Law And Order OC - Blog Posts

What Did You Think Of The Season Premiere For Both Shows? 💕

Law and Order Organized Crime Season 5 episode 7 thoughts

That was quite some opening. At least I was prepared for the explosion, thanks to promos and trailers. 

Elliot definitely seems to be having some sort of PTSD. He should not be living alone! 

When his gaze rested on the bin/trash can with the doll dressed in a police uniform used to prank/haze Eli felt very symbolic and significant as a metaphor for Eli’s very brief police career ( I really can’t see him continuing in that career whatever the outcome to the investigation following the shooting is, and my gut is telling me it’s going to be bad).

He’s such a good dad, bringing Eli and Becky breakfast and helping out however he can, unlike Eli, who just seems totally out of it and doesn’t seem to be helping with household chores, the baby or anything that is important to Becky. He was also really rude to his dad, barely said hello to him and was dismissive ( « We’re not using that ») regarding all the baby things Bernie used with Elliot and his siblings. There were so many other ways he could have said he didn’t like/want it ( « Say thanks to Grandma, but we already have one/I don’t think it will match the colour scheme or theme for the nursery »). 

Nice little callback to Elliot watching the news of the explosion that nearly killed him a couple of eps ago and Eli standing the exact same way. 

Towards the end of the episode, when Elliot was holding baby Owen, I got flashbacks to S9 of SVU, Paternity, when Elliot holds baby Eli ( who also has a blue hat and a white/cream blanket round him), which was a sweet parallel. 

Also, dude, stop pushing your dad ( that you allegedly love) away. He’s trying to help you! 

Not a fan of the new baby’s name, as it reminds me of a character I really cannot stand on Grey’s Anatomy, especially as he shares a surname with Eli’s FTO, who is equally awful!

He should be recommending therapists/counselors to Eli, not dragging him out to get completely drunk ( also, how is Eli 21? I had him at 20 tops!), Also blowing off dinner with Becky’s parents is just immature and rude. I did love seeing Protectelliot/Papa Bear Elliot chew Hunt out for what he did, though I’m not sure Eli deserved to be defended as he was really bratty to his dad. 

I get that Eli is probably depressed/has PTSD/is traumatised by what he went through, but he has so much love and support to help him get through it. Becky saying she wants her soft and sensitive/kind and gentle boyfriend back was very telling, as those are not words I would use to describe a member of the police force! 

Poor Becky, at least she has Elliot to confide in, but he had so much going on already:worrying about his mum, Randall’s actions ( we have to get that convo next episode, it’s going to be explosive! I think Vargas will get some of the heat too.), his deep concern about Eli and his own health issues are not conducive to s happy, healthy Elliot. 

I did love that he referred to Randall as « his Randall » which felt very protective and big brotherly of him, though he is the younger brother. 

And I think Bernie actually saw Joe Jr, as usually when she has her memory lapses, she seems to ignore the other people’s response but this seemed like a real conversation, 

Elliot had spent so long being the reliable, responsible son and father that I understand why Bernie suggests Joe Jr seek him out, but Elliot really needs a break from fixing everyone’s problems!

I liked seeing more of Vargas, but really missed Bell and Reyes ( did he go to Italy with her?).

The actual crimes are not what I watch the show for, can you tell?

Ideas for Eli and Becky’s son’s name on Law and Order Organized Crime

Seeing as how we don’t yet have a name for Eli and Becky’s baby on Law and Order Organized Crime, and the next two episodes seem to be stand alones in which Nicky Torchia ( who plays Eli)  does not feature, it sounds like we might have to wait a little longer to find out what it is. I would be interested in hearing everyone’s ideas/suggestions.

I think they might use Elliot as a middle name, then maybe something Irish ( like Maureen and Carl’s boys, Killian/Kieran and Seámus), from the Bible or just a bit old fashioned/traditional. 

So maybe Aiden, Jonah/James/Nathaniel ( I think Noah Stabler sounds so good, but that is Olivia’s kid’s name) or Jack, Oliver, Sebastian… Not sure about S names as they could be a bit much with Stabler as a surname.

We know nothing about Becky’s family, but it seems like they aren’t supportive of her current choices but maybe that’s not the case and the name will be from her side of the family.

Of course, they could honour nobody and go for a modern name with a made up/illogical spelling, but I hope they don’t do that! 

Or maybe the upcoming episode will give us a name reveal, which would be great!

Fic hunting

Hi,

Does anyone have any links to fics about Law and Order Organized Crime, which follow the feelings/thoughts/relationship between Eli and Elliot after the end of the latest episode?

