Reviews

C'mon, there should never be any complaints about Zebras. It's classic 1.0 SVU

and as a classic serves up lots of dish: Stabler forced to watch the Benson n' Stuckey make-out sesh - while tied up, is just one of many

Ep also has three of Judith Light's best-ever moments as Donnelly: 'Is everyone crazy today? People take your meds,' flirting with Stabler ('Then this is highly improper -- and a pity) -- and Stabler coming to her rescue Can't leave out Kelly Bishop. Oooh boy, she nails it as the tough attorney with a big heart And really, how many SVU endings have ever topped the final scene of this one? Sushi? C'mon - this one belongs in the all-time SVU bangers club.

Boy this episode has everything. Benson & Stabler, Benson & Langan, Benson & Tucker, Stabler & Tucker, Stabler & Benson's Apartment ("let's get you in to bed")

and of course, one of the best SVU lines of dialog in 25 years "Does Kathy know you mortgaged the house for me?" No of course she doesn't know. Stabler just does whatever he does and someday these two will get it together.

Oh was there an episode we were supposed to talk about here? Yeah Benson is framed for a crime she did not commit, all the way down to crooks duplicating her DNA, sending Stabler, Cragen and the rest of squad chasing down a weird (and a little wacky) who-done-it.

Special shout-out to Tamara Tunie, who is extra-extra as Warner in this episode. Whew.

There was lots of hype going in, this being the landmark 25th season and all. Plus the Law and Orders were among the first shows back with new episodes after the long Hollywood strikes, and fans were restless.

The episode -- about a missing teen unwittingly enmeshed in the perverse desires of a creepy nerd-crowd -- delivered on lots of levels, including discussion about Olivia's fabled compass, a gift from Stabler in last year's OC's finale.

Show did a time jump, hewing close to real life and opening with the Baptism of the new Rollisi baby, now acknowledged to be 6 months old.

Love seeing Rollins back, even if it will only be as a guest star for now and Hargitay sure looks great after whatever transformation she went under during the last couple of years. More power to her.

Kevin Kane as Bruno continues to be fantastic, though praying Benson does not take in that stray cop from Bergen County. She's not needed. The squad is great the way it is!

Pretty much every dedicated SVU fan has seen this iconic episode about a rogue prison guard (fantastic Johnny Messner) and the female inmates he terrorizes. But it's always worth a rewatch.

Even with all the jarring stuff that happens in this episode, it's that one line from Stabler - "What happened in the basement' ? - that truly sends chills up ya spine every time.

And even with Mariska Hargitay's really top performance here in a harrowing situation, it's Meloni as Stabler with that simple question that really sums up the whole thing.

Both of course give stellar performances here but it's always cool to rewatch those quiet moments where it's just two people trying to figure out why the world is so crap*y and what they can do to fix it, all while never waning in their care for one another.

Tamara Tunie as Warner is also super clutch in this episode during a couple of key moments.

10 stars. Should have been Emmys all around.

Gonna need all these actors from the midwest and around the Great Lakes to stop trying to do NY dialects. It's always awful. And on this show, not even close to Philly accent. Lookin at you Louis Mustillo. Overdoing your Buffalo drawl is never gonna sound like you are from Jersey, Philly, New York City etc. Just give it up, seriously.

Otherwise this was a typical Cold Case episode, well done. And always leaving viewers wishing they'd have given Danny Pino more to do. He's so fantastic in everything he's in.

Also another strong episode for Tania Raymonde as Frankie -- another character we would have been blessed to see more of.

This episode is far and away among the best SVU episodes of the 2.0 era and competes easily with any of the series' overall top episodes of all time, from all its eras

Aside from Patricia Arquette blowing the roof off the place with one of the best SVU performances ever (where is her Emmy for this?), the episode also benefits greatly from a supporting role by Anne Meara (Ben Stiller's mother for you kids), who was renown for decades for her comedy work with husband Jerry Stiller, but was always a superb dramatic actress.

She is absolutely reverting here as well.

The episode is also one of the rare times when two guest stars are so off-the-chain fantastic all Benson (Mariska Hargity) and cast can do is stand back and allow these treasured people to do their thing.

