Law & Order Review: Fault Lines (Season 21 Episode 4)

The concept of guardianship over a mentally ill adult takes center stage on Law & Order Season 21 Episode 4, “Fault Lines.”

Much like reality where conservatorships are a messy legal battle, the story of Lucy becomes one that toes the line of legal and ethical.

While this story is another “ripped from the headlines” plot, it differs enough that the turns of each new piece of evidence keeps us interested. The episode overall isn’t too exciting, but it tells an interesting story, and that is half the battle.

The Good Judge

One of the fun parts about Bernard and Cosgrove’s investigation is that the quippy lines Law & Order is famous for come back after having been missing from the start of this season.

While they don’t serve to progress the plot, these lines give us a sense of familiarity and cohesiveness.

It also brightens up an otherwise dry investigation. If you think about it, starting off the plot with a judge swimming in gambling debts isn’t exactly hard hitting or fascinating.

It’s not until Lucy is connected to the judge’s story that things start to pick up, which takes about a third of the episode to get to. Even then it simply seems like a case of random “bipolar rage” which doesn’t sit well for viewers concerned with depictions of mental health.

She is described by her doctor as having control on her disorder through drug therapy as well as psychological therapy. Therefore, she shouldn’t be able to claim insanity as a defense and yet the writers decide that’s a story worth exploring.

Lucy’s Woes

The reveal that Lucy has bipolar disorder is supposed to give insight into her motives, but it also starts the story down a path very often taken with TV. I’m talking about the villainization of people with mental illness. 

While it is true that some criminals do things because they have some kind of mental disorder, it should never be the first line of defense for someone who doesn’t have a typically violent form of mental illness. Case in point Lucy, whose doctor even states that her bipolar disorder doesn’t make her violent.

Maroun and Price do a great job of trying to pull the focus away from her mental illness as the cause of her murdering the judge, but the fact remains that the writers shouldn’t have even put it into the story as her defense for insanity in the first place. 

That being said, it does bring to light that Lucy is under a guardianship because her father felt she wasn’t stable enough to make her own decisions.

This is something that should be discussed more and therefore, Law & Order is right to make that the focus of the episode’s third act.

Maroun’s Actions

The idea of conservatorships/guardianships is great in theory, but in practice — as this episode points out — are largely mishandled.

Once again, people with mental illness should never be villainized or treated as unable to function properly. 

It’s terrific that the show has decided to give a bit more positive focus to the victims of such guardianships. People should be allowed to be in therapy or on medications without being seen as unstable individuals who need every decision monitored for them.

Lucy killed the judge because he refused to approve her to marry her boyfriend. Why is this even a concern for someone who is maintaining themselves and their disorder through drug and mental therapy?

The bleeding heart of Maroun could see that Lucy was never going to be given a fair shake by her lawyer because they benefited from her continuing to play tennis. On that hand her actions to inform Lucy of the deal the prosecution offered is justified.

However, she did break protocol and Price had every right to threaten her with termination should it happen again.

I sincerely hope Maroun continues to push those boundaries because it adds so much heart and character to the show.

She is one of the only women on the show and she continues to push the men around her to be more lenient and understanding in the way they conduct themselves and their interactions with suspects/victims.

Maroun continues to be a strong, positive voice for women everywhere and honestly one of the best parts about this show.

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Law & Order airs Thursdays at 8/7c on NBC.

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