Or just fics that explore their relationship throughout the series. I’d love to know what Eli’s motivations were for joining the police force, as, since S1, he has been annoyed/upset by his dad always having to leave for work or answer the phone during family events, not seeing him for weeks on end when he is undercover and really not seeming to understand just how much danger his dad is in when he is on the job.

I actually think S1 Eli ( aged about 15-ish) was more patient/understanding about his dad’s job than he was at the end of S4! Also seeing Elliot’s thought process/feelings about the whole thing would be interesting, as he loves his son and wants to support him but does,’t want him to get injured ( or worse) and I think he was pretty hurt that Eli didn’t confide in him about dropping out of college, expecting a baby and signing up to the police force.

There must be some fics out there, I just haven’t found them yet!

SVU Season 24 thoughts and OC musings

Not so interested in the actual cases this Season, and find a lot of the new characters indistinguishable/hard to keep track of. Velasco seems to look different every episode, then there is Duarte too…

Churlish has a stupid name, it means petty, moody, rebellious. They could have gone for Furnish or Cornish!

I quite like Muncy. I think she comes from money and was expected to be perfect growing up so is now applying that to the job, and it’s not working!

Fin’s mentoring skills are excellent, I think he really does a great job.

I like that Stabler and Rollins have a close friendship, but would love to see Stabler bond with Carisi, as Carisi is what Stabler could have been with a non-abusive childhood. Those two at a bar having a beer talking about their kids would be fab. 

I only really watch for the Rollins-Carisi relationship, and they had some lovely moments this season. Loved how Carisi told Liv about the pregnancy, he was clearly bursting to tell someone. 

I have been thinking about OC, and how Eli wasn’t in New York for the award ceremony. I think he’s at soccer camp in Italy of staying with a friend, so never got to see his mum in hospital or say goodbye to her properly. That’s got to have screwed him up emotionally, especially as we don’t know how or when he was told, as would Elliot have told him over the phone ( about the accident) or waited until Eli arrived in New York to tell him, as the window of time between the accident and her passing is fairly small, a day or two, I think? However Elliot tells him is going to make him sad and angry. I would have liked to have seen more of the 5 stages of grief from all the Stablers, maybe with Bernie’s Alzheimer’s making her confuse Kathleen or Maureen  with Kathy and Dickie or Eli for Elliot. 

Lots of fanfic ideas of the sad variety are now percolating in my brain!

Thoughts on Law and Order Organised Crime, Seasons 3 and 4

I thought Season 3 was extremely boring, as I watch for the Stabler family interactions and Elliot and Olivia moments.

The scene between Eli and Elliot at the end of the episode with the Asian father searching for his son was sweet. Elliot teasing him about his clothes being all over the floor as well as providing a good home-cooked meal felt very true to the characters and their father-son dynamic, as well as Eli not being forthcoming about his girlfriend without some prodding. How is Eli old enough to be in college? The only explanation I can come up with is that Eli was so far ahead in his studies, having studied in Italy ( European curriculum is allegedly a couple of years ahead of the equivalent grade in the US, so US uni courses are equivalent to Junior or Senior Year courses in the UK). There were several other instances where I was very confused by the timeline, like Elliot’s dad being dead by 1993 as Elliot says he went to his dad’s grave with a sandwich and two beers when he made detective, aged about 25, yet had also been able to serve in the Marines on several missions... Honestly, I’ve given up trying to understand it! Also still trying to figure out the age order and age gap between the older Stabler siblings, which is also very confusing. Joe Jr’s year of birth is 1980-something ( based on the safe code in his hotel suite that Elliot and Randall figure out), which would mean Elliot was in his late teens/early. 20’s ( so already married with at least one kid) by the time Joe Jr came along. 

 The Season 3 episode ending establishes a pattern as Eli doesn't tell his dad he’s split from Rachel, but tells Randall. It kind of mirrors the Season 4 finale, with Elliot teasing Eli about being up early at first, then asking the probing/deeper questions. I wish Eli had just told him, but seeing as how his dad reacted to him joining the police force, I can understand why he didn’t want to. I love that he and Bernie both figured it out, albeit in very different ways that felt very true to their characters. 

The family dinner episode in Season 4 was very dramatic and the revelations were pretty shocking. I knew the truth about Joe Sr but to actually hear it and see all the characters deal with the aftermath was so impactful. Again, everyone reacting, talking over each other and wanting to leave both then and when Eli tells them he’s going to be a police officer. I really get why Elliot doesn’t want him to join up, with all the dangers he has faced and faces in the Season. 

The casting continues to be excellent, as Joe Jr looks just like the actor who played Joe Sr as they have a similar build, face/nose shape and colouring. Randall looks like a stockier version of Elliot. 

