“Amaro’s One-Eighty” marked a turning point for Detective Nick Amaro. He went from being a detective who appeared to trust and respect the organization for which he works to a person who is now a little paranoid about who, in the upper ranks at One PP, the DA's office, or in politics, has it out for him. His faith in the system has been rocked. It’s interesting that he missed Munch – the former resident conspiracy theorist – to use as a sounding board for advice on what to do when an unseen force is working against him. Maybe Amaro is also at a crossroads with his own religious faith. There were both obvious and subtle references to his religion in the episode: early on, while Amaro is hitting a punching bag, the word “cross” from a police line sign is glaring; Rollins refers to Amaro as a choirboy; he goes to church to consult with a priest who talks to Amaro about guilt and the sin of pride and Amaro makes sure to make the sign of the cross before he leaves the church; Benson's wondering if IAB wanted to “crucify” Amaro; Calhoun saying that testifying to a grand jury is a cardinal sin. Amaro has sometimes been too saintly and sanctimonious and maybe it was time that this character was given a dose of harsh reality. He did all the right things according to his training, but sometimes that is not enough. He is serious about his religious beliefs but he may now realize that the Church, or God, doesn’t always have the answers. Just as Amaro was giving his all to the punching bag at the start of the episode, he himself must have felt like a punching bag as IAB, the DA’s office, and public opinion tried to make his actions appear to be those of a drunk racist with anger issues. (He DOES have anger issues but I doubt this had an effect on the shooting.) In the end, I think Amaro realizes that pride in his work may not be the sinful thing that his priest seemed to make it, in fact, his pride in his work and high standards may have been what saved him from indictment and falling victim to the system. But, it would be no surprise if Amaro's self-confidence hasn't taken a hit, and for the short term, this may not be a bad thing for him. Until he knows if someone really is out to make trouble for him, he needs to be cautious.
I found it odd that Officer McKenna’s behavior wasn’t put under more scrutiny. The firing of shots didn’t start until she came around the corner and stepped into the hallway. It was later established the boy had no gun and the only bullets that were in the hall were from her gun and Amaro’s, so exactly what did she see the boy do with what she thought was a gun that made her shoot repeatedly even after being hit? McKenna’s continued shooting at “something” is what triggered Amaro to continue to fire. She seemed to be shooting blindly at a threat SHE perceived, yet unlike Amaro, McKenna seemed to be given a free pass for the shooting.
Of course, we all knew Amaro would somehow come out of this with his job back, so there wasn’t much suspense as far as that part of the story. The constant narrow mindedness of IAB and Lieutenant Tucker (I hear a “Boo! Hiss! in my head every time he is on the screen, even when Robert John Burke is on other shows) gets a little old at times. Still, it was great (and well written) drama to see how the system can turn on a good person and (almost) ruin them in the process. Amaro’s frustration with the system and fear about what an indictment meant for his future was very well played by Danny Pino.
This also was Captain Cragen’s last case with the Special Victims Unit; Cragen retires and is off for a 6 month cruise with Eileen. He seems happy which makes ME happy. Dann Florek is one of my all time favorite characters in the Law & Order brand and it will be hard to imagine the series without him. He had plenty of screen time in this episode and the send off was low key, but satisfying. I said this with Richard Belzer’s final episode and I will say it with Dann Florek’s: I would have loved to see a story line based on a previous case of Cragen’s and to make him the focus of his final episode. Now Benson will take the helm as Sergeant, which may mean some interesting – and maybe bumpy – times for her and the SVU squad down the road. The possibilities are endless!
