Two Postings, For The Price Of One!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                               As my beloved always says to me, if I have trouble finding a bitch, I manage to pull one out of the hat.  There is just no shortage of them in this world, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                I was going to write about the milestone 400th episode of "Law And Order, SVU," which turned out to be one of the better recent episodes.  The last one this good was a season or two back, when Celia Keenan-Bolger appeared.

                                The standout performance here was Sarah Wynter, she with the psychotic looking eyes.  Don't be fooled by her Agnes Gooch get up; this woman is dangerous.  So dangerous that, halfway through the episode, I knew I had found this week's winner of the Raving Queen Bitch Of The Week Award, in Sarah's character, Dr. Nicole Keller.

                                  Especially compelling were performances by Daniel Cosgrove, as Nicole's ex-husband, Dr. Daniel Keller, and Aaron Sanders, as their son, Luke.  He had the especially difficult role, because it all starts with him.  Returning home to his mother, after a visit with his father ended disastrously, he hears screams, and sees his mother locked in sexual consequence, but who, looking at him directly, cries out she is being raped.  Here was where my analytics kicked in--what kind of mother, being raped, and having her son walk in on such a thing, act like it's no big deal?   She does not turn away in humiliation, she does not even try to shield Luke from what he is seeing, it is all about her.   This is the first clue.  Because things only get worse from here.

                                  Luke grabs a gun, kept in a safe in the house, aims at the alleged assailant, and fires.  He shoots to wound, or scare him off, but the perp is killed.  What's more, he turns out to be Luke's best friend, Trey, who, like him, is fifteen years old!  When Trey's parents come onto the scene, I thought the episode was going for a racial trope.  But it turns out to be something more sinister.

                                Luke is traumatized by his friend's death alone, but in the course of the episode, has to come to terms with his mother being a malignant sexual predator, who, via her own actions regarding her son, demonstrates she cares for no one but herself.  She is a dangerous sociopath.  And, of course, perfect for Bitch Of the Week.  As she is being taken away, swearing false mother love to Luke in another  attempt to mess with his head psychologically--she was a practicing psychiatrist!!!!--and his complete disgust is directed at her, I wanted to ram my fist through the TV, and throttle her.
Aaron Sanders makes us feel Luke's pain every step of the way.  Sarah Wynter's personality transitions are nothing short of remarkable, for an hour show.  Maybe Mariska, who directed this, should remain on the other side of the camera.  Come to think of it, Olivia was not as dour this week!!!!!!

                              I had to hand it to them last night.  This show has dealt with female sexual predators--who are rare, but out there--but nothing to match Nicole.  I was reminded of my early years working, when I heard of a ten-year-old girl reporting being approached by a woman in a public bathroom.  It was my first real awareness that this sickness has two gender possibilities, not just the one (male) we often think.

                                 And that queen, ADA Barba, was SO getting off on taking Bitch Nicole down!  I wanted to see her burned alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Wherever she ends up, they better keep tabs on her.  She is a cool one, and will some way to game the system.

                                   As one wag said, over the years this series has served up plenty of hellish mothers.

                                  But Nicole--BOTW!!!!!--almost takes the cake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!