Here is the discussion topic for Law & Order SVU, “Career Psychopath” which aired on Thursday, January 22, 2026. Please feel free to add any feedback you have about this episode in the comments!
Here is the discussion topic for Law & Order SVU, “Career Psychopath” which aired on Thursday, January 22, 2026. Please feel free to add any feedback you have about this episode in the comments!
6 comments:
Awesome episode! I'm glad it wasn't predictable either. What do you think, Chris?
@SH - it was great to see BD Wong, so that was a huge plus! Of course the drama with Rollins/Carisi at the beginning was an interesting way to start the episode. I guess if there was any flaw, it's just that they seemed to solve this case way too fast, it was far too easy. If they could have drawn out this story over a few episodes it would have been more suspenseful. For example, have it go as an unsolved case in this episode, but maybe two/three episodes down the road, solve it and get closure.
I agree! This could have easily been stretched into two or three episodes. The part with Wong could have been much more dramatic, with him being held hostage instead of merely tied up. I love when the show revisits its past. They should do it more often, considering the well they have to draw from.
I would have respected the plot of this episode more if it had felt more like it had been inspired by past eps. Instead it felt like it plagiarized those fan-favorites. I saw a copy/paste of scenes from Gambler's Fallacy, Book of Esther, Service and so on. I fully understand that healing/personal growth is not linear but this felt far less like that and much more like deja vu. The authenticity of the moment didnt land for me. And that was furthered by the delivery from the actors. They were phoning it in and the scenes fell flat and felt recycled.
Rollins always needs a new incident in order to be in crisis. All while accruing a list of unprocessed trauma. I guess the next time we want to explore the idea of her not coping we can have someone shoot at her in front of Jesse. How else for her to unravel? I mean it always has to be a brand new thing when this character has experienced so many 'big' things already that have gone largely unexplored. Not that i would want those previous traumas examined this season. It would not fit with the tone this season has struck so far.
It's interesting that in a season dedicated to stomping all over the ideas of empathy and compassion as character strengths and framing them instead as flaws that makes ppl blind to the truth instead of more insightful- a fracture in a person's personality that can make them vulnerable to manipulation- that they gave us that end scene. It felt gross to watch Amanda emotionally manipulate Ruby's desperate need for empathy despite being an imperfect victim. And i would juxtapose it w the case where the female perp was manipulating Olivia's capacity for empathy. Here we have Amanda manipulating a need for such understanding. Is it fine for Amanda to continue to verbally abuse exploited women once she can say something kind to them at the end? Explaining away her beration of them by telling them of her own personal struggles? Rinse and repeat. Cuz at this point I dont believe her sudden 'support' for Ruby. She did the same in Service w the escort "Sky/Sandy". She even sought Sky's counsel for her own pain. In Accredo she immediately reveals the trauma of her abusive father after putting her foot on a woman's neck during interrogation. That scene w Liv in the break room was always one i wanted to rally around but the timing and delivery of that info felt more like manipulation to me. And Olivia, who's empathy and compassion have come under great scrutiny this season, handled herself well I felt. She did not succomb to the manipulation nor did she invalidate the trauma. After this latest ep it's hard not to see a pattern here. Rollins will terrorize some other women after this latest incident and then love bomb them at the end of their case while also dumping out her own trauma as evidence that she should be excused. She hardly reveals her trauma to process it. She reveals it to avoid accountability. I think this whole season so far shatters any belief i will have in 'empathic/compassionate' behavior from Benson or Rollins again. (1/2)
The story 'followed canon' in the sense of touching on past incidents. But really didn't follow canon in terms of character development. What is with this sudden relational breakdown between Rollins and Benson? I ended this ep acknowledging that Rollins exists to fight with Liv and be in love w Sonny. There will be nothing more we get from her except those two roles she is bound to function in.
It has at times been seen as dysfunctional that Benson has stayed in the specific SVU for all these years. Rollins is now dysfunctional for leaving and trying other things.
Frankly, Rollins is lucky to be in a profession where this kinda behavior is not considered unethical and a fireable offense. In the helping professions where her beh would be deemed unethical and abusive, sharing your own personal struggles/traumas should only occur if it is to the real benefit of the person you're working with. You dont confide in them so they can help you process your stuff (Sky) or to excuse your mistreatment of them. And treating flawed ppl w respect is not a weakness derived from empathy. It is a strength of being emotionally mature and knowing how to hold space for others especially the ones who many would say don't deserve it. Funny, this includes Rollins. Many in the SVU universe and within the fandom have held space for her despite her failings. But i guess she is one of those who cant draw from that mercy and show it to others. Thats fine. But she perhaps should be in a dept where her personality can serve policing more.
The joke in weighing out all this is they'll probably all be fine in the next ep. Personally i think it would hv been more interesting to explore a fracture in the friendship between Fin and Liv since Fin has always been such a yes-man when it comes to liv. The Rollins-Benson tension has been playing out since 2013. It's been covered.
On a tiny positive I will say i liked how they went about the foreshadowing at the end. Liv's relief that this is likely the last they'll hear of Henry (Oh Liv lol) followed by Rollins' body language that gave away her opposition to that notion to the sounds of footsteps approaching as Henry looks up. I liked that sequence and the creative way they went about, "Henry Mesner will be back". What I am not looking fwd to is the story itself likely to be very William Lewis-esque with the difference being that Rollins wont need rescue. She'll either kill him or walk him in to the precinct herself. No need for her fellow officers.
Henry breaking out and going on a killing spree with lots of visual gore is in tandem w the season so far. It would fit. I just dont think it would stand out especially w little consequence to Rollins. It would also be in keeping w the vibe of this season where dead victims far outnumber survivors. The stories are either victims who died or persons feigning victimhood (cuz that narrative needs bolstering🙄) and so are also not survivors. (2/2)
Rollins is one of those people who always has a dark cloud hanging over her. Trouble always surrounds her. This is tiring to me.
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