Law & Order SVU “Tangled Strands of Justice” Recap, Review, Discussion

Law & Order SVU “Tangled Strands of Justice”  handles two cases in one episode in an exceptional story filled with conflict and politics.  It’s probably the best episode of the season so far. The story is by Brendan Feeney, with the teleplay by Warren Leight and Julie Martin.

One case goes back to September 11, 2001, when Christian Garland, a patrol officer, is searching for missing 13-year-old Aretha Green, a search which is abandoned when the World Trade Center is attacked.  But, decades later,  Garland, former NYPD Deputy Chief and soon to be Deputy Mayor,  hears of a body found in the search area and believes that’s his missing person. He asks Benson for her team’s help in confirming his suspicions.  Garland, along with Rollins and Velasco, work this case and uncover the horrible truth:  Aretha’s “not biological” grandfather is the father of her unborn baby - and her murderer.  The only good to come out of this is Aretha’s mother and sister are reunited. 

It’s a relief that Garland has landed in such a high level position and one can only hope that we may see him again.  

 

The other case involves Libby Blandon, a victim we first learned about in the Law & Order SVU episode “Post-Graduate Psychopath” from season 22. Libby has turned to a life of crime and almost gets away with the theft of expensive watches. When a Major Crimes Detective, Nadia Szabo, uses unethical means to obtain Libby’s DNA to make her case, things get testy between Benson and Szabo. Orfeh played Szabo to the hilt and it perfectly set the stage for the intense conflict. (Loved it when she asked Benson  "Oh, so you're some kind of saint?"  Yes. Yes she is.)  This disagreement ignited a fire in Benson that we haven’t seen in quite some time; she looked ready to go to war. Helping to fan the flames of conflict was the unlikeable Queens DA Drakos. Trial Division Chief Lorraine Maxwell was well utilized to work behind the scenes to address the questionable practice of using DNA from rape victims to make a case. Hopefully, DA Drakos and Detective Szabo will someday get a fitting comeuppance for their gross ethics violations.

Here is the recap: 

It’s 7:00 AM on September 11, 2001 and Christian Garland is a patrol officer,  part of a crew searching Central Park for Aretha Green, a 13-year-old who is missing.  But the search is called off when the police hear a report that a plane has crashed into the North Tower of World Trade Center. 

In the present day, a body is found, in a bag,  in Central Park in the Harlem Meer. 

Meanwhile, a girl wakes up next to a sleeping man, tries to leave quietly, stealing a bunch of expensive watches from one of his dresser drawers.   He soon wakes up and realizes “Kendall” is gone. Shortly afterward,  Detective Nadia Szabo from Major Crimes is on the scene, and Mr. Mazdani explains $850,000 in watches were stolen. He explains his girlfriend goes to NYU and said they met on the “Sugar Babies” web site and he sometimes helps her out.  Szabo checks and finds that Kendall is not registered at NYU.  He explains she had been sexually assaulted a year ago and he was helping her get over it.  She only kept a toothbrush in the bathroom. Szabo sees a note written on the bathroom mirror saying “Sry daddy test today xoxo” and Szabo tells them to check for prints and swab for DNA. 

At home, former Deputy Chief Christian Garland hears the news account of the remains found at Harlem Meer. His wife is getting ready for them both to go to an event. 

At the Major Case squad room, Mazdani identifies Kendall.  Her attorney tells Szabo her client was living under an assumed name and asks how she found her.  Szabo says she has bigger problems, the girl is looking at grand larceny and advises her to confess to possibly avoid doing time. 

Elsewhere,   Benson meets Garland at a restaurant.   He needs help with a case and thinks the body in the Meer is Aretha Green who went missing 20 years ago.  

At the SVU Squad room, Garland explains Aretha’s case and that she disappeared the day before 9/11. He explains the investigation went dormant after the attack.   Rollins calls him Chief and Benson says Garland is about to get a new title: Deputy Mayor, in the new administration. Garland says any other department will see him more as an adversary that they did before. Benson states she will deal with homicide, and asks if he is still in touch with his CO, and he replies Carl Mannix was the duty captain in charge of the investigation and he now lives in a retirement community in Hempstead.  He wasn’t happy he made deputy chief.  Benson tells Rollins and Velasco to take a ride out there – and not on the motorcycle. 

Rollins and Velasco speak with Mannix and discuss the original case.  The case got “pushed off the stove” due to 0/11. He now has lung cancer.    He hopes they see it through. 

