Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 11 has a lot of things going for it that make it feel like “classic” SVU, in a good kind of way. This series has always, for example, boasted episode after episode of great guest actors. Nicole Zyana checks that box here, especially in the scene where Kyra tells Captain Benson what Jim Hogan did to her in his hotel room. “Deductible” also manages to give us a healthy enough balance between police work and courtroom scenes. (Nice to know someone involved with this series does, in fact, remember that Carisi’s an ADA now!) And, as a bonus, a real squad conducts this investigation. (Instead of using, like, three Olivia Bensons in a trench coat, paired inexplicably with Carisi and maybe one actual cop.)
Speaking of Olivia, she even has a personality in the restaurant scene. Or, at least, Mariska Hargitay’s facial expressions do quite a bit of work to make Liv’s sassing back to Grace come across as true sass. This is a huge improvement from the character’s recent trend of feeling like she’s nothing more than a series of ChatGPT-generated “inspirational” quotes, stacked on top of an omniscient superhero, probably wearing a trench coat. Additionally, we’re not coming away from “Deductible” wondering how Liv manages to just know things. Case in point: When Carisi says Benson needs to find someone who colluded with Frank, the “knowing” look is pretty well earned based on how Grace has behaved every time we’ve seen her.
All good things! Is Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 11 going to go down as one of those hours that really made an impact? No. Is it a fave? Also no. But is it mind numbing or infuriating? Thankfully, no. Basically, this episode is, more or less, fine. Nothing special. But…well. It’s Olivia, inexplicably, who somehow still manages to be the weak link here.
MORE: Read our Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 10 review to see what went wrong with Olivia there. You can also see why we thought Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 6 was more watchable than, say, SVU Season 26 Episode 5.
Olivia Benson can — and should — be better
So, let’s start with the ongoing problems: Early in Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 11, when the squad has their friendly back-and-forth about OT, Liv comes out and asks about the overtime as if she’s some odd combination of able to know what they’re talking about…and also completely clueless about what’s happening in her squad room. She also doesn’t get to participate in any kind of conversation with the group when she comes out of her office. In some ways, that’s an improvement because she is supposed to be the boss here. Then again, it’s also more of the same in terms of letting everyone but Olivia do anything remotely personal. As in, if you can’t have relationships outside of work because you spend so much time there, you’d better at least have something friendly at work.
Then, she seems to think she can singlehandedly take care of Jay’s sister Kyra, to the point where she goes to see her at Mercy without sending — or at least bringing along — any of her detectives. Don’t they usually partner up to interview witnesses whenever possible? Sure, she leaves Jay with Detective Silva and all, but what about everyone else? And no, “well, she sent Fin and Velasco to the hotel” doesn’t work as an excuse. Curry exists. Unis exist. Olivia Benson should not be a one woman hero show.
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s…Super!Liv, we guess? But anyway.
Really, we could forgive that part if Captain Benson didn’t wind up stalking Grace outside her job in the middle of the night — again, alone, and seemingly not fully in an official capacity — and then getting her to suddenly find a conscience through…whatever that conversation was. Where should we begin with that? Hm. How about “how are we having this ‘LOL the female COO didn’t earn it. She’s just an awful person who first table-candied, then colluded, her way to the top'” right now? In 2025?
To be clear: No one’s saying this doesn’t happen. Corruption is a thing. And women who support the patriarchy in order to benefit themselves are scum. Full stop. But if we’re going there, rushing the moment and setting it up with Stalker!Liv (or whatever) simply isn’t the way to go. Not to mention, one conversation with a stranger in the middle of the night isn’t going to change that kind of person overnight. Just no. Sure, this type of series doesn’t exactly allow for deep development with these one-off characters. But it can do better — and has been better on many, many occasions. As a bare minimum, we’d at least expect Olivia to not be, well, this.
The whole bit with Grace crying on the stand doesn’t work for us either. It might have if this episode aired years ago? But now? “Rich white lady cries her way out of trouble, and we should forgive her for contributing to victimizing young women for 20 years” just…doesn’t fly as a concept. Can people change? If they put in the work, sure. But is this character’s big moment…what’s the word…earned? No. Instead, Liv forcing Grace to have some sort of supernatural transformation strikes us as a continuation of this series’ recent trend of demanding that viewers care about the wrong people.
And yet, even after kinda being like “yeah, no” about Olivia trying to do it all herself, combined with her role in getting Grace on board…we’re still going with “fine. We’d watch it on USA or ION or whatever.”
MORE: Find out why we thought Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 4 was a miss. But it’s not all bad — Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 2 worked.
More on Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 11
- “Which is worse? Having a spider in your cereal or a snake in your bed?” BRB, currently burning all cereal and beds so I never have to find out.
- “…in good hands.” Dudebro, this ain’t Allstate.
- No, really. If Velasco had 20 OT hours — when we barely ever see him! — did Olivia work 24/7?
- “Nope. Don’t drag me into it.” A mood. Thank you, Captain Curry.
- Jay and Detective Silva are so cute together! More of that kind of thing, please? Like, throw out…something.
- Also, I want that donut.
- So, the thing is, we didn’t need Kyra to tell us all the things we just saw. That’s not to say we should throw away the guest star’s work/victim’s disclosure. Not necessarily, at least. That’s one way to go to avoid wasting time by giving viewers the same information twice, but we’d prefer less time on the cold open, more time on the actual story.
- “No hard feelings.” Gag me.
- Also vomit-worthy: “I took my shot.”
- “…and my ADA can make a very good case out of that.” Ok. But can he? The legal system is a mess, and her accepting that check…oof. Also, your ADA likes to play cop so much, it’s sometimes difficult to figure out if he knows how to do his job so.
- What even with the helicopter and the younger women? Nobody looked into that? Or were they supposed to be family???
- “…more of a giver.” Mess.
- Also: Your “closing gift” was very clearly uncomfortable in what little bit we saw, so how are you so clueless? Oh. Wait. Male entitlement.
- “He wanted to close that deal, and you were the closing bonus.” All this talking of closing deals makes me think about Harvey from Suits. But um. This is not the type of closing of deal I want to associate with my show.
- “Table candy.”
- Really loved Tequila Girl’s whole attitude. Could’ve used more of her. This is, after all, supposed to entertain us.
- This case feels familiar, and I don’t know why. Anyone want to read my mind and let me know?
- “She made it very clear very quickly she was not interested.” Not this man completely changing his story on the stand and trying to be the “good” guy. Boy, bye.
- See also: “I’m here because it’s the right thing to do.” Imagine saying that with a straight face after everything.
- “Just checking to see if — if you had a conscience.” Liv, blink three times if you’re being held hostage by AI.
- “Yes. Things have changed. But from what I’m seeing, nothing has changed…” The sentence should end there. No need to add just that specific company. Trust me.
- “Because I made a choice to stay silent 20 years ago. To sacrifice my…conscience for the sake of of my career. I deeply regret that all these young women were hurt because of that choice. Including Kyra. As COO, it was my duty to protect you. And I fell short of that.” And Liv’s just nodding along while this woman gives us her rich white lady tears like it’s all about her. Is this…empowering?
- “I find it a little unsettling that lying about a crime is worse than committing the crime.” “Nobody promised that justice would make mathematical sense.” She’s been here 30 years, and we’re having this conversation. Amnesia?
What did you think of Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 11? Leave us a comment!
Law & Order: SVU airs Thursdays at 9/8c on NBC. The series will return on February 13.
