Law & Order - Too Damn Topical?

I think Law & Order has the potential to be interesting when they do a “Ripped From The Headlines” episode, but the past few episodes that I’ve seen have veered away into “Not Even Trying” territory. Most of the time I sense the plot is simply the lede from each of a series of articles someone read in The New York Times connected by a very, very tenuous narrative thread.

Without even finishing the most recent episode of Law & Order: SVU, I counted:

• Female genital mutilation
• Genocide in Africa
• Stop Snitching
• Polygamy
• Police shooting civilians

Writing it down myself, I almost understand how this series of topics could make sense in the process of writing a script. But seeing each of these pop up in the span of 20 minutes entirely dilutes the importance of each issue. “Based on a True Story” probably sounds enticing in a promo clip, but it’d be nice if the writers could go back to working on even remotely original ideas. The show was far superior when they did.