Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series) Clock (2006) User Reviews

good exposition of a painful dilemma

[traitorjoe666 · 9/10 · 1 July 2015]

I guess what prompted me to review this ep was the whole idea of "a paedophile's dream" and the user discussion of this ep, which seems to paint it as rather exploitive (reading between the {deleted} lines, presumably the kissing scene towards the end, of the young girl and older guy). Seems to me that everyone just kinda missed the point.

Dunno, but I see it more as a pretty good exposition of a painful dilemma that Janey, a girl with Turner's Syndrome, had. Here's someone in her mid- to upper-teens who has the body of a preteen. Everyone's concentrating on the guy's perspective, having Janey be "the paedophile's dream", and being able to bed down a "preteen" who's perfectly "legal" and of the age of consent.

But what about the girl's dilemma? She has a limited time to conceive if she's ever to get pregnant, presumably has a shorter lifespan than "normal" people (at least that seemed to be implied in the ep), so needs to cram more Life into her life, as her clock's ticking.

And whom can she actually date? Someone her own chronological age? There's that "paedophile's dream" again, and everyone would trash the guy as being a paedophile, even if he's genuinely in love with her for who she is, not for what she looks like.

Someone her *apparent* age as a preteen? Now *she's* the "paedophile", "robbing the cradle" if she's 18 and dates a 12yo-14yo, just so they as a couple would *look* normal.

Wow, she's damned if she does, and damned if she doesn't. She's in her own special limbo, her own never-never land. She just... can't... win.

I'm not really a fan of SVU (I'm a LO:CI guy...), but this episode seemed to me to be pretty well-written, and did a good job exposing the pain and angst someone with Turner's can have, the desperation that goes along with it, and the lengths to which someone so afflicted would go, just trying, perhaps in vain, to have something "normal" that everyone else takes for granted, and quite often doesn't even appreciate.

I guess the world just expects someone with Turner's to just be forever celibate and never date, let alone marry, *anyone*. And B'harni forbid a guy her age would go out with her, or try to marry her! He'd probably get physically attacked just like Dani (Stabler's new partner) did to the guy at the end.

I guess the world which likes things nice and neat would rather that people with Turner's just disappear into the woodwork and not make them uncomfortable by, well, *existing*.

I think SVU hit this one right on the head.

There are DIFFERENT VARIANTS OF TURNER'S SYNDROME!!!

[ShooShooFontana · 10/10 · 27 December 2019]

Or aren't the alleged Turner's Syndrome complainers here aware of that?? Like many afflictions, especially those that are chromosomal, there are MANY different variations and no 2 cases are identical. This episode was EXCELLENT, both in its writing and the execution by the actors. So-called experts are always hypercritical and do a disservice to the show that is actually bringing a rare condition to the attention of a larger audience than the immediate family that's coddling them. I'm really sick of these "I HAVE THIS AND I KNOW BETTER" "people". Just be grateful this show is even acknowledging you and shut up. *insert eye-rolling here*

Against the clock

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 9 June 2021]

My feelings on "Clock" on first watch were pretty conflicted and remember being disappointed after being very impressed by the previous episode "Informed". Did appreciate "Clock" for what it tried to do and its portrayal of such a rare condition was an eye opener and brave. On first watch though, the story didn't grab me entirely and Stabler's family subplot was too over-powering. There are episodes of 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' not cared for on first watch that grew on me over-time, Season 5's "Poison" being one.

With "Clock" though, while appreciating its efforts in doing something different to usual and in raising awareness of Turner Syndrome it is an episode that has not improved that much over-time. Other episodes are a lot more investable and balance cases and personal life subplots a lot better. Can understand what has been said about the portrayal of Turner Syndrome, this is a condition that is pretty unfamiliar to me but can understand why those that are familiar with it and/or have it would find its portrayal problematic (as some of what is said about it did sound over-generalised and not as tactful as 'Special Victims Unit' can be when exploring medical conditions). And also can understand anybody arguing that there is more than one variant of the condition, the case with a lot of medical conditions that can be generalised too much and misconcepted in visual media (especially the rare ones). Speaking as someone with four conditions that have more than one variant but have a number of misconceptions surrounding them, except they are more common.

Onto talking about "Clock" as an episode. There are a number of plus points. Photography and such as usual are fully professional, the slickness still remaining. The music is used sparingly and is haunting and non-overwrought when it is used, and it's mainly used when a crucial revelation or plot development is revealed. The direction has some nice tension while keeping things steady, without going too far the other way. There are some thoughtful moments in the script, like Huang's perceptions and the more legal oriented scenes.

There is enough to the story to make one interested in learning more about Turner Syndrome and sparking a debate about it and the issues addressed in the episode. Really did appreciate that "Clock" tried to do something different from the usual crimes featured, thematically and structurally. What is said about Turners Syndrome was admirable and was an eye opener definitely. Christopher Meloni gives a typically great and suitably intense performance. Really liked Huang's sympathetic and perceptive role and Cragen's authority and professionalism are also great. Plus we have more Fin and he's great. Betsy Hogg is affecting as Janey.

Less great is the family subplot with Stabler, that really overpowers the case and features too heavily. Didn't find the subplot particularly interesting or well written, more overwrought melodrama if anything and it felt out of place within the episode. Other episodes have a lot more tension and emotion, suspense is quite light here, it's a bit thin case-wise and at times silly.