Carisi is in the courthouse speaking with Rollins on the phone, telling her they will make falafel tonight. He hangs up and is approached by Dara Miglani who discusses the case of the girl picked up for grand larceny and that even without the girl’s real name and address, Major Case made the ID and they won’t tell her how.  She explains he knows the client – she was one of Henry Messner’s first victims last year, the psycho who speared him in the ear. 

Later,  at a food truck, Carisi tells Benson it was Libby Blandon who was picked up. Carisi said she dropped out of school and is now fleecing rich guys of six-figure watches. Benson asks what can they do and Carisi is not sure, her lawyer Miglani said the sugar daddy she robbed would not have been able to ID her but Major Case arrested her less than 12 hours after the initial report.  Major Case won’t say how they found her. Miglani overhears one of the detectives say they didn’t need to get Libby’s DNA because they already had it. But she has not been arrested in New York and she is not in CODIS. She pleaded not guilty and has been ROR’d.  Benson thinks she needs an advocate and asks how can she reach her. 

Meanwhile, Rollins and Velasco speak with the ME Abel Truman and find they have the victim’s clothes and watch and she could have been there since 2001.  The remains show that the girl was pregnant about 24 weeks. 

Rollins and  Garland visit Aretha’s mother's home. Cora is there with her father,  Coleman,  and Cora confirms the clothes and identifies the watch as Aretha's.  They ask for something to help match her DNA and Cora gives her some of her baby teeth that she saved. 

Libby is at SVU with Miglani  and speaks with Benson and Carisi and try to find out how she got identified.  She had a different identity for all those people she dated. The only time she gave her DNA was when SVU took her DNA for the rape kit. 

Benson arrives at Major Crimes and introduces herself to Detective Szabo.    Benson gets an icy reception from Szabo and she is uncooperative. She says she doesn’t come down and ask Benson how she puts her rapists in jail, and Benson says this doesn’t have to be territorial.  Szabo says great, let’s not make it that way, they are both on the same team just trying to save their cases.   Then she adds, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have DD5s to go over.”  She turns away and Benson gets a look of extreme annoyance on her face. 

Back at SVU, Benson confers with Carisi , saying she met a “new friend” at Major Case and she’s not giving in, even an inch. She calls her a real ray of sunshine and extremely defensive. She wonders if Szabo accessed Libby’s rape kit for the DNA and Carisi thinks with the controls in the ME’s office it is inconceivable.  Benson though that also but put in a call to general counsel at OCME anyway. 

Rollins an Velasco are back with the ME and hear the body is Aretha Green’s.  The DNA profile from the fetal bones is not in CODIS and is not a familial match to Aretha.  It was African-American. 

Garland and Rollins go back to Aretha’s mom and grandfather but when they explain the pregnancy, Cora gets very upset and her father says they must have gotten it wrong.  He asks them to leave and she says she will need to speak with them, Garland adding whoever got her pregnant may have been responsible for her death. 

Elsewhere, Benson speaks with the general counsel for OCME and who says there is no way that profile was accessed.  But when they speak to one of the workers there, Harry, they find that he said it was a Major Case request and the detective was told she had been in an assault case in 2021 and he checked and found her case and it was active.  The general counsel is appalled that he ran current crime scene DNA against multiple victims kits  without checking with his supervisor and he said it came from Major Case, not some precinct detective.  He says it’s not illegal.  Benson, irate, said it’s because it never occurred to anybody that they needed a law to prohibit it.  She adds this is completely unethical and the counsel says it is totally against OCME protocol. She tells Benson she is as stunned an appalled as she is and promises she will launch an internal investigation. Benson angrily states “Good. And so will the DA’s office” and looks at Harry and asks him to tell her this is the first time he’s done this.  He looks nervous. 

Back at the precinct, Cora Green comes in to speak with Garland and Rollins to discuss if Aretha had any boyfriends. But there was no one and her father was there and he would not tolerate boys around.  Velasco speaks with Cora’s father and the only person he ever left her alone with was with “Red” and then says he shouldn’t say any more. 

Later, Velasco tells Garland and Rollins that Cora had a boyfriend who had been alone with Aretha.  Velasco asks they should do the old man a favor and not let on he told them. 

Rollins and Garland speak with Cora about Red and she gets very upset, asking what difference does this make.  Garland thinks there is a reason they found  her after all these years, she wants them to know.  Cora explains Red was married which is why she didn’t mention it to the police.  He was an X-ray technician at the hospital and he moved to Unionville and still may be there. 

