The creep of the week – played convincingly by Pablo Schreiber – managed to avoid prosecution for previous crimes based on a litany of errors. It was a drama filled episode and the intensity level was high. At times, though, it was hard to believe that one man could benefit from so many mistakes by law enforcement. Sometimes I wonder how real police, detectives, and lawyers feel when they see a fictional story such as this; do they encounter such repeated incompetence in real life?
There were a few situations that were just a little too convenient. Example 1: Rollins just happening to be in the park when a sexual predator runs by, and those girls yelling (what seemed like) to Rollins to stop him. Example 2: Fin and Rollins apparently not having to stake out the store for too long before Lewis arrives. Example 3: Cragen telling Benson to take two days off and if she comes to work during that time he will arrest her. If fans didn’t already know that somewhere in this episode Benson would be put in danger in her own home, this made it very clear that no one would be alarmed if she dropped off the face of the SVU earth for a few days. The only wild card is Cassidy. Does Benson’s bad mood toward the end of the episode signal there is trouble in paradise and would Cassidy also not be dropping in on her for a few days as well? One can only hope he will stop by and save the day. (Even better, let's have Stabler make a surprise visit. OK, I know I shouldn't have suggested that.)
While we’re on the subject of Benson at her apartment, I also took issue with Benson’s handling of hearing an odd noise. Instead of just calling out “Hello?” why didn’t she call out “Bri” thinking it was Cassidy? When there was no response to her hello, why didn’t she pull out her gun before she made a move? (I assume she always has her gun with her.) Benson’s detective senses seemed off here.
I was also perplexed at the references to Alice, the 60 year old woman, as being “elegant” and “cultured.” Those descriptive terms seemed…awkward. Does that make her any more credible as a witness or any more of a victim?
Raúl Esparza’s ADA Rafael Barba is probably the most colorful ADA in SVU history, not because of his snappy wardrobe, but for his lively, energetic exchanges with the SVU team and with his opponents in court. (Speaking of wardrobe, please give the wardrobe staff a round of applause for selecting such a spiffy yachting outfit.) Barba did have, in my opinion, the line of the episode when he said “Look, this case was a dog from the start…it just got fleas.” That line was even more amusing to me when considering Rollins started the apprehension of the perp by sending her own dog off to catch him. By the way, in the category of “life is not fair,” I take exception that a dog gets to have a role on SVU before I do – and a speaking role at that (wink). The dog gets a 5 biscuit out of 5 acting rating. (In fact, everyone in this episode did a wonderful job - treats for everyone!)
If I had a crystal ball, I would say that I see a drug dependency problem for Rollins down the road. I know she took what seemed like only one pain pill while on the stakeout but we all know how taking pain meds usually goes for TV characters.
This episode should give fans plenty to talk about before season 15 begins. I know there are some fans out there who are simply rabid with worry about Benson/Mariska returning for another season, and I feel I should remind everyone that this is just a TV show and fans should keep this in perspective. I recall years ago when Star Trek’s William Shatner told fans to “get a life,” and while I won’t tell SVU fans to do exactly that, I feel I should reinforce that there are many more important things in life than television. The stars of SVU and the producers of the show will make the best decisions possible based on their own needs. It doesn’t pay to fret endlessly over what will happen down the road. Just like the characters in the beginning of “Her Negotiation,” one has to keep one's life and priorities in balance, and have some fun sometimes. So everyone take a chill pill and enjoy the SVU summer reruns!
