Law and Order SVU

I watched Law and Order: Special Victims Unit this week. The episode was “Father’s Shadow” and aired on 2/8/2012. The use of mis en scene greatly contributes to the plot and theme of the episode. Detectives Olivia Benson and Nick Amaro convict Mr. Sandal, a reality show producer, of multiple sex crimes. But the true focus of the episode is the effect on his 19-year-old son, Eddie. Eddie suffers from a mental breakdown of feeling betrayed by his girlfriend and abandoned by his convicted, selfish father. As a result, he takes his somewhat older girlfriend, Jess, and her four year old daughter, Lily, hostage. Mis en scene become very relevant when Jess walks into their apartment and Lily is sitting on Eddie’s lap, while he slowly points a gun at her head. The idea of sitting on someone’s lap conveys comfort, trust, and love. But the gun suggests otherwise. Later, Detective Benson is attempting to negotiate with Eddie to keep everyone safe while he is inside the apartment and she is outside. As he begins to listen to her, he opens the door wider. But when she loses his trust, he slams the door shut. The door and its mis en scene motions represent Eddie’s state of mind. He transforms from trusting and cooperative to close-minded and shut out in a second. The door serves as a visual to portray this transformation.