What an amazing hour of television. 10 stars!

Charlotte and Anthony are the stars in this episode, both placed in unlikely scenarios we don't usually see on any kind of TV series, network or streaming

Charlotte (Kristen Davis) unhappy with her midlife body, and not quite fitting in to a new dress she wants to wear for her first day of work at her new gallery job, was really well done. And then to her surprise, learning that the new (younger) generation no longer thinks about weight the way society did in the '70s-90s, seemed to sum up the topic perfectly

Anthony (Mario Cantone) panicking as he falls for Guiseppe (Sebastiano Pigazzi) was equally moving, another rare real moment in this wildly uneven reboot. Mario Cantone can really act and though we love his wisecracks, it's satisfying when he drops the act and let's the real Anthony come through

Though most viewers have been focused on Carrie's big reveal in her question to Miranda, this episode is worth tuning in for these very sweet b-storylines. Really well done.

Steve and Anthony being highlights of Season 2 AJLT was not on my bingo card, but these guys -- when given something real to do -- really are fantastic.

The whole reboot has been wildly uneven of course, and often cringey, occasional great moments buried in nonsense. So maybe not a shock after all that David Eigenberg and Mario Cantone have seized the spotlight.

This episode (directed by Cynthia Nixon) is a standout, particularly as Nixon creates a showcase for Eigenberg, her longtime co-star in this universe, and a pivotal moment for Miranda and Steve.

Eigenberg, more well known in the last decade for 230+ episodes as Herrmann in the solar-opposite universe of Chicago Fire, has been underused in the SATC/AJLT from the beginning. Very cool to see this terrific actor/character, and his relationship to the American Dream, deservedly explored.

This film resonated with me when it debuted in 1996, and for years after. But watching it now in 2023 it feels shrill and even disturbing in a coupla spots

That it it did so well initially owed a lot to the era and the three headliners -- Bette Midler, Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn -- all very good, and always so watchable, plus an absolute cavalcade of big-name costars, veteran working actors and cameos

Where TFWC loses me now is primarily during the 'fight' scene among the three women, which starts off with a promising, raging monologue by Midler but then devolves in to bizarre violence, during which the women throw vases, trophies and anything they can grab at each other

Only in the demented world of producer Scott Rudin is a disagreement among three adult women 'resolved' by hurling heavy objects across your pal's living-room

But that was his way during decades of abuse he heaped upon his staffers -- and now knowing this, and seeing this enacted in this film . . . Man idk. . . It's just gross

The film is also not as well written as I remembered and is choppily edited

But if you're gonna watch it, do so for the all-star cast which also includes, SJP, Stockard Channing, Maggie Smith, Bronson Pinchot, Dan Hedaya, Victor Garber, Marcia Gay Harden, James Naughton, Eileen Heckert, J. Smith-Cameron, Heather Locklear, Kate Burton, Debra Monk, Timothy Olyphant, Rob Reiner, Elizabeth Berkley and on and on and on -- Just about everyone has a 'moment' worth your time if you're a fan of any of these folks

4 stars.

If you can tolerate Marin Ireland's tortuous attempt at a New York dialect, you'll find underneath all her babble an interesting episode -- and a rare one for SVU, featuring a storyline about a man assaulted by a woman

The victim is Carisi's soon-to-be brother-in-law, a low-rent guy named Tommy (isn't every random character on SVU unimaginatively named Tommy?) who's been trying to get his life together

Now that Carisi's sister Bella (Ireland) is pregnant, Tommy's trying more than ever to keep his life on the straight-and-narrow

A powerful parole officer (well-played by Molly Price) however has other ideas, and sadly Tommy's life starts to come apart again

Anyway, it's mostly good stuff, but Ireland's performance is so distracting it takes ya right out of the story every time she speaks

For the love of god svu, either cast real New Yorkers (which should be a given), hire a dialect coach, or just let your out-of-town actors speak plain old English the way they normally do

Basically a 6 or 7-star episode; deductions for distractions.

Frasier was always several notches above most sitcoms - but all hail queen Bebe Neuwirth, for whenever she brings the character of Lilith to Seattle for a guest appearance on this show, the whole thing is next level.

