Critic’s Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
3.5
The good news is that Velasco finally got his own episode of Law & Order: SVU.
The bad news: Benson wanted him to do the impossible.
Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 13 featured a rapist on the loose in Velasco’s neighborhood, but that didn’t mean he could magically solve the problem, especially with all the anti-cop sentiment surrounding him.
Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 13 Had An Interesting Premise But The Execution Was Ridiculous
The foundation of “Extinguished” was great.
We had a case in Velasco’s neighborhood where nobody trusted the cops, and everybody actively stopped them from investigating while complaining about low arrest rates.
The distrust in the neighborhood was fertile ground for vigilantism, and at least one innocent guy got beat up by a mob.
Velasco was met with angry parents and large-scale protests that interfered with getting anything done.
These were the building blocks for a fantastic story, but we didn’t get it.
Instead, Benson pushed the ridiculous idea that Velasco was solely responsible for solving the case because the crime took place in his neighborhood.
Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 13 Portrayed Everyone Who Didn’t Trust The Cops Purely As Obstacles
Unfortunately, neighborhoods like Velasco’s exist, where relations between cops and citizens have completely broken down.
Often, people in these neighborhoods see police as racist and corrupt. They are quick to arrest people for minor crimes but are nowhere to be found when someone calls 911.
Worse, cooperating with the police in these neighborhoods can be dangerous. If you’re outed as a snitch, your life is over, sometimes literally.
These are important issues that police dramas SHOULD address. East New York did a great job of it during the one season it aired.
That said, I really disliked the way SVU handled this story.
Neighborhood people seemed to actively impede investigations, only for the plot to evaporate altogether, once Danny got involved in handing out flyers.
While I understood the anger and cynicism that the young victim’s parents had toward the cops after their daughter’s rape, it went beyond that to actual obstruction.
It’s beyond me why Benson didn’t respond to the father’s demand to explain how they would catch this guy that allowing his daughter to make a statement would help.
Instead, she talked about surveillance cameras after he interrupted her conversation with his daughter about what her attacker looked like to complain that the cops weren’t doing anything.
Maybe that was more realistic than it seemed. However, it gave the impression of overworked, beleaguered, heroic cops versus angry, poor people who just get in the way.
It was incredibly one-sided and didn’t do the issue justice.
Uh, Benson, Why Exactly Is This Velasco’s Problem?
I was also irritated that Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 11 had the subplot of Velasco being required to solve all the problems between the neighborhood residents and the cops and catch the rapist.
It was his neighborhood, but that didn’t give him magical powers to crack the case.
Velasco kept mostly to himself. The only neighbors he talked to were the Rochas, and that was only because Danny’s music was too damn loud all the time.
Yet Benson insisted that he find a way to calm down a mob of anti-cop protesters, get everyone talking to cops, and find a rapist who had left no evidence of his identity behind. What?
To make matters worse, the solution was incredibly simple. All Velasco had to do was get his upstairs neighbor out of jail for vigilantism and have the guy help him pass out flyers.
Community policing — having a small group of cops patrol their neighborhood and get to know their neighbors — is a legitimate solution to these types of problems, but it doesn’t work quite like that.
I’d think that the people in Velasco’s neighborhood would be even more angry and cynical that a cop lives among them but doesn’t bother to interact.
People might interpret that as snobbery or see Velasco as the “enemy” who infiltrates their neighborhoods and arrests people for no reason, breaking up families and ruining kids’ lives.
It should have been more of an uphill battle for Velasco to gain the neighborhood’s trust enough for them to do anything but take the law into their own hands.
The Vigilantism Was The Most Interesting Aspect Of This Case
Velasco’s neighborhood had a serious problem with mobs of vigilantes punishing people they believed were guilty of violent crimes.
Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 13 had a fascinating subplot, especially after the guy Danny beat up turned out to be innocent.
I wish the episode had delved more deeply into this aspect of the case. If “Extinguished” had ditched the nonsense about Velasco having to magically close the case because he lived in the neighborhood, there would have been plenty of room for a tightly plotted story about Danny’s vigilantism arrest.
The episode could have asked the question of whether vigilantism should be treated as equally bad — or worse — than the crimes it is meant to punish.
Instead, Danny first beat someone up and then redeemed himself by stopping everyone else from beating up the next suspect.
It’s a shame the plot went in this uninteresting direction, considering how many opportunities it offered for strong storytelling.
Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 11 Wasn’t All Bad
There were a lot of problems in this one, but that doesn’t make it a horrible episode.
Velasco’s relationship with Danny was interesting, even if it was a little contrived.
I was willing to suspend my disbelief that Danny would turn the entire case around merely by being part of it — once I did that, there were some enjoyable scenes.
I especially liked Velasco telling Danny that the progress they had made in the case was due to Danny passing out the flyers.
We need messages about how small acts can make a difference right now. Velasco’s mentorship of Danny helped do that.
Random Thoughts About “Extinguished”
- Carisi was missing without explanation, but that was okay. I needed a break from him after his last few cases.
- I liked Danny’s grandfather a lot. I’m glad Velasco got to know him.
- It wasn’t realistic that Velasco went from being a loner to being supported by Danny’s grandfather and getting free beer in the space of just a few minutes.
Over to you, SVU fanatics.
Did you like Law & Order: SVU season 26 Episode 13 better than I did?
Hit the comments with your thoughts, and don’t forget to vote in our poll to rank the episode.
Law & Order: SVU airs on NBC on Thursdays at 9/8c and streams on Peacock on Fridays.
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