Also, Detective Elliot Stabler is coming back after nearly a decade. Almost forgot to mention that.
By: Jacob Politte, Online Editor
Law & Order SVU: “Eternal Relief From Pain”
Season 21, Episode 16
Airdate: 2/27/20
Kim Rollins is SVU’s most annoying character. The troubled sister of Detective Amanda Rollins seemingly only exists to create conflict. She’s implicated her sister in numerous crimes, including murder, and almost gotten her sister fired on at least three occasions.
Kim returns after a near four year absence, and like almost everyone else on this show, things have changed for her. She has a child now and genuinely seems like she wanted to improve her life, but one big vice is standing in her way: her addiction to drugs. She’s found overdosing in a subway bathroom, and quickly loses custody of her son.
Kim’s problems continued in “Eternal Relief From Pain,” but at the episode’s end, it seems she may finally have begun her road to redemption. It does not come easy, though. It’s only after the Rollins sisters deadbeat dad shows up and overdoses in Amanda’s apartment that she finally seems to want to change for the better. She voluntarily goes to prison as a way to get clean, despite the SVU’s very misguided attempts to keep her out of jail. Just because she’s Detective Rollins’ sister, and just because she gave the SVU an opportunity to take down a pharmaceutical ring that was extorting women for sex, doesn’t excuse her actions.
I’m not entirely sure that we’ll see Kim Rollins again, but if the last image we see of her is a look of realization that she needs to change, then I’m fine with that. Then again, Law and Order: SVU was renewed for three more seasons just hours before this episode premiered, so I’m sure Kim will pop up again at some point in the future. There’s plenty of time left for her to do so.
Despite this, Detective Rollins really needs to cut all ties with her family. I realize that family is family, but enough is seriously enough.
The Rollins family drama was a decent subplot, but the main story of this episode revolved around a pharmaceutical company, and its CEO Trey Harrington’s relationship to Bureau Chief Vanessa Hadid. While Hadid was definitely on the side of the good guys this episode, she’s still shady as hell. She initially refuses to believe that Harrington, a childhood friend, could be involved, and outright ruins SVU’s police operation by blowing their cover. Even if she was wearing a wire and got him to confess, she didn’t clue in SVU to what she was doing.
I don’t trust Hadid. The viewers of this show have also been given ample evidence not to do so; let’s not forget that she was actively interfering in the squad’s attempts to arrest Sir Tobias Moore in the season premiere last September. Hadid seems like an opportunist, and while she may be appearing to be on SVU’s side more and more these days, I still think that something is afoot.
Law & Order SVU: “Dance Lies and Video Tape”
Season 21, Episode 17
Airdate: 3/26/20
Before this episode aired, the world changed.
COVID-19 is spreading around New York City like wildfire, and so Law and Order: SVU shut down production for the remainder of its season, along with pretty much every other TV show. Now, we have only a handful of episodes left before SVU calls it a season; 4 more episodes that were scheduled to be produced have been canceled.
With everything that COVID-19 is affecting, it makes it hard to focus on covering this particular episode of SVU, and even some of the episodes that follow it.
I will say that despite my best efforts to get into this story, I didn’t care for it. Guest star John Waters was wasted in an almost meaningless role. The story, an investigation into sex crimes and sexual eploitation within the ballet industry, was a basic one. I’m surprised that Captain Olivia Benson’s son Noah was nowhere to be found, since he is also taking ballet classes.
It’s also worth noting that Ice T was missing. I really enjoy him being around, and Tutuola has become one of my favorite characters on the show these last few years. When he’s not around, his absence is definitely felt.
Law & Order SVU: “Garland’s Baptism By Fire”
Season 21, Episode 18
Airdate: 4/2/20
Typically, I’m not a super big fan of stories that focus on religion. I haven’t attended a church service in years, and I often find myself disillusioned with organized religion nowadays.
That being said, some of the characters on this show are not. And some of those characters refuse to believe that those in power at their churches can be capable of especially henious acts like sexual assault.
This episode was a nice feature for actor Demore Barnes, and for his character Deputy Chief Garland. Garland has been one of the standout characters of the season for me, and his faith is put to the test when his Reverend, Delman Chase, is accused of being a sexual predator who grooms young girls. The case gets very personal for Garland, who is accused of being a traitor to the African-American community and is threatened with being excommunicated from his church.
There are certain things that take away from the great work that Barnes did this episode. Much of the more interesting things that could’ve happened with Barnes were not explored to the extent that they could have been; it almost seems like a large part of Garland’s internal struggle wasn’t addressed on-screen, such as his family’s relationship with his church community, which obviously was very important to him.
Also, NBA legend Rick Fox plays Chase’s lawyer Edgar Goodwin in this episode for some reason, which took attention away from Barnes. This was not an episode to have a big star like Fox appear.
All in all, however, this was a rather solid hour of SVU and it did a much better job of taking my mind off of the current world events than “Dance, Lies and Video Tape” did.
It’s worth noting that Garland’s wife was clearly trying to set up Benson with Goodwin before the case made it a moot point. That wasn’t a necessary tease, because Fox was never going to stick around for a recurring role anyway. Benson should really not be focusing on trying to start a relationship now anyway, as she’ll once again be dealing with some massive unresolved feelings soon enough.
That’s because now, we have to talk about the biggest SVU news in a decade.
Now that the house cleaning is out of the way, let’s get to the really, really big news that broke just days before “Garland’s Baptism By Fire” aired.
Elliot Stabler is alive and well, and he’s coming back to television.
Actor Christopher Meloni has indeed signed on for a brand-new 13-episode series for NBC, where he will once again play the troubled detective, who seemingly retired after killing a child in a squadroom shooting in 2011, and after negotiations for Meloni to continue playing Stabler on SVU fall apart.
The new series, which does not have a release date but will be tentatively debuting at some point during the 2020-2021 television season, will follow Stabler as he returns to the force and leads the NYPD organized crime unit.
It’s something that’s apparently been in the works for a while: TVLine reported that Stabler’s wife Kathy and their now adult son Dickey were supposed to appear in SVU’s original season finale as a precursor to the spin-off. Obviously, due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down all television production, that will not be able to happen this season.
Of course, Twitter absolutely exploded when the news dropped. A crossover with SVU and a reunion with Olivia Benson is no longer a matter of “if” but instead now “when.”
Stabler’s SVU exit left a sour taste in many fans’ mouths, and gave virtually no closure to fans or to Benson whatsoever. In subsequent seasons, he was frequently mentioned, but almost never by name, and Benson’s view of him has diminished over time.
Meloni has continually said he will come back for nothing but the final few episodes. Obviously with this news, and due to the fact that SVU was renewed for at least three more seasons, this statement has now been proven false.
Let me be very blunt: A Benson and Stabler reunion needs to happen, and it needs to happen on an SVU episode, not the spin-off. I don’t care if they ultimately finally get together or not, I don’t care what the event is that leads to it. But their reunion needs to happen on SVU. It is the very least that the fans of this show deserve.
One potential negative of this news breaking is that now, everything on the show currently going on might be considered stalling, even if it is not. This is such monumental news, it overshadows almost everything going on with SVU right now. Literally, in some fan’s eyes, almost nothing else will matter.
As for the details of that reunion, Benson should absolutely punch Stabler right in the face. She should not react well to seeing him again, at least initially.
While Benson has made some very questionable decisions since his departure, she undoubtedly has grown as a person since then. But Stabler completely ignoring her should not be ignored.
These two were partners for over a decade, and they became very close; Benson even helped give birth to his youngest child (somehow, while in a vehicle that was involved in a really bad car accident and because Stabler couldn’t drive his own wife to the doctor).
If my closest confidant suddenly stopped returning my calls, and then just showed up after a decade of silence, I’d be furious. Benson should be furious. Benson should not give him the benefit of the doubt. Over time, those emotional wounds would heal, but that initial reunion should be rather frosty.
On a smaller scale, I do also want to see a reunion between Tutuola and Stabler. They did not have a very good relationship during Stabler’s last few years, and especially following Stabler investigating him as a possible accomplice to Detective Chester Lake’s crimes back in Season 9. Tutuola even demanded a transfer out of the unit because he didn’t think that he could work with Stabler, although that transfer was denied. I’d like to see some tension there as well, despite the fact that Tutuola has definitely mellowed out since.
Stabler being involved with SVU after all of this time is an interesting concept. So much has changed since 2011: the squadroom looks entirely different, both in terms of how it looks and in terms of who is working there. Only Benson and Tutuola remain from his tenure; Rollins was his direct replacement. And now Benson and Tutuola are in positions of authority.
Of course, Stabler won’t be appearing on SVU regularly. I do expect his initial return to give SVU its highest rating in quite some time; many fans stopped watching the show following his departure and probably would return for his comeback episode.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s unclear when exactly Meloni’s new series, or SVU for that matter, will start production. No one can be sure.
One thing is for sure, though: Benson and Stabler are going to see each other again. And there will be fireworks.
