#man they set this up so good. Amanda was so so sooo careful to neither endorse nor condemn patton when they asked her opinion

[dahllaz]

I've been thinking about the three bosses Liv has had since being in command and how...I really miss Dodds. I think he was the best, storyline/plot driving wise. Garland would maybe be the easiest to work for, but Dodds was more balanced I think, between being an antagonist to Liv and backing her play.

Kind of like Goldilocks story. Garland was too agreeable, McGrath is only antagonistic, but Dodds was just right.

But it also makes me think of one of my favorite scenes from SVU, which is the interrogation of Patton in Forgiving Rollins. I like it so much because it cemented who Dodds is for me (and Peter Gallagher and Kelli Giddish were just fucking amazing too) and even when I disagree with his stance and/or actions I never forgot what this scene showed me.

So we've mostly just seen the political aspect and the antagonistic to Liv side of Dodds up to this point. Even in the scene preceding, he's defending Patton and pointing out he's a cop and should get the benefit of the doubt. With Liv, of course, pointing out so is the victim.

But they are completely setting up that's he's just going to be all in on siding with Patton. The Good Ol' Boys club is strong and thriving etc etc. But they also give us a little hint. Because again, we've seen him being the political Chief before this, but here he also mentions that he was a Homicide detective. Quick little line about live victims being hard to deal with but it's setting up his bona fides as a cop.

And then we have the interrogation. And it's subtle, but Dodds goes from Politician to Cop. He may have walked into that room thinking he was with an equal but it's not long before he knows he's just looking at another perp. Patton knows it too, it's why he gets pissy and then shows his hand by verbally attacking Rollins. But I am convinced that Dodds knew he'd raped Taymor before Patton tried to shift blame.

And Peter Gallagher is fucking amazing because it's all so subtly acted. It's just. The Chief fell away to reveal the (good) cop underneath and I love it. And never forgot it.