Law & Order Episode Teaches Conservative Family Values

Did the writers know the peripheral message they were sending?

Screenshot by the author

I like to watch police, legal, and medical dramas. But I want to be entertained–I want a good story, not speeches on social or political issues. Unfortunately, many of the shows I used to enjoy are now more interested in delivering liberal lectures than entertainment.

But a recent episode of the rebooted Law & Order [Season 22, Episode 20: “Class Retreat”] scored some points for conservative family values.

Here’s the official storyline:

When a businessman is found murdered, his surprising connection to Cosgrove’s daughter helps the police make a break in the case. Price and Maroun disagree on how to proceed when the defendant’s age brings up precedent they must follow.

Yes, there were the expected discussions of racism in how the teenage killer was charged.

But the show also made the point that peer pressure is intense for teenagers. During a breakout session at a school retreat, the murder victim’s daughter was driven by peer pressure to claim her father abused her. It was a lie that set a sequence of events leading to her father’s murder in motion.