hannah

highly recommend this episode. as someone whose mom let me watch this show at an entirely too young age who's seen a lot of these characters and flashbacks years ago, it was such a wonderful experience. the way it tied together old scenes with present day was amazing, the writers on svu are honestly really great at that. long-time viewers and people who stopped watching ages ago alike will enjoy the episode, i think. it also articulates incredibly well the issue of power imbalances, and touches on olivia's past with her mother in a great way. amaro's appearance was so fun, and honestly olivia saying cold case work suits him was SO CUTE. no idea if it was a cheeky nod to the actor's time on the show cold case but either way, god i love reunions on long-running shows. AND CRAGEN ON FACETIME. GOD.

biggest takeaway though: the acting in this episode, top notch. that scene in benson's hallway with the cassette, bye, i needed a minute even knowing what was coming. and like, i don't really watch svu beyond my nostalgia and love of mariska hargitay and procedurals. in procedurals, where the crime of the week is the focus, the acting is usually solid, if occasionally stiff and forgettable. there are obvious exceptions, particularly with special guest stars and unknowns who later go on to be famous in their own right. but man, mariska? shining throughout the entire episode, understated and raw. danny pino embodied a grown version of his character that straddled the line between maturity and hotheaded, and i love it. (as an aside: i remember so much criticism being lobbed at amaro's character being a pseudo-substitute for the "angry cop role", and this episode feels like a great illustration of the nuances between the two characters. amaro was always aggressive in every sense of the word, and continues to be with time; stabler's aggression has always been set off by specific situations and stressors, and has been tempered significantly over the years. there's a self-righteousness and passion to displays of anger when it comes to amaro, and stabler often seems almost ashamed of his own outbursts, even in the earlier years when police aggression wasn't being talked about so seriously in the media and he felt compelled to defend his actions.)

anyway, like the topic of stabler's ptsd in the organized crime spinoff, the stuff explored in this episode was so great, and highly memorable. they really did make episode 500 something special.

i hate unresolved endings for any form of entertainment, but it did work well for this case. i do wish they'd reminded the audience of the trial prep that olivia did with casey regarding the false accusation against stabler, since i think that the way the glimpses of the trial were presented relied a little too much on the back and forth of what happened according to each side and not enough on the actual facts and science of the case.

either way i'd love to see a poll done now, so many years later. i remember my mother blaming my sexual assault by a stranger on my decision to go to a concert at night when i was 15, the same year this season aired, and she was a huge fan of the series. sexual violence is easily still one of the most difficult things to prosecute but i'd like to think that both the laws and society have come far enough to recognize that no matter what, this man abused a position of authority and by his own admission forcibly held a woman down during sex "to get it over with". maybe that isn't rape 1, but it's certainly sexual assault.

i'm still on the fence about velasco and i don't see how tamin couldn't have continued to be on the team even with his addition, but i think i understand the reason for garland's exit now. svu has covered the spectrum of real world issues in terms of sex crimes and law enforcement, but one thing they do admittedly shy away from at times is the realism of an entrenched police department and the bureaucratic nonsense that good law enforcement officers and district attorneys come up against. i like benson being in charge of the unit and being able to push for the agenda that all victims should matter equally, but the fact of the matter is that to this day, inequality and marginalization are massive stains on the effort to combat sex crimes in this country. having someone more concerned with optics and how "good" a witness a victim makes is entirely realistic and authentic, and as much as i hate mcgrath's character, people like him do exist, especially in established positions of power. him acting as an overarching antagonist to the goals of benson's unit makes complete sense.

that said, it won't make for good television in the long term. i imagine that he'll serve as a plot device for part of the season, maybe a large majority of it at the absolute most? otherwise the tension and distress will quickly sour for a viewing audience.

most importantly i think this is setting up olivia to become the svu chief, which prior to these last two seasons i would have said does not suit her character or personality at all—however, given her injury, the fact that she has a son, and the added stressor of an intensely intimate relationship back in her life in the form of stabler, it does have legitimacy. and i can see olivia considering it since it would be significantly less active duty, without removing her from a position of authority within the department. and as a teacher who has seen the benefit of getting involved at a legislative level, i recognize the appeal of having a character whose career trajectory follows the path where they can make changes to policies, and where their decisions are broad strokes instead of small, localized details. i do think THAT makes sense for olivia's character and history, and i think the story arc with mcgrath will likely set her up to see the role she could have within the department after so many obstacles and hurdles these last few seasons.

