Girls, I am telling you, someone on the writing staff of 'SVU' must actually be literary. Because this past Wednesday's episode, "Hunting Ground," in addition to basing itself on the Long Island Serial Killer, or the Gilgo Beach Murders, which were brought
to prominence last Summer, took as its source, one of fiction's best known short stories, "The Most Dangerous Game," by Richard Connell. Which has been one of the most filmed properties ever, most famously in 1932, when RKO shot its version at night on the Skull Island "King Kong" set, with Joel McCrea, and a pre-Kong Fay Wray!!!!!
And the serial killer in this one, a guy named Graham Winger, whose alias is "Brewster", was fascinating. He was played by Fred Arsenault as a young, bespectacled, Janmes Spader type. The alias he used was given an interesting back story; referencing the Robert Altman film, "Brewster McCloud," in which Bud Cort, whom the killer also suggests, is obsessed with flying like a bird. And his (the killer's) profession turns out to relate to birds and animals. The deal was he uses escort ads for "dates," because he wants the "girlfriend experience," even if he has to pay!!!! In the opening, he wines and dines Hayley, a young pretty thing, who gets more than she bargains for, when she is led to the perp's car, drugged with Ketamine, and locked in the cage seemingly intended for "Brewster's" dog, Orion, who gets star treatment--prime beef scraps form four star restaurant dinners, and a seat up front by the killer's side. One wonders how Orion keeps his dashing dog figure. We find out.
"The fun is in the chase," "Brewster" says, early in the dinner. We all think he is talking about the pursuit of amour. But it is much more. For this guy like to literally chase women, hunt them like prey, and kill them. Just like General Zaroff, the Cossack aristocrat on his own private island, in "The Most Dangerous Game."
Speaking of dogs, the most haunting sequence in the entire segment, is when they go out to the beach (was it actually filmed at Gilgos???) which in this becomes Manhattan Beach, and all the dogs, in unison, seat themselves in areas where bodies are believed to be buried. And there are lots of them--all women, and all prostitutes, women living life on the edge, making way by advertising themselves as escorts in a paper called here the "Downtown Voice," who are either estranged from their families, or whose families have abandoned them. The perp knows how to select his victims--the kind whose disappearance can easily slip under the radar.
Except, he misjudges somewhat, with Hayley, who is not only underage, but lives with her mother (hardly abandoned) and raising a baby of her own. Her mother and the team start receiving a series of disturbing messages from her, that they hope will
lead them to Hayley.
But meanwhile, in between all this, something else is going on.
Apparently, to beef up the show now that Chris Meloni as Elliot Stabler (a departure still bemoaned) is gone, the writers have concocted a love interest for Olivia. It is not this idea that is necessarily bad, but guess who they come up with, darlings???? Executive ADA David Hadena, played by none other than Harry Connick, Jr.!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean, come ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For one thing, Mariska/Olivia towers over Connick, like an amazon!!!! Darlings, even the Raving Queen can see Olivia is attractive and sexy. Which Connick, believe me, is NOT!!! And, sweeties, after seeing him in 'On A Clear Day', I can tell you he has no acting chops whatsoever. Not that 'SVU' is as demanding as Chekhov, but come on, when you have A-listers like Rosemary Harris on, who CAN act, it is demeaning to us viewers to have to watch a non-entity like Connick play a role that should have gone to so many better looking and more skilled actors out there!!!!! Darlings, if I were Mariska, I would be gargling with Scope, after each scene was shot!!!!!
Get rid of this guy, and fast!!!! They may have to; the characters themselves have indicated that if their involvement is found out, it creates a conflict of interest!!!!! So, I can see no future for this guy!!!! Finding a love interest for Olivia Benson is fine, but give her someone worthy. If I were Mariska, with all my years and clout on this show, I would insist on casting control for this proposed love interest!!!! You better believe it, honey!!!!!
