'Law and Order SVU' Season 22 Preview: Will Episode 3 show a murder due to flouting of Covid-19 rules?
The Covid-19 pandemic has tremendously changed the way we live and perceive things now. Pandemic has become the new normal and shows that are releasing in the post-pandemic world are keen to showcase the crises to add a touch of reality. NBC crime drama 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 22 that wears a penchant for bringing justice to the victims of heinous crimes have fared well in reflecting on the virus too. Right from Episode 1, the elite squad of NYPD detectives could be seen in masks, minus the occasional oddities.
Now the nine-time Grammy-winning show in its Episode 3 might elaborate more on the virus and pandemic. Its promo depicts that a gory crime of sexual abuse has taken place in lockdown. Since we all are aware that lockdowns have been the most isolationist times of our life where we have been compelled to stay in confines, going out has become a rarity. However, the show embeds a twist here which can be deciphered after reading the synopsis of the episode titled 'Remember Me in Quarantine'. It reads, "The SVU questions a group of college roommates when one of them goes missing during Covid lockdown."
An elaboration of the synopsis portrays a sketchy picture of a person going missing during lockdown. This is exactly the most tangling part as it is hard to believe that one can walk out of the premises and move on roads in times of stringent lockdown. So where has the person gone to if not out on the streets? The promo of the episode might deliver some answers. It opens showing a person telling Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), “this year, people have lost their minds.” This drops hints that one might observe certain peculiarities in the nature of characters in the pandemic.
The promo moves further and reveals a newsreader saying how a gruesome case has “captivated the world”. The background noise drops words like “wild sex torture” unearthing that the episode is around sexual abuse. In another scene, a man can be heard referring to a girl, saying, “She kept bringing random guys home”. The end of the promo shows detective Ice-T revealing to our shock that a victim of abuse was alive when she was put in a deep freezer. This adds a layer of another level of brutality in the deadly crime. Besides the promo, the title of the episode 'Remember Me in Quarantine' also channels a sense of foreboding in the pandemic. It hints as if someone is about to bid a farewell in an eerie way. What that is, will be disclosed in the show.
One can anticipate what investigating crimes look like amid the risk of a pandemic. Will the risk of spread of virus impede the probe or has it factored in the killing of a person in the episode is left for the viewers to discover. However, the show is definitely inkling on the Covid-19. This is evident not just from the synopsis and promo but also from Tamara Tunie’s Instagram post who will reprise her role as Dr Melinda Warner in this episode. Her September 17 post has a picture that reads: “Welcome back, everybody! Obviously, your health is our number one priority, so please obey all of our new COVID-19 rules. Use discretion and social distancing when you are not work – your fellow artists are all relying on you for their health and livelihood.” The caption reads, "And Season 22 begins! And DR. WARNER is BACK!!! So happy and full of thanks, to be working!"
As Tunie is gearing up for her role as an examiner it seems like she can’t help giving advice in real life too besides in the show. With these hints, one can only wait with bated breath to see how pandemic gets factored in the show.
'Law & Order: SVU' airs on NBC on Thursday nights at 9/8c.