If ever there was perfect casting Neuwirth as Lilith was it. First as Frasier's wife on Cheers and then as his ex-wife all through this follow-up series.

If there's a complaint it's that she appeared only 12 times during Frasier's 11-year run -- and this particular episode is among the best of them. (She was on Broadway starring in Chicago and other shows during this era).

Writing and staging for this episode is flawless -- the pace is full fire, as if you're watching a great stage comedy by the finest playwright.

Even the costuming is top-level, from Neuwirth's burgundy dress to the plush hotel bathrobes.

The final scene with Niles, Frasier and Lilith is as good as TV comedy gets. 10 stars all the way around.

"Internal Affairs" is an SVU 2.0 banger.

Story here features a pair of super-dirty uni's working as partners at an ordinary Manhattan precinct -- headquarters for their sick SA operation

Enter Ed Tucker, who sells Cassidy, Cragen and Benson on an IA scheme to bust the creeps -- while allowing Cassidy (now Olivia's bf) an opportunity to earn back his detective shield

Cassidy goes to work alongside slimebag officers West & Quinn (stand-out performance by Nadia Dajani) on the pretense that he's now been 'moved up' from his recent demotion to the Bronx

The plan also calls for a bit of deft UC work from Fin and Rollins, (Kelli Giddish in another top moment), while testing the resilience of the still-reforming Benson/Cassidy relationship

But the capper of this fast, well written episode (by Kevin Fox), is the heart-wrench when Benson confronts Quinn about the delusional torch she carries for her partner

"You spent the last five years hoping he'd suddenly turn to you and realize you're the woman he can't live without. . ."

Benson didn't speak all that much about Stabler during 2.0, but this scene was a whole decade of feels in two stellar minutes. Hit us right in the Stablers.

This episode was never intended as SVU's Season 21 finale, but after the pandemic closed down production in the Spring of 2020, this episode (which aired end of April of that year) was the last stuff they had shot and had to suffice as the season-ender

In hindsight "The Things We have Lose" is a topnotch finale, better than other finales in which writers and producers contort the basics in order to do something 'big'

Here they were just doing a normal, great episode and it's fantastic

Every cast member has a storyline, all of which revolve around tying up loose ends around past high-profile case.

This episode also has Jenna Stern as Barth (love her; she's not used enough), Stephen Wallem, reliably terrific as Nurse Rudy, and Vince Curatola returning as Judge Bertuccio

SVU budgets have been chopped so deeply in the last coupla years, they seem to be relying less and less on 'known' supporting actors. The show is always better when they do. Wish they could find a way to have these folks on all the time.

Can't leave out amazing Bea Cordelia returning as Lakira. Not sure if it's pc to mention that she's a trans actor, but this storyline was so well done, and feels as though it was greatly enhanced by this authentic casting

Expertly written and directed with at least 5 or 6 major storylines all precisely woven together.

Definitely a stand-out episode of the 2.0 era.

Without a doubt one of the finest episodes of anything ever written -- Larry David at his best -- as well as the entire cast.

So many iconic bits in this one, aside from the actual 'puffy shirt,' including the the low-talker, George the hand model's 'milky white' hands, the oven mitts, the master of your domain reference, Bryant Gumbel, Estelle's bologna sandwiches, the iron and on and on -

While this ep is remembered for the pirate shirt of course, this is a particularly strong outing for Jerry Stiller and Estelle Harris as George's parents, and for Jason Alexander as well. 10 stars all the way around.

This is at least the second or third time we've suffered through character actor Gary Basaraba stumbling through a show trying to pretend he's a New Yorker.

The more he strains to do the dialect, the more cringe it becomes. Takes you right out of an otherwise solid episode, which in this case is about families in witness protection trying to live normal lives.

For the love of god, if you can't do 'New York' don't try. Just speak plain-Jane and call it a day.

Director Alex Zakrzewski really needed to intervene here. It's kind of amazing he didn't, considering he's directed a ton'a Blue Bloods, various Law and Orders, Oz etc.

Mariska Hargitay directing for the first time since the pandemic was exciting, but this clunky episode written by Julie Martin and David Graziano wastes her talents, as it does terrific guest stars Bradley Whitford and particularly Nancy Travis, who is onscreen for maybe a woeful 2 minutes tops. Weird.

