“Gambler’s Fallacy” moved Law & Order SVU even further away from the usual procedural format with a story that has Amanda Rollins’s gambling addiction getting her into a career-jeopardizing situation. As there was no word that Kelli Giddish was leaving the series, most viewers knew going into this episode that somehow Rollins would not lose her job over her error in judgment. To counter that lack of suspense, the writers had the tough job of making her fall from grace - and still keeping her job - into something that viewers would believe. In this case, they did a fine job in weaving an interesting, complex story which gave Kelli Giddish a chance to shine.
The episode was made even more compelling with guest star Donal Logue, a fantastic actor who played both sides of the creepy club manager and undercover Lieutenant with amazing believability. His presence alone took the sting out of the obvious plot twist that he was not who he seemed. Law & Order SVU would really move up a notch in my mind if Donal was a regular.
Something clearly is happening to our beloved SVU team, however. They seem to be slowly losing their sense of good judgment as far as dealing with personal matters. The biggest loss of brains is with Rollins, for the obvious reasons. Addictions can make one take risks and also makes them think they can get away with anything. It’s bad enough Rollins gets behind on her gambling debts, but when she is recognized by a previous underage “special victim” working the club (and who also apparently has fallen back on old bad habits), Rollins is outed as a cop. Instead of biting the bullet and turn herself in, she agrees to do their bidding at first. She later offers sexual favors to one of the club managers, Declan O'Rourke, in order to save her skin. We are given the impression that she gives him what he wants. Lucky for her we find later that she doesn’t have to go through with it. He’s working undercover and he tells Rollins now she’s got to play along with Sondra, the top manager at the club. This ultimately leads to Rollins getting evidence – a gun - out of the evidence room for a previous crime for one of the club guys, and later, to a rape. Already deep in a hole she can’t escape, Rollins uses questionable judgment when she obtains the evidence using the name of retired Detective Megan Wheeler (Julianne Nicholson’s character on Law & Order Criminal Intent) and then stupidly thinks that she can disguise herself from surveillance cameras just by covering her head with a cap. Desperate people do desperate things, and frequently desperate people, like Rollins, get caught.
Benson, as Sergeant and in charge of the SVU squad, is still trying to find the right balance in working with her detectives. She clearly is getting a little uncomfortable - is it jealousy? - with what she perceived as a brewing “thing” between Amaro and Rollins, telling Fin that “those two, I wish they’d just get a room already.” Granted, we don’t see every waking moment of these character’s lives, but I just don’t see any chemistry at all of that nature with Amaro and Rollins. At what point was Benson made aware of Rollins’ work undercover? Benson admits she lied to Fin and Amaro but when did the lying start? She seemed to know what was going on at the time Rollins was spotted by Amaro and Fin on the video at the Brazilian consulate. Did she know earlier, when Rollins first called in with the flu and Amaro and Fin questioned Benson about it? If so, what was Benson thinking by agreeing to allow a person with a serious gambling problem to get further involved in an undercover operation? I also question Benson’s decision to keep Rollins on the squad because of staffing issues. Rollins truly is a dirty cop and should be moved out. The fact that Declan was undercover changes nothing in my mind; Rollins was willing to go as far as she could to get out of her mess. It was only luck that Declan explained who he was before she had to actually service him. In my own real world experience, when I had an employee who was discovered to be doing something unethical, they were suspended immediately pending investigation, and then fired. It didn’t matter to me that we were short staffed at the time; the company's integrity had to be upheld. In a job such as law enforcement where your staff is expected to uphold the law, one can’t keep an officer on staff who breaks it. Benson should not have allowed Rollins to stay.
Amaro appears to have delusions of a continued relationship with his wife. Benson drops the bomb on him that Maria, who is worried for Amaro, has been calling her. I’m not sure if I agree with Benson’s timing on bringing this up, and Amaro’s reaction was a little unsettling. Amaro also is mistrusting of Rollins, showing stalkerish behavior toward her. What Benson may have initially worried was a relationship developing with Amaro and Rollins was likely Amaro trying to find out what Rollins was really up to. Amaro’s mistrust is causing him to inappropriately investigate Rollins and it is making him out to be a control freak. His issues with his wife make him seem unstable. This may be the next personal problem to implode.
Fin, meanwhile, the only person who seems to have a stable and happy life, hands a wad of cash to Rollins to help pay down her debt. He should know better that one never gives a wad of cash to a person who has a gambling addiction as usually it will be used to gamble again.
The bottom line is now, nobody trusts Rollins, including the viewers of this episode. Only time will tell whether Rollins can redeem herself.
