Spoilers Ahead
Plot: Retired basketball legend Shakir “The Shark” Wilkins (Henry Simmons) is accused of rape by Orion Bay clothing line press rep Carla Cannon (Kelley Missal). The SVU detectives investigate and find a number of women are claiming similar stories and that the owner of Orion (Stacy Keach) has been paying them hush money. However, the case is fueled with speculation — are the claims legitimate or are these the accusations of people looking for a pay off? The answer is more twisted than anyone could imagine.
The Law & Order franchise has been known for episodes that are “ripped from the headlines.” However, more and more these days it seems like the series wants to cram every headline into one episode.
Case in point, this week’s installment “American Disgrace” took elements of the following: the Jay-Z and Solange elevator fight, the Ray Rice case, Cee-Lo’s roofie-ing scandal and of course, Donald Sterling (because why not). Luckily, this episode’s plot is executed a lot more smoothly and logically than last season’s third episode, “American Tragedy” which blended the Trayvon Martin case with the situation involving Paula Deen and the racial comments she made. While both tackle subjects that extremely sensitive to the public, the Trayvon-inspired episode was more difficult to watch (and not just because the episode kinda sucked).
Athletes being accused of rape or being in some sort of hot water is not new territory for SVU. But, unfortunately, the show tends to forget this. Every single time an athlete or celebrity is accused of something, one detective always dismisses it as “they couldn’t do that” or “they’re getting framed.” This statement is made in such a manner that the seasoned SVU detectives, who have been doing this for years and have seen every type of horrific sexual crime committed, are still in shock that someone famous could do something wrong. It’s a trivial point to pick at, but for longtime fans of the series this repetition is irritating as hell.
With that being said, this is still a solid episode and remains well above anything from last year’s terrible run. A lot of the credit for the success of the episode can be placed on guest star Stacy Keach who plays the owner of mega sports brand Orion Bay. Keach is marvelous and are we shocked at this? The man’s been doing this forever and he perfectly captures the spirit of a Donald Sterling-esque character. The final two monologues he has might be some of the best guest work SVU has had in some time.
The episode also does a solid job of creating an air of doubt, but not at the expense of the main characters. Last season, the detectives and district attorneys were constantly undercut by their own mistakes or out of the left field evidence that made them look like complete idiots. This episode, there was something fishy in Denmark, but no one, not even the audience (till a certain point) could figure out what it was. The episode used guest star Teri Polo’s character as this harbinger of doubt. Sadly, the talented actress (and former Law & Order: Los Angeles star) was underused as a performer, but her presence spoke volumes. So, for the first time in a long time, we really had a “whodunnit” feeling to an episode.
“American Disgrace” was by no means a perfect episode, but it was still an entertaining one — it kept you guessing till the end and when the end came it unexpectedly hit you upside the head.
Rating: 6 out of 10
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Bill Bodkin is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of Pop-Break. He can be read weekly on Trailer Tuesday and Singles Party, weekly reviews on Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Hannibal, Law & Order: SVU and regular contributions throughout the week with reviews and interviews. His goal is to write 500 stories this year. He is a graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in Journalism & English and currently works in the world of political polling. He’s the reason there’s so much wrestling on the site and is beyond excited to be a Dad this coming December. Follow him on Twitter: @PopBreakDotCom
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