photo: nbc
Law & Order: SVU
Scorched Earth
Original Air Date: Sep 21, 2011
Caitlin – Associate Staff Writer
caitlin@thetwocentscorp.com
If you watch this show, you probably know by now that Chris Meloni isn’t returning this season. After 12 years, I’m not sure what this means for the series. Hopefully this episode and the reaction to it will give us some indication.
The case of the week involves the credibility of an accusation of rape, so at least the show is sticking to the types of storylines it is best known for. With, of course, lots of drama, plot twisting, and angst. It is a season premiere, after all.
After a man walks out of his hotel room with a cut on his neck, a maid stumbles out behind him, sobbing and saying she was raped. But the perp isn’t just any man; he’s Roberto Distasio, Italian diplomat and likely next Prime Minister of his country. A frantic search for evidence ensues through the Elliot-less force, and Distasio is arrested just before he can fly out of the United States.
Detective Amanda Rollins is a new addition to the Special Victims Unit and, in one of her first appearances, seems to talk to and sympathize with Distasio. I think she was working an angle, but it still rubbed me the wrong way. On the other hand, Olivia ensures the victim, Miriam, that her attacker will be prosecuted. Her case seems solid enough to ensure conviction. This is a strong sign something’s going to go wrong.
Sure enough, shortly after Distasio has had DNA samples taken and those samples have linked him to the crime, a newspaper shows up saying Miriam was just in it for the millions she could make. Another maid sold her out. And within the department itself, Elliot’s whole history is being investigated by the IAB. I suppose whether they turn up anything doesn’t really matter at this point, though.
There is, in fact, a tape of Miriam saying she wanted to wring as much money as possible out of Distasio for what he did, but it does not change her original story at all. She also says that she was gang-raped in Africa, where she is from. Still, Olivia, of all people, has doubts about her story, and Mike Cutter, here from the late original Law & Order, maintains they won’t be able to hold up the case.
Olivia seems more and more on edge as the episode goes on. At least Alex Cabot is back and still fighting for Miriam’s case. But then the defense calls another witness- a man who says Miriam was only raped by one man in Africa and that he told her to exaggerate the story to get sympathy and thus asylum. It turns out Olivia does believe Miriam, but the jury only partially does and chances are Distasio won’t serve much time at all.
As Olivia is leaving, the other shoe finally drops. Cragen calls her into his office to tell her Elliot is leaving the force. Without as much as a goodbye, apparently. Of course, it the reasons were beyond anyone’s control, but it still feels wrong after all these years. Olivia assures the captain she can still take on cases, but slips away and breaks down in a back room in the last scene.
So that’s it. Elliot is gone. Despite what I said, I do think his departure was handled as well as it could have been. I’ll admit I rarely watched Law & Order itself, but I’m happy to see Cutter and I’m especially excited about the return of Cabot. I’m going to wait and see what I think of Rollins when she gets more involved in cases. She seems dedicated, at least. And next week, of course, Olivia gets her new partner. I’m going to have trouble keeping track of all this.
Overall, despite some annoyances with Olivia and Cutter (as I’m told by people who actually did watch Law & Order a lot) acting somewhat out of character in not being fully behind this case at all points in time, I liked this episode. At least, it gave me faith that the writers won’t let things fall to pieces in Elliot’s absence. And I was thrilled to see more Munch. (That new cast photo half breaks my heart and half gets me really eager for this season.)
Whether they will be able to keep people watching remains to be seen, but what about you? Were you planning to stick with SVU for season 13, and how did this episode affect those plans?
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TheTwoCents 
I like the new detective. I am glad they brought in a woman instead of another man, that would have been rubbing salt in the wounds. However, I think I would have preferred that Elliot had been fired. It just isn’t in touch with who his character was for 12 years to just quit. How many times has IA investigated him? If he was going to quit, he would have done it before now. In my opinion it would have been better to call the shot a bad shot and as a result he was fired. I just don’t buy the “oops, he quit” line. Doesn’t ring true- and furthermore, if he HAD quit, Olivia would never had had to find out rom Cragen, he would have told her himself. That being said, I loved Olivia’s reaction to his departure. Something tells me this could be an ongoing thing for Olivia if the writers are still willing to mention Elliot. The case itself was pretty good, although I still wasn’t totally sure if I even believed the victim by the time the case was done. The hung jury did NOT surprise me at all.I guess we will see how the season pans out without Elliot, but I’m cautiously hopeful.