‘Law & Order: SVU’ season 15, episode 7 review: Carly Rose Sonenclar and a reality TV story
While there was an episode of “The X Factor” airing tonight on Fox, there was also one of “Law & Order: SVU” over on NBC that featured a former “X Factor” alum in Carly Rose Sonenclar guest-starring as a singer on a reality TV show “American Diva.” This was the setting for a case in “Dissonant Voices” that was disturbing, but not for the reasons that we initially thought.
Prior to this episode, we felt that this would be very uncomfortable to watch from the standpoint of having to see a man admit to something has disgusting as being a child predator. This man would be Jackie Walker (Billy Porter, who like Carly has a history in stage performance), a vocal coach for the show who helped to make and cultivate stars. He also worked with young children to help cultivate their voices at an early age.
What made this story so disturbing instead is that the real shocker was what some young people were willing to do in order to enact revenge on a man who was just telling them the truth. Walker was not a molester at all; he was just a guy trying to tell young people not to waste their time at something that they did not have a natural talent at. He was trying to do the right thing, and was being punished vigorously for it by teenagers coaching their little brothers who knew no better to say terrible things.
The good news here is that in the end, Walker was released; but the American tragedy is that he is released to little fanfare, and no one celebrating that he was not a monster. Instead, he is a man who did nothing wrong, but has his life in shambles. This is not your happy-go-lucky story, but how often is “Law & Order: SVU”? This is the sort of thing that you have to expect when you watch the show in the first place: There are very few happy endings. Carly and the rest of the cast gave great performances, and we can tell that thanks to the sole fact that we will be feeling this one for some time. The saddest part of all is that this was all so believable, based on what we have seen many people just say on Twitter because they have the power to do so. Grade: B+.
Photo: NBC
Bretty Brett
November 7, 2013 @ 8:20 am
What a frustrating episode! Those stupid girls. It was a blast to see Billy Porter though!
As for “Pissed Off”…if you hadn’t seen the episode yet, why even read this article to begin with? Why didn’t you stop after reading the first paragraph? It was fairly obvious after the first paragraph that the review was going to contain spoilers. Don’t blame the writer!
piss off
November 8, 2013 @ 2:22 am
Betty Butt, I am sure the producers of the show would rather have the nation watch the show than get a two paragraph synopsis by this lame site. Good rationale. Maybe once you have looked forward to watching something in your sad life but with your philosophy the ending of every show should be in the opening credits.
tony tan
November 7, 2013 @ 7:42 am
Unfortunate that N.B.C. managed by a liberal woman, can’t have at least one of the 9 families that coached their kids to make up the story be Afro American. There are Afro American families who are rich. No, but each one had to be these white rich families attacking this unfortunate gay black man. If this was a reversal the network would be shut down by protesters.
notahuxtable
November 7, 2013 @ 5:01 pm
I thought the casting was great. I think it’s a credit the show didn’t give over a token black family. This was a story of a peculiarly white girl variety of entitlement, and I’m glad it was played out that way. It’s also a story about how peculiarly white girl varieties of naive feminism disproportionately endanger black men, and to a less extent, gay men. I’m glad that they didn’t have a black family either in cahoots with or willing to quickly criminalize the teacher, and the eagerness and casualness with with the white families were willing to do it is also appropriate. If you want to get at the culture of white supremacy in America, you portray dangerously irresponsible white people being dangerously irresponsible, and getting, if not rewarded for it, at least 8 and 9 chances to be so. Good shows aren’t going to show the Huxtables, they are going to show how James Evans gets shafted by the man, even when the man comes in the form of a 15 year old girl.
tony tan
November 7, 2013 @ 5:42 pm
Sure you love the casting. Obviously you yourself are a black man who would of been one of those protesters if the coach was a white man and the families black.
pissed off
November 7, 2013 @ 3:49 am
Thanks Dude. This episode did not play in California yet. No spoiler warning