‘Law & Order: SVU’ season 16, episode 5 review: A nightmare in judgment

Sixteen seasons in, we have to give some serious credit to “Law & Order: SVU” when it comes to figure out a way to continue to unnerve us with almost every case. It has this sort of storytelling down to a science, and yet, they continue to also find a way to make almost every move as intense as ever.

Tonight’s new episode was easily the most uncomfortable of the entire season, since we basically saw a story that was all about a woman whose profession in the adult industry kept her from getting justice. Basically, all of this was a reminder that within this world, not every case can be a winner.

The victim, thanks to a rarely-used ruling by a judge, did not get anywhere close to a reprieve from the men who raped her. After learning, per the letter of the law, that her “no” meant almost nothing, she decided to simply return to the industry.

This entire case was hard on Benson, as she struggled to convince others to believe in the victim, and also to see this case slip through her fingers thanks to a number of variables, including a powerful school in Hudson University who manipulated the situation to the best of their ability in order to get more PR.

Rollins even tried to visit a set at the end to save the poor girl from falling back into it, but she was unable to. The other tragedy here is that in going back to this, it will be even harder for her to ever win an appeal, and she will get even more accusations that her entire case was for publicity or attention.

In this case, there are no happy endings. Only frustrations and a feeling that won’t leave for some time. Episode Grade: B+.

(Photo via NBC.)