The latest police procedural sprung from the mind of Dick Wolf is the self-explanatory Law & Order: Hate Crimes.
The new spin-off is based on a real-life crime-fighting unit in New York City that “pledges to uphold a zero tolerance policy against discrimination of any kind.” (It’s the second oldest team of its kind in the nation, according to Variety.) Other than Law & Order: Special Victims Unit showrunner Warren Leight, no names are attached to the spin-off.
Wolf likens the new series to SVU:
“Twenty years ago when ‘SVU’ began, very few people felt comfortable coming forward and reporting these crimes, but when you bring the stories into people’s living rooms – with characters as empathetic as Olivia Benson – a real dialogue can begin.”
I’m not sure how I feel about this TV show doing more to normalize conversations around sexual assault and rape than, I don’t know, actual social workers and sex educators, but Law & Order has its faithful fans, so who knows. Will Hate Crimes try to be super woke and cash in on this cultural moment? Or will it do what Law & Order does best: create suspense, stir in compelling interpersonal drama, and give actors like Ice-T the role of a lifetime?