Intimidation Game
- Episode aired Feb 11, 2015
- TV-14
- 42m
IMDb RATING
4.6/10
2.1K
YOUR RATING
A female video game developer is harassed and threatened by a group of misogynistic cyber terrorists.A female video game developer is harassed and threatened by a group of misogynistic cyber terrorists.A female video game developer is harassed and threatened by a group of misogynistic cyber terrorists.
Danny Pino
- Detective Nick Amaro
- (credit only)
Ice-T
- Detective Odafin 'Fin' Tutuola
- (as Ice T)
Raúl Esparza
- ADA Rafael Barba
- (credit only)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode holds the record for the lowest rated episode for the whole series.
- GoofsBenson incorrectly explains the effects of New York's "Son of Sam" law to Leslie, stating that he could lose the profits from his "Glasgowman" video game as proceeds of a criminal act. New York's law applies only to the perpetrators of the crime. However, it is likely that Benson was deliberately lying to elicit Leslie's cooperation with the investigation.
- Quotes
Odafin Tutuola: I read on Kotaku that it's better than Civ 5 with the Brave New World expansion pack.
- ConnectionsReferenced in SVU Crosses the Line with Controversial Episode (2024)
Featured review
Not gonna lie, this was a weird one.
Normally I tend to rate SVU episodes on the higher side, but this one just left me scratching my head. The dialogue was really simplistic and overwrought for SVU. Parts of it read like an informational video about popular culture. There are ways to clue your audience into what unfamiliar terms might mean without making it feel like an awkward educational video from the '90s.
"Doxxing? Gee, what's that?" "That's a great question, fellow officer! Doxxing is when (insert copied and pasted definition from Wikipedia)."
There are multiple moments like this that just make it feel like we're being talked down to. Then there's the dialogue from the baddies in the game, which has absolutely zero nuance and just repeats itself along the lines of, "B****! We don't like b****es in gaming!" But, why, exactly? Meh, who knows. The episode utterly fails to address this extremely important question.
SVU could have taken the time spent overexplaining gamer culture in order to even vaguely address the complexities of online misogyny and overlapping incel culture, but they didn't even try. The topic is hinted at when Carisi says something along the lines of that attitude coming from "a place of pain, and a feeling like you don't matter." But that line of thinking is immediately obscured by absurd references to the perps "leveling up" and attempts to explain their behavior as not being able to tell the difference between real life and video games. Huh? Considering their behavior bears zero relationship to the gameplay in their game of choice (a Call of Duty lookalike), this makes zero sense.
There are some enjoyable moments, such as Carisi's undercover performance (that guy is just a fantastic actor). Mouzam Makkar brings strength and nuance to the character of Raina Punjabi, despite a poorly written character arc. I also got a kick out of Fin's reference to Civ 5, even though his delivery was so awkward and rehearsed.
Ultimately, we're left with is a very shallow and confusing portrayal of a bunch of completely unrelatable characters. This topic had a lot of potential; The echo chamber of the manosphere and overlapping gamer culture is extremely relevant right now, as online culture encroaches more and more on the real world. This episode failed to explore any of that. I hope they try again at some point with a better writer, because these issues are important.
"Doxxing? Gee, what's that?" "That's a great question, fellow officer! Doxxing is when (insert copied and pasted definition from Wikipedia)."
There are multiple moments like this that just make it feel like we're being talked down to. Then there's the dialogue from the baddies in the game, which has absolutely zero nuance and just repeats itself along the lines of, "B****! We don't like b****es in gaming!" But, why, exactly? Meh, who knows. The episode utterly fails to address this extremely important question.
SVU could have taken the time spent overexplaining gamer culture in order to even vaguely address the complexities of online misogyny and overlapping incel culture, but they didn't even try. The topic is hinted at when Carisi says something along the lines of that attitude coming from "a place of pain, and a feeling like you don't matter." But that line of thinking is immediately obscured by absurd references to the perps "leveling up" and attempts to explain their behavior as not being able to tell the difference between real life and video games. Huh? Considering their behavior bears zero relationship to the gameplay in their game of choice (a Call of Duty lookalike), this makes zero sense.
There are some enjoyable moments, such as Carisi's undercover performance (that guy is just a fantastic actor). Mouzam Makkar brings strength and nuance to the character of Raina Punjabi, despite a poorly written character arc. I also got a kick out of Fin's reference to Civ 5, even though his delivery was so awkward and rehearsed.
Ultimately, we're left with is a very shallow and confusing portrayal of a bunch of completely unrelatable characters. This topic had a lot of potential; The echo chamber of the manosphere and overlapping gamer culture is extremely relevant right now, as online culture encroaches more and more on the real world. This episode failed to explore any of that. I hope they try again at some point with a better writer, because these issues are important.
- ramonaklitzke
- Jan 23, 2023
- Permalink
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