At the Office of the Trial Division Chief Lorraine Maxwell at 1 Hogan Place on Thursday April 14,  Benson and Carisi break the bad news about the rape kit DNA.  There were 6 files accessed in the last 2 years.  The discuss that Detective Szabo is not forthcoming but all 6 breaches were made by the same forensic biologist Harry Kent  and each at the request of Szabo.  Maxwell smirks, saying they all know what’s going on here.  Benson says Libby was raped and brutalized by Libby and she has been on a downward spiral ever since.  Carisi thinks her attorney can probably get the judge to throw the DNA out but the problem there is corroboration that is not based on the DNA.  The victim identified her and she was in possession of the stolen property, Benson emphatically says she doesn’t care, it set a precedent and this whole case needs to be thrown out.  Maxwell says at a minimum she will call the Queens DA, although she wishes it was any other borough. 

At the Nassau North Medical Center in Uniondale New York on Thursday April 14,  Rollins and Velasco speak with Red about his relationship with Cora.  Aretha had no boyfriend.  They ask for his DNA and he agrees to give it to them.  He mentions  he hasn’t stopped thinking about Cora or her little sister Nina. He is surprised they haven’t talked to her. 

At SVU Benson is on the phone hearing that Aretha had a sister.  She says sometimes it’s not about what they tell you it/s what they don’t tell you. She asks to be kept posted.  Benson is  interrupted by an irate Detective Szabo who starts off, saying

Szabo: You have some nerve, Captain. You're coming after me? 

Benson: Excuse me? 

Szabo: I pick up a suspect on grand larceny in less than 12 hours, and all of a sudden, I'm getting harassed by the DA's office, OCME, and... Thank God my captain has my back. 

Benson: Oh, you're gonna need him, because not only was your behavior completely unethical, but you violated all NYPD's protocols about victim privacy. 

Szabo: I am sorry Libby was raped. But that doesn't give her a free pass to break the law! 

Benson: How many times have you done this? 

Szabo: Done what? Use DNA to solve a crime? 

Benson: Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get a rapе victim to come forward, let alone agree to the invasive trauma of a rapе exam? The minimum pact between us and them is that we don't use their DNA against them. 

Szabo: Tell that to the mother of a 25-year-old boy who was shot during a carjacking. 

Benson: How 'bout you do your job by actually investigating or getting subpoenas instead of trading sexual favors for shortcuts to the DNA database? 

Szabo: You're scolding me for doing favors for people I'm involved with? That's rich! 

Benson: I have never put a rapе victim in jeopardy. 

Szabo: Oh, so you're some kind of saint? You've never put your finger on the scale for a former partner or an IAB rat? 

Benson: Get out of my office. 

Szabo: And you get out of my suit! 

Benson: Get out now. Get out.  [Benson slams the door after Szabo storms out.]

Meanwhile, Rollins and Garland speak with Cora about Red and Nina.  She didn’t want the police upsetting her. Her father said Cora did what she thought was right.  They hear Nina chose a life on the street and lost her to drugs.  She thought they’d find her body before Aretha’s. 

Back at SVU Rollins and Velasco confer about all the charges Nina racked up over the years.  She was paroled last month and it at a halfway house at St. Bernadine’s.  Rollins suggest they go in person. 

At St, Bernadine’s, they speak with someone about Nina and find her grandfather paid her a visit this afternoon and Nina was upset afterwards and went out for a smoke and never came back.  Up until now she has been a model resident.  Rollins says if she comes back they want to talk to her about Aretha. 

Meanwhile, Libby and her lawyer speak with Carisi and Benson and she just wants to plead guilty, she doesn’t want to be like Henry, playing the system. Benson says she should make restitution but mentions the dangerous precedent with using the rape kit DNA. They hear that the Queens grand jury just handed down an indictment. 

At the Queens Supreme Courthouse arraignment court on Friday April 15,  Libby pleads not guilty.  The judge ROR’s Libby pending a trial date.  Szabo walks out of the courtroom and heads right into Benson who is entering.  Szabo tells Benson Libby should have plead out.  Lorraine Maxwell introduces herself and says Szabo will be hearing from them; the DA’s office is reviewing all of her arrests.  Szabo smirks and says she’s glad they have the time for that as she walks off.  Maxwell speaks with with Judge Larry Cohen about having a hard time having DA Drakos call them back.  He offers to put in a call and Maxwell asks what will it cost her. The judge  says a steak dinner -  in Manhattan. 

