode was in S5. Also, I think this is one of Alex's best summations, despite the stagey "eyeglass removal." And one of those scenes that makes me wince/chortle when I picture Casey trying to deliver the lines.
And aww, the only Huang scene I've ever really liked. (Well, besides the Huang!HeadSmash!) "You don't hurt people, Olivia. You protect them." She needed to hear that, and he managed to say it sincerely and effectively.
Wouldn't it be interesting if the PWs had the balls to pursue Olivia's fear of the violence within, now that Stabler is going to be "launched on a new path." (Which is frightening in itself.) But we can't tarnish that GoldenHalo, can we?
Episode Four - Tangled (Surprise party gone awry):
This is the kind of good "ordinary" episode SVU used to do so well. No social issues, no T!I!P! But good cast integration, some great lines ("I doubt he was calling her for urine samples" is one of my all-time favorite Cragen lines) and a plot that has layers but isn't ridiculously labyrinthine. (Though, as I recall, it does have that last-minute trick they are so fond of.)
Also, I'm kind of obsessed with the actress who plays Lara. At least, whenever this episode is on, I have to watch it. Something about her voice gets to me. I think she's on the Gilmore Girls now, but I'm not sure.
Oh, look - Olivia's found a victim she doesn't believe! Poor Mrs. Kleburg, doesn't fit into Olivia's Victim Criteria.
Love the scene where Olivia is going on and on about the happy couple and Elliot's reciting the warrant legalese, then the sad (and foreboding), "Do any marriages last? My god, you've been married for 17 years..." Sigh. Poor E/CK. The writing was on the PW wall, even if it was obscured by marijuana haze for a few years.
"Here, pussy, pussy." Hee! Also, what I now consider Munch's meta comment: "They're freaky little creatures; they lurk!" I often feel that way about TWoP lurkers. Don't get me wrong - I lurked for a long time. But it's creepy when people on other boards or on LJ parrot your TWoP posts back to you.
Oh, good - Counterfeit! Normally, I hate the Stabler-lite episodes, but this means I can go to sleep, er do some errands. (I saw the best parts - Olivia in The Dress and "Naw, baby, Boy Scout. Always prepared!") And I can happily skip Stolen (I don't need a Cragen T!I!P!) and Ridicule. See you on the other side of noon, folks!
Oh, one more thing - how annoying are those CI ads? They make me not want to watch a show even more than I already don't watch it.
Episode Seven - Ridicule (Elliot's character gets fucked by the writers)
I'll stipulate upfront that Elliot is an ass throughout this episode. But I loathe the way Olivia treats him - going to Cabot and Cragen about the open rape without telling him and then giving him that smarmy "So Cabot wants to see us" ultimatum. And of course, the writers gave Olivia and Alex all the proper, self-righteous lines, while making Elliot look like a complete dick. (The little eyeroll between Alex and Olivia is especially galling, as I don't think Olivia and Elliot ever rolled their eyes at Alex, mostly because Olivia never took Elliot's side against Alex. She was always too busy looking panicked. )
Elliot's assholic behavior is similar to the way he acted in Fallacy, another episode in which he was made to look overly reactionary so Olivia could be the crusading champion of the underdog. Now some might say that makes Elliot's behavior in character, but I disagree. While I think it is totally in character for Elliot to be skeptical of the guy's story, I don't think he'd be so openly contemptuous. And I think he'd be smarter about dealing with Olivia.
I've said many times on TWoP that I think it would have been more interesting if they'd allowed either Alex or Olivia to have some doubts about the guy's story. But that would have been too far off the gender-determined highway.
Speaking of the HToL, I think slammerkinbabe was going to try to organize a ficathon for hurricane relief. So I can finally procure theholyinnocent's services legally. Or, you know, at least for a good cause. There is already a community doing this: fandom_charity, but there aren't any SVU (or Oz) volunteers that I can see. If anyone knows the authors of "Fide et Amour" (unfinished SVU classic) or "Nine Tenths of the Law" (unfinished Oz masterpiece), I'll pay big bucks for those to be done. For the victims, people, for the victims!
Random marathon observations:
Episode 1 - Sacrifice (Saved by the Bell star does gay porn):
What's the deal with that odd moment where Fin goes all T!I!P! on Olivia in the squadroom. Olivia even asks what's up, but no one explains. And then it's just dropped. I hate it when they do shit like that. (I've been up all night, my vocabulary isn't at its best.)
I never noticed before, but when Stabler is offering theories as to why Mark Paul Saved-by-the-Bell was attacked, he says, "Jealous gay co-star, maybe?" while looking at BD Wong/Huang. Hee!
Is it wrong to love the moment when Stabler "frisks" Mark-Paul SBTB and slams him against the wall?
Oh, and though it will never be counted in his favor, I will note that Stabler is exceedingly sensitive to the gay cop at the beginning and never shows any repulsion or disgust for either the gay porn being discussed or the ex-teen-stud doing it.
Episode Two - Repression (Amy Irving's family is fucked):
Ah, those early seeds of St. Oliska. Benson annoyingly and unperceptively snaps when Elliot mentions the daughter has a history of making up stories, then snaps again at the bar when the guys are bemoaning said lying daughter's messing up their case. Thank god Olivia's on the squad, to remind them that the daughter might be a rape/incest victim. The other three just think she's a lying whore!