Here is the recap:
Cast:
Mariska Hargitay – Sergeant Olivia Benson
Dann Florek – Captain Don Cragen
Kelli Giddish - Detective Amanda Rollins
Danny Pino - Detective Nick Amaro
Raúl Esparza - ADA Rafael Barba
Ice-T – Detective Odafin “Fin” Tutuola
Guest stars:
Dean Winters – Detective Brian Cassidy
Greg Germann - Derek Strauss
Elizabeth Marvel - Rita Calhoun
Robert John Burke - Lt. Ed Tucker
Cathy Moriarty-Gentile- Captain Toni Howard
Mary McCann - Didi Denzler
Leslie Odom, Jr. - Reverend Curtis Scott
Gbenga Akinnagbe - Father Biobaku
Mel Harris - Eileen Switzer
Vicky Jeudy – Officer McKenna
Stephen Bradbury – Judge Colin McNamara
Nancy Ticotin – Cesara Amaro
Tina Fabrique – Grand Juror #1
Hubert Point-Du Jour – Berko Barre
Linda Thompson Williams – Nateesha
Laura Chaneski – Nurse
Joselin Reyes – EMT #1
Luc Owono = Mr. Barre
Lorry Francois – Mrs. Barre
Aubrey Joseph – Yusef Barre
Alison Fernandez – Zara Amaro
Frank Alfano, Jr. – Officer Mike Dragin
Jared Kemp – Teen #1
Jeremiah Craft = Teen #2
Phil Eichinger – Reporter #1
In what looks like an SVU storage room, Amaro is punching feverishly at a punching bag as Fin enters the room. Fin asks him how much longer, calling him “La Hoya”, adding they are due at Liv’s. Amaro tells him he can go on ahead, and Fin says he’ll chill. Fin asks how many times do they have to celebrate this damn Sergeant’s exam, and Amaro, still punching away, says hey, she earned it. Fin says he doesn’t like it, they’re not going to let her supervise them, he means she is going to be transferred. Amaro stops punching to ponder that statement, and watches Fin as Fin leaves the room.
Later, at Benson’s and Cassidy’s apartment, Benson opens some wine and hands the bottle to Rollins, asking if she will do the honors. Rollins jokingly asks if she means pour, and Benson replies yeah. Eileen, Cragen’s girlfriend, enters the room and says the brussel sprouts were delicious, and Benson happily says she is glad someone thinks so. She adds that these cops – if it doesn’t come in a takeout container it’s not food. Rollins pours the wine and Eileen comments that Benson was sweet to invite her, and then asks Benson where is Brian tonight? Benson informs her that he is undercover – again. Eileen says that he was there for Benson at the trial, and that is what counts. Benson seems to be thinking about that and quietly answers yeah.
As Rollins fills Fin’s glass with wine, he tells her to keep it coming, girl, that’s what he’s talking about. He then turns to Cragen and asks how long he has to stay here, and Cragen tells him to just let him make a toast and then Fin can rush home to…whatever it is he rushes home to. Rollins asks if Amaro wants some more, and he replies no, he’s good. Rollins counters with “Nick, c’mon, don’t you get tired of being the choirboy?” He replies, “Choirboy. Good.” Benson and Eileen join the group as Cragen announces for all of them to listen up, he knows that everybody has been worried about all the changes at One PP. The new mayor has his agenda but they don’t make the rules, they follow them. Fin asks if this is a toast or a memorial, and they all chuckle. He goes on to say that the good news is that so many people are leaving the department because of these changes – Benson looks uncomfortable – that One PP can’t spare a Sergeant for their unit. They have agreed to let Detective…he means Sergeant - Benson stay on at SVU. He raises his glass for a toast and they all clink their wine glasses in congratulations.
Afterwards, Amaro and Rollins are leaving the party and Rollins catches up with him and asks him if he drove. He replies yes and asks if he can drop her somewhere. She says just to the F train on 6th. He agrees. Rollins comments that Benson is his new Sarge which is cool, and Amaro replies is it better than having to teach some baby faced boss the ropes. Rollins asks if they are going to give him a new partner, and Amaro shakes his head, saying how would he know, no one tells him anything, it’s the NYPD. Rollins moans she knows, they are the never-yeilding perpertual dick-around. Amaro smiles, saying he hadn’t heard that one, asking if she made that up. But Rollins doesn’t have time to answer as someone runs behind them and a voice yells “Police! Stop!” As an officer makes chase, he is hit by a taxi cab driving down the street. As the officer lay injured on the ground, he tells Amaro and Rollins that they saw that kid do a deal and thinks he has a gun. Rollins tells Amaro to call it in and she will back up his partner, and Amaro says he will go. He asks the officer again that he saw a gun, and the officer says McKenna did. While Amaro makes chase, Rollins uses the officer’s radio to call in that the officer is injured and that a plain clothes officer is in pursuit and the perp may have a gun. Amaro calls out to others watching that he is NYPD and asks which way. Someone tells him which way as a woman records the action on her phone, saying he didn’t do nothing. As Officer McKenna chases the perp into a