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:
Donal Logue - Lt. Declan Murphy/Declan O’Rourke
Stefanie Scott - Clare Wilson
Sherri Saum - Sondra Vaughn
Lothaire Bluteau - Anton Nadari
Federico Dordei - Marcelo Guarana
Michael Potts - Sergeant Cole Draper
Fernando Andrade – Beatriz Amarante
Benny Nieves – Calos Riva
John Mondin - Evidence Officer
Karen Tsen Lee – DNA Tech Susan Chung
Jacqui\eline Hendy – Attorney Crane
Caris Vujcec - Detective
Rollins gets ready to leave the SVU squad for the day. When Amaro comments she is leaving a little early, she tells him she is going to Niagara Falls and wants to get a head start. Fin tells her to check out the Canadian side, they have some wild clubs. She tells Fin it is more of a nature trip. Amaro asks if she is going by herself, and Rollins quickly states she is going with her dog Frannie, sarcastically adding it is really romantic. Amaro asks that she knows she needs papers to take the dog across the border, and Rollins says she’s got it taken care of, calling Amaro “dad.” Amaro then says he will walk her out, he wants to catch the train to DC to see Zara. As he leaves with Rollins, Benson walks out of her office and comments to Fin “those two, I wish they’d just get a room already.” Fin laughs and says he will pretend he didn’t just hear her say that. Benson looks on with some apparent concern.
Later, Rollins pretties up and then heads to a more local secret gambling club. She is playing blackjack and another man also at the table, Marcelo, begins to touch the cocktail waitress who looks at Rollins. Rollins looks back at her and they recognize each other as cop and Clare Wilson, an underage girl part of a previous special victims case. Rollins declines the man’s offer of a drink, saying she should call it a night.
Clare walks into the office and tells one of the managers, Declan O’Rourke, that the blond woman is a cop. Soon afterwards, Declan and one of his muscle guys, Carlos, approaches Rollins as she is cashing out and asks if she is leaving early. She says she is quitting while she is behind. He orders her to come with him. Rollins comments she is not counting cards, if she was, she wouldn’t be down $15,000. But Declan won’t take no for an answer.
He, along with the Carlos, force Rollins into the office where the other manager, Sondra, is waiting. Declan and Carlos pull guns on her and then Declan motions for her to be silent, then rips open Rollins' shirt to check for a wire. He sees there is none, but Rollins looks worried.
As Sondra looks at Rollins' badge and notices she is a detective, Rollins explains she is there off duty – no gun, no wires, no worries. Declan reminds her she is the one down 15 grand and is also the one standing there half naked with a gun to her head. He introduces himself and says he is pleased to meet her, and Rollins counters that he does not want to threaten a cop. He asks why not, she’s manky. she’s dirty. He thinks she in investigating them but she insists she is there off duty and it has nothing to do with her job. Sondra says it does now. Rollins claims she is making good on it, she has OT. Sondra wants her to prove she is not an informer. Declan says he has a test for her and if she passes, they can discuss how she can work off her debt. Rollins asks if she can do it with her shirt on so Declan hands her back her shirt.
The next day, back at SVU, Rollins is at her desk on her computer and Amaro arrives noticing Rollins’ hairstyle from the night before and he asks about it. She explains it is au naturale. He comments she is in early, asking if Niagara Falls was that bad. She tells him she didn’t make it, saying Frannie got carsick. Amaro sees she is in the DMV database and she says a friend of hers keeps getting tickets even though he parks in a garage and she is just checking it out for him. Amaro cautions her to be careful with favors, she knows how IA can be, whispering that they track everything.
Amaro walks into the men’s restroom where Fin is standing over a sink. Amaro asks if he had a rough weekend, and Fin says no, it was dope. Amaro asks him if he’s noticed anything off with Rollins, saying that Rollins never made it to Niagara Falls and now she is in early looking at some guy’s parking tickets. Fin says she met a dude, good for her. But Amaro comments that she is already checking tickers for him? Fin wonders why Amaro is so interested, asking if he has something going for Rollins. Amaro says of course not. Benson knocks on the door and then opens it, calling them gossip girls and tells them that they caught a suspect on those push in rapes, it is a juice delivery guy. She motions them out.
Later, Rollins is back at the club. Declan tells Rollins there were a dozen more last night. Rollins exclaims is not her precinct but she did find out when they do their blitzes. Declan says that’s brilliant but he needs the tickets to go away. Rollins objects, saying you can’t fix tickets anymore, they will track it right to her. Sondra tells her she has one more chance. Declan shows Rollins a file and explains that the woman in the photo has been selected by the state of New York to serve as a juror. Sondra adds that it is a victimless crime – insurance fraud - and they want to help her come to the right decision. Rollins is immediately concerned and Sondra tells Rollins that her boss needs her address. Rollins raises her voice and questions that they want the home address of a juror? Sondra motions yes. Rollins continues to raise her voice and states that of she gets caught, she loses EVERYTHING. Declan reminds her they have footage of her gambling in an illegal club – she’s lost everything. He orders Rollins to find her and when she does, to text him a picture and the address, holding out a cell phone for her to take. Rollins reluctantly takes it.
At New York City Civil Court, Rollins tracks the juror from there all the way home, but when she sees that the woman has a disabled son, she deletes the photos she’s taken.
