Law & Order SVU finished season 20, breaking Law & Order’s record number of episodes along the way, and heading for a record breaking season 21. The series is strong and has a lot going for it. So why I am I so agitated after seeing the season 20 finale, “End Game”? While watching, I had to keep repeating to myself, “It’s just a fictional TV show. It’s just a fictional TV show.” This episode hit me in all the wrong places. It turned Benson’s detectives into “dirty” cops, but made sure that Olivia Benson remained unblemished along the way. She's not directly a part of a frame-up, but she did push everyone's buttons which helped start it.
Not only does Peter Stone bring all of Benson’s detectives (and attorney Nikki Staines) into his plan to frame Rob Miller, he also manages to get a murder conviction despite having ZERO EVIDENCE. I’m perplexed as to how this even got to trial. Rob Miller is initially released as a Federal judge ruled that Rob's statement “No Nikki, no case” didn’t rise to the legal standard, yet later, Stone manages to get an arrest warrant for Rob on nothing but circumstantial evidence. I have a hard time believing that Rob’s defense attorney wouldn’t dispute the evidence before the trial. Clearly he knew how a large sum of money was deposited in a young woman's bank account. Why wait for the trial to call Nikki Staines to testify that she was the one that did it, not Rob Miller? Wouldn’t this matter be brought before a judge in advance of the trial, throwing the rest of the evidence in doubt? Something about the way this got to trial didn’t feel right. I’m also surprised that the defense didn’t make a move to throw out the verdict as I don’t think Stone met the burden of proof.
I’ve come to the conclusion that Olivia Benson should come with a warning label that states she is hazardous to the career of an ADA, and she may incite you to compromise your ethics. (This would have helped Rafael Barba.) I cringed at the end when Peter Stone seems to profess his feelings for Benson when he says the she became more important to him than the case he is trying. This is the same Peter Stone, who, just a few months ago in the SVU episode “Part 33”, told Benson to keep her “bleeding heart” out of the courtroom. Even in the early stages of this episode he was reluctant to proceed as they had no proof. He seemed firm on that issue. But the minute he hears that Olivia and Noah are under threat, he decides to risk his entire career for her? Sorry, this was so contrived it almost made me laugh. I’m sorry to see Peter Stone go; my disappointment with the character is that we were force-fed a back story early on, before we could really get to see his legal expertise. And when we did see his legal expertise, it was - like in this episode - not consistent. I would have enjoyed it if he had been the one person to keep Benson in check. Instead, he seemed to have backbone in one episode and not in another, or, like in this episode, his backbone disappeared mid-episode. I can only hope that in season 21 we will get an ADA that is their own person and that can resist the pull of Olivia Benson.
While Benson didn’t participate in the frame-up, she does what she always does best: gets indignant that Stone won’t prosecute someone based on her opinion, with no evidence. She goes so far as to insult Stone by wondering whose side he’s on. Later, she’s shocked that he can move ahead with a trial, saying that the case is basically a “bunch of arrows on a corkboard, signifying a whole lot of nothing.” First she wants him to go full throttle on Rob Miller, then she gets cold feet when Stone delivers. Benson’s flip-flop here is head-scratching and whiplash inducing.
At the end, Stone tells her that she’s the one person who could make it on her own. Then why did he feel the need to frame Rob Miller for her? We keep hearing that Olivia Benson is such a strong woman, yet it seems like everyone always needs to protect her and save her from all the bad in the world. It’s a variation on the old “damsel in distress” trope and I think Law & Order SVU has used this far too many times with Benson. Her bias and inability to cope with Rob Miller has incited her whole team to frame him for a murder that they can’t prove he committed. Frankly, Rob Miller looks like the victim here. He may have very well committed the murder, but as the SVU didn’t really get any hard proof to that effect; all we know is the SVU/Stone had to do something illegal to get a conviction. It looks like the “arrow on the wheel of justice” was fixed in one direction, and now that the SVU has participated in a frame-up, what’s stopping them from doing it again to protect their own interests?
The brightest spot in this episode was Titus Welliver, who was excellent in playing Rob Miller, a deliciously nasty human being with a lot of power and influence, none of it used for any good. I can only hope that something happens where he can appeal and get out of prison, if anything so he can commit a crime that lands him back in jail without the frame-up. Callie Thorne also helped to round things out with her emotional, believable performance. I did like how they tied this story back to the Italian exchange students in the SVU episode “Exchange”. Otherwise, this story annoyed me and agitated me more than anything else. I could probably write for a few more hours on how much it bothered me, but I think I’ll cut my losses. “End Game” didn’t leave me with a great feeling about the Special Victims Unit going into season 21.
