#27x08

[elliot-olivia]

How long were you two partners? Five years in uniform, four more as detectives.

[im-a-little-pawn]

27x08

Meh. This episode was… meh. Easily the weakest of the season so far, right next to episode 2.

The case itself was weird, and I never managed to get into it. The way they caught the real perp felt clunky, and there was way too much police brutality for my taste. Why on earth was Bruno screaming at those guys like that?

I still don’t like the new guy, and at this point it really feels like they’re planning to make him a series regular. They’re focusing way too much on him, and they already gave him a backstory. We’ve learned more about Griffin in eight episodes than we’ve learned about Bruno or Curry in more than two seasons. Why spend so much time on a character who’s probably not even going to stick around?

Rollins was great. We got that cute, but totally out of place line about Carisi knowing how to load the dishwasher. Curry’s kickboxing moment was fantastic, and Liv was… Liv.

I don’t like the new chief all that much, but I do agree with her about Olivia’s role in the squad. Liv really does need to step back from the investigative work and take on more of a leadership role, like Cragen. Honestly, I have no idea where they’re going with this storyline. Is Mariska stepping back from the show a bit? Because if not, I can’t see Liv leaving the field. So either this is going nowhere, or it’s just drama for drama’s sake. Who knows? Hopefully the showrunner does.

Now for my man. I was 100% convinced he wouldn’t be in the episode since we didn’t get any promo pics of him, and with the budget cuts I honestly thought he’d miss an episode by now. So what a nice surprise that he showed up and we even got a great little scene of him being really pissed at the new guy.

The trial wasn’t good, but mostly because the plot wasn’t good. I still don’t understand the issue with Griffin’s DD5s. I get the press conference problem, but the Griffin part? Not really. It feels like the writers just wanted some nonsense drama. But hey at least we’re 7/8 on courtroom content this season. The Order side and ADA Carisi are so back. And honestly, a mistrial was the best outcome they could’ve gotten with how determined the writers seemed to be about tanking that case.

And we’re still missing the personal scenes. Carisi and Rollins had more personal moments in the seasons when Kelli wasn’t even a regular than they’ve had this season. I don’t think they even shared a single scene today. And what about the rest of the team? At least show them grabbing drinks after a case or something.

Anyway really subpar winter finale, IMO. I still have faith in this season because it’s miles better than the last two, but there’s still a lot they need to improve.