Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 26 Episode 14 Review: The Grid Plan

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 26 Episode 14, “The Grid Plan,” does give the victim the justice she deserves, but not without going through a roller coaster of emotions and unnecessary details.

The couple at the beginning of the episode who approaches Megan does absolutely nothing for the storyline. While some may think it’s a distraction to second-guess, maybe if they are the attackers, they ultimately don’t mean anything.

But even with those details, the episode manages to be one of the most passable of the season. Not great but not as terrible as we have seen. Donna Lynne Champlin’s acting is the highlight of the episode.

Megan’s MS diagnosis ends up being bigger than what one would assume when she first mentions it. Unlike other instances in which things mentioned in an episode don’t go anywhere, this one ties directly to the defense’s strategy.

What does feel completely unnecessary on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 26 Episode 14, “The Grid Plan,” is the woman who shows up at the precinct to victim blame Megan.

While consent is the strategy the defense chooses (which most defense lawyers do on the show), the witness claiming Megan wanted to have sex with that man doesn’t add to that strategy or the storyline. It only perpetuates a stereotype in which women who come forward about their assault are usually blamed for “wanting it.”

Luckily, the squad doesn’t stand for this. Even though they don’t always see eye-to-eye with Megan, they never believe in the possibility that her assault was actually consensual.

They also never make Megan’s diagnosis the reason behind the attack or a justification for why she would supposedly cheat on her husband.

However, there is a moment in which Benson tells Megan that her behavior has more to do with the MS than with her assault. This feels completely off.

Benson tries to justify it by saying that, at times, people go for a problem they can solve rather than what they can’t. She gives the example of her father being a rapist and her job being at SVU.

While this is true, it doesn’t seem to be the case with Megan. Her anger at her rapist and the lack of evidence is completely understandable and justifiable. Her MS has little to do with that.

Instead of providing Megan with the support she needs, Benson makes her feel as if she’s mad at her. This changes toward the end of the episode but it should have never happened.

Even though Megan takes matters into her own hands and commits borderline illegal activities, the squad should have always had her back. Oddly enough, it seems Carisi is the only one to do this all episode long. Not only does he immediately call BS on the defense’s tactic, but he also promises not to bring up her diagnosis and defends her when the other lawyer does so.

Neither a hit nor a miss, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 26 Episode 14, “The Grid Plan,” is another episode that might fly under the radar. What doesn’t fly under the radar is the lack of Benson’s boss.

Previously, it would have been the chief who called her in for a press release. Nowadays, there seems to be no chief.

Dodds, Garland, and McGrath were big characters who had an important presence on the show and in Benson’s life. What happened to that kind of interaction?

Will Benson ever have a chief? Or will she eventually become it?

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

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