Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 26 Episode 10 Review: Master Key

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 26 Episode 10, “Master Key,” is described as an episode in which Velasco finds himself frustrated at how the system has failed yet another teenager. However, as the episode goes on, Benson deals with the frustration and the aftermath of how the system has failed Anthony.

As disappointing as some episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 26 have been, “Master Key” reminds us once again why so many of us continue to love Olivia Benson despite the show’s failures. She is the beacon of hope that we need when it seems like everything is going dark.

For Anthony, Benson is the light at the end of the tunnel. She is the first person in the system who he can trust, be honest with you, and see genuine positive results from their interactions.

When the team first finds Anthony, the initial reaction everyone has (except Benson) is to find him guilty of murder. It isn’t until the evidence and his story show inconsistencies that they wonder if something else happened in room 2B.

For Benson, it is clear from the beginning that something else happened between the murder victim and Anthony. She has worked SVU for over two decades, which probably pushes her to have a gut feeling that she always (or usually) listens to.

However, as viewers, we can’t help but wonder whether the team would have immediately jumped to the guilty conclusion if Anthony had been a teenage girl. Even though Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has advocated for victims and survivors of all gender identities, it still feels like there’s more work to do when it comes to male victims.

Luckily, this first impression redeems itself as we watch Benson fight battle after battle to guarantee that Anthony gets the justice he deserves. She is also the only one who continuously reminds the viewers and the team around her that Anthony is a teenage boy; therefore, the men in his life are grooming him.

Even though the context always matters because it brings the evidence that Carisi needs to prosecute a case, in this situation, the context helps Anthony’s story be told properly. He is a minor that’s been taken advantage of for several years.

As Law & Order: Special Victims Unit added more cast members to its squad, they began to lose screen time. It became clear that in order to give some characters the storylines they deserved, other characters needed to be cut out of the episodes.

Even though Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 26 Episode 10, “Master Key,” does a great job keeping Curry, Velasco, Bruno, and Silva on the scene, Fin is nowhere to be found. That balance is still missing, but it seems the show is going in the right direction.

The smartest thing that could be done is pairing Bruno with Silva and Curry with Velasco. An experienced captain and an experienced detective paired up with less experienced detectives works perfectly with the show’s flow. While Bruno helps Silva acclimate to SVU, Curry helps Velasco trust his instincts more.

However, the presence of TARU and the medical examiner stands out on this episode and should be happening more often on the show. By adding these two components, the investigation becomes more real.

Not only do we get the usual perspective from the detectives and Carisi, but we also get the professional expertise of two teams that can pinpoint the things that happened with physical evidence. Seeing them intervene in future cases would be great, helping each episode feel more rounded and complex.

It seems like, slowly but surely, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 26 is finding its ground. Even though not all season has been terrible, the episodes that leave us with a bad taste in our mouths have been more prominent this season.

Episodes like “Master Key” remind us why we continue to watch the show and why Benson will always be a figure that keeps viewers coming back for more. This hope and ideal that Benson could actually change the entire system have kept us coming back for over two decades.

Hopefully, more of it will come to light during the remainder of the season, helping victims and survivors get the justice they deserve.

—

What did you think of this episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit airs Thursdays at 9/8c on NBC.

Follow us on X and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!