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Okay so, I just watched the new episode. I know some people havenāt watched it yet, so Iām going to be leaving the spoiler commentary under the cut.
Initial Thoughts
This episode was fairly well done with respect to the balance between the case and the āextraā scenes, and by extra I mean the look into the personal live. I thought the pacing was done well; the case was the main attraction, which Iāve said time and time again should be the formula of this show, always. As far as the personal story lines, I have some thoughts, which will be under the cut like I said above to respect those who donāt want any spoilers. I will say this though, Iām failing to see the point anymore with respect to the Sheila/Liv/Noah story line. The Rollins/Carisi scene was awkward at best, and almost seemed like different characters we were watching in my opinion. So...on to the spoilers...
The Case
I thought the case was innovative, and fresh. We really havenāt had a case like this one before, so I very appreciated that. Weāve catfishing stories, but none quite like this where it was both sides being catfished. Steve Howey was amazing as āThe Monster,ā I really enjoyed his guest star role, and it was kind of refreshing to see a pro fighter portrayed this way because not all of them are ātough guysā in and out of the ring.
I also very much loved that he took that plea deal, because he could see that even though he was led to believe one thing, he did end up violating someone.
āThatās a man!!ā is legit what I yelled out as I was watching the episode.
I loved that we saw plenty of Barba in this episode as well, and that the case and itās complexities were center stage.
As far as the actual perp goes, I wish we had seen just a little bit more of how this evidence that Carisi found had been discovered. Now, granted this may have made for a bit of a boring scene, and I loved the bar scene between Liv/Rafael/Carisi but if the perp only had 6 followers on Instagram, and with her motherās illness and her having to care for her, this leads me to believe that she didnāt post very often.
Also, a bit of a plot hole with the police officer from West Virginia saying, āher voice sounded familiarā and then identifying her as the poster on Reddit, but later Barba only references text posts. Does this mean that the WA officer was referring to her āvoiceā as a writer? Or was he referring to her actual voice, which would make more sense to me-- if she didnāt have many followers, how would he recognize her writerās voice enough to be able to say, sheās this user?
In the end, as a whole, I did enjoy the case as catfishing happens all the time and to so many people. It is something that needs to be brought to light that most times this seemingly āinnocentā thing can very much go wrong, too far, and have a lasting impact on the unsuspecting victims.
The Rollisi-almost-kissed-and-then-Sonny-was-butthurt Scene
This entire sequence was awkward. Awkward, awkward, awkward. From the scene where they almost kiss to Sonnyās behavior the next day, and what we can infer was a day or two later. I donāt enjoy that the writers are so quick to have Amanda hook up with her partners (except for Fin because, letās be real, Fin wouldnāt go there ever). Honestly, sheās changed as a character after she had Jesse, and while this scene was away from home, away from her motherly duties and a time where she got to just be a cop again, it felt as though we were watching the old Amanda.
I definitely didnāt like that feeling of ātaking two steps backā with regard to her demeanor during and after. Not so much during, but absolutely after, where as @missjennifercole pointed out to me last night while she was watching the episode, she basically suggested that she would in fact sleep with Sonny if given the opportunity. This just doesnāt sound like the Amanda that she as a character has grown into. It sounds like the just-got-here Amanda.
Letās also not forget that she and Declan (which if you remember, is Jesseās father) parted on good terms. Eventually his assignment will be over, and he may very well come back to New York in order to try and build a relationship with his daughter, and for all we know he may even want to try building one with Amanda as well. The writers really should be keeping that in mind when they write for her. This isnāt to say that she canāt sleep with someone if she wants to. She is, after all a single mother, but sheās a mother first and foremost, so this thing with Buck the bartender likely happened because she was away from home and there was no way they would ever see each other again.
Had this scene taken place in New York, it likely would have turned out differently.
Iām sorry to the Rollisi shippers (whom if Iām not mistaken are also upset about how this scene went) but that almost-kiss was so awkward. It was not natural or organic at all. Now that Iām thinking about it, Iād like to offer a fresh perspective on this scene...
If you really watch their movements before the almost-kiss, one could argue that it wasnāt an almost-kiss at all, and that they were just super drunk and close together. The reason Carisi was so butt-hurt afterward was because as far as he knew Amanda had turned a new leaf after having Jesse with regard to her love life. Meaning that she was more weary of having one night stands with strangers, and it wasnāt that he was butt-hurt at all, but that he was disappointed in her as a friend.
Iām not saying this is what I think, especially with the last scene where they acknowledge (donāt acknowledge) their time in West Virginia, but itās possible. Also, while she was talking about āsometimes you sleep with someone you love, and sometimes you sleep with someone you donāt,ā you would think she would have brought up their āalmost-kissā and either tell him that she wanted them to stay friends, or that she was interested in seeing if there was anything there.
All of that said, Carisiās initial reaction was realistic, but the shortness in his attitude towards her in that last scene was absolutely out of character. This is someone heās grown incredibly close with in the last couple of seasons, and it almost felt like this incident with Buck the bartender had him reevaluating their friendship. Heās seen other people in the past, so this doesnāt make sense for Sonny if he was jealous and it was making him want to back away from the friendship.
Hurt, yes maybe, because itās pretty rude to decline sleeping with someone and say that youāre tired, and then go out and bring someone else home and sleep with them. Now, we donāt know the circumstances; maybe Buck came to the motel, and Amanda just let him in. We donāt know for sure that she went back out to find him, so...thatās just some food for thought.
