So, last night, I saw a rerun episode of Law & Order SVU with Mischa Barton. Well, I didn't watch it with Mischa Barton, like she was sitting on my mother's couch next to me as I watched it. I mean, she was acting in the episode. I am SO GOOD at this writing thing... Also, side note: I really don't like her. When I see her in something, all I can see is her bad acting in the limited number of episodes of The OC I could sit through. But that's not my point in bringing her up.
Anyway, Mischa Barton plays a pregnant prostitute, who eventually gives Detective Benson power of attorney over her premature and probably-dying baby girl. The episode ends with Benson being called on to make a life or death decision for the baby and because I can't be bothered to watch this show in order on the night it airs, I have no idea what happened to the baby. I went to Wikipedia, which informed me that Benson once took custody of a different victim's son named Calvin, but never mentions this baby. I went to IMDB, but they're useless with this kind of detail. Wanna know who was in the movie? They're awesome. Wanna know what HAPPENED in the movie? Not so awesome. So then I went on all the "answers" sites online to see if someone else is more responsible with their SVU watching duties and could tell me--because not only am I lame at watching TV, but I'm lame at searching the Internet, too.
It sounds like they never resolved that story line. And I don't know how to feel about that. So I'm asking you. Not what happened to the baby (But if you actually know, SHARE), but how I should feel about this. Or how you feel about it. Or how you feel about things being left unanswered in TV shows. Or in books. Give me some feelings, people!
After I had spent an inordinate amount of my work day looking at websites about Law & Order SVU, I remembered that I had heard that Christopher Meloni/Detective Stabler had left the show. Which made me sad. But in a distant way, because I don't watch it in order, so to me, he's still on the show. But it seems like the show wouldn't be the same without him. So I don't know how to feel about this either. So tell me about that, too, while you're at it. Or about how you feel when any major character leaves a show and they keep making the show without them (like on That 70's Show or One Tree Hill or ER or a bunch of others that I'm sure I could come up with if it weren't time to post this and leave work for the day). Tell me how you feel about TV characters.
As you can tell, I love Law & Order SVU in a big way. This is something about which I DO KNOW how to feel. Also? I love Tuesdays. I am now unambivalent about Tuesdays. Why? Because the USA network plays Law & Order SVU all day LONG on Tuesdays. This is especially wonderful for someone who does not watch SVU on its regular night on NBC. Someone like me. It's also good for someone who was unemployed for five months last summer, so they had plenty of Tuesdays to spend all day at home and enjoy their favorite show. This is also someone like me. The me of last summer. Not the me of this summer. And there are many days this summer that I wished I were the me of last summer. But I also like being the me without the money issues. So if you guessed that I'm about to say I don't know how to feel about that, you are right and I would give you a prize if I had any prizes to give. And if you guessed that I'm about to ask you to inform me about my feelings on this topic, you can have some bonus points with your non-existent prize.
In related news, I love the USA Network. I would list all of their original shows that I am in love with, but it might be faster to type the ones I don't watch. Except that really? I love a lot of their showsm but I don't watch many of them. Because I can't be bothered to learn which nights they air and to be in front of the TV during those time periods. This is not to say that I am NOT a couch potato, because I am the starchiest of all the potatoes that live on couches. But I am such a lazy couch potato that I don't keep a regular schedule of laziness.
And before you remind me that I have a DVR in my house, I KNOW. But Sister controls the DVR (the jerk: thinking she should control something that she pays for in the house she owns... What is this world coming to?) and she has other interests that take up its space. Some of those interests are USA shows, like Covert Affairs and Psych. But we just don't have the space for Suits, Necessary Roughness, or In Plain Sight (which I miss dearly), among many other good choices.
And before you remind me that USA Network streams their shows online, I KNOW. But I live in a very strange land where Internet companies have download limits and watching more than a few episodes a month sends us into overage fees. This is also the reason I cancelled Netflix (Which was before their silly price changes that sent Twitter into an uproar. For about an hour. Because Twitter's collective attention span is only slightly longer than the average seven-year-old)--because I mostly had them for the online watching when I was in college and that got shot all to hell when I moved back here.
And before remind me that these companies are morons stuck in 1999, I KNOW. But they are the only providers in my strange land, so I cannot do a thing about it. Except blog anonymously with an implied pout in my typing. Which is REALLY effective, letmetellyou.
