Olivia Benson is in big trouble. Not only does “Beast’s Obsession” bring back her nemesis and psycho-torturer William Lewis, but Benson makes some decisions that put her career - and her life - in jeopardy. The story was told in a fast-paced, high-energy manner unlike anything SVU has seen in a long time. Viewers, like Sgt. Benson, may have experienced an unsettled feeling when Lt. Declan Murphy entered the SVU squad room and announced that he’s in charge, albeit temporarily. His steamroller attitude is exactly what the detectives need. Unfortunately for Benson, it's not what she thinks she needs. She wants to get Lewis on her own terms and with Murphy calling the shots, she’s not in control anymore.
That’s where Benson makes her huge error in judgment. The error wasn't that she lied about beating Lewis while he was cuffed to the bed and later lying about it under oath. This could easily be explained away as some sort of post-traumatic stress reaction when it first happened, which continued during her on-going therapy. It could be rationalized that at the time of trial, she simply was not well enough to face what she’d done. Benson’s error in this episode was ditching her detail and thinking she could go solo, a choice which nearly cost her her life.
Again, Mariska Hargitay showed her exceptional acting skills. The terror in her face seemed very real, as was her revulsion of Lewis. This story line brings even more opportunities for her character; she’s going to be under the microscope because of her perjury at trial and because she let herself get abducted by Lewis. This is not conduct becoming of a Sergeant and Benson will not be let off easy. Mind you, many of these things could be legitimately explained away by PTSD, but it should be an interesting ride for Benson as the story plays out.
While on the subject of things being explained away, Lewis may think he made it look like Benson shot him, but a simple test for gunshot residue and its patterns should put that issue to bed. He should have it all over his hand and there should be none, or little, on hers.
This was a well written episode with plenty of tension and drama. While Mariska clearly had the bulk of the action, everybody had something to do which was critical to the case. It was also refreshing to get the cast out on various locations. SVU can get so dull when too many scenes are indoors or on a set. The location shots added much visual interest and drama. Pablo Schreiber also did a fine job, although in all honesty, I am glad his character is now dead. Recurring villains bore me.
There's a problem with SVU and most crime shows: it's an unwritten rule/plot device that if you get a protective detail, you’ll either be killed anyway or you’ll be able to ditch your detail with ease because those working the detail are stupid, or distracted, or both. (In this episode, they were both.) For once, I would really like to see a protective detail not screw up.
Some news stories teased a surprise return of a character, but regular readers of my blog who watched the preview clips were not surprised to see Donal Logue return as Lt. Declan Murphy. Donal’s presence was obvious in one of the preview clips released by the network which I posted on my site a over a week ago. It also does not take a rocket scientist to realize there is no way, even in the fictional world of SVU, that Benson would be allowed to lead this case. Logue's presence in the preview clip was a tip off for observant fans. When Donal was in “Gambler’s Fallacy” I mentioned that SVU would move up a notch if Donal was a regular, so it was great to hear the news reports after the episode aired that his character will recur.
It was slightly amusing when Lewis tells Benson that he assumed Cassidy was out of the picture as he and Benson had no chemistry; there were quite a few SVU fans out there who felt the same way and were very vocal about it. Cassidy may not have been Mr. Right for the long term, but he did serve as a stabilizer for Benson during a very rought time.
A glaring error: the timeline is not right. If SVU is going to continue to use the scene title cards with dates, they must be more accurate with the time frames. At the end of the episode “Psycho/Therapist” in the scene where Lewis is going to the hospital ward - which was partly repeated in “Beast’s Obsession” - it shows the time as “4 months later” from the end of Lewis’ trial. Since Benson states in this episode that her testimony against Lewis was on January 6th, four months from that date would be the beginning of May. Yet, this episode puts Lewis entering the hospital ward on March 30, which is only about 3 months.
