Law & Order SVU “Hunt, Trap, Rape, And Release” Discussion Topic

Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC 2021 NBCUniversal Media, LLC

Here is the discussion topic for Law & Order SVU, “Hunt, Trap, Rape, And Release” which aired on Thursday, February 18, 2021 at 9 PM ET on NBC. The episode featured the return of Law & Order Criminal Intent’s Annabella Sciorra as Lieutenant Carolyn Barek. 

The SVU discovers that their latest case looks to be the work of a serial rapist when they find similar cases in the Bronx. Barek is now a Lieutenant in the Bronx, and she and Benson and the SVU team have some tense moments early on as they clash about jurisdiction and control of the case.  Ultimately, the Bronx gang grudgingly cooperates.  Things get complicated when it looks like some of the previous “good girl” rapes didn’t completely match the pattern.  

I’m not sure what triggered this in my mind but it seemed very obvious early on that Sergeant Ari Moldivan was involved, either in a cover up or the rapes themselves.   This sets up a very tense scene toward the end of the episode where Rollins gets him to confess and Moldivan decides to let his gun do the talking – first on Rollins and then on himself.  Rollins, however, calls his bluff,  and he decides against it. 

This was a tension-filled,  tightly-written, fast-paced episode which utilized the entire cast.  I was never much of a fan of the character Carolyn Barek from Law & Order Criminal Intent but don’t have any issues with how she was used for this episode.    It was an hour well spent!

What did YOU think of the episode? Comments welcome - join the discussion!