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SVU This Week

 This week's SVU explored--in several ways--the idea of empathy, the idea of listening.

The first swift, brutal montage made me think of the famous opening of Pixar's "Up." A woman runs a successful restaurant in Tribeca; Covid hits. Cancellations filter in. The need for layoffs pops up. Demands for outdoor seating increase; our avatar can't afford the construction project, but she also can't leave things as they are. Mom gets sick. An in-law gets sick. Demands for rent pile up. An adolescent son won't listen to mask warnings; he goes out and parties. Death happens in a nursing home; final conversations happen via FaceTime. Blame gets passed around. A marriage cracks open. Our avatar pulls out a gun.

All of this happens before the opening credits!

The bulk of the hour is Oliva Benson's'; Benson needs to talk down the crazed restaurant-owner, Vanessa....down from "the ledge." This mostly involves being still. Vanessa makes her confessions: "I blamed my son for my mother's death." "I never purchased health insurance for myself." "I've started drinking, daily, with breakfast." Though the story is wrapped up a bit too briskly and neatly, Sarita Choudhury, as Vanessa, is memorable.

Elsewhere, Kat practices for her new promotion, and she unwittingly escalates the tension in a training situation--because she can't listen, and she makes too many assumptions. This has been a recurring issue for Kat's character--witness Fin's interaction with Kat, one week ago--and I'm eager to see if she'll get her act together.

Finally, maybe my favorite plot involved brainy Rollins, managing a tough family situation. Rollins must coach her toxic mother-in-law through a thorny hour--and the coaching must not look like coaching. This in-law understands how to push buttons: "It's a shame you couldn't come to the wedding." "Your mom can't be here because she is at home--looking after *your* kid." With Carisi's help, Rollins becomes a Jedi master: She knows precisely how to drive "Amberlynn" away. Tactic One: "You know you really have quite a few outstanding warrants in your past, and I'm sort of obligated to arrest you." Tactic Two: "You don't want to care for my elderly father when he comes through all this. Changing diapers? That will show on your face. You're young. Go off and follow your dreams."

Among the fans who tweeted, with zeal, about this episode: Mr. Tony Kushner, the esteemed biographer Mark Harris.

Rollins is my spirit-animal. Can't wait for next week.
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