Here is the recap:
Cast:
Mariska Hargitay – Detective Olivia Benson
Ice-T – Detective Odafin “Fin” Tutuola
Richard Belzer – Sergeant John Munch
Dann Florek – Captain Don Cragen
Kelli Giddish - Detective Amanda Rollins
Danny Pino - Detective Nick Amaro
Guest stars:
Dean Winters – Brian Cassidy
Tamara Tunie – Dr. Melinda Warner
Raúl Esparza - ADA Rafael Barba
Pablo Schreiber – William Lewis
Lauren Ambrose – Counselor Vanessa Mayer
Judith Ivey – Alice Parker
Andrea Navedo – Cynthia Mancheno
Michael Mastro – Judge Serani
Robin de Jesus – Jose Silva
Ami Brabson – Judge Karen Blake
Lucy Martin – Bitsy Rabler
Tyler Bunch – Bert Swanson
Logan Rose Nelms - Astrid
Katja Gerz – Tilde
Syphen Gradbury – Judge McNamera
Alison Fernandez – Zara Amaro
Jaden Matthew Rodriguez – Gil Macheno
Harry Chambarry – Doctor
Angel Rosa – Uni
Frannie The Dog – The Dog
Alice Parker is in Central Park taking pictures. Benson is at home and asks “Bri” (Cassidy) if he wants to go to an exhibit at the Plein Air Painters at the Whitney, and suggests they head uptown and grab some brunch. He asks if she is talking to him, and Benson replies she will take that as a no, saying it’s another Sunday watching rollerbladers in the park and she thought they might change it up, and as he kisses her, he says they will – next Sunday.
Meanwhile, a man is in the kitchen of a halfway house and he taunts another man, Jose, who works there, first causing Jose to almost scald his hands on hot water, and Jose complains the water is too hot, asking if it doesn’t bother him. Then, the man says that is not hot, and turns up the heat on the burners and places his fingertips on the cooking surface, saying this is hot, and that it is mind over matter as his fingers burn. He laughs and pulls his fingers away, asking Jose to smell his fingertips and the burned flesh. When Jose complains that the other guy is leaving because they have to finish kitchen cleanup, he pulls Jose over to the hot cooking surface and slams Jose’s hand down on it, Jose screaming as his hand burns. The guy tells Jose that he can’t leave, unless he has a problem with that. He takes Jose’ hand off the hot surface and then leaves.
Elsewhere, Fin meets up with Cragen to take Munch’s place at a ball game, saying Munch’s date went a little over last night.
Amaro is in the park playing catch with his daughter Zara and son Gil, and Gil’s mother Cynthia. He hits a ball too far for Zara to catch and two young woman walk by, one of them catching it and throwing it to Zara, who is thrilled she “catched” the ball. When Amaro corrects her to “caught”, Cynthia encourages Amaro to let her be.
Rollins is also in the park playing with her dog. As a man – the same creepy guy in the halfway house - runs out of the trees, the same two women that walked past Zara run out, one of them yelling to stop that man. She tells her dog to go get him as she calls out that she is police. The dog chases after him and rounds a corner. Rollins catches up and finds the man sitting on some steps, petting the dog as the dog licks his face. Rollins shows her badge and tells her dog to come. He asks if there is a problem.
At SVU, Rollins has a uni take the man to holding as she brings the 2 women into the interview room and puts another woman – the woman taking pictures in the park – in Cragen’s office. The man claims it is a misunderstanding. The girls, Astrid and Tilde, ask about how long they may have to be there, but the older woman, Miss Parker, encourages the girls to tell the police what happened so the man can be prosecuted. The uni tells Rollins they may have a problem.
The man is in the holding cell and shows Rollins his burned fingertips, and she asks if he burned off his fingerprints. He insists it was an accident, he did it on a hot griddle. He also has no ID on him, he left it at the halfway house. She asks that he has nobody who can verify who he says he is, and he explains that he rides alone. She looks at him suspiciously and as she walks off, he asks how about if they call this disorderly conduct and everybody goes home. She looks back at him and then walks off.
Later, Benson and Amaro arrive at the precinct and Benson asks if Rollins does know it’s the weekend. Amaro asks if she tied Cassidy to a no parking sign, saying he could come in. Benson explains she thinks he is happy, she left him at a sports bar watching the Mets game with Matt Harvey working on a perfect game. Cragen and Fin get out of a cab and Fin comments to Benson and Amaro that Rollins called them in too, adding the Rollins is out of control. Amaro reminds Fin that Rollins is his partner and Cragen sarcastically says it is OK, they were just 6 innings into a perfect game. Benson says it is 8, and Cragen replies “even better.”
