R - Mariska Hargitay as Det. Benson
L - Kelli Gillis as Det. Rollins
Marcia Grey Harden as FBI Det. Hines
Law and Order Special Victim's Unit is an interesting show. It is a fast-paced show of criminal investigations of rape and sexual assault cases, coupled with some courtroom drama. As contemporary police shows go, it is one of the least gruesome. Criminal Minds, NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service), CSI-New York (Crime Scene Investigation-New York) are some of the worst on TV, where we are not spared the gory details. My favorite is the Irish family cop show, Blue Bloods, with Tom Selleck, although that is getting its share of blood these days, probably to compete with all the rest.
The latest episode of Law and Order was interesting and good. But, before I go into the story line, here is what I think of the two women detectives.
They are both attractive women, with pretty faces. Markiska Hargitay is the daughter of Jane Mansfield and Hungarian-born Mr. Universe Mickey Hargitay, and Giddish was a soap opera actress. They're always heavily made-up in Law and Order, although they do go light on the lipstick.
But, here's the weird thing. Perhaps to compensate for their pretty faces, and to give some gravitas to their criminal investigation roles, they are always dressed in tight black jeans, and showing off corpulent thighs. They look butch.
I suppose this is once again the modern woman's dilemma look feminine (all women want to look attractive and feminine) and looking like one of the guys, and not have the attention focused on their femaleness, and beauty.
Last night's show, titled "Secrets Exhumed" followed an FBI detective, Dana Hines, who
suspects that a 25 year-old rape-murder case in New York is connected to several unsolved cases across the country [and] joins the SVU in investigating the crimes. As Lewis relentlessly pursues her prime suspect Detectives Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Amaro (Danny Pino) have their doubts about his guilt.In fact, the FBI detective is deeply involved in one of the murders, and had kept this hidden for twenty five years.
Detective Benson (Hargitay) channels her feminine, kind and empathetic self while questioning Hines. She asks to do this alone, which means to have the male interrogators exit the room, leaving her alone with Hines.
Harigtay tells Hines it is better to get rid of these twenty five years of lies, and live free of guilt (albeit in prison) and finally gets the truth out of her.
What was more intriguing than Hargitay's clever (but compassionate) method in exposing Hines, is Hines' crime. All criminals, whether they kill, still, or even lie, have a moment of hard, clear evil when they decide to do the crime. Hines, when she described for a brief couple of minutes when she decided to commit murder, changed her voice and demeanor. She became hard and cold, not simpering and frightened as she was before and after her confession. At that brief period when she made up her mind to kill, she knew what she was doing, and she wanted to do it.
Even during her questioning, she didn't recant her crime, rather she understood that she would have to pay for it. I think it is very rare that criminals are genuinely remorseful of their crime, and if they do feel any kind of guilt, it is often to say they're sorry for the harm they have caused around them, rather than the actual killing, or stealing. It is as though they feel entitled to this crime. Hines was no different.
Yesterday's episode caught all this. Someone on Law and Order is doing good research on criminal behavior, and not just giving us a mellowed-out portrayal of the "poor" criminal.
Mariska Hargitay and Kelli Giddish in 2013
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Post By: Kidist P. Asrat