building, Amaro follows close by. He opens the door to a hallway to hear McKenna telling the perp, who has run down another hallway, to drop the gun. She is taking cover behind the wall and reacts to seeing Amaro and points the gun at him and he quickly holds up his badge, asking what does she have. She explains that he had a gun and is at the end of the hall. Amaro asks if he is alone, and she answers he is backed up against the last door, she saw it in his jacket when she took cover. We hear someone banging on a door as McKenna yells for the perp to drop the gun and kick it away. Amaro hear the perp yelling and tells McKenna the perp doesn’t speak English. The woman taking the cell phone video comes in the same door that Amaro entered, still recording. She tells him to leave that boy alone, and Amaro points his gun toward her and yells that he said back out now. She pulls back and closes the door. McKenna tells Amaro to get the woman out, she is going in. She enters the hallway and shots ring out. She is hit and falls to the ground as more shots are fired. Amaro reaches his arm around the corner and shoots without seeing at whom is he shooting. Shots continue to be fired by the what seems like the perp and McKenna. Amaro reaches for McKenna and drags her by her jacket around the corner of the hallway. He asks if she is OK and she explains she is shot. Rollins opens the door and enters the hall, asking Amaro what the hell happened. Amaro explains McKenna is shot and Rollins tells her to keep pressure on the wound. She explains that backup is coming. There is yelling down the hall as a boy lay on the floor with two people tending to him. Amaro and Rollins race down the hallway with Amaro telling him to put their hands where he can see them. Rollins also yells for them to put their hands up. Rollins moves the man and woman to the wall and tells them to put their hands up, as Amaro says to secure the gun, but searches the bleeding boy and sees there is no gun. He frantically asks “Where is the gun?” Rollins yells back she does not see it. Amaro tries to put pressure on the boy’s wound and tells Rollins to call it in as the woman wails. Amaro and the boy look at each other, both silent.
Later, Rollins tells them the other officers have arrived to search the apartment and the stairs and the streets; they are missing a gun. Amaro tells the EMT tending to the boy to bag his hands for GSR, he shot a cop. The EMT tells Amaro that was nice triage, he saved his life. As the EMTs take the boy away, something falls from the boy's coat. Amaro picks it up and opens it, describing the contents as Khat, an eastern African amphetamine, and that Somali pirates use it to make themselves fearless. Rollins thinks that is why he ran and why he had the gun. Amaro thinks with that amount, he is a small time dealer. Captain Toni Howard arrives and ask who was the other shooter, and Amaro explains he is. She says they saved his guys, and thanks them, then adds she did not know SVU was working her precinct. Rollins explains they are not, they came upon the scene and they saw one officer get hit by a cab and Amaro says Officer McKenna gave chase and he ran to back her up; she rushed in and got shot and he fired to cover for her. He asks how is she, and Howard says she lost some blood and will be okay. Howard explains that she hates to ask, but she will need his weapon, he knows the drill. He will be escorted to the hospital for a complete workup with blood alcohol. Rollins gives a look to Amaro as he hands over his gun. Rollins tells Howard it was a good shoot. Howard asks if the kid was armed, find the weapon. Amaro gives a concerned look back to Rollins as he follows Howard out.
As Amaro exits the building, a huge crowd has gathered and Benson, along with Cragen and Fin, breaks through it, calling out to Amaro. She asks if he is OK and he says yeah. He explains the blood on his shirt is not his. Cragen asks what happened, and Amaro explains that he and Rollins ran into a mess, a uni was chasing a dealer, he shoots at her and he shot at him. Fin comments lucky for her Amaro was there. Cragen asks where is Rollins, and Amaro informs them she is doing a grid search, the gun is still missing and someone may have dumped it. Cragen asks that the precinct captain has arrived yet, and Amaro replies yes, it is Captain Howard. Fin comments that is his old Lieutenant from Narcotics, Benson adding that is good, they know her. Cragen says even so, don’t say anything to anybody until his delegate shows up and adds he is going to the hospital with him. He tells Benson and Fin to stay and find that gun.
As Cragen walks off with Amaro, Amaro tells him that he had to shoot, McKenna was down. Cragen replies he does not need to explain it to him, in fact he might not want to, nothing is privileged. Amaro says he is not sure that boy is going to make it. Cragen tells Amaro to let the doctors worry about that. Amaro gets in the back seat of the police car, and he lets out a deep sigh.