A writer with dementia thinks he killed his wife, and Carisi sensing he didn't, calls in Benson to help. That's the first stretch.

"Up"-style intro was a fun OOC move for SVU (the fantasy ending is out of the box as well), but why compete with an animated classic no one will ever top?

Then there's Benson throwing out a ridiculous one-liner about how the only people she meets are emotionally unavailable.

Yet just three weeks ago didn't Stabler drive four hours roundtrip to bring her young son back to her, then confront her in her kitchen, more available than ever?

Dick Wolf always thinking a lack of continuity is some kinda flex is one of the weirdest things about this man's broadcast empire, as is leaving Benson and Stabler in this embarrassing undefined limbo for 24 years.

Why he's so intent on not using the one ratings draw he really has in this franchise is another unexplained mystery.

Episode's sub-plot about Velasco possibly being dirty was also a bore, a super-thin premise that could have been an email.

A line about Mariska's icon mom Jayne Mansfield (a first in SVU's 24 years) was sweet but felt forced, even in Whitford's capable hands.

And when Benson reads the children's book, King of the Moon, (as in the episode's title), one couldn't help think it was a badly concealed promo for a real book coming any day. Big overhyped blehh all the way around.

Usually love Brooke Elliott but A Country Christmas Harmony feels like it was written in a night, shot in a week and slapped on the air as nothing more than content-filler to run holiday commercials around.

Fun to see Danny Pintauro acting again so many years after Who's The Boss. And love hearing Brooke sing. The rest is a lazy mess, from grandma's (Ann Walker) stilted dialogue and delivery, to the faked angst between between Chrissy and Luke, played by Brandon Quinn, (Elliott's usual co-star in Sweet Magnolias).

Wasn't expecting high art from a Lifetime holiday movie, but this contrived pile of misfire is a big-time waste of a coupla of likable stars.

What on earth does Dick Wolf have against his own shows? OC isn't the first Wolf vehicle to start well and then veer wildly off track.

But it's definitely the most disappointing considering the rich backstories within the Law & Order universe, and all the potential this thing had going in.

Tough to process what Wolf and his rotating cast of expendable showrunners are even trying to do here -- pretending Benson doesn't exist, introducing a lazy look-alike character for awkward nonsense straight out of a dated soap opera, shipping Eli off to college at '15,' disappearing Bernie, Kathleen and all the family stuff that was the heart of the Stabler character; renaming Ruth Barrett's love theme to remove all traces of 'Benson and Stabler' and repurposing it so it's used whenever Stabler looks at a rando.

The series has now squandered an incomprehensible 70-plus episodes between OC and SVU, offering not a single substantive conversation between the two leads. There is no universe in which these two would not have logically hashed out their ish by now. Not even a diner cup of coffee? Ridiculous. Does Wolf really think this little of viewers who have watched for decades?

OC started with cinematic photography, a clear direction about a cop reconciling his past, and great B-stories (Jet, Bell & Denise, Flutura etcetera), but is now a rudderless, out-of-character mess. Stabler as some sort of Rambo F-boi is not it guys.

What's most confounding is why Chris Meloni, an executive producer on the series, seems to just be going along with it all, despite the show bailing on most of its original premise.

2 stars - and that's being generous.

Love it when an SVU episode captures the nuances of 1.0 vibe, but is obviously all new.

This second episode of the season was a really promising debut for the show's new producer and head writer David Graziano, who helmed this hour as if he'd been doing it forever, (but who did not write last week's crossover premier).

The One You Feed features an uptown gang whose subway attack on a vacationing family spurs McGrath to pair Benson with Bronx gang unit captain Mike Duarte (terrific Maurice Compte).

Mariska Hargitay and Compte are fun together and the with a few threads from the case still dangling at hour's end, it seems possible his character could return.

But this episode also has Rollins (Kelli Giddish) and Velasco (Octavio Pisano) soul-searching; Betty Buckley pouring actual tea; Fin reminding everyone he's still with Phoebe; new detective Grace Muncy (Molly Burnett) making her debut, and most importantly Hargitay laying down the law, running to the scene in Kevlar, and looking gorgeous in a series of designer jackets under the much-improved lighting in her office.

It's a big busy episode that never lagged. And how refreshing to see Benson written as 'happy,' particularly after the mostly aimless incoherence of last season. 10 stars baby!

OK, so here we are at part 3 of this 2022 Law & Order season premiere hot-mess crossover, which began at 8 pm with an "OC" episode that was really a mothership episode, followed by an uncharacteristically action-packed Benson & Stabler-led SVU hour, which played more like OC -- and now at 10 p.m where OC usually airs, we find ourselves . . . . back at the mothership.

Rebooting the original Law & Order at the end of last season -- 12 years after it had been cancelled after a 20-year run -- wasn't a terrible idea.

In fact it could have been great, Maybe it still can. But lacking the one-liner spark of the original, mood lighting and cool characters, the new version has . . . . struggled.

Gimme Shelter Part 3 as the final hour of the crossover felt like a reboot of a reboot -- a chance for Dick Wolf to reintroduce his old show -- again, 7 months after he reintroduced it last season -- only this time deeply integrated into the current Law and Order Universe, whether it makes sense or not.

As the hour opens, D. A. McCoy and team float trial strategies to put away the bad guys from Hours 1 and 2, with Benson in on the questioning again (thank g0d) of the teen witness, leaning in with her usual care and much needed star power.

Rollins (Kelli Giddish) is also on hand --for a life-changing event and what looks to be the beginning of her final episodes in the franchise, as she gets ready to depart midseason. (The actress was recently let go by Dick Wolf because her salary had climbed beyond what he viewed as her value).

Giddish may not have been the central reason people tuned in to SVU every week, but she sure has been great the last 11 years, and thinking about the franchise without her is troubling.

Rollins and Benson have been a formidable team, and close friends; inspiring examples of women leading together. That Wolf thinks she won't be missed, is a miscalculation.

Worse, Law & Order writers setting Rollins' exit arc in motion on the mothership - and not SVU - is a slap. It probably happened this way because word is the Rollins character was to have been blown up or shot during the crossover; Hargitay protested, lobbying for a proper, dignified close for Rollins. (If only she'd been around for Julian McMahon on Wolf's FBI Most Wanted).

Anyway, Benson lackadaisically hanging out in her office when Rollins desperately needs her, and Carisi (Peter Scanavino) barely in two scenes -- the best of which was cut for streaming -- also felt crappy.

Then again, the hour - the entire evening - was not put on this planet to make sense. It's here to remind us the old Law & Order exists, and nothing more.

Camryn Manheim (in the Van Buren role) is on hand her again as she has been all night, actively working with Stabler, and ofc this actress is always welcome in anything she does. Jeffrey Donovan as Cosgrove got better as the night went on, (he really is good in this) and so is Mehcad Brooks as new detective Shaw.

Sam Waterston, g0d love him, is inevitably limited at 82. Once again this feels like Dick Wolf overspending for something, but having no idea what to do with it, just as he has squandered the 'reunion' of Benson & Stabler.

Looking back at the crossover's oddball opening at 8 pm in a foreign land with unfamiliar characters, it plays like a metaphor for the series itself, which is desperate for an infusion of faces viewers know.

With thousands of characters in the Law & Order canon, Wolf seems nutty not using at least a few of them. Bring in Leslie Hendrix as Rogers, Tamara Tunie as Warner, Judith Light as Donnelly. Give us a judge we know. Bring back a villain. Move George Huang or Barba over to 8 p.m. Call Diane Neal! The choices are endless.

As the evening wraps, opportunities for closure are missed and Donovan's character is charged with making sense of a Rick Eid's choppy script which goes long where it shouldn't and short where depth is needed.

So we get Cosgrove narrating over closing scenes of Stabler in action and Benson in comfort mode, generally trying to right a ship that was never quite on course to begin with.

No doubt a three-part cross-over was an ambitious idea: A feature-length film made in weeks, with shoots running almost to air time - while the shows' individual teams were still producing their series' ongoing weekly episodes. "A" for effort, "C" for story and execution, "B" overall.

Gimme Shelter Part Two is the second hour of the three part Law & Order franchise season premiere crossover and despite loads of missed opportunities (what's new, it's Dick Wolf), this is still the best hour by far of the three.

The action picks up with Benson and Fin questioning a teen discovered in the previous hour's raid (Gimme Shelter Part 1 - OC 3x1) while the Mothership's Cosgrove and Shaw (Jeffrey Donovan and Mehcad Brooks) interrogate a madam on the other side of the glass.

Minutes later combined squads descend in artillery on the bad guy's mansion for some classic L&O action.

Though led by Benson & Stabler, it's Benson (Mariska Hargitay) calling the shots, as she does throughout the evening. She's distinctly in charge particularly when working with Stabler, (Chris Meloni) who has made it clear since returning that that's how he wants it.

After a broken ankle and knee injury sidelined her for months last year, Hargitay is back in top form, sprinting up staircases and streets again with her former partner, as well as alongside Rollins (Kelli Giddish).

That Wolf paid a fortune to reunite her with Meloni (whose own athleticism is legion), but seems to have no real idea what to do with them, is now bordering on debacle. Several obvious opportunities to have the characters connect were inexplicably bypassed during the crossover, particularly when Stabler suffers a loss and Benson protects a witness.

And the one moment that appears meant to be their "big scene" -- Stabler aggressively tries to protect her and Benson wildly overreacts -- is strangely off.

The second crossover hour also highlights OC's Jet Slootmaekers (Ainsley Seiger), the tech wiz whose growing fondness for Stabler has been an Organized Crime high point.

OC's Bell (Danielle Mone Truitt), Fin and Rollins are good in what little they are given to do, a short-shrift to create more time to market Mothership characters. Carisi (Peter Scanavino) is nowhere to be seen until near 11 pm, for literally 15 seconds.

Ep also has explosives, hostages and Stabler pummeling the villain -- all a notch up from average SVU episodes of late, but nowhere near what this should have been.

Gimme Shelter Part 2 is really a 7-star episode at most, but adding a coupla stars for the "three-hour-movie" ambition and BensonStabler nostalgia.

Forgive yourself if you didn't know which show you were watching during any part of this Law & Order "crossover event."

Let's start by clarifying that 'Gimme Shelter Part 1' is the opening episode of Law & Order Organized Crime season 3 -- and also the opening episode of a single-night 3-show Law & Order universe season premiere.

However the first 45 minutes of the thing -- concerning a broad-daylight teen murder -- actually plays like an episode of the new regular Law & Order mothership reboot, with heavy emphasis on Det. Cosgrove (Jeffrey Donovan in an excellent performance) and his incoming partner Jalen Shaw (Mehcad Brooks).

All good, but then why the heck call this OC?

The hour, which operated mostly as a set-up to 9:00 pm's SVU -- felt more like a weird backdoor pilot -- but in this case for a show that already exists!

This non-OC OC had its moments, particularly when Benson & Stabler pop up, and the interplay between Donovan and Brooks is much improved over Donovan's forced banter with Anthony Anderson last season.

The rest was a drawn-out attempt to turn what should have been a 20 minute set-up in to an hour.

And if the goal of this three-parter was to refamiliarize fans with the franchise, why on earth would Dick Wolf open with a long, gratuitous gun-battle among strangers in the Ukraine, rather than ANY scene featuring ANY established franchise character a casual fan might recognize?

Even when the action finally shifts from overseas bloodshed to a too-long NY lunch between Cosgrove and his 15-year-old daughter, viewers are left with the same question: WHO are these people?

A few might know Donovan joined the franchise last year, and it's understandable Wolf wants to showcase the Cosgrove character, but holy cow starting it off this way was terrible viewer strategy.

Elsewhere the mothership's Camryn Mannheim is still on board as the squad's steady 'Van Buren' and at about 35 minutes in the action does finally shift to Stabler's squadroom where the various teams fret over whose case it is and how it will be handled.

This last half of the hour also introduces a young CI mentored by Stabler for some patented Elliot-and-kids softness - and classic Stabler hovering over Benson's laptop so the two can share a screen with zero personal space.

