"Intimidation Game" is the fourteenth episode of the
sixteenth season of the
police procedural
The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies ...
television series
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...
''
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. The episode aired on February 11, 2015, on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
. In the episode, which was loosely inspired by the
Gamergate controversy
Gamergate or GamerGate (GG) was a loosely organized misogynistic online harassment campaign motivated by a right-wing backlash against feminism, diversity, and progressivism in video game culture. It was conducted using the hashtag "#Game ...
, a female video game developer is harassed and threatened by a group of misogynistic cyber terrorists. The episode featured guest appearances from
Logan Paul
Logan Alexander Paul (born April 1, 1995) is an American influencer, professional wrestler, Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur, boxing, boxer, and actor. He has over 23 million subscribers on his YouTube channel ''Logan Paul Vlogs'' and has ranked ...
,
Toby Turner,
Jack Vale and
James Ciccone.
Synopsis
Video game developer Raina Punjabi (
Mouzam Makkar) ignores warnings from online predators as the release date of her game arrives. When a female employee is soon assaulted at a game convention, the detectives ask Punjabi to halt the game's release. When she refuses, Fin and SVU must race to protect her from technically skilled predators that want to see Punjabi out of the gaming business.
Reception
Critical response
Announced on January 29, 2015 and aired on NBC in the United States on February 11, 2015, the episode received negative reviews for its portrayal of
gaming culture and "
sexism in video games."
Ratings
According to
TV by the Numbers
TV by the Numbers was a website devoted to collecting and analyzing television ratings data in the United States that operated from 2007 to 2020. It was a part of Nexstar Media Group's Zap2it television news/listings site.
History
An Internet an ...
, the episode's original broadcast was watched by 6.12 million viewers and acquired a 1.4 rating/4% share in the 18–49 demographic.
References
External links
*
''Law & Order: SVU''–Episode Guide–Intimidation Game
{{Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes
2015 American television episodes
Gamergate (harassment campaign)
Television episodes directed by Jean de Segonzac
Television episodes about misogyny