Law & Order: SVU season 19 episode 11 review: ‘Flight Risk’ confronts airline industry
From the jump, you got a pretty good sense that this episode was going to touch on a horrible epidemic of sexual harassment and assault within the workplace. This workplace just so happened to be the airline industry after Tara found herself arrested on suspicion of terrorism; yet, she claimed that she dangerously landed a plan to get away from Logan Carter, an abusive pilot who previously raped her. She tried to get into the air with him despite her past trauma, but unfortunately the pain became too great.
Not only did Tara have to fight against Logan Carter in this episode, which was hard enough given the “hero” status many had handed him; Tara also had to fight against institutions that were put in place to silence her. Time and time again, what we saw in this episode was her having to confront stereotypes and claims that she couldn’t be a pilot because she was “too emotional.” She tried to stay silent about her rape, thinking that Optimum Air would help her. That didn’t happen. They instead exploited and took advantage of her until it became too much.
To make matters worse, Tara was not the only woman raped at Logan Carter’s hands.
This episode was an American tragedy, one where the corporation was complicit in one of the most terrible acts possible. They didn’t give Tara or others the time of day in order to understand the accusations or the pain that they went through. The longer Benson, Barba, and the rest of the team investigated, the more it was clear that this was an epidemic. Barba had an immense challenge getting a Grand Jury to force an indictment, but he managed to figure out the proper way in which to do that.
While we don’t necessarily think that the case with Optimum Air is completely over, things are moving in the right direction.
What’s happening with Dodds and Olivia?
That’s another good question, as it seems as though Dodds starting to look for a possible replacement, not knowing whether or not she was coming back. Is she leaving? It doesn’t seem that way, and Fin seemed to have some leverage in the form of a memo. What was it? Some possibilities include possibly dirt on Dodds, or just evidence that he was looking for a replacement before Olivia was on leave. One way or another, Fin is on Dodds’ trail. We don’t know why in the world anyone would want to replace Olivia, though; she’s a hero just as much as Barba is, per the episode, a “feminist icon.”
Final Verdict
Like we said, “Flight Risk” was an outstanding episode with plenty of powerful moments — not to mention a mystery at the end of the episode.
Overall, was “Flight Risk” to you a worthy episode of Law & Order: SVU season 19? Be sure to share in the attached comments!
(Photo: NBC.)