We learned something new about Vince Riley when his troublemaking brother came to town on Law & Order Season 24 Episode 3.
His brother, Matt, was a thorn in his side the entire episode, starting with his expectation that the police detective bail him out.
Ryan Eggold played this annoying character perfectly, and Riley finally made the right decision at the end of the episode, but cops enabling their troubled family members is a trope I’d like not to cross my screen again for a while.
This trope is common in the Law & Order universe, especially on Law & Order: SVU, where it’s already been used twice.
Not only did SVU’s Amanda Rollins have a troubled sister that nobody liked, but Benson had a half-brother for whom she kept dropping everything.
In both cases, trying to be there for their family member only put the detective at risk of losing their job.
Rollins was probably the most ridiculous, as she almost went to jail behind her sister, framing her for murder.
But I remember holding my breath and praying Benson didn’t ruin everything for herself because she kept leaving meetings at the squad room about the current case to go rescue her half-brother from whatever mess he’d gotten into.
Suffice it to say, I’m burned out by this particular trope after the way it was handled on SVU!
Besides this, why is it that Blue Bloods is the only show where I’m certain the cops wouldn’t give a self-destructive family member every possible pass because of the relationship?
It doesn’t do the self-destructive person any good to constantly get bailed out.
It’s also not good for the police’s image for cops to constantly be trying to make changes go away or otherwise shield their family members from the consequences of their actions.
An additional problem with this Law & Order trope is that it reinforces negative ideas: that people with addiction problems are all manipulative, selfish liars.
It’s true that some people who abuse drugs or alcohol are manipulative and selfish, but not everybody is.
Addiction is a serious mental health issue, and I’m sure that Law & Order doesn’t want to discourage people from getting help.
But when the franchise shows cop after cop bending over backward to help an addicted sibling (why is it always a sibling, too?) who is very clearly manipulating them, it paints a lopsided picture that can discourage some from reaching out for support to stop drinking or using.
Oddly, another Dick Wolf show is counteracting these stereotypes constantly.
Chicago Med has been doing a phenomenal job with Hannah’s mental health storyline, including her temptation to use and her decision to go to NA meetings instead.
Rollins herself did this with gambling addiction (although she had a relapse that led to a silly story about her working undercover in a gambling ring).
Yet, when it comes to siblings of addicts, the Law & Order franchise tells the same story over and over, and it’s annoying.
In real life, those people who manipulate others into paying for drugs or bailing them out are generally skilled liars who can turn on the charm as needed to get what they want.
However, these drug-addicted siblings are super obvious about it, and Matt Riley was one of the worst offenders.
Throughout the episode, it was not only obvious that he was going to screw his brother over but how he was going to do it.
He continually made promises that he had no intention of keeping, only to change his mind at the last minute and back out of the deal.
When he turned off the spy camera because he “didn’t want to be a snitch,” that should have been the end of Riley trusting that his brother would ever turn things around.
He should have told Nolan to do whatever he had to regarding the gun charge, washed his hands of the whole thing, and found the evidence he needed for his case some other way.
Instead, Riley gave him chance after chance, dangling the promise of exoneration to get his brother to cooperate.
He almost tanked Nolan’s case by offering his brother as a witness, only for Matt to flake out on the stand.
The least Riley should have done is warn Nolan that his brother had a history of backing out of these deals at the last minute so that Nolan would be prepared for Matt to say nothing useful while under oath.
Thankfully, Riley wised up after Matt pulled that last stunt in court, but by then, the damage was done.
I cheered when he informed Matt they were going ahead with the drug charges. Hopefully, Vince has learned his lesson and won’t fall for any more of Matt’s tricks later in the season.
That’s part of this tiresome trope, too. The manipulative characters never disappear unless they die or are killed.
Rollins had to reject her sister at least three times before we got rid of her for good. Let’s hope it doesn’t take Matt that long to get the message.
What do you think, Law & Order fanatics? Does this trope bother you too, or do you think it’s just par for the course on police procedurals?
Hit the comments with your thoughts!
Law & Order airs on NBC on Thursdays at 8/7c and on Peacock on Fridays.
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