Numerous reveals have addressed COVID-19, however few have targeted on the way in which the pandemic has affected folks’s psychological well being.
Law & Order: SVU Season 22 Episode 3 got here near doing that with it is quarantine-inspired story.
With a number of exceptions, this did not actually really feel like an SVU case, but it surely received the purpose throughout successfully.
Maria’s demise was a tragedy introduced on by a ton of impulsive college-kid conduct that was made worse by the quarantine.
Bedhopping and relationship drama are half and parcel of the faculty expertise for some college students, however as a result of these children have been all caught collectively and had passionate views about correct pandemic conduct, their issues have been extra more likely to finish in violence.
And that is precisely what occurred: Perry was not solely jealous that Maria received excessive and slept with another person, however felt betrayed by the one different individual within the house to take the pandemic significantly.
Rollins: I do not know what is going on on, Perry. Possibly you are making an attempt to cowl for Lexi. However I do know you cared for Maria.
Perry: I did.
Fin: Ought to we inform him? Maria was alive once they put her in that freezer.
By the point Maria misplaced consciousness, no one was pondering clearly and a weird try and cowl up the entire thing led to her demise. Speak about a tearjerker!
At instances, although, this case did not look like it had something to do with SVU’s mission of getting justice for victims of sexual violence.
Certain, Benson stated murder was so backed up that they would not thoughts the assistance, and there was no strategy to inform whether or not Maria’s sexual encounters previous to her demise have been consensual.
However for essentially the most half, this was an investigation right into a younger girl’s homicide, not right into a rape. That did not make it any much less compelling. It was simply unusual, and the un-SVUness of this thriller gnawed behind my thoughts.
Rollins: Okay, leaks to the press, Brad turning on her after she slept with him. That is formally a witch hunt.
Kat: I simply hate the double customary. All of them slept collectively and she or he’s the one one getting slut shamed.
Carisi: Kat, not now.
Alternatively, SVU did deal with a few issues that contribute to sexual violence, chief amongst them the slut shaming and sufferer blaming that dominate the information cycle.
Information anchors have been fast to label Lexi “Lockdown Lexi” or, worse, “Horny Lexi” and suggest that the actual crime right here was that she slept with random males.
Each Kat and Rollins’ irritation about this appeared to be interpreted as feeling sorry for a lady who had executed dangerous issues, too. Not cool.
I particularly disliked the way in which Carisi dismissed Kat’s considerations as an annoyance once they had extra essential issues to deal with. Carisi was below strain to shut the case, however that did not imply it was okay for him to be so insensitive.
When he advised Kat not now, I half anticipated her to fireside again, “Then when?” There’s by no means a handy time to debate double requirements or different sexist tropes, and the one man concerned within the dialogue was shutting it down. Ugh.
The reality was that Lexi’s conduct was fueled by her incapability to take care of the COVID-19 lockdown. It might be straightforward to dismiss her conduct as “typical youthful emotions of invincibility,” however that is not what occurred right here.
Lexi felt depressed and helpless as a result of she was surrounded by demise and was making an attempt to make herself really feel alive.
She went to bars and used intercourse to numb herself. And she or he not solely put herself and everybody round her prone to contracting COVID, however did copious quantities of medicine to neglect the world.
Rollins: How do you suppose Maria received into that freezer?
Shawn: This metropolis and this 12 months, folks have misplaced their minds.
Individuals typically condemn those that do not observe COVID-19 protocols, however they don’t seem to be all egocentric individuals who do not care who dies.
It is pure that some would battle with their psychological well being when surrounded by a seemingly neverending cycle of demise and destruction and being requested to isolate themselves for everybody’s security. This must be addressed higher, and it is not often even talked about.
Sadly, ignoring COVID protocols would not simply put the maskless or non-social distancing individual in danger. It is a miracle that no one in Lexi’s circle received the illness, given all of the shut contact and flouting of the foundations!
Talking of which, was anybody else involved that Benson and Rollins received in Lexi’s face to attempt to intimidate her into telling them the reality?
They weren’t sporting masks themselves and knew their suspect had not been taking many, if any, precautions towards the virus.
So it did not look like an amazing concept to show themselves by getting so shut.
I used to be nervous about Rollins not sporting a masks when she was questioning Lexi the primary time, on condition that the lady had so typically violated the protection protocols, however this was even worse.
As for the case itself, I figured early on that the entire roommates have been most likely concerned one way or the other.
That is how this stuff normally go, although I did not anticipate Perry to have been the one who truly bashed Maria’s head in.
It sounded just like the accident occurred on account of a too-high Maria making an attempt to defend herself towards getting raped.
Perry solely differed from the standard incel in that his anger was based mostly on Maria “betraying” him by not respecting social distancing tips moderately than believing he was owed intercourse simply because.
I ought to have identified it was him, although. Everybody stored making an enormous deal out of how he was this good child who did a whole lot of group service, and the good man turning out to be the assassin is a reasonably widespread trope.
As with many reveals, Regulation & Order: SVU is taking a protracted hiatus now, and this episode did not give us so much to speak about whereas ready for it to return.
Essentially the most thrilling information got here from the trailer, which reveals that former ADA Barba goes to return!
However there have been no cliffhangers or unanswered questions on the finish of this one, until you rely Benson showing to have some kind of prior relationship with the Italian police officer she was speaking with.
That is disappointing. Diehard SVU followers like me will all the time watch regardless, however extra informal followers might lose curiosity between the shortened season and the shortage of cliffhangers to speak about between now and January.
Your flip, SVU fanatics!
Hit the large, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and tell us what you considered this case, the emphasis on COVID fatigue, or the shortage of cliffhangers to tide us over.
Do not wish to wait to see extra SVU? Simply watch Law & Order: SVU online proper right here on TV Fanatic.
Regulation & Order: SVU continues to air on NBC on Thursdays at 9 PM EST/PST. It returns on January 7, 2021.
Jack Ori is a senior employees author for TV Fanatic. His debut younger grownup novel, Reinventing Hannah, is obtainable on Amazon. Comply with him on Twitter.