Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 2 revolved around a retired judge who had gotten away with raping his stepdaughter decades ago.
TV Fanatic writers Sara Trimble, Laura Nowak, Jasmine Blu, and Jack Ori discussed whether the judge’s behavior was surprising, the revelation about his wife at the end, and more in this Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 2 Round Table.
There was a lot to unpack in this one!
The SVU team went up against a powerful judge who had raped his stepdaughter years ago. Did the judge’s attempts to manipulate the situation and get out of trouble meet your expectations for the episode?
Sara: The judge’s behavior was exactly how we imagine a man of power acting once caught doing something illegal.
He believed he was above the law and had the right to get away with what he did because he’s been a moral man who put away bad guys. It was irritating and disturbing and fully believable.
Laura: The judge’s behavior was exactly as expected. I almost expected him to go further into psychopathic behavior, like accusing his stepdaughter of lying.
I was surprised that he admitted he wrote it down, but naturally, he tried to play it off as a work of fiction.
Jasmine: I agree with Laura.
He behaved exactly as I expected him to act, and I was surprised he didn’t do more, which speaks to how freaking terrible this is and my faith and outlook on people.
The fact that he somewhat copped to it was diabolical in its own right.
Jack: I’m with you, Jasmine and Laura!
I was expecting him to be even worse.
His behavior was horrible but didn’t quite meet the standards of awfulness in Your Honor, though the judge in that show had better reasons for his abuse of power than being a pedophile who wanted to get away with raping his stepdaughter.
Did you expect Carisi to win this case, based on how it was going for most of the episode?
Sara: It’s always hard to tell with Law & Order: SVU whether justice or the bad guy will win.
It was touch and go for Carisi’s chances to win this case.
It was hard to process that the DA’s office would agree to prosecute a several decades-old case with weak evidence and a federal judge as the suspect, especially when the show’s been harsh on cases with weak physical evidence that relied mostly on repressed memories.
Laura: It’s usually hard to tell with these cases, especially when Carisi is trying a judge or the like. I had hoped the law was on his side, but the judge was a bigger fish.
Jasmine: I felt it really could have gone either way because of how high profile this was.
The judge easily could have gotten away with it despite Carisi’s efforts, or they would have been hellbent on making an example.
Jack: I did not expect Carisi to win. It’s somewhat of a tired TV trope, but SVU so often goes for the crappy. outcome at trial to make a point, and that seemed to be where this was headed.
How did you feel about the plot twist that the judge’s wife knew what was going on and chose to ignore it so that she could stay in the marriage?
Sara: It wasn’t a plot twist for me, as I saw it coming from the beginning.
She was too protective of her husband and adamant that she would know because she was a doctor.
It was obvious she was overcompensating out of self-preservation. It also didn’t shock me that she was willing to pay for her luxurious lifestyle with the innocence of her child.
I was massively disgusted, though, and would have loved to see her go to jail, too. Couldn’t they have made a case for child prostitution or something?
Laura: It didn’t surprise me, but it disgusted me.
Her first responsibility should have been to her daughter, and it repulsed me that she thought she was taking care of her family. She only cared about herself.
Jasmine: I wasn’t surprised at all.
For one, the actress is really great at playing loathsome characters. Unfortunately, far too many women defend the indefensible to keep their happy illusion of a lifestyle intact.
Jack: I suppose I should have seen it coming since everyone else did. I felt something was off with her but I hadn’t predicted that she was covering for her husband.
I agree that Jessica Tuck is great at playing loathsome characters, going all the way back to when she was on Days of Our Lives over a decade ago.
Should Law & Order: Season 26 Episode 2 have done anything to set up for Rollins’ guest appearance next week?
Sara: There was nothing in Law & Order: Season 26 Episode 2 that hinted that Rollins would be making a guest appearance in the next episode. It’s a missed opportunity to excite Amanda Rollins’ fans.
Laura: I would have liked to have seen a Rollisi scene with how Carisi was processing this case.
Jasmine: Rollins is guest-appearing next week? Oh.
Jack: I was excited when I saw the promo for next week’s, but there was no indication of it during a Carisi-heavy episode, which was disappointing.
It would have been easy for him to have a one-sided phone call updating Rollins or a throwaway line mentioning her.
Did Carisi handle this case properly, given the difficulty of proving what had happened? Was there anything you wished he had done differently?
Sara: Given the difficult circumstances, it surprised me that Carisi was willing to proceed with the case.
His SVU history definitely affects the cases he agrees to try. Given the judge’s condescension and behavior, he did well staying calm and unflustered.
Laura: Professionally, I think Carisi did great.
However, Carisi has daughters. He’s always considered Jessie and Billie his, and Jessie has to be around Maggie’s age when that happened. As a dad, I wanted to see his personal reaction.
Jasmine: I’m going to be honest; Carisi does okay, but I’m rarely blown away by him as a prosecutor.
Cop Carisi definitely would’ve elicited a more emotional reaction. Sometimes, I feel like he lost his entire personality once he switched professions.
Jack: I really like Laura’s point about Carisi not having a reaction as a father.
Many of the best Stabler episodes during the early years involved the job affecting him as a parent who had four daughters, and it would have been compelling for Carisi to go through something similar.
Discuss anything not mentioned above.
Sara: No other thoughts to mention.
Laura: This episode felt more like an old-school SVU episode, and hopefully, the rest of the season will continue like this.
Jasmine: I agree with Laura. It felt a bit more like old-school SVU, which we needed after the premiere. But there is something still off about this season that I can’t put my finger on.
Perhaps it’s not being able to connect with most of the characters anymore.
Jack: I also thought this was closer to the way SVU used to be.
My only complaint was that we had very little of Silva. I think it’s risky to introduce a character and then immediately sideline her, as that makes it harder for viewers to get to know her.
What was your favorite scene or quote in this week’s SVU?
Sara: I love the dynamic of Fin (Ice T) and Velasco (Pisano). Their in-sync decision to stand up in the courtroom to chase down the judge’s son was gold.
Laura: I enjoyed seeing Liv and Curry in action interviewing Maggie. It felt like the women were in charge, all about the girl power.
Jasmine: I loved seeing Olivia trying to muster up every ounce of restraint. You could visibly see it all over her face in this whole case, and it was just such a mood.
Jack: I agree, Jasmine! I love the version of Benson that goes the extra mile for survivors, but I also love barely restrained, passionately angry Benson.
Over to you, Law & Order: SVU fanatics.
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Law & Order: SVU airs on NBC on Thursdays at 9/8c and on Peacock on Fridays.
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