Didn't care for the detectives' attitudes towards Janey, they are usually a lot more sympathetic with people they consider victims. Here it was like she was being judged by them and like she was being treated as the perpetrator when goaded rather than guided. Stabler sums how she would be perceived to be by others up in a line that actually came over as quite crass and a pretty gross insinuation that shouldn't be in anyone's way of thinking. Dani Beck's first appearance was slightly intriguing but felt on the shoehorned in side, especially with it appearing so out of the blue.

In summary, appreciated it but didn't quite come together. 6/10.

The pedophile's dream

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 5 February 2015]

Some years earlier SVU had an episode where two kids murdered a woman for her marijuana stash. The younger of the two was the more mature, the older was just a follower and definitely not maturing. But the dividing line between childhood and adulthood occurred and the legal system and some who function in it would not take into account the exception.

This episode is the reverse. Young Betsy Hogg suffers from Turner's Syndrome in that she's not making puberty on schedule. Because she comes across like a 10 year old among 17 year olds Hogg is teased and bullied unmercifully.

Her parents are Gregory Harrison and Deborah Raffin and are divorced and in a constant state of quarrel. Hogg has disappeared and the parents call the police.

Looking at Hogg you can't help thinking child. But she's gone off with someone she met on line and in the end there ain't anything that the squad can do about it.

As Christopher Meloni said, 'a pedophile's dream'.

A Serious Misinterpretation of Turner Syndrome!

[Pyro-Chan · 1/10 · 10 April 2016]

Full disclosure: I myself have mosaic Turner Syndrome. I was diagnosed at birth. Thus, when I heard through the proverbial grapevine that there was an episode of this show (which, for the record, I don't much care for in the first place) that mentions this rather obscure genetic disorder, I was intrigued and decided to give the show a chance. I absolutely regret that decision.

The episode's premise is this: a 17-year-old girl, Janey, has gone missing from a field trip to a museum. Because she looks much younger than her age (due to the aforementioned Turner Syndrome), the SVU detectives begin to worry that a pedophile has kidnapped her as a "legal" way of living out little-girl fantasies. They hyper-focus on her outward appearance, and when they find out that she has been remotely using her estranged mother's laptop as a means of looking up sexual-related websites (lingerie shops, position guides, etc.), they immediately assume that she has been coerced into all of it by someone as opposed to viewing it as human curiosity. They discover that she has been seeing a 30-year-old assistant of her father's, and they immediately treat him as a deviant for his interest in her. When they do find her and she's lying naked on a bed in pain, they assume the worst and arrest the man she's seeing. Even when she is well enough to speak to them and states that the entire thing was initiated by her, they do not take her seriously and proceed to go to court to prevent her from this supposedly "harmful" situation. In the end, chronology rules are applied (she is 17 and therefore is legally past the New York age of consent) and she makes the decision to move in with her boyfriend. The episode ends with a new detective nearly arresting the boyfriend for kissing Janey and Stabler stating, "The creep's legal. She's 17." After they walk away, Stabler laments, "Welcome to the world of gray."

I have a laundry list of issues with this episode, not only because I find it offensive as someone with Turner Syndrome (specifically mosaic Turner's, which Janey supposedly has), but because this show presents multiple incorrect facts. In order, they include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Within the first ten minutes of the episode, one detective has already referred to women/girls with Turner Syndrome as "a pervert's walking fantasy". This insinuates that anyone who is remotely sexually interested in a Turner's Syndrome patient must clearly be a pedophile. This is only one incident in the episode where this insinuation is made; there are countless others (to the point where that seems to be the actual take-away message from the show!) and I will not waste time listing them all.

2. There are copious amounts of incorrect medical information. For instance, the person who is supposed to be a medical doctor states, "These girls often don't grow breasts, they rarely get their periods, and they usually don't grow to be taller than a ten-year- old." The truth is this: a huge number (nearly all) of girls who are diagnosed with Turner Syndrome early in their lives undergo some sort of of hormone replacement therapy before or during the ages where puberty would occur naturally. Breasts certainly do grow, and some women grow to be very nearly average height with the growth hormones. The message about periods is not 100% accurate either, though: some get them naturally, some don't; and with hormone replacement menstruation can be started medically (as happened with me).

3. Absolutely none of the "untested" drugs or medical studies that the show mentions are true. Not a single one of them.

4. The show suggests that women who have mosaic Turner Syndrome can possibly get pregnant naturally. While not 100% false, it is so rare in occurrence that it may as well be. Also, the show does not at all discuss the difference in classic Turner Syndrome and mosaic Turner Syndrome.

5. The detectives, though fully aware that Janey's intelligence is not at all affected by Turner Syndrome, still treat her like she is ten or twelve instead of the 17-year-old she is. They refuse to listen when she speaks, and they even state in court that they don't think she is capable of making her own decisions. (Janey's own grandfather said she required "constant supervision", which is another false suggestion.)

All in all, I found this episode offensive and alarming. If writers are going to mention a condition that very few people have heard about, it should be required that they research it first. Absolutely terrible portrayal.

These idiots don't know anything about Turners Sundrome

[marysammons-42220 · 3/10 · 11 December 2019]

I have Mosaic Turners just like another reviewer and totally agree with their criticism. They couldn't be bothered to consult an endocrinologist when writing this episode?