Last week's SVU was a rarity -- an episode that tried to be as good as the old ones. I see that effort, however, was short lived, as this week's is a return to the standard Benson lovefest hour (or 37 minutes, given that's about what's left after all the commercials and so forth).
Worse, even though it's dedicated to Richard Belzer, there's not so much as a mention of Munch. Wow, talk about empty gesture.
So much is awful in this episode, including a hokey ending that's likely to play well in the sticks but is so over-the-top silly that it's just embarrassing.
That guy from Northern Exposure or Hill Street Blues or The West Wing -- ones of those 80s or 90s shows -- plays a sundowner who might be the witness to the brutal attack on an old lady. There's a lot of hemming and hawing, as everyone plays to the melodrama. Two potentially good moments are ruined.
The first concerns an opening with Ice T, where the notion of two old pros having a thoughtful conversation about procedure starts out good but then turns into the usual silliness as the dialogue suggests they're two rookies, not seasoned cops who've been on the job 25 years or more.
The second is when the guy from LA Law or whatever compliments Benson on looking like Jane Mansfield. That would have been great had it stopped there because, of course, Hargitay is her daughter. But then he has to make an out-of-the blue compliment about her ample posterior, which he can't even see because she's wearing one of those long coats as usual to hide it.
I mean, come on. Are egos so fragile they need this level of constant reassurance? It's getting truly pathetic.
The rest of the episode stumbles along until an ending that seems right out of a bad kid's movie COMPLETE WITH LOUD MELODRAMATIC MUSIC. You can't make this stuff up. Just awful.
Worse, even though it's dedicated to Richard Belzer, there's not so much as a mention of Munch. Wow, talk about empty gesture.
So much is awful in this episode, including a hokey ending that's likely to play well in the sticks but is so over-the-top silly that it's just embarrassing.
That guy from Northern Exposure or Hill Street Blues or The West Wing -- ones of those 80s or 90s shows -- plays a sundowner who might be the witness to the brutal attack on an old lady. There's a lot of hemming and hawing, as everyone plays to the melodrama. Two potentially good moments are ruined.
The first concerns an opening with Ice T, where the notion of two old pros having a thoughtful conversation about procedure starts out good but then turns into the usual silliness as the dialogue suggests they're two rookies, not seasoned cops who've been on the job 25 years or more.
The second is when the guy from LA Law or whatever compliments Benson on looking like Jane Mansfield. That would have been great had it stopped there because, of course, Hargitay is her daughter. But then he has to make an out-of-the blue compliment about her ample posterior, which he can't even see because she's wearing one of those long coats as usual to hide it.
I mean, come on. Are egos so fragile they need this level of constant reassurance? It's getting truly pathetic.
The rest of the episode stumbles along until an ending that seems right out of a bad kid's movie COMPLETE WITH LOUD MELODRAMATIC MUSIC. You can't make this stuff up. Just awful.