Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 26 Episode 4, “Constricted,” is about parenting and how difficult it can make the job. In some cases, like Velasco’s, it’s about how difficult the job can make the idea of parenting.
The show has always brought awareness to the harsh reality of sexual assault, but for one reason or another, it always hits differently when minors are involved. Even though the episode heavily touches on how the topic can affect parents or how parents can change their children’s views on sex, you don’t have to be a parent to feel affected by it.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 26 Episode 4, “Constricted,” introduces several different parenting styles and viewpoints that portray our reality.
The episode helps contrast perfectly how parents raise their children and the information they give their children about sex.
While Hannah’s mom wants her first time to feel special and heartfelt, Ryan’s dad sees it as a business transaction. He makes it seem like a sale that must be made, whether the buyer (the woman) wants to agree or not.
At first, the episode seems to follow the usual trajectory in which boy parents say, “Boys will be boys,” and refuse to let their sons be held accountable for their actions. However, things turn around for the best when the boys’ parents (minus one) push them to tell the truth regardless of the consequences.
The idea of “boys will be boys” is outdated and incorrect. So it is refreshing to see an episode in which this is thrown out the window, and boys are held accountable regardless of age.
It is this outdated belief that raised Ryan’s father and created a parenting style in which he believed showing his son porn is an excellent replacement for “the talk.”
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 26 Episode 4, “Constricted,” also shows the sad reality in which men of all ages take porn as the norm for what sex should be.
Ryan’s father believes his inexperienced son should learn from a porn video, claiming that’s what women like. He doesn’t stop to really think about what his son or Hannah may be feeling at that moment.
Because a grownup with authority showed him the video, Ryan does the same with his younger cousin. Sadly, his cousin’s actions after watching the video result in a tragic death.
Porn sets unrealistic expectations in men, particularly young impressionable boys. The episode does a great job of showcasing this and placing the responsibility where it belongs: on Ryan’s father.
Because Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 26 Episode 4, “Constricted,” focuses so heavily on parenting, it makes sense that we see Carisi trying to navigate parenting while working a job like SVU. This is new territory for him, and he’s still trying to find the balance.
Truthfully, no one can blame him for the anger he feels. He sees a dark reality that he knows surrounds his daughters, and he wants to keep them safe. He sees his daughters in the victims he works with.
Carisi’s anger isn’t unjustified and is entirely relatable to what the audience feels every time these cases are portrayed onscreen. The difference is that while viewers can be angry, Carisi must find a way to pocket that anger and be professional.
However, it is on episodes in which his cop side comes out that Carisi does the best of his work. It starts when he says he is a cop after asking the man who looked at his 9-year-old for an ID.
But this attitude continues throughout the episode as he interrogates and investigates alongside the squad. Those episodes make us miss him even more in the squad room.
For viewers who are still unsure of his lawyer position, episodes like this one justify that doubt. He might be better suited to be a cop.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit isn’t an easy show to watch. One must be mentally prepared for whatever case we will be exposed to every week. Nevertheless, it is important to have these conversations.
The best episodes make us think, question reality, and connect with the story being told. They make us forget about the flaws the show might present from time to time.
Hopefully, the rest of the season will be on the same level as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 26 Episode 4, “Constricted.”
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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit airs Thursdays at 9/8c on NBC.
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The post Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 26 Episode 4 Review: Constricted first appeared on Tell-Tale TV.