Looking back on the post, I guess this is the part where I ask you how I should feel about any number of the random things espoused in the last few paragraphs. But instead, I'll switch it up and tell you how to feel about the things I just wrote. You should think: this girl is weird and random and blathery, but kind of awesome and I will come back and read her blog every day because she has won my unswerving devotion and also I want to send her bagels. Or you could just tell me how to feel. Whatever.
If you guessed that this is not the blog post I set out to write, treat yourself to a bagel. Or 50. Go nuts. No one is watching. And before you remind me that this post makes little or no sense, I KNOW. It's a by-product of the sick and the lonely and the crazy that I have. And also, how is it that different from the other junk I spew here on a semi-daily basis? Zero different, sir.
I know exactly what episode of SVU you are talking about. I watch SVU pretty consistently, and I love the marthons of it on USA. That particular episode drove me nuts. Blah, sometimes I still think about it and wonder what she choose. But I think that in my head she choose to let the baby die. Because it was never mentioned again. But then we have this other child she gets custody of and it ends up being a huge story arc thing-mabob. Which is confusing and contradictory. In my head she let the baby die. I guess that it goes towards my idea of hummanity and personal prefrence that if a creature is in a lot of pain and suffering, shouldn't it be allowed to be put into a place of peace and rest. I suppose that to belive that, one must first believe that there is an afterlife and that it is peaceful, restful and good.
ReplyDeletePS. In Plain Sight aired a new season on May fifth and they are going to have the season finale on Sunday night. Usually USA runs a marthon of a current season right around season finale time.
Have I ever told you how fantastic you are? When a main character leaves a show, that show is DONE in my opinion. What is That 70s Show without Eric? Ridiculous is what it is. Not that he was even my favorite charatcter. But still. And then George Clooney left ER and then that Margulese lady who's name I just butchered left - I think that was her name, the lady with the curly black hair - and then didn't Anthony Edwards aka "Goose" leave too? And Grey's Anatomy. Argh! First Dr. WhatsHisFace leaves, then they kill off George and then Izzy - that was her name right? I haven't watched in a looong time. What's worse than actually having a character leave the show, is when they keep the character and replace the actor/actress. I don't have an example of this, but I feel like it has happened.
ReplyDeleteSomeone on one of the answers sites thought the show made an oblique reference to it and that the baby dies on the operating table. But I have no idea if that's acurate.
ReplyDeleteOh, and? This is why I love the internet. I would probably never looked for a marathon of In Plain Sight until you mentioned it. Yu may be my new favorite reader. Shhh... Don't tell the others. :)
I think you're pretty fantastic, too. I have to say, this post was almost not a post. I hesitated over the publish button for a while, thinking it might be too far into the crazy, even for me. But I'm lazy and I didn't want to type another post, so I gave in.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, you are right. ER especially, because it just never ended.(I have no idea how to spell her name, but I know exactly who you're talking about). And replacing the actor but keeping the character? AWFUL. I'm pretty sure only Soap Operas do this these days, because people hate it so much. But then again, I think that's what they're going to do with Two and a Half Men, so...
I feel like you ought to be pissed that they don't tell you what happens. I also feel like I'm glad I haven't seen that episode, because I would be pissed that they don't tell you what happens.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm with SarcasmGoddess, once a main character leaves the show, the show is done. The only time I can think of a main character leaving a show and the show kept going and it didn't COMPLETELY suck was when Kelly left Saved by the Bell. But if Zach had left, it could not have continued. Kelly was a secondary-main character.
At least they didn't just replace the actor though. I hate when they do that and act like everything is the same and no one bothers to say, "Oh, Colleen, when did you dye your hair brown, lose weight, and get a lot prettier?" (Was anyone else as affected by the switch-up of Colleen on Dr. Quinn as I was?)
The only example I can recall is when Family Matters changed the actress who played the mom toward the end of the series. And I've heard that WON'T be the case on two and a half men - that Ashton Kutcher will be a different character. Which is good, because I don't understand how the producers really think we're going to buy that it's the same character.
ReplyDeleteThe only other times I've seen it is from the pilot to the second episode of a show (Carol in Friends, Naomi in Private Practice, etc.) because sometimes it's a long time before a pilot gets picked up and they go into regular shooting. Once in a while the actor gets another gig before the pilot is picked up.
