Law & Order: SVU Season 27 Episode 11 could have been one of its most powerful ever.

Rollins’ arc was amazing, and the tragedy of where Ruby ended up after escaping Henry’s abuse was truly heartbreaking.

However, there was a much stronger story that could have come out of this episode of Law & Order: SVU that would have skipped the gratuitous violence — and the completely unnecessary appearances by Henry himself.

Law & Order: SVU Season 27 Episode 11 Should Have Focused Solely on Ruby

It makes sense that Ruby has serious mental health issues, including self-harm and addiction, and that she’d end up in an abusive relationship.

As Benson said, after everything Ruby has been through, none of this is a surprise.

But all of that was only a small part of the episode, which centered around Ruby’s violent boyfriend, who was determined to be Henry 2.0, starting with attacking Rollins and Carisi in their home.

That violence was as unnecessary as it was redundant, especially when a much better story was available.

Ruby could still have fallen into an abusive relationship without the man being a killer, and meeting her again as an adult victim would have been far more powerful, not to mention truer to SVU’s brand.

Most abusers aren’t wanna-be serial killers, and that aspect of things made the episode unbelievable.

If instead, Philip had been a run-of-the-mill abuser who used Ruby’s addiction to control her, we would have had a much more interesting story with a strong message about how untreated trauma compounds.

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I understand why we had to have the ridiculous plot point of the home invasion at the Rollins home — it gave Rollins a reason for her own unaddressed trauma throughout the hour.

That was the most powerful part of the episode, but Rollins has experienced more than enough trauma without that, and the story would have been stronger with Ruby as a victim who holds a mirror up to Rollins.

Overusing Henry Dilutes The Power Of His Original Story

Henry first appeared as a psychopathic child on Law & Order: SVU Season 14 Episode 19 — at the time, he was a ten-year-old who hurt his sister because he wanted to see what would happen if he did.

That episode was over-the-top in some ways, but it also asked interesting questions, such as when a parent’s desire to believe the best about their child crosses the line into a dangerous form of denial.

All of SVU had to face the fact that this child was capable of monstrous harm and question whether he could be helped or if he should just be locked up for everyone’s safety.

It was a brilliant, scary hour of television — but Henry’s story should have been left there.

Instead, Henry returned for an over-the-top sequel during Law & Order: SVU Season 22 where, upon release from juvenile detention, he went on a killing spree, murdered his parents, kidnapped Ruby, and taunted Rollins.

That episode was entirely unnecessary and weakened the original story. We didn’t need an episode to tell us Henry was still violent, though I suppose there’s something to be said for critiquing a system that did nothing either to help him or protect others from him.

Law & Order: SVU Season 27 Episode 11 was similarly unnecessary, and the overused trope of people easily breaking into the homes of NYPD-associated people made it ridiculous.

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And don’t even get me started on the hospital with security cameras that apparently serve only as decoration.

Rollins Shouldn’t Have Been The Only One Retraumatized By This Incident

While Rollins’ reluctance to address her trauma and insistence that she needed to get to the bottom of this were great — and her confrontation with Benson was the best scene in the episode — it felt like the writers forgot about other characters’ trauma.

It made no sense that Carisi spent all of Law & Order: SVU Season 26 struggling with trauma reactions after being held hostage during a robbery, yet had no visible trauma reaction to being held at knifepoint in his own apartment, nor to Rollins resolving the situation by shooting at the perp.

Similarly, Benson was kidnapped from her apartment by William Lewis shortly after the first time she encountered Henry Mesmer, but that wasn’t even mentioned (other than an indirect allusion to it when she insisted Rollins talk to Huang)

Obviously, the story was supposed to focus on Rollins, and it would have been overwhelming if everyone fell apart at once.

Still, there should have been at least some mention of other characters’ potential trauma to make the episode feel less disconnected from Law & Order: SVU as a whole.

Despite These Missteps, There Were Some Powerful Scenes

The most frustrating thing about Law & Order: SVU Season 27 Episode 11 is that there were flashes of brilliance, demonstrating that the episode could have been powerful if it hadn’t used Henry’s reappearance as a gimmick.

Benson: Ruby is a victim — of Henry and of Philip. And so are you.

Rollins: You never turn it off, do you?

Benson: Excuse me?

Rollins: Not everyone deserves your empathy, Liv.

I especially loved Rollins’ lashing out at Benson about Benson’s tendency to overempathize.

It was an interesting line of attack that should have wounded Benson deeply. Being the queen of empathy is who she is.

And it was doubly meaningful for Rollins because way back when, she didn’t want to believe that a child could be irredeemable, but her soft spot for Henry has brought her nothing but unwanted attention from him.

Sadly, that was not pursued further after Benson removed Rollins from the case and Rollins visited Henry without permission.

It was also great to catch up with Dr. Huang, my all-time favorite psychiatrist on SVU, and his therapy session with Rollins was one of the best parts of the hour.

I could have done without the gratuitous attack on him, and his decision to return to retirement now saddens me.

What about you, Law & Order: SVU fanatics?

Whether you enjoyed this latest Henry Mesmer story or hated it, I want to hear from you! Hit the comments with your thoughts, and don’t forget to share this article with your friends so they can join in.