Law & Order: SVU season 19 episode 15 review: Carisi’s personal case features strong Peter Scanavino performance
The case revolved in part around a young woman named Mia who claims that she was sexually abused while at school, and this was a personal case for Carisi because Mia just so happened to be his niece. He wanted to do everything that he could in order to protect her, but there were complications that arose rather quickly. One of these complications, unfortunately, was the rape not occurring as she had described. When things started to unravel when it comes to her story she decided that it was time to apologize to the young man she claimed was responsible in Ethan … who then did choose to rape her out of rage.
The problem that the SVU faced here was fairly clear. Stone, Benson, and Carisi had to figure out a way in which to have Mia come across as believable on the stand, and that was made even worse when Carisi admitted on the stand that the first rape didn’t happen. He basically wrecked the case.
In the aftermath of this, Stone had to build a whole new case with this information in mind. He had to find a way to get the public’s trust when it comes to Mia; meanwhile, he also had to figure out how to break Ethan on the stand. This is why Stone is a fantastic ADA — he quickly realized that Ethan, if he was willing to rape Mia out of rage, could also be worked up into a rage on the stand. He goaded him until he eventually admitted the truth on the stand. Ethan was guilty of rape and with that, Mia did get her justice when it mattered. Carisi and his family can now sleep a little bit easier.
CarterMatt Verdict
Wasn’t Peter Scanavino excellent in this episode? This was his best performance of the entire season as he did his part in order to help get justice for Mia. What makes Carisi such a fantastic character is that he is deeply flawed, he’s got a little bit of a temper, and while he often wants the right thing he doesn’t always go about it in the right way.
Meanwhile, we also appreciated within this episode the beginnings of a bromance between Carisi and Stone — though Olivia did point out at the end of the episode that Stone was clearly trying to charm his way into being friends with the SVU. While he’s working some of that said charm a little too hard, we don’t blame him for wanting to make a new life for himself in New York City.
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(Photo: NBC.)