"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" is set to join the ranks of "Quantico," "Homeland," and "The Good Fight" in tackling the prevalence of fake news for the 17th episode of season 18.
Titled "Real Fake News," the episode will feature a congressman (who will be played by James Waterston) seeking the help of the Special Victims Unit after he is accused of solicitation of underage girls. The team will be put to work to find the origin of the fake news, as well as to somehow neutralize this. During the course of their investigation, they will end up discovering a sex trafficking ring.
The episode will also feature another angle in the spread of fake news. Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Rollins (Kelli Giddish) will be targeted by a website that dwells in sensationalism. The trailer featured Benson's anger after she discovers that her son somehow becomes the subject of the said website.
Spoilers suggest that it does not seem as though the events that will be portrayed in the episode will be based on real-life events, unlike the "Quantico" episode which tackled fake news. The latter mirrored the events dubbed as "Pizzagate," wherein a citizen opened fire against a bakery following fake news that spread that the baker refused to make cakes for veterans. Nonetheless, the story it will portray is quite relevant, given the proliferation of fake news in society today.
It is still not clear if the episode will tackle the issue of fake news and its impact on today's current events, particularly its impact on politics, especially in relation to US President Donald Trump, whose supporters are accused of spreading false news. Nonetheless, the cast and crew of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" are no strangers to featuring Trump. They filmed an episode with a Trump-inspired character during the 2016 presidential elections, although this has yet to air.
Episode 17 of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" season 18 will air on May 3, Wednesday, at 9 p.m. EDT on NBC.