But back to more important matters!!!! They get a lead, when they find Miranda, a married woman, who, unknown to her husband, escorted for a time to help out financially. She mentions having dined with this "Brewster," but, as they walked back to his car, when he proposed a romantic ride to the beach just 30 minutes away, she got a funny feeling. And was creeped out even further when she saw a pair of shovels in back. Pleading illness, she gets away. A second lead, Lizzie, a girl in a mental institution, gives them even more. She describes being chased by "Brewster"
in the outdoors, near water, as some sort of hunting game. She says he threatened to kill her if she did not play. And she had tried to escape several times, but was always caught. One night, during what turned out to be Hurricane Irene, which downed electricity in the area, she made it over a wire fence, to freedom. But when she told her story, no one, even cops, would believe her. Olivia says she does, and Lizzie counters she does not want to go back into the real world yet, as she still does not feel safe. Scary.
ME Warner (the wonderful Tamara Tunie) has been working overtime, with all these bodies. Soil, and the presence of ticks, indicate areas way outside the city, upstate, and in Ulster County. They narrow the area down to the Hammond Island Wildlife Preserve, in the Catskills, which is owned by the city's own Hudson University. A phone call establishes that no one lives there except the gamekeeper, a late 30's man named Graham Winger, who lives there with his dog!!!! His dog!!!!
Bingo! They have him!!!! Now, things get really interesting.
The first interesting thing is when next Graham is seen, he is minus his glasses, and is not quite as nice looking as when wining and dining the girls in the city. But not unattractive; it was like at the end of "Theater Tricks," where they purposely uglied up roommate Holly Schneider for the final scene. Same here.
Graham and Orion are seen running about (now we know how Orion keeps his dashing doggie figure; he is forced to act as a hunting dog, and he does LOTS of chasing!!!! Poor Orion!!!!), Hayley is heard screaming in the distance, so she is still alive!!! As the Squad stormed onto the place, I prayed Orion would not be shot in the line of fire!!!! He was a cute dog; it is not his fault what his owner is. Like a battered wife, with an abusive spouse. Besides, I think Orion, who I am sure they took to a shelter, should join the 'SVU' team; he could work with Kelli Giddish as Amanda Rollins, and, honey, those two could butch it up!!!!!!
Olivia finds the residential shed, and there, tied to a bed, is Hayley!!! She begins to free her, and when Hayley frantically signals to her, Olivia turns, and guess who is in the doorway???? You got it; an armed Graham!!!! Olivia is caught between the proverbial rock and hard place. Unfortunately, what should have been the strongest scene, turns out to be the weakest!!!!!!
When you are dealing with serial killers, the one thing that has to be gleaned is their motive. Fred Arsenault, in the role of Graham, delivers a speech, giving such, but it is pretty tepid--it seems all Graham wanted was for women to pay attention to him, but they didn't. "I held doors, I treated to dinner..." citing he did all the right things, with no payback...until he started paying for these attentions. "Then I was good enough," he said, coming to the generalized conclusion, giving him his motive, that all women are nothing but whores!!!!! Graham, honey, why don't you go back and live in 1950s America???? I am sure there is a town like Stepford somewhere in this country, especially in Republican territory. Why not ask Harry Connick, Jr., a big old Republican, himself????? And another reason he is unsuitable for Olivia!!!!!!!
Hey, Graham, did you ever stop to think it wasn't the women had a price, but your lousy personality that got you nowhere???? But that's just it; these types typically do not see themselves as being at fault--it is EVERYONE ELSE!!!!!!
Olivia tries and talk him down, and the stage is set for a big heroic scene here. But then in comes cliche, when Nick Amaro (Danny Pino) bursts in at the right moment, and, protecting Olivia, shoots Graham dead!!!!! The viewers deserve better, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But this was a fascinating episode. For one thing the REAL killer is still out there. Airing this show did not help his capture any, for now it gives him further evasion ideas he may not have had before. For another, Fred Arsenault's preppy look in the beginning was just too pretty; you know the real perp is some sleazy looking, overweight Philip Seymour Hoffman type, with zero social life!!!! At least Graham had Orion!!!!
Does the name Joel Rifkin ring a bell????? At one point, cops were thinking some of the Gilgo bodies might have been his, but Rifkin, from prison, denies it. And he is enough of an egotist, that if they had been, he would have been damned proud of it!!!!!!
If only the climax of this episode lived up to everything having gone before!!!!! Instead of that cheap, cliched, fairy tale ending, with Amaro. But it offers a sign of hope--
That the writers will get smart, get rid of Harry Connick, Jr. and make Orion, the dog, a part of the show!!!! Orion is a better actor, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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