Drama
Alien: Earth
FX’s ‘Alien: Earth’ is just the latest graphically violent entry in the already graphically violent ‘Alien’ franchise.
“In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups…. These are their stories.”
If you’ve flicked on the television sometime in the last three decades (give or take), you’re likely familiar with Law & Order’s classic opening line. And if you’re like me, you can probably quote it verbatim. Perhaps you can even hum the theme song.
The flagship Law & Order series began in 1990 and starred Jerry Orbach and Sam Waterston. Nine years later, Law & Order: SVU premiered, starring Christopher Meloni. And now, Meloni reprises his role in Law & Order: Organized Crime, which premiered on April 1, 2021. Despite the ironic release date, the franchise’s sixth spin-off series was no joke, and according to Collider, it captured 7.86 million viewers for its premiere.
While most Law & Order episodes are equal parts detective work and courtroom drama—both of which are resolved by the end of the episode—Organized Crime takes a different approach. With a single storyline spanning entire seasons, Organized Crime focuses on the police investigations and personal life of Meloni’s character, Elliot Stabler.
In the first season, Stabler joins the NYPD’s Organized Crime Task Force after the tragic murder of his wife. Determined to bring her killer to justice, Stabler partners with the task force’s squad supervisor, Sergeant Ayanna Bell. But things have changed since he last served at the NYPD. And Stabler learns to juggle his work at the task force with his rocky family life.
The succeeding seasons repeat Season One’s serialized approach, and each focuses on one of Stabler’s investigations or undercover missions. From prostitution to drug smuggling, Stabler’s missions explore current issues, including hate crimes, COVID-19 and the Ukraine War. And in every season, Stabler grapples with how to keep his personal and professional lives separate and under control.
The original Law & Order certainly didn’t shy away from the grisly things that humans do to one another. Each episode centered around serious crimes such as kidnapping, rape and murder. Still, the format of the original lent itself to discussing what happened rather than depicting it in vivid detail. And the emphasis seemed to be on bringing the perpetrators to justice rather than graphically illustrating their crimes.
The same cannot be said for Law & Order: Organized Crime.
While Stabler’s mission is undoubtedly justice, many episodes graphically depict violence. These illustrations are not nearly as disturbing as the crime depicted in such shows as Criminal Minds. Still, viewers see the bloody results of gunshots to the head and blows to the face. And several seasons focus on violence against women and minority groups, some of whom are kidnapped and tortured.
Mature content in Organized Crime extends beyond violence. Characters use harsh profanity including the f-word, the s-word and misuses of God’s name. Sex work and drug smuggling are recurring themes. And Sergeant Ayanna Bell is in a same-sex marriage in some of the seasons.
There’s certainly nothing palatable about crime in the real world, but shows that pull no punches when depicting these atrocities do nothing to solve the problem. So while Law & Order: Organized Crime is certainly not the worst offender when it comes to crime-centric television shows, it’s far from innocent.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
After a leave of absence, Elliot Stabler goes back undercover when Sergeant Bell tells him about the suspected partnership between a shady trucking company and a motorcycle gang. Allegedly, these dangerous groups are joining forces to smuggle drugs and traffic young women. Resolved to protect the vulnerable, Stabler adopts the alias “Hank” and lands a job with the trucking company. Immediately, Stabler meets a young girl named Bunny, whom he’s determined to look after.
In an opening sequence, men burn a human body, which can be seen in detail. These men discuss dismembering another body. Later, the same men shoot someone in the head, and viewers can see the blood spew. A man shoves another man into the wall and punches him in the face, which causes him to bleed. A man and a young girl are victims of a dangerous car crash, and their car rolls over several times.
Stabler meets several women involved in sex work. that the show implies that at least some of these women are involved against their will, and one scene depicts a man sexually assaulting a woman. Some scenes also suggest that these women—including an underage girl—are the victims of violence. In one scene, viewers see a woman tied up next to what looks like the dead body of another woman.
Adult women wear clothing that displays midriff and cleavage. Male characters make sexual innuendos. A male character and a female character kiss briefly. Characters discuss that a woman has a girlfriend. A man is seen standing at a urinal, but nothing critical is shown.
Characters use profanity including two uses of the f-word, four uses of the s-word, four uses of “d–n,” five uses of “h—,” three uses of a–,” and misuses of God’s name.
A major plot line involves Stabler working undercover to smuggle drugs and weapons across the United States borders. Characters drink alcohol and smoke. A woman asks a young girl if she has “any smokes.” Other characters joke about smoking.
FX’s ‘Alien: Earth’ is just the latest graphically violent entry in the already graphically violent ‘Alien’ franchise.
Based on novel by Jenny Han, this series follows the complex love life of Belly, a young girl caught between two boys who are childhood friends as she joins the world of debutantes.
In Nickelodeon’s preschool cartoon Tim Rex in Space, Tim and his T-Rex family solve problems together.
Good as its name, Prime Video’s ‘Butterfly’ is a flyaway thing. But its content can sting like a bee.
