Reviewed by Melissa Garza
I have to admit that I am shocked at the response to Wednesday night’s episode of Law and Order SVU. Critics are slamming it, claiming the show has gone too far. As a warning, for those who have not seen the episode yet and are planning to watch it on a streaming site, I am going to spoil this – so read it after you’ve watched it.
Without question, this particular episode is about the tumultuous relationship between Rhianna and Chris Brown. For legal reasons, the show states that it is fictional but like many Law & Order episodes, it’s ripped from the headlines.
I remember when Chevy Chase starred in the original L&O series, and nearly word for word imitated Mel Gibson’s first major meltdown. It was a great show and one of my faves. Though by many accounts, Chase is a jerk in real life, he does have talent. Sadly, his ego is bigger than his talent. Oddly, I don’t recall too many articles rushing to the defense of Gibson, and with good reason. Gibson went on an anti-Semitic, sexist rant and deserved to be depicted in such a manner. So why, are critics so upset with this episode? They say that the show went too far! Let’s evaluate.
Chris Brown is a woman-beating douchebag. He like Chase has more ego than talent. Regardless of Rhianna’s forgiveness, his actions against her should have ruined his career. I would have loved to see him go on Steve Wilkos and attempt to defend beating the hell out of her. Wilkos would certainly tell him off.
Thankfully, the powers-that-be at L&O SVU seem to understand that a man who beats a woman up is a scumbag. The show begins with R&B singer Micha (Tiffany Robinson) singing a duet with her boyfriend Caleb Bryant (Roca). All is well, until Micha sees Caleb all over another girl. She doesn’t confront him as much as she simply makes a joke about not being able to leave him alone. He then jumps on her, pulls her hair, kicks her and leaves her bruised and beaten. She goes to the hospital where Olivia (Mariska Hargitay) and Nick (Danny Pino) encourage her to press charges. She hesitates because she loves him.
Bryant begs Micha to get back with him. He sends her flowers, sweet texts, and even goes on talk shows professing his love and offering her a friendship ring. His true side is shown as he like Brown (I don’t believe the tattoo is anything but Rhianna beaten), gets a tattoo of Micha bruised.
In the end, Micha lies for him on the stand after he kills her agent. They go to Bermuda together where she asks him who sent him a text. He tells her she should have learned her lesson to mind her own business and subsequently kills her.
This is what the critics seem to have an issue with. They think it’s too overboard. The critics are insane! This is exactly what we need to see. So many idiots defend Brown’s actions. They defend Rhianna for going back to this scumbag! We need the media to stand up and say, Brown is a complete piece of shit and Rhianna is an idiot for going back to him.
Instead, we get people saying, “Everyone makes mistakes!” Yes, everyone does make mistakes. Sometimes when my husband asks me to take my clothes he’s folded from the living room and put them in the drawers, I forget. That’s my mistake. Never has he beaten the living hell out of me….he’s never even raised his hand to me. Nor have I to him. Why you, ask; because we’re civilized people. Despite our eccentricities, we have class and respect for one another. We love each other so we don’t hurt each other. We don’t hurt each other with words or with fists. We talk things out.
Hitting someone isn’t a mistake. It’s an insight into one’s personality. Domestic violence isn’t something to brush off. We need to look at it realistically. It’s not unreasonable to say if a woman stays with a man who beats her, she’d end up in a casket. That’s logical. She’ll either live a life of pain and suffering or she’ll end up dead. There isn’t a happy ending with a woman beater.
Is there anyone out there who thinks that Tina Turner would have been better off had she stayed with Ike? How about Phil Spector? If L&O did an episode depicting the death of Lana Clarkson would the media say that the show went too far?
Rhianna is sadly someone that young girls look up to. It’s important that girls do not think it’s normal or acceptable to be in an abusive relationship. They need strong female role models like the legendary Tina Turner who refused to be a punching bag and left Ike.
This was one of the best episodes since Stabler (Chris Meloni) left. I highly recommend watching it. In one way, the press discussing the episode is a good thing because it’ll encourage people to seek it out. Hopefully people will ignore what the critics are saying and think for themselves. They’ll see that the show isn’t making light of the situation between Rhianna and Chris Brown but instead showing the dangers of domestic violence.
Scared Stiff Rating: 9/10
