Critic’s Ranking: 4.5 / 5.0
4.5
Silva’s gotten the quick finish of the stick all through Regulation & Order: SVU Season 26, however she lastly had her second to shine.
This was a type of unusual circumstances that started off with one crime and was one thing else altogether, however Silva’s willpower to untangle an intellectually disabled man from the division’s internet made it price it.
Everybody on Regulation & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 12 emphasised that Silva wanted to get used to the ambiguous nature of SVU circumstances, however that wasn’t the purpose. Fortunately, she didn’t cease combating.

Silva Proved Herself Throughout An Extraordinarily Sophisticated Case On Regulation & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 12
I wasn’t anticipating the case we bought.
The logline stated {that a} child caught with an inappropriate image would result in a baby porn ring, however I used to be anticipating one thing alongside the traces of lecturers being concerned in pimping out college students.
As an alternative, we bought this bizarre admissions counselor on Regulation & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 12 who pretended to be his shoppers on-line in order that he might get them to ship nude pictures, which he then bought to random perverts on-line.
Liv needed to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the legislation, however as a substitute, he reduce a deal, gave Carisi a lot of individuals shopping for these pictures, after which disappeared from the episode.
If it wasn’t for the way good a car this story was for Silva, I’d have been irritated.
Liv’s willpower to get the Feds concerned whereas Carisi needed an enormous native response would have made for a powerful story. Plus, we by no means even discovered how a lot jail time Adam Parker bought.
He felt like a plot level quite than a bona fide character. His total function was to maneuver the crew into the sting operation and Silva’s dilemma.
Nonetheless, Silva’s half on this case was fascinating, so it was price it, even when it didn’t make sense that ultimately, Benson informed Leah that the unhealthy guys had by no means shared her photograph on-line.
The online game scheme made much more sense.
Some video games are infamous breeding grounds for pedophiles as a result of the video games are well-liked with children and permit individuals to work together anonymously.
That’s an necessary situation that ought to be addressed on reveals like Regulation & Order: SVU, and I’m glad the collection addressed it.
Silva Was Proper About Matthew, However I Have Questions
Silva’s instincts had been once more spot on when she had a sense that Matthew was not a pedophile, however a child who had by some means ended up within the cops’ crosshairs.
He was intellectually disabled sufficient that he didn’t perceive what was happening when he was arrested or what he was accused of, and he didn’t even know what condoms had been when Silva requested him to deliver some.
Satirically, he was somebody the cops ought to be defending from perverts, not somebody who deserved to be arrested.
Silva by chance performed the function of the unhealthy guys she was attempting to catch, tricking him into bringing condoms to her lodge room by pretending to be youthful than she was.
Matthew’s mom, Fran, was understandably upset that her son had been arrested when he had by no means spent an evening away from residence and had no understanding of what was taking place.
But when Matthew is that disabled, why wasn’t she monitoring what he was doing on-line? It appears to me that if he had an mental age of 10, he wanted the identical safeguards that youngsters do.
On the very least, Fran ought to have arrange Web monitoring to verify he wasn’t doing something inappropriate or planning to satisfy individuals in one who hadn’t been vetted for security.
His title landed on the cops’ checklist as a result of he supposedly had purchased pictures or made plans to satisfy and molest minors prior to now, but he didn’t know what condoms had been or have any understanding of the crimes he was accused of.
That doesn’t add up.
In any case, it might have been prevented by his mom understanding that his incapacity meant he was as weak on-line as a baby can be, but can be seen as an grownup within the eyes of the legislation.
Carisi’s Motive For Not Dropping The Case On Regulation & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 12 Made No Sense
Sorry, however I didn’t purchase the excuse that dropping Matthew’s case would make all the opposite circumstances invalid.
The argument that it was all entrapment solely works for those who settle for the concept that there isn’t a substantive distinction between adults who eagerly purchased condoms and confirmed up at a lodge room to have intercourse with an adolescent and one who didn’t know what condoms had been and got here to the room hoping to indicate off his lizard t-shirt.
Plus, Carisi circled and agreed with Liv in entrance of Baxter, so what was the purpose of his reluctance, aside from that it gave Baxter a cause for a cameo?
By the way, the promo division for SVU must cease hyping issues that take up 30 seconds of display time.
Baxter’s look wasn’t like Liv’s on Regulation & Order Season 24 Episode 2 — he barely had any display time.
His large determination wasn’t even on display, for goodness sake, pushing him squarely into the “cameo” class.
Leah’s Case Obtained Misplaced In The Shuffle
I loved Leah’s interactions along with her mother in the beginning of Regulation & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 12.
One reckless alternative had severe penalties for her, and her mom was too indignant about it to be empathetic — however Silva knew how one can construct rapport along with her.
That was an fascinating subplot that, sadly, evaporated as soon as the catfishing situation took middle stage.
The center of the episode appeared to neglect about Leah however made up for it by having her see Liv one final time on the finish.
Though Leah had far much less display time than she deserved, her absence compelled Liv to restrict her pep discuss to 1 scene.
I like these inspiring speeches, however in current seasons they’ve change into an excessive amount of, and it was refreshing for Liv to provide a sufferer just one, quick piece of recommendation as a substitute of getting overly concerned in her life.
Over to you, Regulation & Order: SVU fanatics.
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Regulation & Order: SVU airs on NBC on Thursdays at 9/8c and streams on Peacock on Fridays