Season 16 is really good as a way to get to know the characters if, like me, you stopped watching after Season 12 ended and weren’t sure if it was worth continuing with.
I am very glad I did!
Amaro is just Stabler 2.0, as far as I can tell, but with a little more self-awareness as he realises he needs anger management classes and realises he needs to get out of the force for his physical and mental well-being and that of his kids.
Olivia was obviously very attached to him, so I felt bad for her as she just keeps losing people. Working with Amaro evidently helped her get over Elliot leaving, and it seems like her relationship with Amaro was healthier than the one she had with Elliot.
Amaro’s been linked romantically to Amanda, I believe? They are very similar from their upbringing and the way they internalise everything, so I c1n see why they would be drawn to each other.
When the two of them are talking/working together and Carisi comes to give them some info/an update and they simultaneously answer that he’s not interrupting was funny.
There’s a courtroom scene where Amanda is being questioned/cross-examined and she is asked about doing the right thing/having enough emotional support/what it means to be a good person and she’s looking in Carisi’s general direction. Very subtle, but made me squee!
I love that he hangs out with her and Fin outside of work, at the video games convention. Fin is still calling him noob/newbie at this point, so perhaps Rollins invited him? Those two always know all the celebrity gossip and who the famous people they need to talk to are. It ties in nicely to their later hang outs where they watch trashy reality TV together. Carisi I can see reading all his sister’s magazines and going to the movies with them to watch rom-coms growing up, as he seems to know a lot about them/says he loves them in the ep with the former teen actress and the producer.
Do we ever get the story about how Sonny was saved by the priests at his Catholic church? He mentions it in the big vlogging/TV religious family episode. I always saw him as a good student. For example he’d be top of the class but would always ask questions so the other shyer kids who might not have understood and didn’t dare to ask would understand. Or he would tutor them. He seems to work very hard and be very focused, so I think he would be a favourite of the teachers.
We know he was bullied physically and probably verbally too ( by Bobby Bianchi, at the very least), maybe because he was a bit of a goody-two-shoes. I really can’t see him ever getting into trouble at school or at home. We know he wanted to be a priest, so maybe he just spent a lot of time at church events to escape the bullying/find some real friends.
I was so prepared to hate Mike Dodds but he is very humble, is a bit annoyed to be there because of his dad’s nepotism and he refuses to be a tattle-tale. He apologises when he oversteps his boundaries, listens to feedback and generally gets on with everyone on the team. If he hadn’t had a fiancée, I’m sure he would also have fallen in love with Olivia too!
Olivia is a very good Lieutenant. I see a lot of Cragen in her, as he would often give the team one-on-one pep talks and always tried to do the right thing when it came to members not doing things by the book.
Maybe it got lost in translation, or I just struggle to pay attention to and understand the courtroom scenes, but Barba apparently says “Booyah, Fordham Law!” as a comeback/closing argument in a Season 16 episode, but I have never seen it though this is my second time watching.
He was funny too when Carisi gives his personal and legal opinion on something and Barba says “That’s just your opinion, but yes, it’s correct”.
Barba also wears fun, brightly coloured socks which are visible when he puts his feet up on the desk. I thought that was a fun way to show that he’s got a soft/emotional/fun side. Maybe because I know how he behaves in later eps towards Olivia, but I definitely find him less cold/unlikeable than I did during my first viewing.
Something I read about was that potentially the show was going to have Barba and Carisi become romantically involved. Apparently the actors and writers were on board, but the network head said no.
This would have deprived us of Rollins and Carisi though, and that would have been a big loss. Maybe someone like Dodds could have been gay and had a fiancé, thus having an openly gay member of the team and maybe some tension with Dodds Sr there. However, Fin’s son Ken gets a storyline in that vein, when he and his husband have a child.
On the tu/vous ( informal and formal you form) thing, Carisi uses tu with Amanda when she is at the hospital. This may be because they are of the same rank, but it definitely shows a level of friendship/closeness.
Olivia, on the other hand, uses vous with everyone! Even Dr Huang, who she runs into with Barba, and she’s not in the office. She uses vous with Dodds Jr, even though she outranks him!
Some great episodes so far!
Loved Carisi and Amanda investigating at the out of state bar, they have such a great rapport and OMG, they nearly got together! Carisi’s face when he saw Amanda coming out of her room with a guy broke me! Poor poor woobie!
However, Amanda is still working through some issues, like how to be vulnerable. Carisi is trying to encourage her to do that, and their friendship/partnership is so good that I am quite happy to enjoy that for the moment.
Barba is growing on me, he actually joked ( though he did have to explain that he was joking, which kind of defeated the point).
And he was so very kind to Olivia when Noah was missing, so calm and just listened to her, which is just what she needed. He has asked her out for a drink several times, I think it would be good for her to accept. He understands the demands of her job, is clever and kind but I think he is a little bit boring for her. She’s also got chronic normalitis, as diagnosed by Dr Elliot Stabler, but she deserves to be happy and to have a stable relationship. Barba would definitely give her that!
I snorted out loud at Carisi and Fin’s expressions when watching the missing daughter and her family being interviewed. They definitely did not believe a word she or her brother were saying!