I think it’s sad that the Stabler kids have cousins they have never met/hung out with as Randall has been in Florida for about 40 years, and got married and had kids at some point. 

I enjoyed the little moments with Carisi and Rollins. It seems like Rollins and  Stabler have quite a close bond/an established friendship, so I would like to see Stabler have that bond with Carisi. They could have had a beer together after one of the cases and talked about their kids/families/whatever was going on. I think Carisi’s empathy and desire to look after people would be good for Stabler. 

I was much more interested in the Season 4 episode arc, I thought they packed a lot into 13 episodes. 

More Thoughts on Law and Order Organised Crime Seasons 1 and 2

Throughout Season 1 and 2, I love that we see Bernie and Elliot going to feed the ducks independently of each other.

I think Elliot says he grew up in this area, when he goes to dig out the bullets he shot into a tree when his dad was teaching him how to use a gun, so it would be somewhere he went fairly regularly as a child with Bernie, which is confirmed by what Bernie says when she thinks the young child feeding the ducks near her is Elliot. I guess it was her way of protecting Elliot and herself from Joe’s alcoholic rages and violence. 

Once again, the casting director/team did a great job finding a kid who realistically looked like young Elliot, both for that scene and for the home videos at the end of the Season 2 ep. The actors for young Joe and Bernie  were perfect too. 

While I think it is good that Elliot had some good memories of his father, we know that the smallest thing could send him into a violent rage as in S7, Elliot says he moved a tree on the diorama they had worked on together and Joe threw it on the floor and stomped on it until it was destroyed, then beat Elliot for crying about it ( and probably beat him again for getting an F). The scenes we see of them together in the home videos made me think of how Elliot interacted with his kids when they were little as well as when they were older, but Elliot is consistent in always doing that. 

I like to think Elliot took his kids to feed the ducks, maybe even going to the same place he went. 

Eli’s decision to join the police force I think must have been sparked by the brand new officer who helps him when he runs away and is going to jump off the bridge, as Eli grew up with Elliot no longer in SVU, just doing security and less dangerous police work. I’m sure he heard about what Elliot did from his siblings and maybe Elliot himself, and, like most little boys, I’m sure he thought it was super cool that his daddy was a detective. So maybe he was thinking about it then the interaction with the police officer really solidified that idea in his mind. 

I also really like how Eli is super protective of his family, just like Elliot is. He’s also just as stubborn as his father and 3 out of 4 of his siblings. He also internalises his feelings until they come out as anger and has trouble asking for help, just like his dad. 

Eli wanting to jump off the bridge made me think of Dickie wanting to join the Marines in Turmoil, S 11, as they both seem to think it will be easier if they go away and stop disappointing their dad.

Law and Order OC Seasons 1 and 2 thoughts

I have just watched the first two seasons of  SVU OC, as I wanted to see the episode when Eli runs away. 

Unfortunately I can only watch the episodes in French, so have to put up with the dubbing, which is not the worst but it could be a lot better.

I don’t really follow the actual crimes part, I mainly watch for the Stabler family interactions, dynamics and development.

 I like Stabler’s new team. Ayanna is great, Jet is super cool ( she seems to be on the autistic spectrum, as she sometimes takes things literally, isn’t very comfortable with touch/affection and goes into hyper focus mode when it comes to work). I love the bond she has with Stabler, he’s very fatherly and protective of her. There’s an episode when he goes to pick Eli up from school and he gives him a fistbump when he tells him he’s made the soccer team, then, either before or after, Jet helps him out with some tech issue or finds out some useful info through cyber digging, and he does the same to her. There’s also a sweet moment when he is talking to Ayanna about protecting his family as they are at risk, and she just sidles over silently and puts her arms around him. Elliot is surprised but pats/rubs her arm in response, then they talk about her fears and he reassures her. 

It reminded me a bit of the Season 1 episode, Nocturne, where he is reading to Lizzie and Dickie, who are about 7. They are climbing all over him and giving him hugs and kisses, and he’s just so patient with them, answering their questions about why it can’t be Christmas every day and being used as a human climbing frame.

He’s definitely more relaxed as a dad with Eli, though he is trying to be a mother and a father to him. He’s much more patient with teen Eli than he was with  Maureen, Dickie and Kathleen when they were teens. He listens before jumping to conclusions when he finds Eli in New Jersey, whereas with the other three, he let his fear and protective side take over, which manifested in anger. 

Like in Swing, Olivia is there to help, which is a neat parallel, and I only just realised that Stabler must be worried that Eli could be bipolar too and that’s why he’s run away because he is in a manic state. 

I really like how he shows his affection for Eli in small ways, like he’ll fix his son’s collar or give him a pat on the shoulder, when he’d really like to hug his son but doesn’t want to demand a hug. He can also be quite playful with him, as after giving him a hug, they tease each other affectionately and Elliot pushes at his face with his hand. 

