Just in case you were wondering, the tip to knowing whether or not the episode of SVU you are about to watch is a good one is easy:
If the episode description on the digital cable guide starts with the words "A boy is raped," you are golden.But then again, every episode of SVU is a good one, isn't it?
Now, the cross that the episode Hardwired has to bear is that it shows us a disturbing side to Detective-cum-Teacher Roland Pryzbylewski that paints the latter seasons of "The Wire" in a new light.
Initially, Prezbo's decision to leave the police force to teach in the Baltimore Public School system seems like an honorable one. Sure, he was facing suspension from the force, but it seemed like he was on the right track. As he grew and apparently evolved during his trial by fire, it seemed like he was one of the good ones, reaching out and helping out his students in crisis like Randy and Dukie and becoming the heart and soul of perhaps the most powerful season of "The Wire," the penultimate one.As is unearthed in Hardwired, Prezbo was a pedophile all along. He married Gloria after she won on "Jeopardy" and left Woody Boyd. The marriage was clearly one of convenience, as he cared little for the woman who knew loads of food starting with the letter "Q" and much more for her adolescent son Corey. As the Caucasian-with-no-vertical's ex realizes that Prezbo has been drugging her to diddle her now-chlamydia-ridden son, it becomes obvious that Prezbo (who now goes by Thomas) was treating his students well only to be able to leverage those favors for sexual favors.
What is even more disturbing, though, is his friendship with the descendant of Mr. Wolcott from "Deadwood." This man, who also tried to kill Michael Westen in the season finale of "Burn Notice," is a supreme creep, just like his hooker-slaughtering ancestor. Wolcott's great-great-grandson, Kevin O'Donnell, is the leader of a NAMbLA wannabe organization, Our Special Love, who claim that pedophilia is a disease that they are being persecuted for. He also oozes sleaze and made Prezbo tape himself boning his step-son to gain admittance into his club.
Corey takes one for the team, electing to help the police bust the Big Fish to save other kids, but Gloria, who had been homeless in between her impressive win on "Jeopardy" and married Pryzbylewski, ultimately ends up loosing her shit (not without ample justification) and stabs her husband as he is getting taken away.
Thankfully for Gloria, an especially comely Benson works her magic with Cabot, gets her released with a desk appearance ticket, and they commence their massive pedophile arrest sweep, during which Hargitay gets to utter the historic line, "That's the least of your problems, baby raper."
And on that note, this installment of Munch My Benson comes to an end, as the episode itself probably should have because there may not have been a higher point in the history of network television than when those words crossed the lips of Mariska Hargitay.
Dick Wolf.
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