Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 2 revolves around a retired judge who raped his stepdaughter decades ago and got away with it.
TV Fanatic writers Sara Trimble, Laura Nowak, Jasmine Blu and Jack Ori discuss whether the judge’s behavior was surprising, the final reveal about his wife and more in a roundtable for Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 2 content.
There’s a lot to unpack here!
The SVU team takes on a powerful judge who raped his stepdaughter years ago. Did the judge’s attempts to manipulate the situation and get out of trouble meet your expectations for this episode?
Sarah: The judge behaved exactly how we imagine people in power would behave if they were caught doing something illegal.
He believes he is above the law and has the right to get away with it because he is a moral man who takes out the bad guys. It’s irritating, disturbing, but completely believable.
Laura: The judge behaved exactly as expected. I almost expected him to engage in further psychopathic behavior, such as accusing his stepdaughter of lying.
I’m surprised he admitted he wrote it down, but naturally he tried to treat it as a novel.
Jasmine: I agree with Laura.
He did exactly what I expected and I’m surprised he didn’t do more, which speaks to how terrible this is and also speaks to my beliefs and opinions about people.
The fact that he accepts this to some extent is diabolical in itself.
Jack: I’m with you, Jasmine and Lola!
I thought he would be worse.
His behavior was horrific, but not quite up to the standard of horrific in Your Honor’s opinion, although the judges on this show had better reasons for abusing their power than being a pedophile who wanted to get away with raping his stepdaughter who.
Based on how most of this episode went, do you think Carisi will win this case?
Sarah: In Law & Order: SVU, it’s always hard to tell whether good or bad will win.
Carisi’s chances of winning the case are slim.
It’s hard to accept that the DA’s office would agree to prosecute a decades-old case with weak evidence and name a federal judge as a suspect, especially when the show’s focus on a case with weak physical evidence and relying largely on repressed memories When taking a harsh approach.
Laura: These cases are often difficult to judge, especially if Carisi is sitting before a judge or something similar. I would have liked the law to be on his side, but the judge is a bigger fish.
Jasmine: I feel like it could have happened either way because of how high-profile it is.
Despite Carisi’s efforts, judges could easily get away with it or they would insist on making an example.
Jack: I didn’t expect Carisi to win. It’s a bit of a tired TV trope, but SVU often shows crappy stuff. The outcome of the trial makes one point, and that seems to be where things are going.
How did you feel about the plot twist where the judge’s wife knew what was going on and chose to ignore it in order to stay in the marriage?
Sarah: This wasn’t a plot twist for me because I saw this coming from the beginning.
She is overprotective of her husband and is convinced that she will know because she is a doctor.
It was clear she was overcompensating out of self-preservation. It also doesn’t surprise me that she’s willing to pay for her lavish lifestyle with her children’s innocence.
However, I am absolutely disgusted and would love to see her go to jail. Can’t they make a case for things like child prostitution?
Laura: This doesn’t surprise me, but it makes me sick.
It disgusts me that her first responsibility should be to her daughter and she thinks she is taking care of her family. She only cares about herself.
Jasmine: I’m not surprised at all.
For one, the actress is very good at playing unsavory characters. Unfortunately, too many women defend the indefensible in order to keep their happy fantasy of their lifestyle intact.
Jack: I guess I should have seen it coming because everyone else did. I thought something was wrong with her, but I didn’t expect her to cover for her husband.
I agree that Jessica Tucker is great at playing disgusting characters, dating back to her performance on Days of Our Lives over a decade ago.
Should Law & Order: Season 26 Episode 2 set the stage for Rollins’ guest appearance next week?
Sarah: Nothing in Law & Order: Season 26 Episode 2 hinted that Rollins would guest star in the next episode. Here’s an opportunity to get fans of Amanda Rollins excited.
Laura: I’d love to see a scene with Rollisi and how Carisi handles the case.
Jasmine: Will Rollins make a cameo next week? oh.
Jack: I was excited when I saw the promos for next week, but there’s no sign of anything in Carisi’s blockbuster episode, which is disappointing.
It would have been easy for him to make a one-sided phone call to update Rollins or mention her once and for all.
Given the difficulty of proving what happened, did Carisi handle the case properly? Is there anything you wish he had done differently?
Sarah: I was surprised that Carisi was willing to proceed with the case, given the difficult circumstances.
His SVU history will certainly affect the cases he agrees to try. He did a good job of staying calm and collected considering the judge’s condescending behavior.
Laura: Professionally, I think Carisi did a great job.
However, Carisi has a daughter. He always thought Jesse and Billie were his, and Jesse had to be the same age as Maggie when this happened. As a father, I wanted to see his personal reaction.
Jasmine: I’ll be honest; Carisi did okay, but as a prosecutor, I’m rarely surprised by him.
Police Carisi is sure to elicit a more emotional response. Sometimes, I feel like he lost his entire personality when he changed careers.
Jack: I really liked Laura’s point about Carisi being unresponsive as a father.
Many of the great, solid episodes from his early years dealt with the influences that shaped his work as a parent with four daughters, and it’s also fascinating that Carisi went through something similar.
Discuss anything not mentioned above.
Sarah: No other thoughts to say.
Laura: This episode felt more like an old-school SVU episode, and hopefully the rest of the season will continue that way.
Jasmine: I agree with Laura. It feels a bit like old school SVU, which is what we needed after the premiere. But there are still some things about this season that I’m not sure about.
Maybe it just doesn’t connect with most of the characters anymore.
Jack: I also think this is closer to the way SVU used to be.
My only complaint is that we rarely have Silva. I think it’s risky to introduce a character and then immediately marginalize her because it makes it harder for the audience to get to know her.
What was your favorite scene or line from this week’s SVU?
Sarah: I like the energy of Fin (Ice T) and Velasco (Pisano). Their unanimous decision to stand up and go after the judge’s son in the courtroom was awesome.
Laura: I enjoyed watching Liv and Corey interview Maggie in action. It feels like women are in control and it’s all about girl power.
Jasmine: I love seeing Olivia trying so hard to control herself. You could see it clearly on her face throughout the case, and that was it.
Jack: I agree, Jasmine! I like the version of Benson who goes the extra mile for the survivors, but I also like the barely restrained, passionately angry Benson.
Over to you, Law & Order: SVU fanatics.
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“Law & Order: SVU” airs Thursdays at 9/8c on NBC and Fridays on Peacock.
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