Constricted (Season 26, Episode 4)
Premise: When a 16-year-old is concussed and choked during her first sexual encounter, SVU traces the choking to pornography that her boyfriend’s father shared.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 26, Episode 4
- Starring
- Capt. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Sgt. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Det. Joe Velasco (Octavio Pisano), Det. Kate Silva (Juliana Aidén Martinez), ADA Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino), Defense Attorney Harry Kagan (Zak Orth)
- Guest stars
- Troy Garity as Josh Blake, Maya Drake as Hannah Brolin, Landon Maas as Ryan Blake, Rosie Benton as Allison Brolin, Allison McAtee as Paula Blake
- Director
- Michael Smith
- Writers
- Story: David Graziano & Julie Martin & Gabriel Vallejo & Nicholas Evangelista; Teleplay: Candice Sanchez McFarlane
Summary
“Constricted” follows 16-year-olds Hannah Brolin and Ryan Blake, friends since grade school who have just become a couple and plan to lose their virginity together. Hannah’s mother, Allison, lets them have the apartment for the evening, and Ryan’s father, Josh, a realtor, offers him a man-to-man talk. Elsewhere, Carisi warns off a man he catches eyeing Rollins’s nine-year-old daughter, Jesse, and two 13-year-old girls, and later asks Benson for parenting advice. That night Allison comes home to find Hannah vomiting in bed, and doctors find a severe concussion and finger bruises on her neck.
Hannah at first says she remembers little and does not want Ryan blamed. Later she tells Benson that he turned her onto her stomach and held her neck; she tried to tell him he was hurting her but could not speak, and woke on the floor. Ryan, questioned with his mother and their lawyer, says he never heard her and learned the choking from older boys on his fencing team. While he waits, Josh hints to a detective about donating to the NYPD. Carisi says that if Hannah withdrew consent, it was rape, though the case may land in juvenile court.
Then two 13-year-olds, Toby Moore and Andrew Davis, attack 12-year-old Eliza Quinn in a park by the West Side Highway, grabbing her by the neck; she runs into traffic and is struck by a cab. Andrew, Ryan’s cousin, says Ryan showed them choking porn that came from Ryan’s father. Ryan denies it, Josh is arrested for endangering a child, and his lawyer, Harry Kagan, notes that nothing has been found on his devices. Eliza dies, and her parents demand justice. When Josh’s wife, Paula, calls the police to get him out of the house, she tells Benson about a VR headset he hid and lent to Ryan, and TARU finds choking porn on it.
Spoiler, the ending: Facing only a misdemeanor, Josh agrees to plead guilty to child endangerment, and after Carisi tells him to take responsibility, he admits in court that he failed his wife, his son and the girls who were hurt. Ryan must see a psychologist weekly and attend assault prevention classes, while the younger boys face the juvenile system. Paula files for divorce, Ryan stops speaking to his father, and Eliza’s parents are expected to sue for wrongful death. With Rollins flying home, Carisi shares a drink with Benson.
Why it stands out
- Zak Orth appears as defense attorney Harry Kagan, a character from the revived Law & Order.
- The man Carisi confronts at the playground, Timothy Cottle, returns in the next episode, “Tenfold.”
- Produced before “Divide & Conquer” but aired after it.