The second episode of Season 24 was relatively weak. This is surprising since this was a limited crossover episode with SVU, only starring Olivia Benson. You might think this approach would be successful, but it’s not. Let’s explore why.
The episode’s title, “The Perfect Man,” alludes to an app that offers an artificial intelligence-generated companion for $79 a month that has the potential to make users feel loved. First of all, disgusting! Second, this storyline is a huge misdirection and has nothing to do with the murder of Taylor, the app’s creator. As usual, the author deliberately misleads you into believing otherwise, as the first suspect (the actual creator of the app) accused Taylor of stealing the code. The second suspect is the fiancé of a woman who dumped him for her artificial intelligence boyfriend, and he has a strong alibi. Detectives Shaw and Riley connected the dots based on a phone call from the victim, who was a drug addict and, I don’t know what else. Eventually, they tracked down Laura, a woman who had dated Taylor in real life. I was a little disappointed that the AI app wasn’t the main story, and it turned out to be just a run-of-the-mill tracking case.
“The Perfect Man” – “Law & Order”, pictured: (left) Red Scott plays the detective. Vincent Riley and Mehcad Brooks as Det. Jaylen Shaw. Photo: Virginia Sherwood/NBC @2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. all rights reserved.
“Law & Order” continues to explore three concepts: empathy, ethics and evidence. Police and district attorneys have incredible influence over these principles in guiding legal decisions. In this episode, to the surprise of her detectives, these concepts collide when Lieutenant Brady orders them to use a local DNA database. Baxter says police should use all the tools they have, and she’s right. Since the suspect submitted a rape kit, her DNA was already in local repositories, clearly linking Laura to the crime. She did it! Case closed!
“The Perfect Man,” “Law & Order,” pictured: Maura Tierney as Lieutenant Jessica Brady. Photo by Virginia Sherwood/NBC @2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. all rights reserved.
But wait, our beloved Captain Olivia Benson is testifying as an expert witness in Laura’s case. Olivia emerges sympathetically, questioning the ethics of the NYPD’s use of a local DNA database. At one point, Laura’s lawyers presented the situation to the judge who allowed the use of DNA evidence. Benson and Executive Attorney Price clashed over who the victim in the case was. Captain Bensons told the court Laura had been raped, stalked and the criminal justice system had failed her in the past. Her view was that the court should consider Laura’s prior trauma in the light of her current self-defence claim.
When Price called Laura to the witness stand, he exposed the absurdity of the defendant’s (Laura’s) baseless accusation that Taylor could either make her love him or kill her to avoid failure. Wait, what? As a viewer, this plot left me with several unanswered questions, including: Is Tyler pursuing Laura to discover what it means to be “perfect”? Is Tyler such a narcissist that he stalks to prove he’s the winner? Does Tyler know about Laura’s previous rape trauma? Did Taylor hang out with Lola long enough to trigger a lethal, threatening response from her? Ultimately, these questions didn’t matter because, according to the law, Laura was not under any direct threat when she shot the victim. Price also stressed that she had the foresight to hide the murder weapon and that she voluntarily surrendered to authorities. In short, the evidence points to Laura’s guilt, and Olivia Benson knows it.
“The Perfect Man” – “Law & Order”, pictured: Emily Mead as Lola Kingsbury. Photo by Virginia Sherwood/NBC @2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. all rights reserved.
However, Olivia decided to intervene at sentencing on behalf of the defendant. We believe she told the media that the NYPD used victims’ DNA to build cases. Faced with so much news coverage, District Attorney Baxter backed down and directed Price to offer Laura a plea deal. There is no doubt that Price was considering first or second degree murder charges, so he acted somewhat under duress when he charged Laura with manslaughter and sentenced her to 10 years in prison.
The issues I had with Olivia stemmed from her initiative and support, which led to Laura’s initial rejection of the deal. Women believe they have done nothing wrong. Olivia makes a counteroffer to the DA on behalf of Laura (Manslaughter 2, five years in prison). Price scoffed at this, emphasizing that Taylor was the real victim and that prosecutors, as representatives of the people, spoke for the victims and their families. In the end, Benson and the defendant’s lawyer persuaded Laura to accept the verdict of manslaughter No. 1.
“The Perfect Man” – “Law & Order”, pictured: (left) Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson and Hugh Dancy as Assistant District Attorney Nolan Price. Photo by Virginia Sherwood/NBC @2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. all rights reserved.
“The Perfect Man” clumsily weaves a web of misdirection that keeps viewers guessing as to why the defendant did what he did. I found it particularly painful how the writers used Olivia Benson’s innate empathy to overcomplicate the story. I think the writers questioned her legendary dignity and morals in order to push an underdeveloped story. In a Law & Order series, this episode struggled to convincingly combine empathy (Olivia) with morality (the police using the victim’s DNA) and evidence (Price as the face of the law). Oppose. Despite its jumps in logic and lack of exposition, “The Perfect Man” succeeds in highlighting the gray areas in law and the administration of justice. I just hope Olivia Benson doesn’t die in the process.
Am I wrong? Did you feel like there were too many plot holes? How did you rate this episode? Ryan Eggold will guest star as Detective Riley’s brother next week. For me, the ratings have gone up because I miss this gentleman on NBC/Peacock! Overall rating: 6/10.
Lynette Jones