The dedicated detectives of the SVU squad are back, and Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 1 introduced a new one.
TV Fanatic writers Jasmine Blu, Laura Nowak, Sara Trimble, and Jack Ori got together to discuss their first impressions of new detective Kate Silva.
They also had a lot to say about the season premiere, from whether it succeeded in bringing Law & Order: SVU back to basics to the way the case was resolved.
The Law & Order: SVU showrunners said SVU would “go back to basics” in Season 26. How well did they succeed in doing that in this premiere?
Jasmine: I don’t really see where they did.
It’s been on for 26 years, so which version of the “basics” are they even talking about here?
I had many of the same issues you did in your Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 1 review, Jack. I got distracted by those little annoyances, so I can’t say I noticed if the episode convincingly got back to its roots.
Laura: I agree with Jasmine that it wasn’t an awful premiere, but we’ve had way better.
As someone who watches both Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU, I think Law & Order went back to basics better and developed a stronger team and better character arcs.
SVU still feels disjointed, and it was not a memorable episode.
Sara: Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 1 did a good job of balancing the police and courtroom sides.
We got a good taste of detectives doing good police work to solve a crime and a healthy dose of the courtroom process to see justice served.
It’s a good formula that worked well without complicating the episode with too much going on. But it’s not clear how the show went back to basics.
Jack: I expected that since the Law & Order: SVU Season 26 cast includes a fuller team than we’ve had for several years, the cases would include a mix of team members working on different angles of the case until it was turned over to Carisi to prosecute.
It seemed to me the only way this was “back to basics” was that Maddie Flynn was gone (thankfully!)
What do you think of Kate Silva so far?
Jasmine: There was something that immediately annoyed me about her, and then that annoyance was gone as quickly as it came.
I like her, and I’m intrigued by her potential.
She’s strong-willed, focused, solid, and so far appears good at the job. But I’m tired of starting to like people who disappear, so I’m still guarded.
Laura: Should I know who her father was? That was my gut reaction.
She’s okay and jumped right in. I especially liked her in-the-park scenes, but I’m also tired of getting a new cast every year.
Sara: Given the frequent turnover of cast members joining and leaving SVU, I try not to get attached to anyone new.
I’m still mourning losing Munch (RIP) and Rollins.
And I can’t even recall the names of any of the last several team members who barely stayed. I’m not ready to get attached to anyone else.
So far, she seems level-headed, calm, and good at her job without being too passionate that she’s a loose cannon.
Jack: I agree with everyone that SVU’s bad habit of writing out female cops as quickly as they are introduced has gotten old.
From what Juliana Aidén Martinez has said about being told her character was a “permanent replacement,” I’m guessing we’ll have her for at least a couple of seasons.
However, wasn’t Molly Burnett’s character supposed to be permanent too?
I liked Silva on Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 1, though, and I’m intrigued by the implication that her relationship with her father is strained.
The killer on Law & Order: Season 26 Episode 1 turned out to be a student named Sam Ellis who had never been seen or mentioned before the police approached him. How did you feel about this?
Jasmine: Listen, I was sitting right there watching this episode, attempting to live-tweet, too. I was about as focused as I could get, and I STILL spent a solid ten minutes in total confusion about where the hell Sam Ellis came from.
I felt like I blinked one good time and missed pivotal information that explained how they got from A to E. Suffice it to say, I was not impressed.
Laura: That was part of why Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 1 felt disjointed.
It seemed like it was pointing towards Teddy, and granted, it’s never the first suspect, but there had to be a smoother way to introduce Sam despite that tired TV trope.
Sara: I usually follow the clues and context enough in any show that I accurately predict the ending.
Even after re-watching a few parts of Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 1, I still don’t like how they connected the suspect and the victims. I always hate it when they throw in a surprise killer without making sense.
And this storyline didn’t add up, given all the clues and re-directs.
Jack: That’s one of my pet peeves too, Sara. I expect plot twists, but putting a random person into an arrest scene is cheating.
It would have been so easy to make the connection with Sam.
Elodie could have mentioned that Shelli had this one friend who had a crush on her, but he wasn’t creepy like Teddy.
A casual mention that didn’t seem like a red flag would have made the reveal into a real plot twist instead of confusing the audience.
