Sunday, August 5, 2007

like you don't have a favorite, too

It has rained all day long. Although Ben and I ventured out of the house earlier today to go to the greenhouse, we have pretty much stayed in and puttered about. I like days like that once in a while, and rainy weekend days aren't so hard to take since I don't have to head for work first thing tomorrow morning. (I am not gloating as I write this, I swear it.)

As I was having a glass of V8 this afternoon, I thought I would take a spin through the channels to see what was on t.v. I caught a glimpse of Detective Elliot Stabler on the USA Network so I decided to play the game where I watch until I figure out which episode of SVU I am watching. It was the one where Fred Savage plays the accused rapist who decides to be his own attorney, and then his actual attorney, whom he is sleeping with, kills him when she realizes he is indeed the rapist. But that's beside the point. The point is, USA was running a Law & Order: Special Victims Unit marathon this afternoon! That may not seem exciting to you, but it sure was to me. I love Law & Order: SVU.

I didn't used to like any of the Law & Orders, although Tom and Julie watched Prime for years. Then, a few years ago when I was in New York, I was watching t.v. in my hotel room on a Saturday night while my roommate was out on the town. (She was younger than Julie and incredibly attractive, so, no, I didn't want to go with her, and she didn't ask me.) The episode of SVU that I saw that night had a scene that took place a couple of blocks from the hotel where I was staying in Chelsea. I was hooked.

I remember those happy bygone days when TNT used to run three episodes of SVU in a row on Friday nights. That's probably how I got to see every episode that was ever written. Bobo was always asleep on the couch next to me, and I always patted him and said, "heinous, Bobo" after the solemn tone of the opening voice-over. (As an aside, I couldn't bear to watch SVU for several months after Bobo died, and thought I might never be able to watch it again.)

I favor the episodes where Ice-T is featured more prominently, and I prefer Alex to Casey as the A.D.A. I'm crazy about B. D. Wong, but I have to agree with Jules that they sometimes go a little overboard on his make-up. I love Olivia, and Elliot used to drive me crazy, but the man is growing on me, damn him. All that brooding, barely-contained rage and violence.

As much as I knew I would enjoy it, I couldn't spend the whole afternoon parked in front of the t.v., however, so I promised myself I wouldn't watch the next episode unless it was my favorite one. Yes, I have a favorite. It's "Ghost" from season 6 where Alex comes back from the dead to testify against the I.R.A.-terrorist-turned-drug-cartel-assassin who had "assassinated" her two years earlier and forced her into the witness protection program. I love the plot twists and turns, and I love that Alex comes back, but I especially love the young actor who plays the frightened little Hispanic boy whose parents were murdered in the next room while he slept.

It wasn't that episode.

4 comments:

Kristy said...

I can just hear you saying, "Heinous, Bobo," and it makes me smile and giggle :)

anne mancine said...

Remember when I was still a newbie and you had to explain to me that Alex came before Casey, not vice versa, and she was sorta dead, but not really? For someone who cut her teeth on General Hospital, I knew right then SVU was my kind of show.

jamanci said...

yes, they certainly do make b.d. wong up too much--he looks like a little porcelain doll half the time!

i agree, one of the best things about these dramas is the character development. the cases they have to solve suck you in, but it's the interactions between the regulars that keep you watching...

as a side note, was lando from star wars on general hospital recently?

anne mancine said...

I told Dad that perhaps he had the same make-up artist from when he starred in M. Butterfly on Broadway. ;D

I believe that was indeed Lando on GH. Unfortunately, like so many of the other good-looking men on that show, he has gotten portly as he has aged.