SVU’s abrupt season finale is actually a stellar close to the show’s landmark 21st year.
By: Jacob Politte, Online Editor
Law & Order SVU: “The Things We Have To Lose”
Season 21, Episode 20
Airdate: 4/23/20
“The Things We Have To Lose” wasn’t supposed to be the finale of Season 21. But COVID-19 continues to affect the world at large, and it was impossible to complete the season as initially planned.
While this virus will most certainly affect the finales of many television shows and leave them in an unfinished state, this unplanned season finale of SVU is oddly fitting. I can’t imagine the season ending in any other way than this. As showrunner Warren Leight discussed on the “Squadroom” podcast, it does many things that a season finale is supposed to do: revisit old stories and enhance them in a meaningful way, provide a big moment, and build anticipation for the show’s return in the fall (hopefully as scheduled).
“The Things We Have To Lose” revisits 4 cases from this past season:
- Sir Toby, from the season premiere, is finally on trial, but his health is supposedly in decline and he never makes it into the courtroom during this hour. He is still alive at the end of the episode, according to news coverage that Captain Olivia Benson watches in Times Square, and Warren Leight doesn’t like to leave loose ends for too long. I suspect that we’re not done with Sir Toby just yet.
- While The Montage did not cover the episodes featuring Ivy Bucci and her family, they were an important part of the season; the stress of what happened to Ivy directly resulted in Ivy’s father (the Detective hitting on Detective Amanda Rollins in the standout Season 20 episode, Part 33) completely snapping and abducting Rollins. In the aftermath of his father’s imprisonment and the prison suicide of Ivy’s weathly and powerful rapist, Ivy is acting out and continuing to put herself in harmful situations. Even her mother, not exactly the ideal role model herself, is concerned.
- Two cases from the standout episode “At Midnight In Manhattan” were revisited: the case of transgender pimp Lakira, who took money from her rapist to keep quiet and Joelle Fuller, whose absuive and unstable husband Leon ended up going to jail when she decided to press charges against him. Lakira seeks out Officer Kat Tamin once again when another pimp is victimized by her rapist, and Sergeant Fin Tutuola takes it upon himself to check up on Joelle and her son Andre when Leon is released from jail.
That’s a lot to tackle in one episode, but Leight and the cast manage to weave everything together with ease. The hour breezes by, and provides meaningful character development for two characters.
Perhaps the most talked about moment from the episode was Tutuola shooting an unhinged Leon dead after he threatened to hurt a confused Andre during a hostage situation. Joelle certainly didn’t appreciate it; she filed a wrongful death suit against Tutuola for his actions in a storyline that will most certainly carry over into next season. While Joelle is a victim of Stockholm Syndrome and her suit is largely unjustified, there are only three people in that room that know for certain what happened and one of them is a child who can be easily manipulated. Joelle clearly recognized that there was a problem and that it needed to be dealt with, but I’m not sure that she wanted Leon dead, and now everyone involved is in a bad situation.
The shooting affects Tutuola deeply. We know very little about his private life, but we learned an interesting tidbit last season: he witnessed his mother being shot dead as a child. Now, despite the situations being entirely different and Tutuola being completely justified in his actions, he has put Andre in that situation. Despite doing everything in his power to help Andre, who he clearly is fond of, he ultimately feels like he failed him. It’s very powerful stuff, and Ice T portrays that despair very well.
Ivy Bucci never got closure. This episode does a great job in demonstrating how that lack of resolution can destroy someone. The sixteen year old is acting out, doing drugs and hanging out with shady people much older than her. Rollins decides to reach out after Ivy’s troublesome mother barges into the squadroom, but given the fact that Rollins is a large part of the reason that her father is in prison, that’s probably not the best idea. Benson tells Rollins to dish out some “tough love” to Ivy, and of course Rollins does the exact opposite. This does nothing to help Ivy, who does not learn her lesson and winds up in a holding cell. This time, Rollins does not help her, and she spends the night in jail. While Rollins does go to bat for her in front of the judge presiding over the teenagers fate, I’m still not sure that Ivy’s learned her lesson.
Of all the cases revisited during this episode, Lakira’s was the one that I cared about the least. It is, however, the only case that reaches a true resolution during this episode. Lakira’s rapist strikes again, only this time he murders his victim. Lakira feels responsible; if she had taken his money in exchange for her silence in “At Midnight In Manhattan” this wouldn’t have happened. Officer Tamin once again takes the lead, and by directly disobeying Benson’s orders, manages to finally catch him and take him down once and for all.
As mentioned, Sir Toby is absent from this episode, so aside from the witness prepping, the real drama concerns his attorney, former Judge Elena Barth. Barth, once a fan-favorite judge who was shot by Noah Benson’s biological father while on the stand (that’s such a crazy bit of trivia), has fully turned to the dark side, and it seems to be solely financially motivated. As we were reminded on the “Squadroom” podcast, Barth was involved in an affair with now disgraced and imprisoned Judge Edward Kofax, and divorces can be costly. You can make more money being a high-profile defense attorney than a judge, which seems crazy to think about. Barth harshly reminds Benson that she has children to provide for, and doesn’t seem remorseful about defending Sir Toby or any other predator, as long as she gets paid nicely. Barth is a formidable opponent for Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Dominick Carisi, and I look forward to seeing their battles next season. Surely, the inexperienced ADA will not win them all.
All in all, this was a great close to the season, even if it was not the planned one. Season 22 will hopefully come sooner rather than later.
CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE:
– I’ve mentioned it a couple of times during this review, but the “Squadroom” podcast is a great listen and a great supplement to every episode of SVU. It’s worth checking out if you haven’t done so previously.
– Production on the episode was actually shut down before work on this episode concluded, so that final shot of Benson in Times Square was actually unused footage from the episode’s opening scene.
– Rollins was clearly trying to get Carisi to go home with her, and he missed all of the obvious cues. Come on dude.
– There was no sign of Bureau Chief Vanessa Hadid, who was secretly assisting Sir Toby in the premiere and is still a shady person. Her absence isn’t surprising, but it is telling. The District Attorney’s Office is clearly hanging Carisi out to dry if he fails to get a conviction.
– Benson saying “Because you’re the only one who can save her” to Rollins when Ivy goes missing is rich, because usually Benson subscribes to that type of thinking. I appreciate that Warren Leight is aware of this and mentioned it on “Squadroom.”
– Aside from assisting Carisi in preparing witnesses, Benson really did not have much to do during this episode. I didn’t mind this; while Mariska Hargitay is an absolute powerhouse, the show can benefit from giving the other cast members more time to shine.
And that’s a wrap! Hopefully, The Montage will be back in the fall to review and recap new episodes!
