From: The Scene Blog
“Law & Order: SVU” Recap: Lohan ruined
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Every great once in a while, “SVU” brings up an interesting topic and dwells on it for an entire episode in a thought provoking way and, shockingly, provides good television. More commonly, it crams way too many interesting ideas in one episode and never goes in depth in just one.
This episode had a lot of separate good ideas that it could have used: statutory rape committed by a woman and the unique cycle of sexual abuse, to name two. But instead, the show focused on the ripped-from-the-headlines faux-Amanda Bynes/Lindsay Lohan story.
Tensley Evans (Stevie Lynn Jones from CBS’ “Unforgettable,” though she’s unfortunately forgettable in this part), plays an out-of-control starlette with a chip on her shoulder equivalent in size to every cappuccino-flavored Lay’s ever produced.
Since becoming a scandal, Tensley has been to rehab four times, got caught driving drunk and sleptwith a fifteen-year-old boy. That last bit is glossed over for yet another story about her evil mother (a fake Dina Lohan type) and even more so about an evil producer who is put away after the detectives have him arrested for sex tourism in Canada. Weird, but predictable for anyone who watches “SVU” regularly (at least once a year).
The whole episode feels out of focus, which is a shame because so it could have been so interesting. In the past, ripping from the headlines didn’t always mean that the writers would go completely nuts with the storyline, but given last week’s disaster episode, this may now be the case.
Little headway is made in the personal lives of the detectives, but Rollins and Amaro are definitely still into each other (yay!) and Olivia knows. Olivia’s baby, Noah, is in the hospital. Amaro is back on the squad, and Fin was nowhere to be seen – that’s messed up.
Tune in to “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” on Wednesdays at 9 p.m on NBC.