I also think it’s normal that Eli wants to know more about his grandparents/his roots, as the only grandparent he knows is Bernie, and even then, he doesn’t know her extremely well. Having just lost his mum, he’s trying to figure out who he is, where he is from and where he is going, with lots of changes going on around him, having moved to a new country, a new home, a new school and school system, having to make new friends and also going from having a dad who was around a lot to one who is absent a lot. Eli is also trying to look after Elliot, which he should not be having to do, but he won’t leave to stay with one of his sisters as he doesn’t want to lose his dad as well. 

In Season 6, when Kathy leaves Elliot, she goes to stay with her mom, so we can assume her dad is not in the picture, and, presumably being Catholic too, he’s probably dead, rather than divorced from Kathy’s mum.

Elliot is still super closed off about his past and his relationship with his father, and his feelings are intensified as he investigates the story behind his father’s bravery medal.

Finding out he really did want to be an architect ( he tells Frank about it when they are on a stake-out) but his father knocked the idea out of his head ( probably literally as well as verbally) broke my heart. 

In Season 10, Swing, he outright denies Bernie’s claim that that is what he wanted to be, claiming he’s always wanted to be a cop. 

It shows that Bernie really understood him, she tried to encourage him as best she could and clearly loves him very much. 

They are so much closer in OC, which is lovely to see. They even share a laugh, when she asks him if he’s a phone salesman now as he has a few phones for all the different undercover jobs he’s doing, and he says no, he stole them. They both sarcastically “ha ha” at the other person’s quip, but it is a moment full of affection and understanding.

They also start talking properly, which is a very good thing, and Elliot’s love for his mom and family are very touching. 

The episode where Elliot gets the reels of the recordings of his childhood and watches them with Bernie at the end made me cry, and has lodged itself in my brain. While it was lovely to see Elliot have some sweet moments with his dad, it’s heartbreaking that they couldn’t always have had that, and there must always have been that fear that he’d flip and become physically abusive, like he did in the diorama incident referenced in Season 7 that Elliot tells Dr Hendricks about. Hearing about that left me in tears. Destroying your kid’s project in a fit of rage because they changed one minute detail is just awful, but then beating them for crying too is just unforgivable! 

The dinner scene when Bernie tells Eli about Joe boxing Elliot’s ears, slapping him upside the head and putting soap in his mouth for attitude/disrespect leave Eli absolutely stunned, like he’s seen, heard or read about such punishments in books or films but didn’t think actually happened in real life, as Elliot has never physically disciplined any of his kids like that, and was probably more relaxed/lenient with Eli than he was with the other four children. The only time he comes somewhat close to getting physically aggressive with one of his children is with Dickie in Turmoil ( Season 11), when Stabler asks him if he’s lost his mind and Dickie sasses back that he wouldn’t be the first Stabler to do so, referencing both Bernie and Kathleen’s manic episodes. Elliot shoves Dickie up against the wall, but he quickly lets go and holds then pats or squeezes his shoulder, as if he wants to pull his son in for a hug. 

I like seeing how hard Elliot has worked on not being like his father was, trying so hard to give his children a home life that is predictable and safe, with  boundaries, consistency, encouragement ( when Maureen wants to get into Columbia and is disappointed by a B+, he is so supportive of her and says she’s done/doing great) and he tells his kids he is proud of them and that he loves them regularly. 

His difficulties with technology are very endearing, he usually has to ask Jet for a non technical translation, and his kids have been helping him since Season 1 with computer/phone issues, with Maureen in Season 1 bypassing the parental security lock on the computer and, in Season 8 he mentions that his kids had to help him put the numbers he wanted on speed dial. 

One annoying thing about the show is how the flashbacks at the start of the episode sometimes show an SVU scene, which I haven’t seen, like Kathy’s funeral, for example. It was cool to see Carisi in an episode though, and Olivia is a pretty regular recurring character too. 

Seeing Stabler’s complicated relationship with Liv is so interesting.

Because I am watching in French, there is no ambiguity about who he is saying “I love you” to during the intervention scene, as he uses the singular/informal/friendly you form, then, 20-something seconds later, he says “I love all of you”, using the plural you form this time. 

It was so interesting to see Eli try first, then Kathleen ( the kids he is closest to and the ones he talks to/confides in the most), but they both fail, so Olivia steps in. She actually stands in front of the children, as if to protect them from Elliot’s potentially angry outburst.

Her chat at the diner with Kathleen was really moving, it reminded me of when Liv talks to Bernie in Swing.

I’m looking forward to watching the next three seasons to see how everything plays out.