I have done reviews of many episodes of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and published some more general thoughts about it here. In that post I offer a smaller number of general thoughts about the original Law and Order show (the one that went from 1990-2010). Although I do not like L&O as much as I like the SVU version, I do like it. There’s some liberal or even progressive stuff here and there and they’re good detective stories, and they’re homicide detectives- if they were narcotics, I’d probably be a lot less fond of the show.
Although I’m not sure I have done and will do this consistently, with the original Law and Order show I will make a note and maybe offer some comments when the issues that are at the core of Law and Order: SVU appear on this show.
“Heaven” Season 2. See this for a plot summary.
There are two things worth mentioning. First, the senior police officer says that in the absence of a tragedy like the lethal fire they’re investigating, most New Yorkers don’t care about brown-skinned immigrants.
Also, the junior ADA says (approvingly) that constitutional protections like the 4th and 5th Amendments are for everyone including undocumented immigrants.
“Severance” Season 2. See this for a plot summary.
The killer was hired for the job by a crooked defense contractor.
“Blood is Thicker” Season 2. See this for a plot summary.
There’s one brief mention of how GOP politician Dan Quayle (VP of the US 1989-1993) avoided Vietnam by joining the National Guard, at a time when getting in the Guard meant you wouldn’t be sent to Vietnam. Although the Washington Post article I just read wasn’t explicit about Quayle’s position on the war at the time he avoided it, in general he was a hawk during his political career. There were millions of people who supported the war and tried to avoid fighting in it because they didn’t want to be killed.
“Vengeance” Season 2. See this for a plot summary.
There’s a tiny bit of dialogue between minor characters that might be considered pro-union.
“Sisters of Mercy” Season 2. See this for a plot summary.
To one degree or another this is about a man, probably around 30 years old, coercing girls in their mid-teens into having sex with him.
Thursday, April 13, 2023
Law and Order Reviews D
Thursday, April 6, 2023
Roseanne Reviews T
This is a set of reviews of Roseanne episodes. My general thoughts about that show are here. I will focus only on the political aspects and will mention what percent of lines spoken by non-family members are spoken by people of color.
“Promises, Promises” Episode 22, Season 5. Wikipedia summary is here.
First, I occasionally have to criticize this show and this is one such episode. Although the show really is, overall, very anti-homophobic, in an earlier episode there was a counter-example to that and it shows up in this episode, too. In this episode, some of the adults try hiding from David (a teenage boy) the fact that a friend of the family is a lesbian. It’s simply because he’s a minor (well, I’m pretty sure they have no reason to think he’s homophobic, so I think it’s because of his age).
There are 35-40 lines in this episode spoken by non-family members, and about 20% are by people of color.
“Glengary, Glen Rosey” Episode 23, Season 5. For a plot summary see this.
Out of about 50 lines by non-family members, about 1/4 were by people of color.
“Tooth or Consequences” Episode 24, Season 5. See this for a plot summary.
Out of about 15 lines spoken by non-family members, all were spoken by white people (but almost all were spoken by two gay or bi-sexual characters).
“The Mommy’s Curse” Episode 2, season 6. For a plot summary see this.
Out of 20-25 lines by non-family members, none are by people of color.
“Party Politics” Episode 3, Season 6. See this for a plot summary.
Out of about 10-15 lines spoken by non-family members, none are spoken by people of color.