L&O season 3: Episode 2
Apr. 16th, 2026 08:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabotabbyThis one's about crypto, which admittedly makes my eyes glaze over even though it's really important. It's just that I know enough about economics to know that all money is fake, but crypto is especially fake, and really has all the downsides of money without the advantages of money. Also everyone involved is an asshole, much more so than is depicted in this episode. It's based largely on Andean Medjedovic (and good job casting someone who looks a great deal like him) and the many attempts to find the real Satoshi Nakamoto.
Warning that this episode discusses autism in ways that are fucked up and shitty.
After the usual montage of unconnected people, an off-the-grid math tutor is found dead in a tree by a dogwalker. Okay, points for originality. There's a bridge nearby, though, so it turns out he was tossed off the bridge and hit the tree instead of the ground. There are no cameras on the bridge, which doesn't make any sense, as I think bridges tend fo be pretty well-surveilled here.
The guy was reportedly "Takashi," who founded a meme coin and then did a rug pull, and I absolutely hate that I know what both of those things are. Lots of investors wanted him dead. One is a filmmaker that looks shockingly like a live-action version of Judah Mannowdog from Bojack Horseman, who lost all his money in the rug pull and is now making a documentary about it. But it could also be a young guy who works at a café who figured out Takashi's real identity and sent it to the filmmaker, who looks exactly like Andean Medjedovic. Or it could be the mild mannered middle manager of a film studio whose uncle-in-law owns the house where the victim was murdered, and who has a 6-year-old autistic son who he wants to send to a private school but can't afford to. Or I guess it could be the very funny high school student who the victim was tutoring but it's very obviously not her, and kudos to the kid whose approximately two minutes of screen time is a pure delight.
Spoiler it's the café guy, who actually was Takashi and set up the victim, who was an early adopter who helped him with the code. This allowed him to get the many investors who want him dead off his back. He stole all the bitcoin but he can't actually use it without revealing his identity, hence working in a café that seems deeply unprofitable given that he can just order everyone to leave and they do.
Basically the plot is fine??? I mean even the murderer does not seem like a crypto kind of guy, nor does the filmmaker. They're just too normie to be that involved, even if they drop phrases like "smooth brain" and "WAGMI" (again, I hate that I know what those mean). The actual motive is too convoluted to work but that can be said of crypto scams in general.
There are some good bits: The kid, as I mentioned, seems to be played by an actual teenager and is great. The medical examiner is also excellent and hilarious. At one point they watch the filmmaker's documentary and Graff eats popcorn with chopsticks for absolutely no reason. The victim has his books arranged to read "Stop Looking At My Bookshelf," which is cute.
There are some annoying bits: The special private school for kids with autism looks exactly like a normal private school or day care, which is to say that kids are playing but the class size is like 6. It does not seem a reliable motive for murder. The cops are generally too knowledgable about crypto. At one point, the victim offers to buy a piece of art from a graffiti artist—who is painting on a wall under a bridge. I don't like that both the victim and one of the suspects have giant chalkboards in their homes.
But the really bad part is the visit to the film studio manager's house in Port Credit, where we meet his wife, who is trying to run her business while caring for the autistic 6-year-old while they try to get him into the private school. First of all, while they do acknowledge that autism is a spectrum, all of the autistic kids depicted in this, including him, appear to be verbal and social. Which doesn't mean that they wouldn't be underserved in public school but look, I have taught loads of kids who have a similar profile and the fact that this is treated like such an incredible tragedy and burden that it would drive a father to murder is very harmful. There's a detailed architectural drawing in three-point perspective on the giant chalkboard in the house, and we are told that the 6-year-old drew it. Bateman says that this is impossible; Graff says it's possible if he's autistic.
Excuse me wut looool
I thought we left the whole Rain Man stereotype about idiot-savant autistic people behind in the 90s but nooo, here it is, shitting up my telly. It takes the episode from silly to harmful. Anyway Bateman is right that it's impossible for reasons that have nothing to do with autism. He is six years old and thus too short to have drawn it. There is a steppy stool but it is not tall enough for a 6-year-old to draw something that is as tall as it is.
Warning that this episode discusses autism in ways that are fucked up and shitty.
