By Staff Writer, Oct 02, 2013 10:06 AM EDT
(PHOTO CREDIT: NBC)
Cybill Shepherd guest stars on tonight's all new episode of "Law and Order: SVU." The episode titled " American Tragedy" was inspired by two recent events, the trial of George Zimmerman and the scandal surrounding celebrity chef Paula Deen. In tonight's episode Cybill Shepherd appears as a southern celebrity chief who shoots and kills an unarmed teen because she thinks she was about to become the next victim of a rapist stalking the upper east side. The SVU detectives arrest the chef and the incident grabs national attention becoming an issue of racial profiling versus self-defense.
Writers of "American Tragedy" pulled their story from the Trayvon Martin case. The death of the Florida teen grabbed national attention and sparked protests against racial profiling. Martin was shot and killed in February of 2012 by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain that was following Martin. According to Zimmerman he shot Martin in self-defense after the teen attacked him. Zimmerman said that he was following the 17-year-old because he fit the description of suspects involved with a series of break-ins in his neighborhood. When George Zimmerman was found not guilty of murder the nation split and angry protests erupted calling for justice.
The other side of the case in tonight's "SVU" centers on whether or not a celebrity chef is a closet racist. Former Food Network star Paula Deen was recently released from the Food Network and lost endorsments and deals with a variety of companies after it was revealed she said the word Ni**er over 30-years ago. Lawsuits have also been filed against Deen alleging she used racial slurs in the workplace and asked her black employees to participate in racially offensive acts while at work.
In tonight's "Law and Order" guest star Cybill Shepherd will take on the roles of both Zimmerman and Deen. She is playing a chef born and raised in the American south as well as the defendant in a murder case in which protesters are shouting racial profiling. In one scene in the episode promo we see Shepard's character Jolene Castille is talking with detective Rollins (Kelli Giddish) when she says "if we were down home I'd be getting a medal."
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Also featured in tonight's episode will be detective Benson's (Mariska Hargity) struggle to overcome what happened to her in the season premiere. Olivia Benson was kidnapped and tortured for four days by a suspect she and the SVU squad had trouble putting in jail. In a clip from tonight's episode we see Benson in a therapy session talking about how she over reacted to a guy that made a pass at her. From the clip we get the feeling Benson beat this guy up. She tells her therapist she is all over the place and her doctor tells her she needs to forgive herself for letting her attacker surprise her.
"Law and Order: SVU" airs tonight at 9pm ET on NBC.
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