The Ledger

Swept Away: A Very Special Episode

Slightly unusual episode (11.15) in which a participant of a "Real World"-type reality television show is found murdered in the house he shares, on camera, with the show's other participants. It doesn't take long for Briscoe and Green to settle on a suspect: one of the other housemates. The two had a history of conflict, and it appears that things just got out of control one night, and the victim was pitched off the roof.

Briscoe and Green get stone-walled for a while by the show's producers, who appear to be very protective of their "kids," the show's participants. But it's also clear that they also act out of self-interest, and do not want to get caught up in the investigation. Nonetheless, Briscoe and Green are able to get the information they need from some of the show's crew members, including a camera man who actually video-taped the murder. (Although the tape goes missing for a while, it eventually turns up, and shows exactly what you'd expect: one boy through another one off the roof of their building.)

When McCoy and Carmichael learn that the producers had encouraged the participants to create conflicts with one another, they attempt to go after the producers for manslaughter. Soon enough, however, the producers say that the vice-president for programming at their network was the one responsible for encouraging the conflicts, and that he had written internal memos describing his desire for conlflict during "sweeps," the months when advertising rates are set and networks tend to show their most controversial or attention-getting material. So McCoy sets his aim on the VP, and Briscoe and Green arrest him while he's in the middle of a meeting. He thinks they are just pretending to be cops at first.

McCoy digs up some additional evidence that the VP knew there was a potential for violence on the show and only encouraged it. After the damning testimony of a media consultant and the producers, it doesn't look good for him.

The episode is notable because it begins with a POV shot from the reality show's camera. So the footage looks more like video-tape than what you usually see on L&O. Also interesting is that the crime is captured on tape, and this tape becomes an important plot point.

The title of the episode refers to "sweeps," and I think the "very special episode" moniker is meant to be an ironic commentary on the kinds of episodes that always end up airing during sweeps. Also, I think the title may be a reference to the 1975 Italian film Swept Away, which had to do with some people stranded on an island, much like the "cast members" of this reality show.

Posted by adm at February 19, 2004 03:35 PM

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