Diagnosis: Asperger's Syndrome
Portrayed by Mark Linn-Bake
Season 2, "Probability"; Season 6, "Endgame"
Wally Stevens is an insurance company employee who is sent to help the NY detectives with a case involving fourteen murdered homeless people in an insurance fraud scheme. The
detectives quickly notice his repetitive movements, including rhythmically tapping his
fingers on the desk to remain focused and calm. Mr. Stevens doesn’t share personal information except that he plays the piano very well.
After their first interaction, one detectives calls him "geeky". He admits early in the episode that he has trouble making eye contact and says “If I look at people for more than 2/3 of the time I seem aggressive. If I look at someone for less than 1/3 of the time he seems dishonest.” He says he is working on more appropriate nonverbal practices. When the detectives start to notice several small patterns within the case, they realize that Stevens must have something to do with the deaths. One detective makes the connection and informs his colleagues of his suspicion that Wally has Asperger's; “symptoms include the need to create and duplicate patters, impairment of nonverbal behavior such as eye to eye gaze, flexible adherence to routines, often coupled with high intelligence and the tendency to become preoccupied with a particular subject…. It’s a high functioning form of Autism. It’s why Wally Stevens can’t empathize, it’s why he can’t connect…” They trick Mr. Stevens into freely marking two locations on a map, which happen to coincide with the patterns emerging from the previous murders. During the confrontation, the detectives tell Mr. Stevens that he is making these patters, has lost his wife and has social trouble because he has Asperger's. He was previously undiagnosed, but there is a sense of relief because he now knows why his wife and children left him, why he needs certain routines and why acts the way he does. It becomes a scapegoat for him, something that he can blame his actions on.
Beside the serial killer aspect of Wally's character, the representation follows the stereotypical, focusing on repetitive patterns, difficulty with eye contact, and high intelligence. I thought it was a mediocre, generic representation. For someone who has no other exposure to ASD, making this character a serial killer is a slippery slope for misrepresentations. While I'm sure the show portrays many different types of murderers, labeling someone with a social disorder a killer can only perpetrate negative stereotypes.
Like I've mentioned before, I would really stress the importance of writing characters who are more varied in their actions and behaviors. Since most of the shows are just focusing on the disorder for one to three episodes, it is hard to include a great deal of information, different types of characters with Autism or provide glimpses of one's personality over a longer period of time. Instead they cram many behaviors into a very short timeframe and for them, it's easier to choose the commonly known behaviors. I applaud all the shows for trying, but I do wish they really looked at how these portrayals affected their audience.
** I could not find any videos for your connivence, but the episodes are available through iTunes and Amazon.
After their first interaction, one detectives calls him "geeky". He admits early in the episode that he has trouble making eye contact and says “If I look at people for more than 2/3 of the time I seem aggressive. If I look at someone for less than 1/3 of the time he seems dishonest.” He says he is working on more appropriate nonverbal practices. When the detectives start to notice several small patterns within the case, they realize that Stevens must have something to do with the deaths. One detective makes the connection and informs his colleagues of his suspicion that Wally has Asperger's; “symptoms include the need to create and duplicate patters, impairment of nonverbal behavior such as eye to eye gaze, flexible adherence to routines, often coupled with high intelligence and the tendency to become preoccupied with a particular subject…. It’s a high functioning form of Autism. It’s why Wally Stevens can’t empathize, it’s why he can’t connect…” They trick Mr. Stevens into freely marking two locations on a map, which happen to coincide with the patterns emerging from the previous murders. During the confrontation, the detectives tell Mr. Stevens that he is making these patters, has lost his wife and has social trouble because he has Asperger's. He was previously undiagnosed, but there is a sense of relief because he now knows why his wife and children left him, why he needs certain routines and why acts the way he does. It becomes a scapegoat for him, something that he can blame his actions on.
Beside the serial killer aspect of Wally's character, the representation follows the stereotypical, focusing on repetitive patterns, difficulty with eye contact, and high intelligence. I thought it was a mediocre, generic representation. For someone who has no other exposure to ASD, making this character a serial killer is a slippery slope for misrepresentations. While I'm sure the show portrays many different types of murderers, labeling someone with a social disorder a killer can only perpetrate negative stereotypes.
Like I've mentioned before, I would really stress the importance of writing characters who are more varied in their actions and behaviors. Since most of the shows are just focusing on the disorder for one to three episodes, it is hard to include a great deal of information, different types of characters with Autism or provide glimpses of one's personality over a longer period of time. Instead they cram many behaviors into a very short timeframe and for them, it's easier to choose the commonly known behaviors. I applaud all the shows for trying, but I do wish they really looked at how these portrayals affected their audience.
** I could not find any videos for your connivence, but the episodes are available through iTunes and Amazon.
Hi, just a couple of editorial comments.
ReplyDelete1. "patters" should be "patterns"
2. "connivence" should be "convenience"
With all due respect, I believe you are off the mark a bit. "Probabilities" may be following "...the stereotypical, focusing on repetitive patterns, difficulty with eye contact, and high intelligence..." to an extent but it was not a "mediocre, generic representation" (Compare with the SVU episode where the Greek Chorus has problems determining whether rape is OK if the victim is a national Conservative figure - Talk about stereotypes!!!).
ReplyDeleteThe problem here is that Mark Linn-Baker, in the character Wally Stevens, gives one of the greatest performances seen on television. His Self-Realization is palpable and deep and his cry, "Why didn't someone tell me?" is real and it HURTS! It is not that he finally has a scapegoat. HE STILL WANTS THINGS AS THEY WERE with his wife and his life. Anyone who looks back at a past breakup knows the feeling and here it is x200.
Beyond Linn-Baker's performance, look at the interaction between Wally Stevens and Mark Ford Brady in the episode "Endgame", esp. as Wally leaves Brady to deliver the message to Goren. Pure manipulation from Brady in his affect and pure unawareness from Wally Stevens.
I knew a woman who had an autistic baby and it devastated her because when she nursed the child, the baby did not respond at all. Indeed, that was a first marker that the baby was born with autism.
It's hard to write coherently for a one hour Crime Drama and, No, I don't believe that Autistic people will go on killing sprees. Wally Stevens may or may not be shown in fully accurate settings. I completely sympathize with him, though. Linn-Baker gave me no other choice.
Thanx,
CW
Hannah....Ever heard "If the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." Never ceases to amaze me how you're not smart enough to create a TV series that runs 20 years. But you think that you're smart enough to complain. It's like a loading dock worker say Jeff Bezos doesn't know how to run Amazon.
ReplyDelete