Can Carisi Be As Tough As Stephanie March?????????????????????????

                                 This, and other queries, surrounded last week's season opener (21!!!!!!!) of "Law And Order SVU," and these turned out to be more interesting than the story itself.

                                   The whole Harvey Weinstein/sex abuse by someone in power thing has been repeatedly done on this show, even if it was not based on Harvey.  I wondered how they would find someone ugly enough to play the Weinstein stand in, so I have to commend the casting department for dredging up Ian McShane, who was not only ugly, but downright creepy and psychopathically scary.  It was a brilliant performance.

                                     The other brilliant thing they did was to open with a TV broadcast of "Gunsmoke," as it panned to the cast in a bar, where, it turned out, Carisi was being honored for his promotion from detective to ADA.   The camera move was worthy of Robert Altman (I could not help noticing, having recently sat through two screenings of "Nashville!") but the promotion is problematic.  Is Carisi ready?  He has no prior ADA experience, which I understand is a standard requirement for the position.    His supervisor is Bureau Chief Vanessa Hadid, played by Zuleikha Robinson, and let me tell you she is a real bitch/See You Next Tuesday kind of gal.  How long could anyone last working with her?  So, will Carisi last?  Or will she go first?  My hope is this last; Carisi, whom all us girls love for his cuteness, deserves the promotion, but he needs better supervision than this.  How about bringing in Stephanie here, and getting rid of this corrupt careerist?

                                      Speaking of corrupt careerists, Chief Dodds, (Peter Gallagher) who has always been portrayed as some sort of Sammy Glick on the make, was finally overtaken by his overriding ambition, and has been taken down, and relegated to some boring traffic desk job in--are you ready????--Staten Island.  An open lesson to all you overly anxious Manhattan careerists right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                       Now, get this--as if someone who was facing a demotion could make any kind of request, which is simply fabrication on this show's part-- guess what he asks, as a favor? On condition of his exile, he asks that Olivia Benson be promoted to the post of Captain!!!!!!!!!!  Can you believe it????????????   Will she wear overalls, like Don Cragen, played by the wonderful Dann Florek?????????  Viewers haven't even gotten a glimpse of the pink paisley dress that has been promised; will this be how a new captain dresses???????????????????

                                         Gag me with a spoon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                          The squad room is shrinking.  Only Finn and Rollins are left as team mates, and while they are both wonderful, if Finn gets promoted to Sergeant, Rollins is all on her own?  What kind of police work is this?  I would love more exposure of Rollins, because of the wonderful
Kelli Giddish, but she can't do this on her own, because Mariska Hargitay will not let this become Amanda Rollins' show; oh, no, it has to be HERS.  I mean, she got the final shot in this episode.

                                             The end result of this episode was not caring about what was happening at the moment, but what might happen in the future, for this season.  The one problem is, as long as Olivia gets her way, the show will not rise to the level it once was.

                                               And I see no sign of Hargitay abdicating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!