Update May 23, 2019: A viewer noticed a continuity error, occurring between the previous SVU episode, “Assumptions” and the SVU finale, “End Game”. “Assumptions” ends with the date May 7, when Rob Miller approaches Benson and Noah in the restaurant. Benson seems shocked to find he’s out. But “End Game” begins on May 5 – two days earlier – and it seems Benson had already found out Rob Miller is out and we are told police are already watching her and Noah – two days earlier than the end of “Assumptions”!
Here is the recap:
A private party goes on with many young girls in attendance. One man questions a girl’s age.
Benson, arriving at the SVU, speaks with Fin, saying she barely closed her eyes since Rob Miller got out of prison. She adds he is targeting her and wants her to know he has all the power. Fin explains they have an unmarked car on her block and in front of Noah’s school, there’s no way he can he can get at her. Benson snaps back that he walked right into that restaurant and introduced himself to Noah, adding she should have shot the son of a bitch. Fin tries to calm her, suggesting not so loud, Stone is in her office, Fin called him in.
As they walk into her office, Stone comments he wishes he had better news. Benson asks him to tell her it’s not worse than Rob Miller making bail. Stone replies that the Feds dropped the charges. Fin says “Damn!” and Benson looks stunned. She comments that he blackmailed a judge and threatened witnesses, adding he threatened Nikki Staines, they have him on tape saying “No Nikki, no case.” Stone counters that a Federal judge ruled that statement didn’t rise to the legal standard. Fin asks what now, Benson also asking what about Nikki’s rape. Stone replies there’s nothing there; Nikki is scared and is claiming it was consensual. Benson pauses, looking at Fin, and whispers she will talk to her.
At the apartment of Nikki Staines, at 1239 West 47th Street on Sunday, May 5, Nikki tells her daughter it is going to be okay, suggesting she go to her room and lie down. As her daughter races off, she cries and asks “What kind of person?” Nikki tells Benson that Miller killed her daughter’s dog. When Benson asks if she is sure, Nikki emphatically says yes, she’s sure. She points to the dog Penny’s ashes, saying the vet said it was rat poison. Getting upset, she explains the landlord didn’t put down any rat poison and she didn’t either. Benson asks how, and Nikki says her daughter said that a woman offered Penny a treat on their walk last night and she thought it was okay and this morning the dog was…Benson says she is so sorry. Nikki goes on to say the woman said to say hello to her mom. Nikki asks why, saying Rob Miller knows she was not going to testify. Benson replies that is whys he is here, they need her to testify. She adds that the Feds dropped the charges. Nikki is shocked, saying “no no no no!” When Benson asks Nikki to hear her out, Nikki shouts NO! Benson asks her to talk to her about the Wally Stevens case, the underage girls, saying Miller thought he’d be implicated and that is why he stole her phone. Nikki emphatically says there is nothing on that phone that connects him to that case. Benson asks why, what was he afraid of, can Wally put him at those sex parties. Nikki pauses and when Benson presses her to tell her more, Nikki shouts she can’t, citing attorney/client privilege, asking with sarcasm if Benson ever heard of it, adding she is not about to risk getting disbarred. She says she is appreciative for what Benson has done for her but orders Benson to go now, and Nikki storms off. Benson leaves.
Back at SVU, Benson tells the detectives there has to be a way to tie Rob Miller to Wally Stevens and the sex parties. Benson comments he blackmailed a judge (Judge Brian Leonard) and stole Nikki’s phone, saying it has to be connected, asking what are they missing. Rollins explains they have gone over the case forwards and backwards, it is falling apart. Carisi says the girls at the party are all backing off the story. Benson thinks Miller got to them or their parents. She suggests they check their bank accounts. Fin comments Miller doesn’t leave a fingerprint on the knife, and Benson reminds him they have half a dozen witnesses. Fin counters they HAD witnesses, they all lawyered up. Benson, getting increasingly agitated, shouts, “Exactly! That’s my point!” Fin comments since Leonard retired to the Maldives. Wally Steven is untouchable – double jeopardy. Benson retorts she knows, she was there. Fin sighs. Carisi gets a message and tells Benson he hears her on all of this but they have something from the harbor unit they have to deal with right now. A young female washed up on a pier on the Hudson river. Benson says, “Let’s go.”