Listen guys, I love all my Rollisi shippers, I truly do, but I maintain that these two are just better served as friends. One, because Rollins is the kind of character who has immensely benefited from having a platonic male friend in her life, that truly cares for both her well-being and that of her daughterās. Secondly, I really want them to break away from having Amanda sleep with all of her partners. That was the old Amanda, sheās grown since then. If youāre going to give her a love-interest, have it be with someone that reflects her growth, not brings her back to old habits.
Iām sure some will argue that Sonny is no Nick, and they would be right, but weāve seen that having relationships within the squad never works. And I would hate to lose the camaraderie that we all love between Sonny and Amanda.
The Liv/Noah/Sheila Trainwreck
Iām not gonna lie, this story line is not looking good. It seems to me that the writers simply wanted to give Olivia something interesting to work through this season, and thought, āOkay, letās make Ellieās mom actually be alive. Thatāll cause some friction.ā
The problem is that it hasnāt been handled very well at. Letās start with the fact that Live seemed like she was against Sheila even being in Noahās life in the first place. This could be explained by the fact that Sheila was coming at her sideways, and luckily that was resolved relatively quickly.
Now the whole, Noah asked about Ellie thing; he never said, my mom or my real mommy. He just said, āEllie,ā which would indicate to me that Sheila (as she later clarified) mentioned her in passing, but likely did not identify Ellie as his real mother. What is the problem if Noah gets to know Ellie as Ellie now while heās young so that when he gets older and Liv decides to tell him the truth about his mother, he already has some kind of attachment to her? Honestly, what the hell would be so bad about that?
I donāt believe that Sheila slipped in the sense that she revealed to Noah that Ellie was his real mother because she is wanting to stay on Livās good side. Therefore, she would be cautious about saying things like that. Mentioning Ellie in passing, however, is more realistic and in my opinion totally harmless. Ellie could be anyone; she could be an aunt or a cousin as far as Noah is concerned. So Liv lowkey freaking out over Sheila mentioning Ellie is a little over the top.
Now the damn kidnapping. This is obviously and more than likely something that will tie back to Olivia, but what the hell is this show-runner trying to pull? Honestly. I suppose it could be someone that is somehow tied to Ellie, but who would possibly do that? And I swear if theyāre trying to pull the, āOh my Gosh! Ellie isnāt dead, she was just afraid of testifying against Johnny D! WHAAAAAAAATTTTTT?!ā they are seriously going to fuck up with this fandom.
It was one thing that Ellieās mother was still alive, but to put this baby, this child through hell and have it be for absolutely nothing at all would be a huge disservice both to the show and to the fandom. So Iām hoping this isnāt the case.
But then who else could it have been?
William Lewis is dead. So is Johnny D.
This leaves either a random perp whom Olivia convicted or investigated some time ago (weāve seen that before) or someone who is connected to Ellie, but is not Ellie herself.
I suppose itās also possible that there is no connection at all and this was just a random stranger/kidnapper. It does happen. Though, Noah didnāt make a sound, so this might be indicative to him either recognizing the person or being drugged, in which case, is there security footage available? We wonāt know this until the show comes back.
Also, I just need to say this as a mother myself-- Did anyone else arch a brow at Livās reaction to the phone call, that likely went something like this:
Sheila: *hysterical voice* Liv, you need to come meet me right now. I canāt find Noah. I only took my eyes off him for a second as I was grabbing a coat off the rack, but heās gone Liv! Heās gone! I canāt find him! Please come now!
Liv: *almost-facepalm*
Seriously? Thatās it? You were just told that your son is missing, and thatās the reaction you have? Now, being frozen is one thing-- we saw that with Sheila. She froze, but slowly we saw the panic setting in as she looked around frantically, low-key hyperventalating while she looked for her grandson. We could see the thought process in her facial expression going from, āPlease let this be a joke, and heās just hiding somewhere,ā to āOmg, where the fuck is he?! No, this can not be happening!ā
Liv, however...she gave me the ānot againā feels big time. Had she expressed facially similar emotions as Sheila, I wouldnāt be pointing this out, but if anyone has a screenshot or made a gif of that last shot in the episode, please reblog and leave it up and just look at that damn mug right now.
Are you for real?
Beyond that, they need to leave Noah alone. The story line is getting old already, and itās not as though they donāt have other characters they could do story lines with, first of all. Secondly, if this shit keeps happening to Noah because Liv is his mother, how are we supposed to believe that child services wonāt get involved at some point?
Why canāt we have parenting story lines that are relatable? I want to see Noah throwing a tantrum because he doesnāt get his way. How does Liv deal with that? I want to see Noah getting into trouble at school or Noah mouthing off, because it happens. Heās a kid. Give us kid troubles to grow the character and grow Liv as a mother. Donāt put a kid whoās already been through a lot of trauma through more trauma for the sake of making things interesting.
It isnāt fair to the Olivia Benson character and more over it isnāt fair to the viewers. Period.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, I enjoyed the episode but as far as the subplots are concerned, weāll just have to see how they handle the aftermath/resolutions. Itās hard to gauge at this point, but both plot points had very rocky jump-starts. I did however love that the case took center stage, as thatās how all episodes should be formatted. And there was an acceptable amount of Barba in the episode, so thereās always that.
Let me know in the comments below what your thoughts were! Do you agree with the things I pointed out? Do you have different interpretations/views? Iād love to hear from you!!
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
ā Live Streamingā Interactive Chatā Private Showsā HD Quality
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