'Law & Order: SVU' Tackles The Harvey Weinstein-Inspired Episode With A Different Approach
The next episode of "Law & Order: SVU" will finally tackle the controversial sexual assault topic that mimics the controversy that took Hollywood by storm last year when alleged victims of Harvey Weinstein came forward.
According to the synopsis for the episode titled "Flight Risk," a female airline pilot (guest star Yasmine Al Massri) will accuse her captain (guest star Martin Donovan) of sexual assault. This will bring Assistant District Attorney Rafael Barba (Raul Esparza) to assemble a grand jury to find out if their employer has a participation in the crime.
Showrunner Michael Chernuchin told The Hollywood Reporter that they have done a lot of sexual assault episodes that are similar to the real-life cases filed against Hollywood producer Weistein. But the next one will be different. Instead of the usual approach where they tackle a topic straight from the headlines, they will tweak the story by featuring a different industry without losing the essence of the sexual abuse in the workplace.
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"We did one last season with a newscaster. We did them on Wall Street. It's a recurring theme, but we're going to add something new to it this year," Chernuchin stated. "What we like to do is explain the faults of the law and what the law should be and how we could get there to the audience. The laws need to change. We're going to approach it that way."
Chernuchin also revealed that they could still tackle a lot of other sexual abuse cases because of the abundance of the materials. "Harassment culture in particular is something that touches everyone. As we're seeing, it's in every industry. It's the power dynamic. Whenever there's one person in power, he can take advantage of it," the showrunner also said.
Aside from the sexual abuse, the synopsis for the upcoming episode also revealed that Detective Fin Tutuola (Ice T) will make sure that Lieutenant Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) is well protected at work.
NBC will air the next episode of "Law and Order: SVU" season 19 on Wednesday, Jan. 19, at 9 p.m. EDT.