Here is the recap:
Cast:
Mariska Hargitay – Sergeant Olivia Benson
Ice-T – Detective Odafin “Fin” Tutuola
Kelli Giddish - Detective Amanda Rollins
Danny Pino - Detective Nick Amaro
Raúl Esparza - ADA Rafael Barba
Guest stars:
Pablo Schreiber - William Lewis
Donal Logue - Lieutenant Declan Murphy
Renee Elise Goldsberry – Martha Marron
Alex Hernandez – Carlos 'O.G.' Hernandez
Lily Pilblad – Amelia Cole
Nikki Estridge = Detective Delano
Curt Bouril - Detective Carlson
Lily Pilblad - Amelia Cole
Natalie Racoosin – Lauren Cole
Shiya Ribowsky – Dr. Abraham
Sarah Bisman – Bronwyn Freed
Mario D’Leon – CO Jerez
Sarah Street – Dr. Janice Cole
Oberkong K.A. Adjepong – Nwankwo
Matt Wood – Officer Kenneth Parker
Bronwyn Freed, a woman who servced as a juror during William Lewis' trial, bakes cupcakes laced with drugs and then delivers them to the prison where William Lewis is being held, giving some to Lewis and some to the guards. She visits Lewis in the visiting area and they embrace. Later, Lewis eats the cupcakes and gets ill and falls to the floor. Soon he is being raced to the hospital ward with Dr. Janice Cole at his side. Shortly afterwards, a guard at his hospital room falls unconscious. Meanwhile, Lewis is in a parking garage, dressed in hospital scrubs and he has a set of car keys giving him access to a white car.
When other officers arrive on the ward, they find Lewis gone and a nurse tied up and hanging by her arms in a supply closet. Officers flood the parking garage but Lewis is nowhere to be found.
Olivia Benson is getting a cup of coffee from a street vendor and gets a video message form an unknown caller. She takes the call and sees it is William Lewis, who says “Morning sunshine. I missed you” and the call ends. A strange look comes over her face.
At SVU, with a buzz of activity going on around her, Benson tells everyone to listen up, and tells them what they have so far. She explains that at approximately 10:45 last night, William Lewis, complaining of chest pains, was transferred from Rikers to Bellevue prison ward where all attempts to resuscitate him failed. Rollins adds that 10 minutes after he was pronounced dead, he suddenly came back to life on the gurney and was held overnight for observation. At some point, Lewis convinced the DOC officer to un-cuff him. Lewis then snaps the officer’s neck and Lewis was discovered missing at 8:45 this morning. Amaro asks how Lewis got out of that ward, and Benson replies they still don’t know. Benson explains his nurse was found raped and hanging in the closet, and that she is still unconscious. Her cell phone, car keys, and purse are missing and when Rollins explains there is an alert out for the car and starts to give the car info and license number, Fin explains not to bother, Lewis will ditch it before he escapes Manhattan. Benson does not think he will be leaving Manhattan; that Lewis called her and said he misses her. Lt. Declan Murphy enters the room and states this is why he has been ordered to take command of this unit. Benson doesn’t know what he is doing there and when Murphy finds One PP did not call her, he says with sarcasm, “That’s classic.” He explains that she cannot lead a manhunt when she is the target of the man she is hunting. She says she knows William Lewis better than anybody, and Murphy replies he will be relying on that. She counters he is their suspect and this is her unit, and Murphy says no longer, as of this moment he is acting commanding officer of SVU; Benson looks stunned. He immediately outlines the situation and gives orders to the others, telling Benson she is not going anywhere. He tells Benson she will stay at SVU or go to a hotel and intelligence will provide 24 hour protection until Lewis is apprehended. Benson claims she does not need protection but Murphy says it is not her decision. He points and asks if that is the captain’s office, saying he will be needing it.
As he makes himself at home in the captain’s office, Benson enters and Murphy asks her about the conversation with Lewis. Benson explains Lewis said nothing else. She comments that he was really pronounced dead, but Murphy quips that Lewis rose like Lazarus. As he begins to hand her stuff from the desk, she asks if this is temporary, and Murphy explains everything is, including her command here. As she gets a look of disbelief on her face, he goes on to says she knew someone would come in here eventually. Her protective detail comes in, Detective Delano and Detective Carlson and how they will shadow her. Benson comments that just for the record, she did not request this. As Benson removes her stuff from the office, Murphy says it won’t last long, they will get this guy.
At the Bellevue Hospital prison ward on Monday, March 31, Amaro and Fin speak with the doctor who explained Lewis’ treatment and what happened. They thought it was a heart attack,. But toxicology shows he had 3 grams of propranolol in his system. 150 times the therapeutic dose.
Fin speaks with Lewis’ cellmate Carlos about how it happened, and while a guard searches the room, he finds the plate of cupcakes hidden in the bed. Carlos has no idea how they got there.
Later, Fin speaks with Bronwyn (cupcake lady) who explains she gave Lewis the spiked cupcakes because he has been having anxiety attacks and he was wrongly convicted. She has a prescription for the drugs.
