S15.E15: Comic Perversion

[Sarah D. Bunting]

When a controversial misogynistic comic is accused of rape, Benson is happy to arrest him, but Barba feels the case is weak.

 

But how did Barba feel about the "writing"?

[Tara Ariano]

Jonathan Silverman as a gross misogynist comic is kind of weird casting, though I guess any ACTUAL gross misogynistic comics wouldn't do it. And Daniel Tosh is probably mad the guy playing him is so old.

[Ffiferoo]

"One of those rape-joke comics?"

I can't decide whether the depiction of a comic who makes pretty much *only* rape jokes or the depiction of a campus feminist organization was worse.

[Princess Sparkle]

I just have to throw out that this episode had the "most ridiculous line" of the season for me:

Nick: Just ignore him Liv, he's baiting you"

Finn: "Yeah...masturbating"

Ice-T is a national treasure.

[Danielg342]

I didn't like this at all. I get that the show doesn't want to make someone who's schtick is very vile humour too sympathetic, but they laid it on pretty thick by making the comic a rapist himself. An opportunity was lost to make a bigger statement about free speech and that things aren't always what they seem- they could have made the comic a good, wholesome family man who just has a penchant for "bad" humour.

After 15 years, I would expect the show to do better than just a lazy strawman with this kind of issue.

[Joe Hellandback]

I can't decide which is worse, this one or the one based on the Weiner case, never has the SVU come close to genuine fascism, 

[Katy M]

I didn't really care for the episode, because of several reasons.

1. what kind of college books a "rape comedian?"  yes, yes, free speech and all, but colleges usually have at least a little bit of standards.

2. Why start the episode off as "do performers bear any responsibility for their acts," and change it almost immediately to he's actually raping women himself.

3. The way it played out, it was obviously assault, but I think entrapment of rape is a pretty risky thing and a fine line.  If you know what I mean.  

4.  On the same vein, that girl was lucky she was able to fight him off.  She could have gotten raped again, for real.  

5. I never really understood how the swag bags equaled proof of rape.

6.  The other victim wanting to sue just puts the whole thing into question again, even though we had the clear-cut assault on the entrapper.

[King of TV]

The comedian was an asshole, good god I wanted to punch him in his smug ugly face. It was extremely obvious from the start that this guy was in fact a rapist. The female audience members should've had enough common sense not to laugh at his jokes. Not only was he insensitive to such a touchy subject, none of his jokes really had punchlines. It was more like "rape this" "hehehehe" "rape that", pretty much only jokes a 15 year old incel would find funny (trust me I knew quite a few of those guys in high school who would find that shit funny and they're easy to spot from a mile away, just from their sense of humor alone). He was outright dehumanizing to women. Him changing and flashing his little Irish wee-wee in front of Benson should've been enough to put him in handcuffs. Not to mention the whole cliché of comedians never being serious, it's played to the point where it's obnoxious and unrealistic. 

Considering the fact that this guy was so comfortable making jokes that vulgar should've raised a red flag. I just find it a cop out on the writer's end to make him a rapist since it was already so obvious from the start. 

Josh absolutely raped Carly, we know this. When you're drunk, your sense of judgement is depleted and your sex drive increases. Josh took advantage of that and swooped down. I also cringed at how Josh acted in court. Josh is gonna have a real good time when it's shower time in prison, he'll become his material. 

The scene where Josh attempted to rape Renee was too hard for me to watch. When he forced her to stay in the room after she said no more than once, that enough already crossed the line. There is no thin line between "oh just playing" around and rape. I miss when SVU fooled the audience and had a lot of plot twits, or would find clever ways to distract the audience, now it's not the case, the show has really dipped in quality once Stabler and Carrigan left. The recording of Josh attempting to rape Renne was enough evidence to send him to prison, I don't care if it was a setup, he would've done the same thing if there was no camera on her glasses. Mediocre episode 4/10.

[Xeliou66]

I remember really disliking this episode - this was around the start of the time of Benson being portrayed as an all knowing saint who’s never wrong. Benson disliked the comic because he made vulgar, insensitive jokes about sexual assault, so of course the comic turns out to be a rapist. And of course Benson pushes Barba into taking the case despite not having enough evidence, this was the first instance of Barba being a Benson bot I believe, and of course things magically turn out okay at the end and the comedian faces some form of punishment despite them not having evidence. This episode had a lot of the worst traits of current SVU, this was the start of the time the show devolved into the St Olivia hour, Cragen/Munch had just left and it started being all Benson all the time with no one to push back on her crusades and remind her she’s a police officer not an advocate. 

[King of TV]

4 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

Cragen/Munch

The show was never the same after they left. It's been a while since I've seen normal Law and Order, I wonder if the quality dip was as bad as SVU's.

[Xeliou66]

39 minutes ago, King of TV said:

The show was never the same after they left. It's been a while since I've seen normal Law and Order, I wonder if the quality dip was as bad as SVU's.

The new L&O is much better than current SVU IMO - it was somewhat shaky in season 21 but they’ve found their rhythm this season and have had mostly strong episodes. They don’t have the soapy personal drama that SVU has and they don’t worship one character the way SVU worships Benson. And I agree SVU was never the same after Munch/Cragen left.

Edited December 17, 2022 by Xeliou66

[King of TV]

23 hours ago, Xeliou66 said:

The new L&O is much better than current SVU IMO - it was somewhat shaky in season 21 but they’ve found their rhythm this season and have had mostly strong episodes. They don’t have the soapy personal drama that SVU has and they don’t worship one character the way SVU worships Benson. And I agree SVU was never the same after Munch/Cragen left.

I don't have linear TV, I only have streaming. I'm only able to watch SVU with the current package of Hulu I have. Regular Law and Order requires extra payment. I haven't had linear TV since 2015. 

I can get regular Law and Order on DVD.