After the usual montage of unconnected people, an off-the-grid math tutor is found dead in a tree by a dogwalker. Okay, points for originality. There's a bridge nearby, though, so it turns out he was tossed off the bridge and hit the tree instead of the ground. There are no cameras on the bridge, which doesn't make any sense, as I think bridges tend fo be pretty well-surveilled here.
The guy was reportedly "Takashi," who founded a meme coin and then did a rug pull, and I absolutely hate that I know what both of those things are. Lots of investors wanted him dead. One is a filmmaker that looks shockingly like a live-action version of Judah Mannowdog from Bojack Horseman, who lost all his money in the rug pull and is now making a documentary about it. But it could also be a young guy who works at a café who figured out Takashi's real identity and sent it to the filmmaker, who looks exactly like Andean Medjedovic. Or it could be the mild mannered middle manager of a film studio whose uncle-in-law owns the house where the victim was murdered, and who has a 6-year-old autistic son who he wants to send to a private school but can't afford to. Or I guess it could be the very funny high school student who the victim was tutoring but it's very obviously not her, and kudos to the kid whose approximately two minutes of screen time is a pure delight.
Spoiler it's the café guy, who actually was Takashi and set up the victim, who was an early adopter who helped him with the code. This allowed him to get the many investors who want him dead off his back. He stole all the bitcoin but he can't actually use it without revealing his identity, hence working in a café that seems deeply unprofitable given that he can just order everyone to leave and they do.
Basically the plot is fine??? I mean even the murderer does not seem like a crypto kind of guy, nor does the filmmaker. They're just too normie to be that involved, even if they drop phrases like "smooth brain" and "WAGMI" (again, I hate that I know what those mean). The actual motive is too convoluted to work but that can be said of crypto scams in general.
There are some good bits: The kid, as I mentioned, seems to be played by an actual teenager and is great. The medical examiner is also excellent and hilarious. At one point they watch the filmmaker's documentary and Graff eats popcorn with chopsticks for absolutely no reason. The victim has his books arranged to read "Stop Looking At My Bookshelf," which is cute.
There are some annoying bits: The special private school for kids with autism looks exactly like a normal private school or day care, which is to say that kids are playing but the class size is like 6. It does not seem a reliable motive for murder. The cops are generally too knowledgable about crypto. At one point, the victim offers to buy a piece of art from a graffiti artist—who is painting on a wall under a bridge. I don't like that both the victim and one of the suspects have giant chalkboards in their homes.
But the really bad part is the visit to the film studio manager's house in Port Credit, where we meet his wife, who is trying to run her business while caring for the autistic 6-year-old while they try to get him into the private school. First of all, while they do acknowledge that autism is a spectrum, all of the autistic kids depicted in this, including him, appear to be verbal and social. Which doesn't mean that they wouldn't be underserved in public school but look, I have taught loads of kids who have a similar profile and the fact that this is treated like such an incredible tragedy and burden that it would drive a father to murder is very harmful. There's a detailed architectural drawing in three-point perspective on the giant chalkboard in the house, and we are told that the 6-year-old drew it. Bateman says that this is impossible; Graff says it's possible if he's autistic.
Excuse me wut looool
I thought we left the whole Rain Man stereotype about idiot-savant autistic people behind in the 90s but nooo, here it is, shitting up my telly. It takes the episode from silly to harmful. Anyway Bateman is right that it's impossible for reasons that have nothing to do with autism. He is six years old and thus too short to have drawn it. There is a steppy stool but it is not tall enough for a 6-year-old to draw something that is as tall as it is.
Plot: ** (Decent plot, ruined by ableist autism subplot)
Characters: **** (OTOH, the character stuff is quite good. We get the excellent ME, and we find out that Graff is autistic, which should surprise absolutely no one)
Toronto: ** (A mixed bag. Momo House gets a name drop, and the under-construction house could be yours for just under $2 mil, but other than that it's pretty vague and doesn't do much with its Parkdale location. The café is unrealistic, even as a front to money launder the crypto.)
Murder count: We're still at 5 homicides this year, so the show has hit 40% of the actual Toronto murder rate.
Murder count: We're still at 5 homicides this year, so the show has hit 40% of the actual Toronto murder rate.
no subject
Date: 2026-04-17 01:29 am (UTC)I am so sorry it goes downhill from there.
no subject
Date: 2026-04-17 10:56 am (UTC)