Elise, I don't watch Law and Order but I liked the passion and enthusiasm in this post. Is it possible for you to download the shows through iTunes? That's usually how I watch episodes of my favorite shows. I am loving your blog lay out! And before I forget, I echo your sentiments on Mischa who? The poor girl can't act her way out of a paper bag! :)
ReplyDeleteIf I may be so bold, I'm having some of the same feelings (the ones nobody knows how to feel about). You may or may not be familiar with Doctor Who. I just started watching it on Netflix this summer and reached the end of the last episode they have streaming about 5 minutes ago. Well, first off, the Doctor changes (regenerates) periodically. And his companions come and go. So there isn't a ginormous load of consistency. Meaning I have to say goodbye to characters and hello to new ones like nobody's business. For someone who doesn't like change (ie. curls in fetal position on bathroom rug, humming to herself) I feel I've dealt with it fairly well. But. I. Still. Don't. Know. How. I. Feel. About. It. I also feel like this was going to have a point, but my canine is currently licking the computer, so I don't have time to figure out what the point was. *extricates dog tongue from disk drive* stupid stupid stupid. Iloveherverymuch.
ReplyDelete"ER especially, because it just never ended"-- HAHAHA I never watched ER, but when the made all of the big promos for the last season ever. Where they were like the last six episodes of ER. Now the last five episodes of ER. Whenever I watched those I was like its the third final season of ER.
ReplyDeleteI don't have an answer to that baby thing, but I will say that I actually cried when Henry Blake and Trapper left M*A*S*H. And when I say "when" I don't mean when it actually happened, I mean two months ago when I was watching reruns.
ReplyDeleteAlso, though this is a random post, it did grant me permission to eat 50 bagels, so I will add you to my blog reader in hopes of more bagels in the future.
I love TV and talking about TV. And I loved Law & Order: SVU for many years until the writing got really bad and the shows started being more about having a social conscious than about solving a crime. SVU without Stabler is not SVU, so I think you should feel done with the show.
ReplyDeleteIn general, a show that loses its main character is going down the tubes. One exception is 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter which lost John Ritter at some point. I still thought it was decent for a while after he died. But I probably shouldn't be admitting that I ever watched that show in the first place, or that I occasionally STILL watch it.
TNT is a good network, too. If you are not watching The Closer and Rizzoli & Isles, you must start now. I am recently obsessed with The Closer because I feel like I've seen every episode of Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, and the two CSIs that are not Miami about 27 times each.
I know, right? It just wouldn't DIE. I actually didn't believe the when they called it a series finale. I figured they'd pull a Seventh Heaven on us and come back the next season regardless of the fact that they had wrapped everything up...
ReplyDeleteI could download them--I watched them all in order up to the 7th season on Netflix once. But I'm too lazy or cheap to do much else. ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd poor Mischa. I don't mean to be harsh... But she's just really bad...
This comment made me laugh out loud! I hate change, too. I understand completely. I don't think I could watch Dr. Who for this very reason, although I've enjoyed it casually a few times.
ReplyDeleteFirst, you ALWAYS have my permission to eat bagels. Since I'm trying to eat fewer calories, I DEMAND you eat a few for me, too. ;)
ReplyDeleteSecond, I LOVE M*A*S*H! I haven't seen all of them in order, either, because I only catch them in reruns. But I was in my high school's production of M*A*S*H the play. I bet you didn't even know that existed. It does. And it's amazing!
I totally agree about SVU--it gets preachy sometimes and I don't love it. But I still love me some Elliot Stabler. So that's why I'm struggling so much with this.
ReplyDeleteAnd I like The Closer a lot, but it's not on my MUST WATCH NOW list... Because I'm too lazy to watch TV responsibly.
I love this last paragraph! That's exactly how I feel.
ReplyDeleteWoah - M*A*S*H the play? I have to investigate this/stage my own production.
ReplyDeleteYou have NO IDEA! It's awesome. Of course, this may be colored through my memories of Sophomore year... But I still think it was great!
ReplyDeletejeez, you must be in effing alaska or something, your internet is seriously behind! and this from the girl who has cruddy internet! i say you march on their building and shake fists.
ReplyDeleteUSA network is the most brilliant thing ever and I love it dearly with all my heart. NCIS is also a gajillion times better than Law & Order: SVU. Sorry.
ReplyDelete