Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 19 Finally Used Rollins Properly In One Of Its Most Disturbing Cases

That was one of the most disturbing cases in Law & Order: SVU history, but Rollins’ inclusion made it worth it.

I’ve been complaining for a while about the way Rollins is being misused, but for once, she wasn’t.

It was refreshing for her to be instrumental in solving the case on Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 19.

Haley’s Case Was Incredibly Disturbing, But The Ashlynn Twist Was Predictable

Haley was kidnapped by a couple who forced her to wear a shock collar and took live videos of them tormenting her with it to force her to do what they told her to do.

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Benson and the others emphasized that it wasn’t child porn — it was torture porn.

It was also a horrific situation that a sick eight-year-old shouldn’t have been forced to face just because she waved at a stranger as they passed.

That said, the big plot twist about Haley being the second girl to be tormented like that fell flat.

As soon as I learned there were two girls, I knew without a doubt that the first one had died and that’s why Haley was taken.

I didn’t expect the dead girl to be the kidnappers’ biological daughter, which does make it even more horrific. However, the fact that we had one dead girl and a kidnapped replacement wasn’t a surprise.

Still, the scene where the cops found Ashlynn’s body and the ME’s subsequent report were among the saddest in Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 19.

Benson doesn’t usually get emotional, despite her desire to help everyone, so her quiet tears when she saw the body hit me hard.

Benson: I don’t understand how a parent could do something like this to their own child.

Rollins: You’ve been working here longer than me and you still haven’t found the answer.

From that point until Haley was recovered, I kept holding my breath, expecting her to be dead too.

That had ot be the most suspenseful ten minutes of my life, waiting to find out what her fate was, and I was as relieved as her mother was on my screen when she was found alive.

Haley surviving was the happiest possible ending.

Of course, after something like that, moving to Vermont may not be enough. The girl will need trauma-informed therapy.

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I wouldn’t have minded Benson suggesting a referral, though I’m glad she didn’t try to do too much.

We don’t need another Maddy Flynn situation, and I’ll be eternally grateful it didn’t go that route.

Rollins Finally Had More Of A Purpose On Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 19

I don’t mind Rollins/Carisi as a couple, but I don’t like it when Rollins is written as nothing more than a part of Carisi’s support system.

During her last few appearances, she had very few lines and no role outside of being worried about Carisi, which was beyond annoying.

Law & Order: SVU Season 26 has not, generally, treated Rollins appropriately, but this episode was an exception.

I especially loved that Rollins was the one who came up with the most important lead — the dogs barking.

Recognizing the sound of dogs raised for breeding because of her childhood in Georgia was a nice touch.

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I love it when Rollins’ background is used to help her solve cases.

I wondered if the tech guy used some sort of AI assistance to identify the breed of dog. SVU didn’t say, but it seemed logical to assume so since he used an app that could identify different breeds by sound.

Incidentally, I wondered if the cops would recognize the perp’s voice when interviewing dog breeders upstate.

Rollins was great as a cop — investigative work is where she shines, so this arc demonstrated that the whole teaching career thing they insisted on during Law & Order: SVU season 25 was ridiculous.

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I also liked that she wasn’t just a cop, though. The cameo appearances with the kids were awesome because they showed her friendship with Benson.

Those early scenes make the final conversation about that disturbing case even more poignant.

At the beginning, Rollins and Benson were celebrating a rare opportunity to do what “regular moms” do when they took the kids to school.

At the end, they discussed how they couldn’t understand how a parent could do something so horrific to a child as what they’d just witnessed, underscoring that in some ways, they would never be like other moms.

Random Thoughts About Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 19

• Two cameo appearances for Noah in a row — I’d love for him to have a bit more of a story, though I loved that he’s like a big brother to Rollins’ kids.
• Speaking of Noah, when the cops found out that the perps were treating Haley like a dog to be trained, all I could think of was when that kid put Noah in the dog cage and how we never got any followup to that.
• Fin was MIA this episode. I guess that made room for Rollins to do her thing, but I’m still waiting for a Fin-centered episode this season.

Your Turn, SVU Fanatics

Agree? Disagree? Have a theory?
Let us know in the comments, or share this article with someone who will want to argue about it with you. That’s what makes it fun.

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Law & Order: SVU airs on NBC on Thursdays at 9/8c and streams on Peacock on Fridays.

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