Season 24’s second episode was a comparatively weak providing. That is stunning because it was a restricted crossover episode with SVU, that includes solely Olivia Benson. You’ll suppose this method would achieve success, however no. Let’s discover why.
The episode’s title, “The Perfect Man,” alludes to an app that provides an AI-generated associate for $79 per 30 days, with the potential to make its customers really feel cherished. First, gross! Second, this storyline was a large misdirection and had nothing to do with Tyler, the creator of the app, being murdered. As standard, the writers deliberately mislead you into believing in any other case, as the primary suspect, the precise creator of the app, accused Tyler of stealing the code. The second suspect, the fiancé of a girl who deserted him for her AI boyfriend, had a strong alibi. Detectives Shaw and Riley join the dots following the sufferer’s cellphone, a drug addict, and I am unsure what else. Finally, they observe down Laura, a girl who dated Tyler in actual life. I used to be a little bit let down by how the AI app wasn’t the primary story, which turned out to be a run-of-the-mill stalking case.
“The Perfect Man” – LAW & ORDER, Pictured: (l-r) Reid Scott as Det. Vincent Riley, Mehcad Brooks as Det. Jalen Shaw. Photograph by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC @2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Regulation & Order continually grapples with three ideas: empathy, ethics, and proof. The police and the district legal professional maintain unbelievable sway over these rules as they information authorized decision-making. On this episode, these ideas battle when Lt. Brady, to the shock of her detectives, orders them to make use of a neighborhood DNA database. Baxter is correct when she says that the police ought to use all of the instruments they’ve. The suspect’s DNA, already current within the native database attributable to her submission of a rape package, definitively hyperlinks Laura to the crime. She did it! Case closed!
“The Perfect Man” LAW & ORDER, Pictured: Maura Tierney as Lt. Jessica Brady. Photograph by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC @2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
However wait, our beloved Captain Olivia Benson is testifying in Laura’s case as an knowledgeable witness. Olivia exhibits up with empathy to name into query the NYPD’s ethics for utilizing the native DNA database. At one level, Laura’s lawyer makes this case to the choose who allowed the DNA proof for use. Benson and Government DA Worth conflict over who the sufferer really was on this case. Captain Bensons says in courtroom that Laura has been raped, stalked, and that the legal justice system has failed her up to now. Her level was that the Court docket ought to think about Laura’s earlier trauma by way of her present declare of self-defense.
When Worth referred to as Laura to the witness stand, he uncovered the absurdity of the defendant’s (Laura’s) unreasonable allegation that Tyler would both make her love him or kill her to keep away from being a failure. Wait, what? As a viewer, the plot left me with a number of unanswered questions, together with: Was Tyler pursuing Laura as analysis to find what “perfect” means? Was Tyler that massive of a narcissist that he resorted to stalking to show he was a winner? Was Tyler conscious of Laura’s earlier rape trauma? Was Tyler concerned with Laura lengthy sufficient to set off the deadly menace response she enacted? In the end, these questions didn’t matter since, in keeping with the regulation, Laura was not below any fast menace when she shot the sufferer. Worth additionally emphasised that she had the foresight to cover the homicide weapon, and he or she voluntarily surrendered herself to the authorities. In a nutshell, the proof confirmed Laura was responsible, and Olivia Benson knew it.
“The Perfect Man” – LAW & ORDER, Pictured: Emily Meade as Laura Kingsbury. Photograph by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC @2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Olivia, nevertheless, determined to intervene within the sentencing on the defendant’s behalf. We’re led to imagine that she leaked to the press that the NYPD makes use of the DNA of victims to make their circumstances. Within the face of a information article saying as a lot, DA Baxter folds and instructs Worth to supply Laura a plea deal. Undoubtedly, Worth was contemplating both a first- or second-degree homicide cost, so he acted considerably below duress when he supplied Laura manslaughter 1 with a 10-year sentence.
My downside with Olivia arose from her advocacy and help, which led to Laura’s preliminary rejection of this deal. The girl believed that she’d executed nothing improper. Performing on Laura’s behalf, Olivia made a counteroffer (manslaughter 2 with a five-year sentence) to the DA. Worth scoffed, underscoring that Tyler was the precise sufferer, and, as a consultant of the individuals, the prosecutor speaks for the sufferer and the sufferer’s household. In the end, Benson and the defendant’s counsel persuade Laura to simply accept the manslaughter 1 sentence.
“The Perfect Man” – LAW & ORDER, Pictured: (l-r) Mariska Hargitay as Capt. Olivia Benson, Hugh Dancy as Assistant District Legal professional Nolan Worth. Photograph by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC @2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
The Good Man clumsily weaves an online of misdirection, holding viewers guessing why the defendant did what she did. I discovered it significantly distressing how the writers exploited Olivia Benson’s innate empathy to excessively complicate the story. I feel the writers referred to as her legendary dignity and morals into query in furtherance of a half-baked story. Throughout the Regulation & Order household of exhibits, this episode struggled to convincingly pit empathy (Olivia) towards ethics (the police utilizing the sufferer’s DNA), and proof (Worth as a consultant of the regulation). Regardless of the leaps in logic and lacking exposition, The Good Man succeeds at highlighting the grey areas concerned within the administration of regulation and justice. I simply want Olivia Benson had not been sacrificed within the course of.
Am I improper? Did you suppose that the plot had too many holes in it? How would you charge this episode? Ryan Eggold visitor stars subsequent week as Detective Riley’s brother. For me, the scores have already improved, as a result of I miss this gentleman on NBC/Peacock!
Total Ranking:
6/10.
Lynette Jones