By the time it wraps with a to-be-continued raid, it's clear the action is now in full swing for the SVU hour, but how Dick Wolf will ever re-assemble these pieces so they make sense when syndicated within the shows that these episodes actually belong to, is anyone's guess.

Rated this thing 9 stars based almost entirely on the acting. The writing and hack bait-and-switch within the universe rates at best a 6.

Let's see: Your show reaches a massive milestone in television, 500 episodes over 23 years, all while raising vital public awareness of rape, abuse and other crimes that were mostly hidden from view before SVU came to be in 1999.

So what do producers do to mark these accomplishments?

As if aiming to deliberately disappoint viewers, they write a redemption arc for a rapist (a story that concludes toward the end of this 23rd season).

Also preposterous is that producers felt any need at all to introduce an entirely new pivotal character (the rapist is a predator from Olivia's teen years) during an hour that should have been warm and nostalgic -- not filled with strained dialogue to populate an unfamiliar back-story.

Yeah we get it; producers didn't want the cliches that sometimes sink 'milestone episodes.' But if your writing team is competent that would never be the case.

Inventing someone new in Benson's life (a rapist we're supposed to pity!), now, when they've already got 10,000+ characters in the show's bible, many of them intriguing and worth revisiting, was a total head-slapper.

By this point Stabler had been back in Benson's life via Law & Order Organized Crime for six months, yet neither show has offered a single substantive conversation between these enduring characters.

And if they're gonna write a redemption arc for anyone, doesn't Stabler -- an actual pivotal person in Benson's life -- outrate an unknown?

Also, can the people in charge of this thing give Olivia Benson just one day of happiness? Why is everything 24-7 trauma around this woman? And would Olivia Benson really throw plastic litter into one of the city's lakes? C'mon, make it make sense.

All that aside, Hargitay gives an outstanding performance here. She's crushed, mad and subdued in all the right places. And it was great to see Danny Pino as Nick; made us wish he'd come back full time.

Cragen (Dan Florek) also drops in -- via FaceTime, a mostly wasted appearance that plays like producers' apology for not doing the episode they should have done.

Florek's two additional appearances in the franchise this season -- a coupla fatherly turns on OC, did thankfully hit the perfect nostalgia note.

All in all SVU 500 was just more uncoordinated filler from a franchise squandering some of television's most engaging personalities. Really hoping they get it together soon, so they can wrap it up the way it deserves, not on a whimper with cancellation looming.

God this episode was good. Magnificent.

Why or how Christopher Meloni is still without an Emmy is mind-boggling.

And Lolita Davidovitch as Flutura, holy shizzz. She deserves all the awards, not just for the balcony bit with Stabler, but for that closing scene with Albi. Master class from an actress who's been great in all kinds of things for more than 35 years.

And the guy who played Kevin at the end, Dan Amboyer! Without a word, you see the guy's whole life.

Episode also reminds viewers that Bell, Jet, Maldonado, Cho, Nova, Denise, Kathleen, Eli are some of the coolest side characters in TV. Can't forget Reggie: Dash Mihok was so good throughout the whole thing.

NGL, wasn't loving the Albanian arc at first, and then they botched "The Letter" with Benson. But all is forgiven as this series of episodes grew stronger every week.

Ilene Chaiken outdid herself here. Sad that she's not producing this show anymore. But yeah she left another great piece of work on the field with "Ashes to Ashes," unreal crazy perfect. More of this please Law and Order.

Hey SVU, Olivia Benson really shouldn't be in a friendship with her abuser, and def not go into a room alone with him after he's been credibly accused of rape. But if that's the road you're going down, OK.

Even less logical is the manner in which this show has abandoned all kinds of unfinished arcs, in favor of this rapist redemption arc. The show also ignores all the stuff Benson does on Law & Order Organized Crime, which again makes for very frustrating viewing.

Between the two series' producers have had 60 episodes to address dangling threads. Ffs just get back on track and tell a coherent story that adds up.

Is any longtime viewer really buying the notion that Elliot and Olivia have not had a single substantive conversation in over a year, and after she helped him rescue his son?

SVU's been a rough road lately for the SA survivors who are watching, but holy heck I just want these writers to treat these long time characters with standard logic.