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That was all about behind-the-scenes COVID policy, though.
At worst, its a nightmare of ridiculous, milquetoast, equivocating gestures.
Law & Order: SVUis fairly typical, as connection procedurals in 2020 go.
Theres an impressive amount of hygiene theater.
Temperatures are taken and hand sanitizer gets squirted.
Next, Kat and Rollins question a bartender inside his bar, with nary a mask to be seen.
(Maybe ignored entirely isnt fair.
Thats not how it works, the protagonist mutters.
But the father comes to stay for the weekend anyhow.
This is what the middle ground of COVID storytelling looks like, and its both unsatisfying and distracting.
Yes, these characters seem to be living in a pandemic.
Its tough not to feel flabbergasted by the inconsistencies.
It was meant to be a release, but all I could think about was aerosolized virus particles.
Its no easier on comedies.
(No masks in sight).
The medical dramaThe Good Doctorhas also chosen the ignore it route.
Until then, hey protect yourselves and others.
I understand the impulse.
It would be so nice if we could all just fast forward to that moment in the future.
Im still not sure how to feel about whats happening on data pipe TV this fall.
Im instantly distracted, and whatever fictional suspense I was living in totally collapses.
I cant; its all I can see.
We would not be in the crisis were currently in if America was full of diligent mask-wearing citizens.
That knowledge does not make any of this feel better.
If anything, it makes those internal alarms seem even louder.
It also makes me feel like a hopeless scold, the kind of moralizing censor I have always loathed.
These shows are bad because they demonstrate bad behavior!
Or is this more like the pushback against depictions of characters smoking on TV?
And yet I find myself yearning for it, anyhow.
It is not chiefly their fault.
I am one woman staring at Olivia Benson, just wishing shed wear her mask consistently.
