L&O: SVU (218) and CI (203)

[delga]

I'm putting this beneath a cut because it may be spoilery to people who haven't seen the episodes. I find this unlikely but just in case :)

I <3 Munch and Fin. I ::heart:: everything about them. They're funny, witty, passionate and well rounded characters who, although they mostly take the back seat, are fully fledged in their own rights.

That's why Manhunt was an amazing episode. Whilst I love Benson and Stabler (oh, you know I do), I sometimes get upset that much and the Finmeister don't get equal airtime. I love the Munch episodes (he's proven to be quite the touching character - and I want his hat) and I find him plausible and consistent. True, I fell for him (his character) when we saw him in the L&O/HLotS x-overs but still, dude, the guy is amazing.

And the FinMeister. My love knows no bounds. For one thing, he nicely balances out Munch's more severe quirks and he equals him out in the banter too. Apart from that, there's no particular reason why I like him. I just...do. The revelation about his partner was a deft touch (L&O's forte is that it IS a procedural drama and the 'life' mentions aren't freaking anvils; we get a quiet stream of personals that I much prefer. It's a cop show, not a soap) and I think mostly, I just liked him as a person/character. He was just a good guy who I didn't find irritating. So, yeh, that might have helped.

As for Manhunt, the storyline, as ever, was gripping (I find that SVU has the most dangerous - does that make sense? - plotlines; the other two are quieter. For example, The Mothership I watch for the court cases as much as I do the detecting and Little and Large I watch purely for the cases) and I think the best thing about SVU is that it combines delicate plots with stunning characterisation. Let me reiterate the brackets. CI is all about the cases; L&O is about the movement from one area to the next and the complications therein; SVU is about the victims and so it's much stronger viewage. I think the reaosn SVU is so popular is because out of all three L&Os, it's the one that's most like other series (re: character info) but that's not why I like it; I like it because I have a bizarre fascination with the type of crime they portray. OK, that was somewhat OT.

Back to the episode: brilliant story line, brilliant acting by Richard Belzer and Ice-T and especially brilliant acting by the victim Munch bonded with. Just superb.

Only one thing jarred in this episode and I'm loathe to admit it because I know that lots of people disagree with me but SHIT I do not like Cabot. She is uniteresting. Occasionally she does her job but mostly she infuriates me and I have absolutely NO ken why. I like her in fanfic but the woman is driving me around the bend. *Ahem* Sorry.

From this episode there are only three more to go :( But then we get new L&O: The Mothership! Yay!

So, that was Nicole Wallace. Strange, after reading so many fics based on her, I thought she'd be a brunette. (This must be my latent blonde-dislikage seeping in again - hey, that explain's the Cabott thing, doesn't it? I swear, I'm not intentionally prejudiced; this is just something I'm picking up on; a recurring pattern, if you will). She was...well, meh. She annoyed me. The end.

Well, ok, no. Not so much. I suspect the season finale is the reason why fans think she's a worthwhile character. I just - Goren outwitted her, ok? He did. She ran off because of a technicality, because of Carver and because of that entrapment scheme they used to get her into police custody (fuck you Carver; if I had been the lawyer, I would have got the writ before I came to the police station. Arses). The best scene has to be whenthey're in the interrogation room and they're facing off because HOLY SHIT GOREN TOTALLY GOT HER. He was playing out truths and they wetre uncomfortable but it was like boundaries had been set and he knew - knew - that he had to conform. Amazing. (I jumped out of my skin when he slammed his hand down on the table - "How old were you when you first realised that your momm wasn't like all the other mommies *Shudder* And the Goren came back with the abuse claim and she was BLANK-FACE denying it. *headdesk* It was still amazing.

I guess Alex must step up to the line in the finale because she was not supportive of Goren in that final scene ("What, did you think she'd have scones and tea waiting?) and that was so goddamn satisfying, to see her as a separate entity to Goren, to see that, yes, she wasn't invested in this the same way as he was. I would have loved to see her shake him out of it; that would have made my day. In my opinion, Eames is like Munch and Fin but less so. She's seriously underused. She spent most of the episode just looking in the right direction and nodding her head. She was the 'yes, yes' guy to Goren's ape-titude.

Still, D'Onofrio rocked my socks. He seriously did. This episode wasn't as strong as the first two (the one about the little boy who couldn't - the non-math-genius - was amazing; the crematorium thing was creepy but a brilliant season opener). This is shaping up to be one hell of a season.

Heh. That was long.

Have yet to watch all of this week's TWW. And SG-1 post-Janet is on today. And guess who has S3 24? Yes, yes - ME. Finally. My friend lent me the collection. (Except I have notes to write up, an essay to complete and a presentation that I must put on tomorrow - argh!) *sigh* I'll just watch a couple...

Comments

[sens-nita.livejournal.com]

I <3 Munch and Fin.
Oh, girl, me too.

and that was so goddamn satisfying, to see her as a separate entity to Goren
Yes. I loved how acerbic the tne was. She wasn't there for Goren at all and i know that some people saw it as a betrayal on her part but I didn't read it like that at all. I just think there came a point where Alex saw how invested Goren was in Nicole and she had to back away because she KNEW that she couldn't measure up the way that Nicole did. And that's sad for the pairing but very true. Love.