or she convinces garland to come back bc tbh i love him and miss him already

when it comes to the gray areas that svu explores i usually see both sides and lean one way or another. this isn't one where i can see the 'it's rape' side. in the case barba mentioned about the twin brother, that i can see—it's a clear misrepresentation of an intimate partner that the victim would plausibly have no way of predicting. in this situation, yeah, i see it as a violation of someone's (tenuous) trust, but bribing university officials is as much a crime as identity fraud is, so if anything this was a case of two people trying to commit a crime. for once i kind of think a grumpy judge was actually right—this wasn't something to grandstand on. i get that a lot of new legislation comes about due to the way landmark court cases go, but this was hardly a landmark type of case.

also: a quick google search tells me that identity theft is considered a felony punishable up to 15 years in prison under the federal definition of the crime. prosecute the man for identity fraud, and his partner in crime for nonconsensual taping of a sexual encounter, both of them hopefully get convicted and serve some time for being human garbage.

but ultimately i think the moral of the story is don't try to get your kid into college using your sex appeal or your money, it's shady and your kid is the one that suffers your bad life choices? right??

i think this was actually a pretty good ending for the series as a whole. the parties have always been a part of the vibe and honestly the minute that i saw them dancing and singing in that one scene near the end i knew it wasn't the characters but the crew celebrating. that was a group of genuinely invested actors saying goodbye to their family. there's a reason everyone got so emotional even though at the end of the day, only one character was moving onto a different career.

moreover i think maxine not making an appearance was totally fine. if she had it would have felt a bit shoehorned.

at the end of the day, criminal minds has had a really turbulent ride. it's always taken a lot of suspension of disbelief for anyone who has a background in law enforcement or the field of psychopathology, and the cast turnover has been exhausting for cast and audience alike. but it stuck around for 15 seasons despite that due to a core cast that loved their work and an audience that was passionate in an unusually positive and considerate way. a lot of times the dedicated fanbases of tv dramas can be damaging, cruel and just downright out of their minds. in the first few seasons when i was a teenager, i was in the beginnings of that fandom and it was a delightful group of people and from what i've heard over the years, they continued to be just that. i think the way this show ended was perfect. it was a little bittersweet, but the emotion was so real and god, FINALLY, ALVEZ.

i watched this episode first, out of the entire series, and wow what an impact. i was actually told about this show and particular episode in passing by a friend who thought i'd appreciate the punishment and it took me part of the episode to recognize that this was what she'd been talking about. i love this actress to begin with, but when it dawned on me what was truly going on with her character i was even more impressed. i felt for her so strongly at first and when the truth of her situation was laid out for her i felt so conflicted - because as my friend had guessed, i wholeheartedly supported the eye for an eye angle that these people had taken, and only wish that the man had been put through it too. still, the actress created such a bond with me during her character's desperation to survive that i couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her at the end. but boy, what an intense way to handle sentencing someone for their crimes - it felt very much like a modernized gladiator fight, in that the woman is being punished but it's still a form of entertainment for everyone else involved. modern society dictates that the moment we start "playing god" or taking pleasure in the suffering of others, that we've gone too far, and i think like the rest of the series, this episode of black mirror makes you seriously consider what modern society has done both right and wrong.

i took some time to watch this episode given the other comments but i'm bothered by the fact that a number hide the comments behind spoiler warnings. if you genuinely want a trigger warning on a scene in this episode, then provide it to other viewers independent of spoilers: there is a scene that, depending on your understanding and opinion of consent in this particular period, can qualify as sexual assault.

i personally do not qualify it as rape, though it may be considered coercion to some degree. i would however consider the book's scene to be rape as consent is not provided. i do agree that the writers of the show, in changing the circumstances but not taking the time to have the characters fully discuss the issues of betrayal and consent in the context of sex rather than conception, did a disservice to all viewers.

i think a very important point WAS made by daphne, however briefly in the greater context of her wanting children—the assumption on simon's part that she understood how children were conceived, when he had earlier in the series been the one to tell daphne that she was able to pleasure herself, was not an acceptable argument. she was right in saying that he took advantage of her lack of knowledge. that doesn't make her behavior any more appropriate, but it also contextualizes the scene enough for me, personally, as a viewer. if the final sex scene makes you uncomfortable due to the issue of consent, i strongly encourage you to re-examine the other sex scenes earlier on, as well; after all, daphne not fully comprehending intercourse puts her at an inherently different level of consent than simon.