23x06 The Five Hundredth Episode

highly recommend this episode. as someone whose mom let me watch this show at an entirely too young age who's seen a lot of these characters and flashbacks years ago, it was such a wonderful experience. the way it tied together old scenes with present day was amazing, the writers on svu are honestly really great at that. long-time viewers and people who stopped watching ages ago alike will enjoy the episode, i think. it also articulates incredibly well the issue of power imbalances, and touches on olivia's past with her mother in a great way. amaro's appearance was so fun, and honestly olivia saying cold case work suits him was SO CUTE. no idea if it was a cheeky nod to the actor's time on the show cold case but either way, god i love reunions on long-running shows. AND CRAGEN ON FACETIME. GOD.

biggest takeaway though: the acting in this episode, top notch. that scene in benson's hallway with the cassette, bye, i needed a minute even knowing what was coming. and like, i don't really watch svu beyond my nostalgia and love of mariska hargitay and procedurals. in procedurals, where the crime of the week is the focus, the acting is usually solid, if occasionally stiff and forgettable. there are obvious exceptions, particularly with special guest stars and unknowns who later go on to be famous in their own right. but man, mariska? shining throughout the entire episode, understated and raw. danny pino embodied a grown version of his character that straddled the line between maturity and hotheaded, and i love it. (as an aside: i remember so much criticism being lobbed at amaro's character being a pseudo-substitute for the "angry cop role", and this episode feels like a great illustration of the nuances between the two characters. amaro was always aggressive in every sense of the word, and continues to be with time; stabler's aggression has always been set off by specific situations and stressors, and has been tempered significantly over the years. there's a self-righteousness and passion to displays of anger when it comes to amaro, and stabler often seems almost ashamed of his own outbursts, even in the earlier years when police aggression wasn't being talked about so seriously in the media and he felt compelled to defend his actions.)

anyway, like the topic of stabler's ptsd in the organized crime spinoff, the stuff explored in this episode was so great, and highly memorable. they really did make episode 500 something special.