Two Ladies & Their TVs

We love our shows so much we created a blog for it.

L&O: SVU - "RAW"

I have a confession to make:  I didn't bother watching last week's SVU because there were rerun episodes of "Sex and the City" that were more interesting to me.  However, this week I was back at my SVU, and it was a good enough to make me want to review it individually.  (Bit o' cynicism here...)

I was partly intrigued by the fact this particular episode had a parental advisory for its content.  Teasers have been showing Marcia Gay Harden as a southerner who is extremely racist and shouting "white power!" while giving the 'Heil Hitler" sign.  Even if SVU has used much of racism as the themes of its episodes, I don't get tired of them.

A shooting on a public school playground.  3 kids shot - 1 African-American, 1 Jewish, and 1 who was an accidental collateral damage.  Turned out a white racist was responsible for the shooting.  He was linked to a gun shop owner who apparently had a white supremacy website and led a racial holy war to cleanse NY of its racial minorities.  Marcia Gay Harden was the "family friend" who spewed tons of racial slurs and prone to outbursts in the courtroom. 

As for the twists in the end - and there were several, some larger than others - Marcia Gay Harden was quite convincing as the undercover FBI agent.  I don't know for a fact if all undercover agents "act" so well but she could've fooled me into thinking that she was one of the racists.  Cody Kasch, who plays Kyle, the son of the white supremacist gun shop owner, almost seems to reprise his role on "Desperate Housewives" as an unbalanced teenager with major issues but without the racial element.  Kasch wasn't too bad, but the role didn't demand anything from him that he hadn't already worked on.  Still, I have to give him kudos for taking on a difficult role. 

Things of particular interest -

Munch got slapped!  We were wondering what the heck was up with Richard Belzer's inactivity in the series, but Munch got a lot more time here.  That came with the price of being slapped by Marcia Gay Harden.  Ouch.

Kids getting shot.  That was tough to watch.

Twists at the end (stop reading if you don't want to know!) - Casey getting semi-held hostage.  Kyle going on a rampage and shot just about everyone in the court room.  The defendant getting shot.  The judge taking bullets and apparently didn't make it.  Stabler getting shot in the elbow (!) (that must've HURT).  Maybe it was just me but Stabler's revelation at the hospital that Cathy had filed divorce papers a couple of weeks ago seemed a little much, at that moment.  The whole episode was so not about the cops personally, and they just had to stick that deStablerization tidbit in, didn't they?

This all leads to a FBI raid that turns up evidence against the couple who adopted the African-American kid who was shot at the beginning of the episode:  That they were actually racists who adopted the kid, but then passed on his photo and info to the defedant so he could be shot, then collecting the life insurance policy money.  For a minute there, I couldn't tell if the mother was crying because she felt guilty at getting caught, or if she had actually developed some affection towards her son, but then went along her husband's plan anyway.  For people who were "racists," I'm surprised they even put up with raising a black kid for 6 years.  They seem to me the ambivalent grey characters.

As for the people who were clearly white supremacists - even though this is TV drama, I still couldn't help but cringe every time a racial slur was uttered so easily.  I hope other people had the same reaction.  As "civilized society," and First Amendment aside, no one should be "conditioned" enough to tolerate such things.

Which brings me to the lawyer who represented the defendant - wasn't he Casey's law professor or something or other?  They really didn't portray him as a good guy, did they?  My gut instinct was to feel somewhat disgusted that he took the case perhaps to prove his legal prowess as a defender of the Constitution, but in all reality the society does need to have people who are willing to defend the exercise of free speech.  I guess I just wish the writers didn't make it so easy to dislike him.  They could've developed a character who had more depth, and thus invited you to think about the issue.  But I guess that's a little much for an hour show. 

All in all, I liked it.

Posted by: merserene at 09:46 | link | comments (4)
it s all drama

Comments:

#1  03 November 2005 - 15:47

 

However, this week I was back at my SVU, and it was a good enough to make me want to review it individually. (Bit o' cynicism here...)

What's that mean? :?

athenawj

#2  04 November 2005 - 09:22

 

Well, sometimes an episode feels so "eh" that I didn't feel like bothering to review it. Though that's largely tied to the fact that my internet is spotty and I have such early classes now.

merserene

#3  04 November 2005 - 18:41

 

I thought it was a sarcastic remark at me for doing my t.v. roundup before I saw your blog post about no internet. I should know better by now, huh?

I'll be back later to give my thoughts on the ep, which I actually sat down for!

athenawj

#4  05 November 2005 - 09:59

 

Sorry if it came across that way! These days so many things feel so "eh" that I am quickly losing my EQ and PC and am prone to blabber. Do post what you thought of the episode!

merserene

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