Did a mind tumor make Luke Fallon kill the commanding officer he as soon as served underneath?
Sure and no. Fallon’s declare that he blacked out in the course of the homicide felt contrived, however he did kill Lockett as a result of he blamed his former superior for his well being points.
Legislation & Order Season 22 Episode 8 took on many points, a lot of which associated to the navy expectation that troopers observe orders. It was a fancy problem that could not be absolutely addressed in solely an hour.
Lockett was referred to as a pleasant man who tried to assist others. Nonetheless, he made enemies each within the navy and civilian life as a result of he tended to observe orders unquestioningly.
Certainly one of his troopers killed him after creating mind most cancers, however he may have simply as simply been murdered by a co-worker after he obeyed his CEO’s directive to inflate earnings on a mortgage software.
The CFO rightly stated that was fraud and confronted him about it, whereas the CEO admitted he’d given Lockett this process as a result of he knew he’d been within the Military and would do what he was advised.
CEO: Projections are made up numbers. We did not do something unsuitable.
Shaw: Then why reduce out the CFO?
CEO: She has no monetary creativeness.
Shaw: And Alex did?
CEO: He adopted orders. He was a former soldier so I knew he’d do what he was advised.
Lockett wasn’t out to defraud anybody, however he would not stand as much as his boss, identical to he would not stop utilizing the burn pits if his superiors advised him to not. He died as a result of he adopted the chain of command to the letter even when he knew it was killing his males.
This incident raised a query that viewers must wrestle with: when, if ever, does it stop to be ethical to observe orders?
It is simpler, to an extent, in civilian life than navy life, however what would have occurred if Lockett hadn’t gone together with the CEO’s inflating earnings on mortgage functions? It is troublesome to say what sort of stress Lockett would have been underneath and what the non-public value of him doing such a factor would have been.
That does not imply it wasn’t the fitting factor to do, however good individuals could make unsuitable selections for comprehensible causes.
There are occasions when it’s crucial to not observe orders (Nuremberg trials, anybody?), however it wasn’t clear whether or not the inflated earnings state of affairs was considered one of them. As for the burn pits, was there something Lockett may have achieved apart from stop over this problem?
He’d requested the Military to cease utilizing burn pits and was advised No. If he had disobeyed, he most likely would have misplaced his command and been dishonorably discharged. A brand new chief would have been put in his place that might proceed utilizing the burn pits.
Plus, what choices have been there? He needed to eliminate medical waste someway, and he could not construct incinerators by himself.
Fallon’s protection wasn’t nice, both. He thought-about something he did whereas following orders ethical, however it by no means occurred to him that his commander may even have orders from above.
It did not assist that Lockett by no means shared with him that he had tried and did not do something concerning the burn pits, however Fallon ought to know the way Military hierarchy works. It was unlikely that Lockett had full autonomy and was solely liable for choices involving burn pits.
I am not a fan of defenses involving mind tumors or psychological sickness “making” somebody do one thing. These items are exceedingly uncommon, and we already had a case involving a mind illness protection not that way back.
TV reveals usually misuse madness defenses in ways in which contribute to stereotypes about psychological sickness inflicting violence. Legislation & Order did not do this, however Fallon did.
He latched onto this protection when his different arguments weren’t working. I agreed with McCoy that this protection was not credible and that the DA’s workplace wanted to indicate that he was making an attempt to control the jury.
The report demonstrating that he shot a civilian earlier than was sturdy proof — if it was true. Regardless of McCoy’s insistence that there was no proof it was false, utilizing it will have been a horrible concept.
The protection solely needed to make the jury doubt its veracity to render the report ineffective. Contemplating Fallon’s claims that he would solely kill if advised to, it will be pretty simple to recommend that the Military ordered him to kill these civilians after which kicked him out to cowl up their screw-up.
Getting Fallon to comprehend he’d been unsuitable about Lockett was a greater technique. That could not simply be undone by the protection legal professional poking holes in a narrative which may be inaccurate.
The unit’s well being points due to the burn pit publicity have been all tragic. It was horrible that Fallon and his buddy suffered from horrible ailments and that the VA could not assist Shane due to his dishonorable discharge.
This story touched upon a bunch of actual points and requested questions on whether or not the Military used the pits whereas figuring out it may hurt troopers.
There wasn’t sufficient time to delve into all these points, however the story could lead on viewers to have fascinating conversations.
What did you suppose, Legislation & Order fanatics? Hit the large, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and tell us. And do not forget you may watch Legislation & Order on-line whereas ready for the autumn finale to air.
Legislation & Order airs on NBC on Thursdays at 8 PM EST / PST. The autumn finale airs on December 7, 2022.
Jack Ori is a senior workers author for TV Fanatic. His debut younger grownup novel, Reinventing Hannah, is offered on Amazon. Observe him on Twitter.
