Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Why was this SVU episode called "Alien" anyway?

I almost had a panic attack when I thought, around 10:30pm, that SVU was going link lesbianism and pedophila. I was all ready to post an angry LJ entry, and April was gearing up for a furious email to NBC. But I should have know better. It's SVU. No plot device is ever final at 10:30pm; in fact, you can't usually be sure that a plot is certain until Dick Wolf's name appears and obscures any hope of episodic closure.

That said, I actually liked tonight's episode. Olivia was a goddess, defending lesbianism left and right, and despite a plot that rather resembled a tangled ball of yarn it was so twisty, I found myself very engaged and invested in the show. I cheered when Casey said, triumphantly, "And that's a hate crime." I swore at the television in righteous anger because I knew much earlier than the detectives that the grandmother was trouble ("It's that bitch telling the girl lies. Lies, I tell you."). Although I didn't know it was going to be all the lawyer's idea--a nice touch to avoid turning the grandparents into completely scary monsters. I loved that the moms' lesbianism was defended at every turn (mostly by Olivia), although I had to agree with that judge that it totally wasn't cool for, the second mom, Zoe, to claim that she had no legal standing one moment and then try to claim legal guardianship the next. But I suppose it's a lesson: don't try to use things you don't like about the system to your advantage. It'll bite you in the ass every time.

All things comsidered, this was an episode in which all the characters were complicated (and sometimes uncomfortable) shades of grey (except the sleazy lawyer...no mercy there). I like that. Complexity is good.

And on a completely unrelated note: Jon Stewart is love. :)

No comments: