That was a disturbing case.
Our Law & Order: SVU Season 26. Episode 4 Round Table team discussed who was to blame when two teenage girls were sexually assaulted and choked, leading to one of their deaths.
Join TV Fanatic writers Laura Nowak, Jasmine Blu, Sara Trimble, and Jack Ori as we debate this and all other aspects of this episode.
Were Carisi and Benson right that Josh was to blame for the string of choking-involved rapes of teenage girls?
Laura: I think so.
My husband and I had an interesting conversation about this episode. We agreed that if the boys had been older, they could have been solely responsible.
While at 13 and 16, they should have known what rape was, Josh absolutely was responsible for exposing his son and nephew to those videos and teaching them the wrong views about sex. It was such a heartbreaking case.
Jasmine: I enjoyed this case because it reminded me of one from my criminal law course. It’s complex, with various factors, and difficult to nail down.
If it had been just one incident, it would’ve been tough to hold the father responsible solely for what had transpired. Also, his son was old enough, at 16, to understand what was happening.
However, once it trickled down to other incidents with more boys, younger boys, assaulting girls, resulting in one’s death, it definitely fell on the father.
The Law barely manages to catch up to these situations.
Sara: As a parent, it was up to the father to teach his child about proper sex, like consent, and that real life isn’t like porn.
And that different people have different tastes.
And his son should have said the same thing to the younger boys.
It was negligent for an adult to give a child violent-themed porn, and any actions that occurred due to the material should be his responsibility as much as the people who did it.
Jack: I agree with Jasmine that this was very complex.
It’s important not to absolve the boys of responsibility. They were the ones who chose to choke the girls, and the sixteen-year-old especially should have understood the potential consequences.
A thirteen-year-old may know that he shouldn’t put his hands on someone’s neck but might be naive enough to believe it’s okay if he’s been told that girls like it. Still, the kid should have realized that choking someone is dangerous and could kill them.
In any case, Josh bore more responsibility.
Not only did he expose his son (and indirectly his nephew) to violent porn, but also told him that he had to do whatever it took to seal the deal with Hannah.
He was grooming a future rapist even before the choking incident.
Curry thought it was weird that Hannah’s mother offered her home and privacy for her teenager’s first sexual experience, while Benson thought that was better than the kids hiding that they were having sex. Who do you agree with more?
Laura: While I understand Benson’s point, I agree with Curry. What mom opens up her house for her 16-year-old daughter to lose her virginity in?
Maybe I’m old, but I can’t imagine my parents being like that.
Jasmine: This was a tough one for me too. I understood Benson’s point and the thought process behind it. I get how it could beat the alternative.
But I also felt like if she had insisted on this, then she should’ve been in the house.
I didn’t understand how their going to their friend’s house was any different than them staying at her house if the mom wasn’t going to be there. I understood not hiding the sex.
My mother was very open about talking about sex with my brothers and me and making sure we set an environment where we all could be comfortable talking about things. But that situation was just foreign to me here.
There’s such a fine line between mitigating and fostering issues.
Sara: As a mom with four kids — two girls — while I understood the mom’s desire to make sure her daughter was safe during sex, I can’t condone providing the place and the privacy for such.
I’m more of the “that door better stay open, and you don’t even sit next to each other if I’m not in the room” type of protective.
Too much TV (and reality) has jaded my mind far too much. Kids these days are far more willing to experiment with more experienced — and dangerous — forms of sex.
That said, parents should provide open communication with their children to make sure they get the right answers on sex and not rely on the internet or untrustworthy people.
Things could have turned out much differently if there had been.
Jack: I don’t have kids, but my sister does, and I can guarantee she would not have handled things this way.
It’s one thing to talk to your 16-year-old about birth control and safe sex.
It’s another to offer your house for them to do it in, especially with no parent present.
To me, that seemed irresponsible on the part of Hannah’s mother.
Were you surprised that Mrs. Blake had known the whole time what her husband was up to with their son when she finally admitted it?
Laura: Not entirely. Something seemed off in that family. He seemed controlling, and she gave vibes of being an abused wife.
Jasmine: Unfortunately, I was not.
It reminded me of the women who ignore all the signs of their husbands being a serial killer or something because it’s not a reality they want to face or they’re afraid of being alone.
I think the ONLY reason she wouldn’t go with the flow this time is because it directly affected her own child, and her maternal instincts overrode all else.
Sara: It wasn’t surprising, as it’s hard not to notice suspicious things when you’ve been with someone as long as they were together.
She could ignore it as long as it didn’t interfere with her life. But once it involved her child, she decided to do something about it.
Anger overrode her willingness to look the other way for propriety’s sake.
Jack: I wasn’t surprised either. She reminded me of Jessica Tuck’s character on Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 2, although that woman chose to ignore how her husband’s behavior affected their children.
Carisi finally seemed to have a reaction to the trauma of the cases he’s dealt with lately that reminded him of Jessie. How do you feel about the way this story has been handled so far?
Laura: I’m relieved he finally reacted to a case.
Lawyer and Daddy Carisi combined are scary.
We need these personal aspects to care about the story.
Jasmine: I loved it.
It’s no secret that I’ve been underwhelmed by Carisi as a lawyer. I always preferred him as a cop.
So I enjoyed getting to see him lead first that more this episode from the beginning and how it affected him as a father, especially one to daughters.
I like the personal elements there.
Sara: It was great to see Carisi back in his investigative shoes and actually getting emotionally involved in a case.
Being a parent is hard, especially when you see the awfulness of people on a daily basis.
Like Laura said, Carisi can be a bit scary when he’s in justice mode and his protective father instincts are in overdrive.
Having to deal with the case while being the sole caregiver of young girls while Rollins was away made it more intense. There was no one to talk him off the ledge.
Jack: I was thrilled with this story.
I’ve been waiting for Carisi to be forced to confront how his job affects him as a parent.
I also think it’s good for the show — and for those in the audience who need it — to have a major male character dealing with vicarious trauma.
Benson and Rollins have had mental health issues related to trauma, so why not Carisi?
Benson promised she’d get justice after Eliza died. Did she succeed?
Laura: I felt so bad for them since the boys would only get a few years in juvie, but I felt for them too because they were also victims of Josh’s.
No one won here.
I think she did the best she could, going after Josh as the biggest fish.
Jasmine: It’s the full extent of justice she could get, so yeah. Justice rarely feels just when it comes to our criminal and legal system, so that’s always an element that hangs over everything.
Sara: I agree with the others.
It’s hard to feel like justice was served on Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 4, as the boys were almost as much victims as the girls. While they deserved to get punished, it sucks that it was due to the negligence of a narcissistic grown man.
But Josh deserved to get punished more.
Jack: I agree with all of the above.
There are no easy answers in a case like this.
Josh definitely deserved harsher punishment than the kids, and juvie won’t do them any favors, but they still have to be held accountable.
Mention anything else not covered above.
Laura: I loved seeing Jessie with Carisi, and I missed her so much. I’m curious, though, why we haven’t seen Noah, especially in a case concerning teen boys.
Jasmine: Oh, good point. It would’ve been a great episode to check in with Noah and see if he knows about consent and little things like that.
I also loved that the new girl (whose name I forgot because she was gone for so long!) was back on Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 4!
Sara: Again, I agreed with the others.
It’s great seeing Carisi in Daddy mode. I’m always a sucker for men who claim kids that aren’t theirs biologically.
It is surprising that we haven’t seen Noah, especially in this case. It’s hard to know who is on Benson’s team other than Fin at this point.
Jack: I was also wondering why we hadn’t seen Noah, especially when Benson was talking about how she felt about this case as a mother.
What was your favorite story, scene, or quote on Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 4?
Laura: I loved the opening scene with Carisi and Jessie and hearing him refer to her as his daughter. That warmed my heart.
Jasmine: I enjoyed Carisi the whole episode.
He’s a character who often disappears into other people’s storylines, so I liked that this was about him as a father and how rattled he was, not just him as an extension of someone else, if that makes sense.
Sara: Shows that deal with touchy and traumatic situations like SVU often forget to show how those situations affect the characters psychologically and how they can impact their lives. This episode lets us see that stress from a father’s point of view.
It can be harder for Carisi since he’s new to parental protectiveness. It was a great insight into Carisi’s personal life.
Jack: I loved the whole Carisi-centered episode, too, but my favorite line was him calling Jessie his daughter. I love that he considers Rollins’ kids to be his.
Over to you, SVU fanatics.
What were your answers to these questions? What did you think of Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 4?
Hit the comments with your thoughts!
Law & Order: SVU airs on NBC on Thursdays at 9/8c and on Peacock on Fridays.
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