Is it me, or are the opening sequences on SVU getting longer?
The opening sets the stage, giving viewers a glimpse into the victim’s world during a traumatic assault. But lately, that window into the survivor’s life seems to be getting longer and longer.
Despite how much happened before Naomi set the bus on fire on Law & Order: SVU Season 24 Episode 20, this one offered a powerful hour of television involving a troubled young survivor whose coaches had groomed and abused her.
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It didn’t occur to me that the Youngs had been messing with Naomi, but their relationship seemed weird in retrospect.
They seemed so much like her parents that I was confused when her mother arrived at the police station. During the car ride, they acted like it, encouraging her and giving her advice about how to deal with the boys on the team harassing her.
When it turned out they weren’t her parents who happened also to coach the team, it should have set off alarm bells, but it didn’t. Before the big reveal, I even wondered why there was so little adult supervision and why the boys could get away with doing whatever they wanted.
I also don’t know how Booker knew about what the Youngs were doing or got his hands on video of the relationship.
Booker seemed less like a bully than the rest of the boys, and I’d have liked to have gotten to know him better, but there wasn’t time in the hour for him to be more than a minor character who disappeared after revealing the truth.
Once Naomi accused Parker and Helene of rape, the defense tried to argue that this relationship was consensual. But what about these two people being Naomi’s debate coaches?
Even though Naomi was above the age of consent, didn’t their positions render her ability to consent meaningless? Teachers and coaches often have power over students. Naomi’s mother even discouraged her from pressing charges because the Youngs were supposed to write her letter of recommendation to Harvard.
That was a perfect example of the problematic power imbalance. The Youngs could deny Naomi her recommendation letters or stop her from competing if she didn’t give them the sex they demanded.
But this point was never brought up during the trial despite evidence that the Youngs targeted and groomed kids with unhappy home lives and made them feel visible to manipulate them into sex.
Parker: I know there’s no excuse for a teacher having a relationship with a student.
Churlish: A relationship? That’s what you’re calling it?
Parker: We were her mentors.
Fin: Mentors? You and your wife were using her for threesomes.
Carisi might not have felt it was relevant. The Youngs held Naomi down on the night in question, which is much easier to prove than the coercive elements in their other encounters.
Still, Benson or another cop should have brought this issue up. Even if Carisi couldn’t use it in his defense, the concerns around meaningful consent should have been mentioned.
Benson’s support of Naomi would have been even more powerful and helpful if she’d explained to Naomi that Naomi had been groomed and coerced into sex by people she thought she could trust.
That aspect of this crime could and should have been explored. When a teacher, coach, or other authority figure grooms a young person, it’s a massive betrayal of trust. That makes this type of sex crime doubly traumatic and horrendous; survivors may have difficulty trusting after the incident.
In addition, survivors often think these types of relationships are consensual when they’re not — something SVU badly needs to explore as part of its mission to help survivors understand and heal from what’s happened to them.
Despite this oversight, this was still a strong episode. I especially enjoyed Benson and Fin’s support of the victims. Male survivors still aren’t featured often, and it was important for Colin to understand what had happened to him and get encouragement from a male cop.
Colin’s reaction to Fin’s question about Parker also brought up an important point: one cause of homophobia involves male survivors associating homosexuality with the person who sexually assaulted them.
Although Colin’s homophobia wasn’t discussed extensively, it made that point. He didn’t want anyone to know that Parker had raped him and reacted with disgust to the idea, stating loudly that he wasn’t gay.
Kudos to FIn, who has a gay son, for not taking it personally and being able to be there for Colin. Hopefully, with time and therapy, Colin will heal sufficiently and understand that Parker’s crime is not an indictment of all gay people.
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Surprisingly, no one suggested counseling to either Naomi or Colin. They both need it after their experiences with the Youngs.
Naomi supposedly is returning to a poor home life. However, I didn’t see any evidence that her mother was problematic other than her mother thinking getting a recommendation letter is more important than getting justice.
Of course, the Youngs could have planted the idea in Naomi’s head that her mother was inadequate, didn’t understand her, etc. Groomers often do that to isolate their intended victims.
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Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.