'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 17 Episode 3 Spoilers: Underage Lawbreaking and Transphobia
NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" Season 17 recently premiered Episode 1 and 2 last Wednesday and will soon be airing Episode 3.
The show's third episode, titled "Transgender Bridge," will see the squad dealing with teenagers breaking the law, bringing a real and sensitive issue to the American police procedural series.
As "Transgender Bridge" opens, Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and the SVU team will be seen facing several juveniles who have pushed a transgender teen off a bridge in a case which will need careful handling.
Transgender Avery Parker (Christopher Dylan) is ganged up on by a group of rough boys who harass him and eventually pushing him off a bridge, severely injuring the teen and putting him in the hospital.
Three of the attackers are caught and arrested and the District Attorney pins one of the older teens, Darius McCrae (Dante Brown), as the mastermind of the attack, deciding to put him to trial as an adult.
The SVU team suddenly find themselves dealing with a dilemma over whether McCrae's severe sentence and punishment fits his crime.
When the boys' families and the public become involved, the trial becomes a huge spectacle widely covered by the media and adding to it is the Parker family's vehement insistence that the wrongdoers be jailed. This makes it difficult for the SVU team to ensure justice is carried out, while protecting the accused teenagers' rights at the same time.
Episode 3 further explores another sensitive issue dealing with transphobia, and while McCrae admits having pushed Parker off the bridge, he only did so to prove Parker wasn't gay.
Despite McCrae's regret over his wrongdoing, heightened emotions and loss of control have put him in a tight spot the SVU may not be able to save him from.
"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" Season 17 Episode 3 will air on NBC on September 30, Wednesday, 8pm EST.