At the office of the Queens DA, Cassandra Drakos at Kew Gardens in Queens on Friday, April 15,  Maxwell and Benson speak with Drakos about dropping the case.  Drakos thinks the defense attorney should bring it up at trial.  Benson says the detective never should have had access to that DNA, and Maxwell adds any subsequent arrest and indictment stemming from that evidence is tainted... Drakos asks under what law, and Maxwell says nothing. Drakos says she has nothing but sympathy for rape victims – Benson scoffs – and Drakos says it doesn’t give them a get out of jail free card. She asks if she drops this, where does it stop? Murder? She asks what message does it send, and Benson, incensed, asks what message does it sent to rape victims if they know their DNA will be used against them; the chilling effect on reporting is going to set them back decades,  Drakos says instead of traipsing out to Queens and preaching to her,  she should be fixing the problem with OCME.  Benson states Drakos should know they aren’t dropping this, and Drakos retorts they should know she’s not dropping the case.  She asks what will they do, go to the press?  The Queens DA’s office does not bow down to political pressure.  Maxwell tells Drakos she is not on moral high ground here; this is quicksand.  Benson whispers “Yeah” and storms out. 

Elsewhere, Velasco and Rollins speak with a guy pushing drugs and get a lead on Nina.  Later, they track down Nina working the street and mention Aretha.  They bring her into SVU and she said her grandfather told her and she thought it was one of his lies. She wonders why they told her mom that Aretha was pregnant and she knew but didn’t want her mom to find out, her grandfather said it would kill her.  Velasco wonders how did HE know. 

Later, Garland speaks with Carisi about the grandfather, saying it never occurred to them Coleman was not Aretha’s biological grandfather.  He says the man’s kept a lot of secrets for a long time.  Carisi says he refused a lawyer so he has to have some sense this is over.  Carisi asks if he is ready, and Garland says he is.  Carisi adds it is good to see him and he wishes it were under better circumstances. 

Carisi and Garland speak with Coleman who said his girlfriend was pregnant with Cora and he was a national guard reservist out of town a lot and didn’t think the baby could be his and he had doubts. He did the right thing and got married and treated Cora as his own. He said it was an accident.  He told Aretha she could not have that baby and she said she was going to tell Cora. He couldn’t reason with her and he guesses he got angry and shook her and she fell against the tub and hit her head.  He never meant to kill her.  He loved her.  She was the light of his life and them together, she was not his grandchild so it was not a sin against god. 

Garland, Carisi, and Benson speak with Maxwell and tell her that Coleman is pleading guilty and not fighting this anymore.  Benson adds he will die in  prison.  Carisi says they are on their way to tell Cora now. Carisi asks if there is any progress on the rape kit DNA, and Maxwell says they may have found some common ground.  Carisi asks that she keep him posted.  Garland says his goodbyes and he and Carisi exit.  Maxwell tells Benson she had dinner last night with Judge Cohen and he had a few more drinks that she did and he said he told Libby’s attorney to request a bench trial. Benson thinks he is signaling to Miglani he will find Libby not guilty and Benson thinks this is great news for Libby but not for the other convictions.  Maxwell says Judge Cohen had some ideas about that too; apparently DA Drakos’s husband was stepping out so she cut and pasted Judge Cohen’s signature on phone company orders for a wiretap. Benson asks if he’s been sitting on that the entire time, and Maxwell says never underestimate the complexity of politics in Queens.  Maxwell gets a message that the DA is making a statement now. She turns on the TV to hear Drakos say that with the help of OCME and Detective Szabo of Major Case, they have discovered a flaw in the OCME database … Benson can’t believe she said “she” discovered the flaw, saying they CREATED the flaw.  Maxwell quips in a sense they discovered it.  Drakos says they are dropping all the charges against the current defendant because the Fourth Amendment right to privacy is paramount and she will  be looking into all prior convictions based on victims DNA and looking to overturn them.  She will also be calling on other city DA’s to join her in asking for legislation to insure this practice becomes illegal.  Maxwell turns off the TV and Benson is incredulous that Drakos is calling on other DAs to help her with her crusade.  Benson whispers, “Wow, that is chutzpah.”  Maxwell says she learned the best way to get anything done is to let other people take the credit.  They smile at each other. 

Meanwhile, Rollins, Carisi and Garland speak with Cora and she says she’s heard enough.  That he wasn’t even her father and what he did to Aretha...and Nina says she couldn’t tell her. Cora says she knows, and she knows that is why she ran away, but that’s over now.  Carisi states Coleman agreed to spare them the trial and he is going to prison, likely for the rest of his life.  Cora says she doesn’t care; she doesn’t want to hear his name ever again. It’s her and Nina now and that’s all that matters. She adds they are making arrangements for a service for Aretha. Garland says they will leave them in peace.  As Cora and Nina walk off, Carisi tells the others it never gets easier. Rollins asks Garland if he is okay, and he says cases like this,  he doesn’t miss being a cop, adding he guesses he saw enough to last him.  He says “Godspeed to you both” and walks off. Rollins and Carisi walk off together as we fade to black.