Hollywood’s portrayal of mental illness is often riddled with negative connotations. The social stigma behind mental health still exists today in spite of the waves made. In Season 1, Episode 5 of “NCIS: Hawai’i,” the series uses the case of a double murder to address mental health stigmas. In the episode titled “Gaijin,” an American woman named Abby Nelson is accused of murdering a Japanese sailor and his girlfriend.
Spoiler alert: While this episode follows the standard crime procedural format, the grey area comes in once it is revealed that Nelson has anti-social compulsive disorder and the team is initially adamant that she committed the crimes, per Comic Book Resources. In the entertainment industry, the misrepresentation of mental illness isn’t anything new. Comic Book Resources praised the writing of this episode and highlighted the fact that Nelson’s character helps solve the murder at the end in an act of traversing stereotypes. However, using a character’s mental illness as part of the plot point often comes with consequences. If done incorrectly, it only succeeds in further fueling these very stereotypes.