Did the quick resolution of the protest subplot make sense, or did it make this subplot feel pointless to you?
Jasmine: Like Sam Ellis, I was wondering how we got to the police protest, and then it just disappeared as randomly as it popped up.
That subplot was totally contrived, and they could have just left it out of Law & Order: Season 26 Episode 1 or blended it into the background more.
I was just as annoyed by there suddenly being a media circus by the time they walked out of the crime scene.
The editing of this premiere was so weird.
Laura: That subplot was totally pointless, and there could have been a much better use of those scenes.
Sara: The protest thing completely confused me. The student they picked up as their suspect didn’t seem like the type of person an entire school would be willing to get a criminal record for to protect.
So, why did an entire student body suddenly start a fight with police over a stranger?
It felt like the show was just trying to continue creating tension between police and civilians because it’s what we see in real life.
Jack: I found it weird and pointless too.
Police procedurals feel obliged to address tension with civilians, but this was a terrible way to do it.
There was no reason that a bunch of law students would or should assume that Sam was being harassed by the cops when they knew a member of their cohort was just brutally murdered.
This seemed like a protest for protest’s sake.
I didn’t buy that Benson, or anyone else, would simply accept not charging the kids because of the optics.
Not charging them was probably worse, optics-wise.
It suggests that privileged kids get away with too much crap, and the inequity is what’s driving the tension between cops and civilians in the first place
How strong did you think this premiere episode was, on a scale of 1 (worst premiere ever) to 10 (most brilliant episode they’d ever had)?
Jasmine: I would give it a solid 5.
It wasn’t a terrible episode, but if these questions hadn’t prompted me, I could say I had forgotten everything about Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 1 by the time the end credits rolled.
But at least it wasn’t the Maddie fiasco.
Laura: I’m also going with a 5. We’ve had way better, but we’ve had way worse. It was not worth all the hype.
Sara: As a premiere, I’d say this episode was a weak 4. There was zero excitement or intensity to make this show stand out as the first episode after a seasonal break.
We didn’t have a life-or-death situation, stressful conflict among the SVU division, or unique cases to pique our brains.
Overall, it was just another episode on another police procedural show with a simple case neatly tied up in a bow.
Nothing about the episode stood out or inspired excitement about SVU returning. And it definitely lacked the pizzazz we expect to see from a season premiere.
Jack: I’m going to be the rebel of the group and give it a 7.
I was unhappy with certain aspects of Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 1, but I liked the premise of trying to find someone who attacked a bunch of kids on a college campus, and I enjoyed the interactions between the cops.
I also really liked Elodie. She seemed like the kind of person I’d hang out with in real life, so that elevated this episode in my mind even though, in some ways, it was a mess.
Discuss anything not covered above.
Jasmine: I’m still struggling to find the chemistry with this squad. Most of the time, they feel so disjointed as a unit.
Maybe Silva will help with that.
Laura: I’m excited that Kevin Kane was promoted to series regular.
Detectives Bruno and Fin are great together, but why hasn’t Renee Curry also been upped as well?
Sara: Nothing to add here.
Jack: I didn’t like the way most of the detectives were judgmental about the roommates’ threesome. It was consensual and mostly irrelevant to Shelli’s murder.
Even Benson had somewhat of an eye-rolling moment about “kids these days” when she found out about it.
Law & Order: SVU is usually much better at social messaging than that, so it always disappoints me when they screw up.
What was your favorite quote, scene or storyline on Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 1?
Jasmine: Fin and Bruno bantering always makes me laugh. The gun range bit was amusing.
Laura: I really liked Elodie and how she took care of herself after her attack.
She knew she needed time off from school, but then she wanted to return and become a lawyer and fight for victims.
Sara: As far as season premieres go, I forgot most of the show as soon as the credits ran, so I don’t know that I have a favorite part of this episode. How sad is that?
Jack: I also liked Elodie continuing to pursue her dream, Laura. I thought it was high praise when she told Carisi that he inspired her to be a lawyer.
Your turn, SVU fanatics!
We’d love to hear your answers to our Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 1 Round Table questions.
Hit the comments with your thoughts!
Law & Order: SVU airs on NBC on Thursdays at 9/8c and drops on Peacock on Fridays.
