Transgender Bridge

I found this a remarkable performance by all the young people involved. It was very, very well done and very realistic. The young man who played Avery was very believable and the young man who played Darius was heartbreaking in his sincerity. It made you think and definitely encouraged dialogue with the young adults. I found all the medical and psychological aspects to be right on. Kudos to the writers and to the actors all. This episode shows the damage that can result when a young immature person reacts without thinking to show off for his friends and the chain of damage that results. In our rapidly changing world this points out that education and tolerance is key.

Yes, this was a tough prickly subject from every angle. But the complicated legality, ethics, and all that other intense human stuff made this the type of law and order I love. Smart, complicated and realistic (unfortunately). This is why I love this show and re-watched all billion seasons during the pandemic. Not the back stories of Amaro or Rawlins toeing the edge of (or overstepping) being bad detectives. The first few years of the Alex Cabot DA days really displayed the "law and order" aspect. The intricacies of the law, the working relationships between the ADA and detectives, and how the law can be amazing and utterly heartbreaking at times. Then enter seasons roughly 14, and getting at its worst 16, where I thought I was watching Melrose place instead. Yes, I absolutely love all the characters. But I don't want to know about their demons, the show isn't called "Elliott's or Amaro's rage issues". I digress. My point is, smart writing once again, finally.

This is a very well-written and controversial episode. Its focus is on hate crime as it pertains to Transgenders as well as charging juveniles as adults. I'll admit, the episode almost swayed me, made me feel bad for Darius. He's remorseful, sad, and ooh! He's an artist. I'm sorry but no, he committed a hate crime. He targeted Avery, and while pushing him was an "accident", approaching Avery from the get go was his choice; his aggressive, hateful choice. Avery died. That person is no longer in the world, no longer gets to eat, play with friends, live life, etc. His life was taken away by Darius's hateful ways. That whole fully-formed brain theory is bogus. A teenager knows right from wrong. I'm sorry I didn't know you couldn't kill people. Gitouttahere.

The SVU squad has a real heartbreaker in this episode. It deals with the hate crimes statute and the application thereof. And it involves juveniles as well.

Young Christopher Dylan White plays a transgender teen who gets harassed by three other teens. Someone had a cell phone with a camera and films White accidentally being pushed off a bridge in Fort Tryon Park by Dante Brown one of the teens. It's quite clear it was an accident.

But the bullying of this transgender kid who was wearing a dress elevated it to a hate crime and Brown is headed for grown up court. This might very well be in Family Court otherwise.

It's been my experience that the difficulty I've seen in my region is getting the DAs to use the hate crime statute at all. It is their call to use or not.

Even with that the performances of the two kids are outstanding. Even the squad feels sympathy for both.

Of all the episodes of Season 17, "Transgender Bridge" has one of the most difficult and most bold subject matters and it is one that was relevant back then and is even more so now. So regardless of the execution, there still would have been admiration for the episode for even daring to tackle such a subject. The episode stayed with me for quite a while on first watch, having been very moved and interested by it while also being in two minds on the ending.

This is a controversial episode within the fandom, one of the season's most divisive and it is an episode that may strongly divide the LGBTQ community. Lots found the episode heart breaking and thought provoking. Just as many others found it preachy and that portraying the perpetrator as remorseful trivialised hate crime. Count me in as someone that mostly belongs in the former category, while completely seeing both sides and feeling that more could have been done in examining the subject. Also liked the episode a good deal more on first watch.

Am going to begin with what didn't come over so well. Lindstrom did not add much to the episode and his argument was not a strong one and also not really true, considering that the perpetrator will know right and wrong at a mature enough age. Did not buy at all how the others involved got off so lightly, especially considering that they showed no remorse unlike the perpetrator who was tried.

For me too, "Transgender Bridge" could have been more tactful in its intended exploring of anti-LGBTQ bullying when actually it didn't really do that, they did make Darius too sympathetic in my view and considering the actions (which technically still counts as hate crime) that was a mistake.

However, a lot is great. The production values are slick and have a subtle grit, with an intimacy to the photography without being too claustrophobic. The music isn't used too much and doesn't get too melodramatic. The direction has enough taut urgency when needed while giving the case breathing space. The script is incredibly thought provoking.

It was appreciated too that it did try to show more than one side of the argument and do it in a way where all viewpoints were worth pondering on. The story is very heart breaking, especially the consequences of the hate crime (which reduced me to tears on first watch and still does) and the whole debate regarding the punishment if convicted and delving into the characters' mind. Really understood and appreciated Avery's parents' dignified and surprisingly understanding attitudes.

Some may be infuriated by the denouement (and it was the aspect that sparked the most debate as well as the charge), to me it was understandable after a lot of thinking on rewatch (was not sure on first watch). The reasoning for the decision was not bisased and shouldn't be swept under the rug. The remorse was very clear and clearly genuine, but what happened is something that shouldn't be gotten away with or trivialised. The regulars are all very good, but the supporting cast are even better. Notably the brave and moving performances for Avery and Darius, Avery being one of the latter seasons' most rootable victims.

Concluding, a lot worth admiring here and actually still really liked it on the whole but doesn't reach greatness. If anybody that liked it even more disagrees fair enough. 7/10.