Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

WARNING : Spoilers ahead for Law & Order : SVU season 26 , episode 15 , " Undertow . "

This article contains references to grownup receive sex with minors and drug - facilitated sexual rape .

Law & Order : SVUseason 26 , instalment 15 , titled " Undertow , " uses a trope that was common in the past and which give to the procedural ’s popularity . " Undertow " is arguably one of thebestLaw & Order : SVUepisodesin time of year 26 because of its focal point on thorny real - world issues associate to the investigation and pursuance of crime involving sex , alcohol , and underage participants . At the source of the episode , a cleaning woman named Stacey ( Marilyn Caserta ) leaves her hotel way after becoming annoyed with her hubby ’s drunken overture .

Law & Order Special Victims Unit

Stacey go to the bar , where she gets drunk herself and has a one - night rack with Ryan ( Billy Keogh ) , who seems to be airless to her age . However , in realness , Ryan is a 16 - year - old male child , and his stepmother press charges against Staceyfor statutory rape even though Stacey believe she had copious rationality to think Ryan was over 18 . While this story is n’t establish on any specific caseful , thisepisode ofLaw & Order : SVUaddresses true storiesof adults get sexuality with minors and claiming ignorance of their mate ’s age when someone files a complaint .

It Wasn’t Clear Who The Perp Was In Law & Order: SVU Season 26, Episode 15

Both Ryan & Stacey Engage In Bad Behavior

Ryan ’s mob is ready to call Stacey a paedophile , but the truth is far more complicated . Stacey arrogate not to call back anything about the encounter despite having had only one drink , and further investigation leads to Ryan ’s hitch for drug self-command after the copper notice MDMA pill in his elbow room . Ryan hold that he put similar anovulant in a nursing bottle of vodka he had with him . Thus , Stacey and her husband claim that Ryan is the one who raped her , not the other room around .

Law & Order : SVU ’s Dr. George Huang is a sports fan favorite , but there is a reason he left the procedural and has n’t come back since season 17 .

Additionally , Stacey ’s primary defense is that she did n’t understand Ryan was only 16 . Carisi ( Peter Scanavino ) says that does n’t change anything in the eyes of the law ; however , Stacey ’s assumption was n’t based only on Ryan ’s physical appearance , but on the fact that he was sitting at a saloon drinking alcohol , illegal if you are under 21 . Thus , the type hinges on whether the law is wrong not to take the context of Stacey ’s Assumption of Mary into account , as well as whether Ryan ’s conduct makes him as bad as , or worse than , Stacey in this scenario .

Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) & Agent Harrison Clay (Josh Cooke) In Law & Order: SVU Season 26, Episode 6,

Carisi will probably walk away from further prosecution unless Modern grounds comes to light that clarifies the issues .

Unsurprisingly , the jury finally deadlocks , and a mistrial is declared in Stacey ’s case . Her lawyer tells her it ’s over , and he ’s probably proper . Even though Carisi could adjudicate again in front of a Modern jury , the ambiguity over who is more hangdog of a sex crime , in this type , make it unlikely that a different jury will reach an concord . Thus , Carisi will likely take the air away from further criminal prosecution unless fresh grounds do to igniter that clear up the issues .

Law & Order: SVU Season 26, Episode 15 Proves That Its Backbone Remains Its Weekly Cases

Sticking To The Tried-And-True Formula Of Showing Both Cops & Lawyers Works Best

Law & Order : SVUhas always been a procedural , but it has pay off off - caterpillar track in recent years . While there is always a case to be solved , many episodes focus almost exclusively on Benson ’s ( Mariska Hargitay ) efforts to stomach and empower the victim of the week , with adjective elements becoming an second thought . to boot , there has been too much focus on romances , peculiarly on whether Stabler ( Christopher Meloni ) and Benson should become a duo . While these romantic subplots work better on theOne Chicagoshows , they lean to eclipse instance in theLaw & Orderfranchise .

The strength of the courtroom drama ca-ca it readable that this aspect of the show has been missing in too many episodes .

" sea puss " corrects these problem by putting the primary focus back where it belongs : on the case at bridge player . This episode is one of the few in the show ’s modern era that pursue the expression of focusing on the investigation in the first half of the storey and the court cause in the 2d . The strength of the courtroom drama makes it exonerated that this aspect of the show has been missing in too many episode . to boot , the ambiguity of the eccentric made the court scenes more gripping .

Custom image of Huang in Law & Order SVU

Law & Order: SVU Needs More Ambiguous Cases

When Cases Are Too Straightforward, They’re Less Interesting

to boot , ambiguous pillowcase used to be more of the norm forLaw & Order : SVU , with salutary reason . When it is n’t entirely clear-cut what justice attend like , it leads to more compelling and irregular stories . It is n’t obvious who will win the courtyard eccentric if there is one , during such a plot line — and the audience might not be indisputable who they want to make headway . The shock of these types of fib thus lasts far beyond the consequence when the last credits roll , sparking discourse and argument with fellow watcher .

Law & Order : SVU season 26 , episode 13 could have been one of the procedural ’s most brawny history , but somehow Benson ruin everything .

Law & Order : SVU ’s foreign mission has always been to bear out and empower survivor through the account the procedural William Tell . Returning to case - based plot that search the failing of the justice organisation is the best elbow room to do that . When case are too straightforward , the long - running serial risks lose audience interest . Worse , if it seems like the writer are pushing a particular stop of view through their story , that might annoy or exacerbate its fanbase , which create it harder forLaw & Order : SVUto share its muscular subject matter .

Law & Order SVU Carisi standing in front of the jury box speaking

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Cast

Law & Order SVU Carisi in the courtroom with his hand to his chin

Mariska-Hargitay-as-Olivia-Benson-in-Law-&-Order-SVU

Headshot of Christopher Meloni

Headshot Of Mariska Hargitay

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit