Written by John Edward Betancourt LAW & ORDER -- "A Perfect Family" Episode 24017 -- Pictured: (l-r) Hugh Dancy as A.D.A. Nolan Price, Odelya Halevi as A.D.A. Samantha Maroun -- (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)
Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 2417 of ‘Law & Order’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
It is definitely safe to say that modern society harbors a bit of hypocrisy when it comes to parenting. After all, we expect parents not to fail in raising their children, and if by chance we learn that someone is… so many step in and do their best to ensure that parent will either get it right or get out of the way. Because being a parent is what we cherish most in the modern world, and in 2025, there are no excuses or reasons why they cannot be perfect. Yet, at the same time… we let a lot of parents fail their kids, and we even let those failures slide if by chance the parent promises to be better. Which is indeed quite hypocritical because we cannot sit here and demand perfection from parents and yet, let bad parenting persist. But we do, and it’s frustrating and that hypocrisy is top of mind today because it was on full display in the next episode of Law & Order on NBC. For ‘A Perfect Family’ introduced us to nothing of the sort. For this episode wasted no time into having the team investigate the death of a preteen named Emily Chapman. Who was thrown from a train station and died from her injuries and well, the quick work of the NYPD, quickly ruled out some of kind random and twisted monster roaming about the city, hurting kids. Instead, they came to learn that as is often the case, a family member was involved. In fact, it was Emily’s mother, Melinda, that committed this hideous crime. Which of course, shocked the city and the department because how on earth could a mother even think of harming their child in such a manner? But soon, the team came to learn that such a heinous act related to some mental illness on Melinda’s part. For she was suffering from mental breaks related to severe postpartum depression and that brought forth an insanity plea. Which the DA’s office was prepared to accept, but there were some questions they wanted answered before they did. Specifically, how this was able to get to this point. Because the investigation revealed that Melinda actually tried to find help as her mental state began to deteriorate. In fact, she saw a doctor and she was ready to start medication and begin inpatient treatment to get back on track. Because she outright heard voices that told her to harm her daughter, and that was all of concern because her husband, Derek, knew of this as well, and he made a point to sway her from treatment. For he had his own stigmas regarding mental health matters and as so many in this world believe, he thought that Melinda could just get through it if she remained tough enough. But in the eyes of the law, Price and Maroun saw this as neglect and worked to charge him accordingly. That brought forth… the commentary in question. Because as the trial rolled along, and the case was made for a pair of parents that should not be near their children in the slightest, Derek did what so many bad parents do. He offered a mea culpa; he spoke to loving his kids so deeply that their safety would never come into question again, and well, Price and Maroun knew those were words were fat and juicy lies designed to sway the jury and that prompted Price to swing for the fences. By calling Emily’s sister, Amanda, to the stand to prove that Derek was complicit. But more so, he was a man that understood the world, understood the hypocrisy that surrounds parents and knew that if he held the line he would be exonerated. After all, an ADA would never put a kid on the stand and break them to get the win, and he was right about that. Since Price could not bring himself to do just that. Which led to Derek’s acquittal, and he was reunited with his daughters while his wife went onto a path of recovery. Leaving the fate of their kids from a mental health and outright health standpoint, up in the air. All because we pick and choose what offenses to hold parents to account to, and we really offer too much forgiveness in situations such as these. Because it was painfully obvious that Derek was a bad parent, one that influenced real strife in his family and long-term damage, and it is wild that people like him, can continue as a parent with promises of good will and better effort. But alas, that is how we operate and that made for a powerful story. One that once again, offered pause and commentary on matters that we need to face, and need to fix. Until next time. Watch ‘Law & Order’
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
April 2025
|
RSS Feed