Also when Dodds comes by the office and Fin’s expression and words are v friendly and polite, but you can.tell he’d thinking just the opposite.
Loved the end of the kidnapping episode with Olivia surrounded by almost all the people she loves/us close to, but her little wistful glance made me think she might be wishing Elliot were there.
The episode with the dodgy rehab centre made me very sad, and this episode with the special needs children is really gripping too. I am always happy to see Coroner Warner ( yes, I know she’s a Mediczl Exsminer/Forendics specialist, but I like the rhyme!).
Looking forward to the rest of the season and the rest of the series.
I like Dodds a lot, as he doesn’t want to take advantage of his father’s position to get a better job, is empathetic and good at his job, a real team player. Fin’s remark about moving to the Counter-Terrorism Unit and potentially getting blown up/dying is some good foreshadowing as I know what happens at the end of the season, sob.
I snorted at Tucker saying « Who watches this junk? » to Olivia in the trashy dating show ep and the scene cutting to Amanda and Carisi thoroughly invested in it! I love seeing their relationship developing, even as friends, and like Luv and Tucker together, though I thought he was married? Yet she clasps his hands with hers and kissed them, which felt very intimate to me!
The arc with the Catholic Church made me cry, namely that scene at the very end of Carisi going to church and praying with his rosary. He would have made an excellent priest, but I think what stopped him is the idea of not being able to marry or have kids. He is extremely non-judgemental and very empathetic, especially when he is posing as a homeless rapist and shows real understanding towards the mostly reformed criminals.
I love how versatile he is, as he is just as comfortable ( and as hot) whether he is in a homeless shelter and scruffy, just chilling in sweatpants and a hoodie or in a suit. He was particularly hot when wearing glasses in the strip club! Stabler also had to pose as a business man and rocked the expensive suit and glasses too, back in the day!
Yay to Amanda hugging Carisi when he passed the bar exam, that was so sweet!
And OMG, Fin’s son was in an episode that didn’t feature homophobic hate crimes or someone in the closet! Excited to see Grandpa Fin, I am sure he’ll be great!
Munch came back, yay! He seems happy and relaxed, but is still funny and seemed to be so good with Noah. I always thought he’d make an excellent dad, but understand why he didn’t with his family history of depression/bad mental health and Alzheimer’s ( his dad killed himself and his uncle had memory impairment issues-both those eps made me cry).
I have nearly finished Season 17, 2 more episodes to go and looking forward to Season 18 and beyond very much.
What an opening episode! My hate for Dr Yates is immense, it has no limit! He must have been investigated when Stabler was still there, somewhere between Season 5 and 8, as it was apparently 10 years ago. However I can find zero episodes that feature him during that time frame!
Yates is so creepy, so calm and so sleazy!
Carisi is an excellent cop, he works really hard, has excellent instincts, takes instruction/feedback well and takes initiative when appropriate. He also sometimes spots things that his colleagues have missed or has a novel way of approaching the case/victim/suspect.
He is always actively observing how his colleagues handle situations ( victims, suspects, the big cheeses in charge…) and everything that’s going on in the courtroom. He’s obviously really into his legal studies as he’s accompanying Barba when he’s dealing with that side of things.
In a few years ( I stopped watching when S 12 finished), everyone seems much more accepting/open-minded and mindful of the language they use regarding trans females/males ( currently on episode 2 with the trans teen girl) and sex workers/drag queens… Some of the language used by the team in the first few seasons is really shocking, and some of them are really judgemental ( yes, Stabler, I’m looking at you!) when it comes to mental health and sex/gender issues.
The tech is also much improved, as the earlier seasons were all about the dangers of this new-fangled internet and Stabler didn’t even have a cell phone until quite late.
Wish Fin had taken the sergeant’s exam, would have meant no nepotism from William Dodds and his spy of a son taking on the job. I haven’t met him yet but hate him on principle!
I remember how annoyed Fin was that Munch took and passed the sergeant’s exam behind everyone’s back, possibly on a dare/because he lost a bet, so nice callback/continuity there.
Lots of big names in supporting/guest roles: Sean Robert Leonard and Whoopi Goldberg that I can name, but lots of faces that are familiar to me.
The pronunciation of some names in French is still appalling!
In the overworked social workers episode, the dubbers made Keisha/Keysha sound like Petit Chat ( Little Cat, which is used a lot as a term of endearment from French parents towards their little kids) and Keith sounds like a cross between Kiss and Keys ( the “th” sound is notoriously difficult for French people to master).
Just watching the baby shower episode and snorted at Fin’s comment about not having any idea how Mike Dodds got the sergeant’s job. He always seems to say what everyone else is thinking but doesn’t dare to say.
So far, Dodds seems competent and not too annoying, so that’s good. His dad however really got my heckles up by telling Olivia how to organise her team and do her job.
Really not fans of Amanda’s mum and sister, they are walking disasters.
Was also disappointed by Carisi’s gift to Amanda for the baby shower. A wipe warmer is just so impersonal even though it is practical and recommended by his sister. I feel a bit cheated as we haven’t seen Carisi being awesome with his niece, or at least mentioning her from time to time.