A gay man who had a brief stint in a Fundamentalist Christian-sponsored sexual re-education course is found murdered, and suspects range from the conversion program itself, a bigoted church ... Read allA gay man who had a brief stint in a Fundamentalist Christian-sponsored sexual re-education course is found murdered, and suspects range from the conversion program itself, a bigoted church group who kept sending him threatening letters, a group of psychologists studying the natu... Read allA gay man who had a brief stint in a Fundamentalist Christian-sponsored sexual re-education course is found murdered, and suspects range from the conversion program itself, a bigoted church group who kept sending him threatening letters, a group of psychologists studying the nature of homosexuality, and two of his ex-lovers, one of whom is the son of one of the profes... Read all
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- Special Agent Dr. George Huang, M.D.
- (as B.D. Wong)
- DA Arthur Branch
- (as Fred Dalton Thompson)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe case Casey refers to is a federal murder trial that dealt with the murder of Matthew Sheppard, a gay man from Wyoming who on October 6, 1998 was robbed, beaten and tortured by two men who allegedly targeted him because he was gay. The men lured Sheppard to their pickup by pretending to be gay, they then drove him out to a remote area where they proceeded to brutally beat and pistol whip Sheppard. They then tied Sheppard to a fence post and left him for dead, he was found almost a day later by a bicyclist and was still barely alive, Sheppard was taken to a local hospital and placed on life support. Police identified the suspects who attacked Sheppard, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson after they were arrested for starting a bar fight. Police searched McKinney's pickup and found the gun he had used to pistol whip Sheppard, the gun was covered in Sheppard's blood. McKinney and Henderson were arrested and initially charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, and aggravated robbery but six days later Sheppard died from the serious cranial injuries sustained in the beating, the fatal damage being to his brainstem. After Shepard's death, the charges were upgraded from attempted murder to first-degree murder. Henderson avoided going to trial when he pled guilty to second degree murder and first degree kidnapping charges. In order to avoid the death penalty, he agreed to testify against McKinney and was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. McKinney claimed in a pre-trial motion that he had never intended to kill Sheppard, that the plan was just to rob him but he lost control and flew into a rage when Sheppard made sexual advances towards him. His lawyer tried to use a "gay panic" defense, arguing that McKinney was driven to temporary insanity by alleged sexual advances by Sheppard. Had this defense been allowed to be used at trial McKinney could of been convicted of manslaughter in the first degree instead of murder in the first degree but the defense was rejected by the judge. At his trial the jury found McKinney not guilty of first degree premeditated murder but they did find him guilty on the lesser charges of felony murder, first degree kidnapping and first degree aggravated robbery and assault. The jury deliberated on giving McKinney the death penalty but in the end he received the same sentence as his accomplice, two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. At the time of Sheppard's death there were no statues on the killing of someone because of their sexual orientation being a hate crime. Sheppard's parents started a movement to get the murder of a person because of their sexual orientation added to the hate crimes statute and they were finally successful 11 years later when President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (often referred to as The Matthew Shepard act for short) into law on October 28, 2009.
- GoofsThe woman escorting the school children at the beginning of the episode begins to lead her charges across the street despite the fact that the "Don't Walk" signal is clearly displayed over her shoulder.
- Quotes
[the detectives are investigating the murder of a gay man - they have in custody a reverend who was protesting at his funeral]
Det. Elliot Stabler: [reading his file] Reverend Mitchell Shaw... you really get around. Protesting in Vermont, at the Supreme Court... cheering at the funeral of a six-year-old who died of AIDS.
Det. Olivia Benson: Maybe you should switch to a career in publicity.
Rev. Mitchell Shaw: The Lord asked me to do his work.
Det. Elliot Stabler: Did he ask you to ignore all that, uh... "Love thy neighbor" stuff?
Rev. Mitchell Shaw: "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, "both of them have committed an abomination. "They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them." Leviticus.
Det. Elliot Stabler: The Bible also says I can sell my daughters into slavery and be put to death if I work on a Sundays. 12 years of Catholic school. Anyone can memorize words, Reverend. Doesn't make 'em righteous.
Rev. Mitchell Shaw: The city is full of sodomites, and you waste your time protecting them... and yet you wonder why so many of your NYPD brothers were struck down on September 11th. Do you not see the Lord's judgment upon you?
[Elliot shoves away the table and gets right in Shaw's face]
Det. Elliot Stabler: I see a scared, shriveled-up piece of trash who uses God to justify his bigotry.
- ConnectionsReferences Law & Order (1990)
'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit', as has been said in some other reviews previous episodes (worth reiterating in some shape or form though as that is a common thing and one of its attractions) always excelled at its handling of heavy and controversial subjects, of which the subject here is as heavy and controversial as it can get. And how it dealt with them, which more often than not was uncompromising, the case here, while generally tactful. "Abomination" is another case too of an episode that sounds basic on paper but actually is a lot more intricate than one would think.
For me, the truth about the son was a bit hard to swallow, especially the father's attitude which didn't come over as realistic, likewise with how such a bigoted person couldn't know the truth about someone that close to him and not show him the same amount of contempt.
The "re-education" aspect of the subject covered was the aspect of the plot that would have been most difficult to nail and would have caused the most controversy and criticism if not handled well. Considering how divisive the issue is full stop. Actually thought that that was remarkably well done, harrowing yet tactful and to me not one-sided, despite the bigoted characters the episode doesn't show any contempt for gay people. A prime example being Stabler's shocked and disgusted reaction in his chilling exchange with Shaw, showing that there are plenty of people that are supportive. The character of Ian Tate was also written with complexity and tact.
All the acting is on point from the regulars, Christopher Meloni particularly, and the supporting cast are more than up to their level. While James Otis is chilling and George Segal does odiousness so convincingly, Jonathan Tucker's powerful performance registers most. The production values are solid and the intimacy of the photography doesn't get static or too filmed play-like. The music when used is not too over-emphatic and has a melancholic edge that is quite haunting. The direction is sympathetic enough without being leaden and the script is tight and always intriguing, have always been left thinking hard for a while after as it is a subject worth pondering on.
Overall, extremely good. 8/10
- TheLittleSongbird
- Nov 24, 2020
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