#**svu

because not only is it super disgusting when they invent fake sexual assaults against super thinly veiled analogs for real women who aren’t publicly survivors of sexual assault (like last week’s disgusting “what if BEYONCE got raped?” episode, which, like, what the FUCK svu WHAT THE FUCK WHO GREENLIGHTS THIS SHIT ANYMORE WHAT HAPPENED, MARISKA???) but also

what the fuck in general

this show is not capable of handling islamophobia or antisemitism with nuance

what the actual fuck

everything about this premise is what the fuck

and i know, given that i’m only five minutes in and already angry because they’ve said the k-word twice and are Whataboutisraeling as the plotline, that it’ll turn out to be A TWIST: IT WAS [some other group here] but like

THAT DOESN’T MAKE IT BETTER, THAT MAKES BOTH JEWISH PEOPLE AND MUSLIM PEOPLE AND ALL RAPE SURVIVORS LOOK WORSE. agjadkgakdgandtnwntwgnandgmdgmadgm

i have hated every episode of SVU since season 12 when they entire writers’ room decided to flip hard-right and push the narrative that the rapists are the real victims in this country and that rape is titillating, or whatever, but like

what the fuck

I actually understood more of the investigative details this time. Still leaves a bad taste in my mouth that Olivia essentially having the barest sympathy for victims of rape and mutilation and torture during an attempted ethnic cleansing is framed as her not doing her job properly because she has to be “objective”. Interesting that emotion is seen as such a bad thing here. Like yes it did compromise her work and she tried to cover the victims but it’s fucked up that they’re mad about it. And like obvs this is L&O, they’re police, they’re not going to deeply interrogate how unfair a system that locks people up and ruins their lives for retaliating after rape or is so bad that a victim would rather KILL HERSELF than go to jail is. I know that. And I know that they did what they could within like this genre of show, (presumably—we don’t really see this, but it’s implied by Cragen chastising Olivia and Elliot (which by the way fuck him!!!!)) working things out to get the other victim lesser charges and a relatively short psychiatric stay instead of longer prison time and this kind of gives an understanding the existing system could be unfair but they’re working within it to do what’s best. But it’s really bleak that this was “progressive” and “controversial” for the time. And you can still see this huge lack of any human empathy for victims in the main characters’ actions. Like Munch for literally making fun of the rape victim and asking if her “psycho drama” was over???? And he’s supposed to be a likeable character!! And Cragen being so harsh on Olivia and Elliot for working within an unfair system to maybe get literally the TINIEST bit of a better situation for that woman. Like he was literally complaining that they didn’t give her more severe charges like oh! so you want her life ruined because she killed her rapist. And also fuck Elliot for deciding to arrest (and MAKING OLIVIA ARREST bc he KNOWS she’s uncomfortable with it) these women even though he literally admitted he didn’t have enough evidence and he wanted to lie to the victims to see if he could get them to confess. They could’ve just dropped it. So they’re also literally going OUT OF THEIR WAY to try and put rape victims behind bars.

Olivia (and Jeffries but she was barely in this episode) is basically the only moderately sympathetic character in this entire show and i think about her a lot. The conversation she has with Serena made me tear up. god…. i will say i think it’s an incredibly powerful and interesting writing choice to give her that backstory and the only silver lining in this episode is the emotional vulnerability and empathy and care (again, bare minimum but huge for a 1990s police show) she treats the victims with and that she’s clearly the main MAIN character and we’re meant to sympathize most with her. So that’s something.