Despite the nascent martyrdom of Olivia, Arbiter of Victimhood, the Stabler/Benson partnership is running like the smooth, sexy machine it should be. Sigh - the good old days.
Because Amy Irving is so distracting in this episode, I always forget how depressing the denouement is.
The black leather jacket. MH should be forced to wear it in every episode.
Ha - they all look like crap at the end. Cragen, Cabot, Benson and Stabler all look so guilty and shamed. It's very rare for all of them to be deflated. I swear, Alex looked like she was about to let loose some pretty crying.
Episode Three - Inheritance (Olivia T!I!P! but it's done well):
Mobay!
Dr. Obvious is on the case! God, I despise Huang. The whole "I heard you order takeout once" conversation is just bizarre, but I love it because Stabler is completely unmoved by Huang's faux outrage.
Look how sensitive Stabler is, first asking Olivia if she's okay and then trying to draw her out. Yes, later on today we'll be treated to the classic pot/kettle scene where St. Olivia berates Elliot for not opening up to people. Oh, how I'll laugh. If I'm awake.
I love Olivia going behind the counter and pressing a few keys and printing out the pharmacist's delivery schedule. Classic Hollywood computerizing.
I love this gray suit Alex is wearing. Yes, I know you can't see it necessarily, but still. I felt the need to say that. I also love the way she rips the pseudo-science apart. So much more effective than Casey's attempts in whatever that dreadful episode was in S5. Also, I think this is one of Alex's best summations, despite the stagey "eyeglass removal." And one of those scenes that makes me wince/chortle when I picture Casey trying to deliver the lines.
And aww, the only Huang scene I've ever really liked. (Well, besides the Huang!HeadSmash!) "You don't hurt people, Olivia. You protect them." She needed to hear that, and he managed to say it sincerely and effectively.
Wouldn't it be interesting if the PWs had the balls to pursue Olivia's fear of the violence within, now that Stabler is going to be "launched on a new path." (Which is frightening in itself.) But we can't tarnish that GoldenHalo, can we?
Episode Four - Tangled (Surprise party gone awry):
This is the kind of good "ordinary" episode SVU used to do so well. No social issues, no T!I!P! But good cast integration, some great lines ("I doubt he was calling her for urine samples" is one of my all-time favorite Cragen lines) and a plot that has layers but isn't ridiculously labyrinthine. (Though, as I recall, it does have that last-minute trick they are so fond of.)
Also, I'm kind of obsessed with the actress who plays Lara. At least, whenever this episode is on, I have to watch it. Something about her voice gets to me. I think she's on the Gilmore Girls now, but I'm not sure.
Oh, look - Olivia's found a victim she doesn't believe! Poor Mrs. Kleburg, doesn't fit into Olivia's Victim Criteria.
Love the scene where Olivia is going on and on about the happy couple and Elliot's reciting the warrant legalese, then the sad (and foreboding), "Do any marriages last? My god, you've been married for 17 years..." Sigh. Poor E/CK. The writing was on the PW wall, even if it was obscured by marijuana haze for a few years.
"Here, pussy, pussy." Hee! Also, what I now consider Munch's meta comment: "They're freaky little creatures; they lurk!" I often feel that way about TWoP lurkers. Don't get me wrong - I lurked for a long time. But it's creepy when people on other boards or on LJ parrot your TWoP posts back to you.
Oh, good - Counterfeit! Normally, I hate the Stabler-lite episodes, but this means I can go to sleep, er do some errands. (I saw the best parts - Olivia in The Dress and "Naw, baby, Boy Scout. Always prepared!") And I can happily skip Stolen (I don't need a Cragen T!I!P!) and Ridicule. See you on the other side of noon, folks!
Oh, one more thing - how annoying are those CI ads? They make me not want to watch a show even more than I already don't watch it.
Episode Seven - Ridicule (Elliot's character gets fucked by the writers)
I'll stipulate upfront that Elliot is an ass throughout this episode. But I loathe the way Olivia treats him - going to Cabot and Cragen about the open rape without telling him and then giving him that smarmy "So Cabot wants to see us" ultimatum. And of course, the writers gave Olivia and Alex all the proper, self-righteous lines, while making Elliot look like a complete dick. (The little eyeroll between Alex and Olivia is especially galling, as I don't think Olivia and Elliot ever rolled their eyes at Alex, mostly because Olivia never took Elliot's side against Alex. She was always too busy looking panicked. )
Elliot's assholic behavior is similar to the way he acted in Fallacy, another episode in which he was made to look overly reactionary so Olivia could be the crusading champion of the underdog. Now some might say that makes Elliot's behavior in character, but I disagree. While I think it is totally in character for Elliot to be skeptical of the guy's story, I don't think he'd be so openly contemptuous. And I think he'd be smarter about dealing with Olivia.
I've said many times on TWoP that I think it would have been more interesting if they'd allowed either Alex or Olivia to have some doubts about the guy's story. But that would have been too far off the gender-determined highway.