Law and Order: SVU Reviews Q

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 watching the episodes that involve the character John Munch, I’m going to ignore most of his political statements)

“Sacrifice” Season 3. Wikipedia summary is: “An unidentified man (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) is found shot and sexually assaulted in an alley outside of a gay bar. Detectives Benson and Stabler learn that the victim and his wife (Elizabeth Banks) have a young daughter (Audrey Twitchell) with cystic fibrosis and that they worked in the porn industry to pay for her medical bills. The lead witness (Kevin Geer), who is a recovering drug addict, angers Fin, causing him to re-think his police role.”

A witness at the beginning is an off-duty detective exiting a gay bar. The SVU detectives offer to keep his name out of their report if he’s worried about people learning that he’s gay. And he’s Black (I mention that because of the significance of intersectionality- he's both Black and gay).

Another witness is a homeless man who sleeps near the gay bar and who says that the patrons of the establishment treat him well. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s true. I imagine that even today a lot of gay teenagers either run away or are expelled by their parents and they spend a lot of time homeless.

“Inheritance” Season 3. Wikipedia summary is: “A young Asian woman (Lynn Chen) is severely beaten and raped at a burglary site. Benson and Stabler initially suspect rival Asian gang members, who are in dispute over the victim's loyalty. This theory is disproven when they find another Asian victim and track down serial rapist Darrell Guan (Marcus Chong). Guan was ostracized throughout his childhood and feels that even his own mother (Wai Ching Ho) did not love him. The case hits close to home for Benson because Guan is also the product of a rape. The trial focuses on the impact of genetic predisposition versus environmental upbringing on the nature of violence.”

There are four things worth a note each.
1. An Asian-American detective says “Chinatown’s got no love for cops.” If that’s true, it’s very interesting to me. I have heard very little about conflict between (East) Asian-Americans and the police, and about 1/3 of my Bachelor’s degree is Asian-American Studies.  Asian-Americans DO overwhelmingly vote Democrat, but I had no idea there was widespread hostility towards the police among Chinese immigrants. If this is true it just means that the internal problem police have to overcome (racism) is even bigger than I thought.
2. At one point the detectives assure an Asian-American man they need help from that they’re not Immigration. I haven’t spelled this out when doing a comment like this before, but the point I’m trying to make is that they’re acting like the cops of a sanctuary city, which is what NYC is.
3. There is a fair amount of material about racial conflicts between Blacks and Chinese in America. I think there is some evidence of that in reality and I think it’s partly because the right-wing part of the establishment want to create a schism between Asian-Americans and other people of color, by, for example, pushing the model minority theory and pushing the idea that the former don’t need or support Affirmative Action (in the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs of a post here there’s some info about Asian-Americans and Affirmative Action). There’s also the fact that a significant minority of Blacks are anti-immigrant.
4. This episode also brings up the issue of abortion and rape. I am 100% pro-choice but if I were pro-life I would make an exception for rape- if a woman chooses to avoid being frequently reminded of such a nightmare by having an abortion, she should have that right.

“Monogamy” Season 3. Wikipedia summary is: “A pregnant woman (Tricia Paoluccio) is attacked and has her baby ripped from her womb. Detectives Benson and Stabler quickly look for the baby hoping he's still alive. The woman's husband (John Ritter) seems shocked, but it is soon discovered she may have had an affair with a construction worker (Bobby Cannavale). In the resulting trial, ADA Alex Cabot tries to find a way to charge the husband while avoiding the controversial territory of reproductive rights.”

You get the impression that all the main characters (the detectives and the ADA) are pro-choice.

“Prodigy” Season 3. Wikipedia summary is: “A man and a woman are stabbed during a supposedly romantic park encounter. The woman's head as well as her hands are missing, which makes it difficult for detectives Benson and Stabler to identify the victims. They soon learn that the crime scene was staged and that the woman was an officer of the Manhattan Federation for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. This leads them to various people from her organization, as well as its opposers, and a young sociopath (Michael Pitt) who had a troubled relationship with the woman. However they soon uncover a more violent suspect (Brian Sullivan) much more close.”

This is almost entirely about cruelty to animals.

“Popular” Season 3. Wikipedia summary is: “Detective Stabler's wife (Isabel Gillies) tells him that her nurse friend (Laura Duncan) at a local hospital treated a fourteen-year-old rape victim (Brittany Slattery), who refused to report the crime to the police or her family. Stabler decides to investigate her unofficially with the help of Detective Benson. They find out she and her classmates were involved with drugs and alcohol, a fact which troubles her family.”

In a Teacher’s Lounge at a Jr. High there’s a bulletin board below the words “Union News.”