This is a set of reviews of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes. My general thoughts about that show are here. I’ll often do no more than make brief notes about an episode, although occasionally I’ll go deeper. Also, often there are dissenting main characters on almost any political issue, but you can usually tell what the general position of the show is. All the rest of the reviews are available by clicking on the l&osvu label at the bottom.
(Now that I’m getting into some of the episodes that involve the character John Munch, I’m going to ignore most of his political statements)
“Closure Part 1” Season 1. Wikipedia summary is: “Benson does her best to help a rape victim (Tracy Pollan), who is able to describe her attack, but not the attacker (Neil Maffin) in perfect detail. When the detectives revisit the case a few months later, they find the woman even less willing to talk about what happened, as she claims she has moved on. Things turn uncomfortable within the squad when Benson and Cassidy, who spent a night together, argue over whether the relationship should be continued. “
They somehow know that she smokes pot and decide to not bust her for it (this is 1999 or 2000)
“Bad Blood” Season 1. Wikipedia summary is: “The death of a young gay man initially leads Benson and Stabler to investigate his homophobic father, but once they start looking into the young man's living arrangements, they realize the person they're looking for may be closer than they think. Munch tries to help Benson find the man who raped her mother. “
There’s some stuff about homophobia in this episode. The detectives promise to respect the confidentiality of a gay NYPD witness, and in the show (maybe in real life?) there’s something called the “Gay Officers Action League.” There’s also a swipe taken at former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s ethics problems.
“Limitations” Season 1. Wikipedia summary is: “At the request of a victim, the police commissioner comes to Cragen with a special request: close the case of the man who raped three women (Jenny Bacon, Judith Hawkins and Seana Kofoed) nearly five years ago before the statute of limitations expires. The detectives finally get a lead when they realize one of the victims knows the rapist, but she is not willing to talk. Following Cassidy's departure, Munch is partnered with Jeffries.”
There are two political aspects to this. The survivor who gets the police’s attention is clearly a successful businesswoman and that might have something to do with her getting their attention. The second one is that the progressive Quaker religious community comes close to being endorsed by the show.
“Misleader” Season 1. Wikipedia summary is: “After the pregnant daughter-in-law of a prominent Christian right leader (Robert Foxworth) is found murdered in her hotel room, the detectives investigate a rash of hotel burglaries, only to discover that her adultery (and the probable father of her child) was what led to her death.”
A small aspect of this is the moral hypocrisy that exists in some members of the religious right.
“Remorse” Season 1. wikipedia summary is: “Television reporter Sarah Logan (Jennifer Esposito) refuses to let her recent rape get her down, and talks about her experiences on the air, leading to the arrest of a young man that the team feels is responsible. Over the course of the investigation, Munch and Jeffries become unusually affected by the case, albeit in different ways.”
There are two progressive elements to this. First, East Timor is referred to (East Timor was occupied by Indonesia between 1975 and 1999 or 2000 and it was a cause taken up by progressives in America). Second, one of the detectives is a fan of Noam Chomsky.
At one point one of the detectives says that Irishmen are raised to respect women. I’m not sure exactly where that line comes from, but there is some truth to it. Although I don’t know exactly what the current situation is, abortion has been in recent decades about 99% illegal in the Republic and before that it was completely illegal. But as far as I can tell, women there do okay in terms of equality. For 21 one years starting in 1990 three Presidential terms were filled by women. During the last 30 half the time the Deputy Prime Minister was a woman. I generally got the impression that Irish women do okay in terms of equality. Unfortunately, I think a majority of them are pro-life. I’m pro-choice but the point I’m trying to make is that there are pro-lifers who nonetheless are feminists or at least believe in equality for women, as flawed as such a combination of stances is. And I think it’s found in Ireland because a lot of Catholic pro-lifers don’t want women to “stay in their place” or something like that, they just believe that the fetus is alive, THAT’S why they’re pro-life, not sexism. (you see something similar with the membership of Sinn Fein, a party that is or was basically pro-life but which has also seen a lot of women involved as party activists or politicians and whose current leader is a woman) (You might see it a little bit with some other religious groups that are pro-life, but I think it’s mostly a Catholic thing)
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