I watch terrible television so you don’t have to.
NO (NEGATIVE)
The above was my instinctive response to this Bluesky meme using signal flags to describe our feelings about the news of the day (the results of the 2024 presidential election). My mother introduced me to voting and politics when I was a toddler. She brought me along to the ballot box, to rallies, to canvas, all of it, dressed in a deep blue dress with red and white accents. These are some of my earliest memories. Standing outside the voting booth. Falling asleep under the cake table on election night. So I’ve voted in every election I’ve been eligible for, presidential through local, to make my mother, and in theory my country, proud. It hasn’t always gone my way. When George W. Bush won reelection in 2004 I was speechless. I literally lost the ability to speak for about 36 hours. When Donald Trump won in 2016 I gave up writing for weeks; I have yet to return to the original novella I’d started days before. My initial trauma response is freeze.
But when I lose my voice, they win. In the above screencap from End of Evangelion, Asuka (who you may recognize from my NYCC cosplay approved by Hugh Dancy) is frozen. She’s unable to synchronize with her EVA and at this point, she’s been in a near-catatonic state for days. When an army shows up to kill everyone at NERV, the adults put her into her giant robot and drop it at the bottom of a lake for safety. There is a literal war going on outside, and heavy artillery is hitting her inactive evangelion that can’t fight back without a pilot. Asuka whispers “I don’t want to die.” She says it over and over and over until her will to live activates the EVA and she fights back in what remains my favorite battle scene of all time.
My university held an election debrief on Thursday. Three professors who study presidents and presidential elections spoke. Erika Franklin Fowler, director of the Wesleyan Media Project and member of ABC’s decision desk, used the word “inevitable” to describe Donald Trump’s win. Based on historic analysis and worldwide trends the democrats were poised to lose it all. That it was close, that there was some down ballot resilience, reflects the work people like me poured into the fight. Her perspective made me feel better—not about the result, but about the work. It mattered. My work, my voice mattered.
The inevitability of Trump’s return to power does not negate missteps. Erika also brought up the democrats failures in messaging. Trump and the republicans went all in on border control and anti-immigration rhetoric. And instead of propping up immigrants Harris and the democrats trotted out sheriffs and border patrol who agreed with them. Instead of making a case for reforms to make the process safer, faster, and more efficient, they touted working with conservatives on a plan to limit access, a plan they failed to implement because Trump was too powerful. Trump and the republicans poured millions of dollars into ads that attacked transgender rights and transgender people. The democrats countered these ads with exactly nothing. Harris and Walz stood up for trans rights in a handful of interviews that only people who read Erin in the Morning (aka people who already care about trans rights) heard about. They spent zero dollars. They ceded these issues to the republicans entirely. They went silent and they lost.
I was raised to be loud. To never be afraid to make a scene. It’s not how women are traditionally socialized in this society. I’ve been called crazy, mean, She-Hulk, a barbarian, a borderline, a bitch, a witch, silly, stupid, unrealistic, idealistic, too loud, and the problem. For example, and sometimes by friends. My enemies use these words to dismiss me and often I am dismissed. Sometimes I briefly lose my voice. But then I take it back. If I go down, I will go down screaming.
I HAVE SOMETHING TO COMMUNICATE
This is the signal flag and trauma response I’ve landed on. I do not have political or institutional power, in fact, I have very little power at all, but I have a voice. I have a point of view and a story to tell. I believe very strongly that stories are powerful.
Why do I write about television? Because television is everywhere. Television is for everyone. Why do I care about the portrayal of mental health on SVU, undocumented immigrants on FBI, or abortion on Chicago Med? Because the Dick Wolf universe is mainstream copaganda, and I refuse to cede it to the people who voted in Donald Trump. I refuse to cede the Dick Wolf universe to anyone, including Dick Wolf. I will leave the discussion of political media to the Erika Franklin Fowlers of the world but I am the expert on terrible television. This is how I reach people.
For this week’s post, I am skipping the recaps and going straight to the discussion points. Going forward, it’s TBD, I am still playing with formats in my mind.
Also Watching
My roster of currently airing series is: 9-1-1: Lonestar, Brilliant Minds, FBI, FBI: Most Wanted, FBI: International, Chicago Med, Star Trek: Lower Decks, 9-1-1, Doctor Odyssey, Elsbeth, High Potential, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
The Diplomat, The Lincoln Lawyer, Lioness, and Arcane have new episodes out, but I haven’t caught up yet. I’m rewatching Leverage Redemption because of course I am. And I watched the pilot episode of Cold Case because it always makes me feel better.
Mental Illness Sidebar
Content warning for suicide.
After the election, the directive “please don’t kill yourself” was trending alongside the statement “your body, my choice” on social media. So that’s deeply troubling.
Doctor Odyssey portrayed a suicide. They used classic misdirection to suggest the groom was having an affair with his best man and chose to jump overboard rather than go through with the wedding. In fact, the bride was the one having an affair with the best man, but the result was the same. I could do without that misdirection (it’s not the week for a “society hates me for being gay so I must die” plot) but the show gets points for depicting the aftermath and ripple effects and for the staff’s full-throated condemnation of blame.
On 9-1-1, a priest helped Eddie work through his guilt over Christopher moving away in reaction to the craziness of last season (Eddie started dating a woman who looked exactly like his dead ex/Christopher’s mom, and eventually Christopher walked in on them). In true 9-1-1 fashion, the plot depended on coincidence but was handled with care and comedy, and the result was heartfelt. Meanwhile, Maddie is pregnant again and Chimney was worried about another round of postpartum depression (Maddie abandoned him and their daughter after her birth). But they communicated, they worked through it, and they both set ground rules. Both of these storylines were good representation of mental health.
Ship of the Week
Max/Avery/Tristan is CANON.
Last Saturday, my bestie and I binged episodes 1-5 of Doctor Odyssey, and I made my case for “this is obviously a throuple”. My case basically consisted of me waving my hands at the television to say SEE?? but it was convincing. This week’s episode centered on a wedding that went very, very badly, but our plucky medical threesome ended the hour in a threesome! For real! Regardless of what happens next (I expect it to be messy) they can’t take it back. And we, collectively, deserve this.
Show of the Week
OG Law & Order continues to be solid. The past two weeks’ episodes made me angry at the system, the case, and the people, but not the show. That’s how it should be. Elsbeth was a tribute to Ocean’s Eight, which is fun. Doctor Odyssey put me through the wringer, and I mostly appreciate it. But Lilly Rush standing up to rich rapist murderers after 27 years of them getting away with it is what I needed.
People shouldn’t be forgotten. Even if they are my kind of people. Maybe they don’t have a lotta money, they don’t have lawyers. But they matter. They should get justice, too.
Cold Case 1.1 “Look Again”
What are YOU watching?