In the squad room, Rollins explains she called them in because the perp – William Lewis, IF that is his real name – has no ID, is unemployed, and says he works in a halfway house in Brooklyn. Benson asks that he has a record, and Rollins says he should but she can’t find anything because he just burned off his fingerprints. When Amaro questions that he burned off his prints and then just went into the park to flash, Rollins thinks he was just getting started. Rollins thinks he would have assaulted the girls had her dog, who is now laying on the squad room floor, cornered him. Cragen asks who that is in his office, and Rollins explains it is Alice Parker, who caught Lewis on camera and she says she has seen him there before. When Rollins wants them to start questioning them right now and she wants to take the perp, Cragen tells her to slow down. She says he has a feeling about this guy, and Cragen replies that he gets that. He tells Benson and Amaro to do it to get fresh eyes, and instructs Rollins and Fin to talk to the girls. Cragen says he will take Alice as she is in his office.
Cragen speaks with Alice who explains she’s watched Lewis before and he is as much a predator as any animal in the park and she knew something like this would happen. She heard the girls scream and he had his privates out. She heard the girls scream and she took a picture before he took off. She shows Cragen the photo. She also heard what he said and when she is not comfortable in telling Cragen he gives her a pen and paper and asks her to write it down.
Meanwhile, Benson and Amaro are in interrogation with Lewis who thinks the old lady has a problem with him but has no idea why. He says he runs along the pond and is always running past her, wondering if he ran into one of her photos. Amaro asks if he ran through the photo with his fly open, and reminds Lewis there are kids in the park. Lewis thinks this is a misunderstanding. He was out running, and he got chafed so he stopped to make an adjustment. Amaro asks if he’s tried powder, adding that the girls says he approached them, exposed himself, and made sexually suggestive comments. Lewis asks if they even speak English, adding they are young and from Finland and thinks this is bad timing, suggesting he apologize to them and they all go home. Benson asks if he always goes running in jeans and work boots, and Lewis says he is between jobs and he does not have a lot of money to spend on running gear. He tells Benson he does not think he deserves this kind of attitude, and she smirks and gets up and turns away.
Rollins and Fin are observing and Cragen walks in. Rollins explains the halfway house, Brooklyn Beginnings, is a shady operation, They faxed her his New York State ID, and Fin says he has been there 3 months and they said he come from an in-patient addiction facility on Long Island. Cragen asks where he was before that.
Back in interrogation, Benson comments that Lewis is staying in a halfway house, and he says he is trying to turn things around, having a problem with pills after a work accident. His record was clean and the judge said if he did rehab and went to the halfway house the charges would be expunged. Lewis says he feels awful about what the girls think happened, but Benson is skeptical, saying Lewis is just worried it will screw up his parole. Lewis says this is his point, why would he risk his recovery just to spook some tourists and his mother raised him to respect women. Amaro asks about his fingers, and Lewis says they hurt from KP duty and it was a hot stove. Benson comments that with his fingers burned like that, they are having a rough time checking his prints, so she asks if he minds telling them where he is from. He states he is from all over – Texas, Florida, Delaware – a military family, but he has been in New York for the last couple years. Amaro asks if before the halfway house he lived alone or with roommates. Lewis says it was with a girlfriend, but they did not part on the best terms. Benson questions how exactly did they part, and he replies that he’s not getting a real sense of benefit of the doubt here. He asks if he is entitled to an attorney if he asks for one, and Amaro looks at Benson who clicks her pen and then, with a thin smile, drops her hand to the table.
Benson and Amaro exit the room where Cragen, Rollins, and Fin are still watching from the hall. Benson comments the guy is a piece of work, and Amaro tells Rollins it was a good call. ADA Barba walks in, wearing some snappy boating attire, and he asks Rollins where is the fire. Benson asks is Barba was on his yacht, and he says not on HIS yacht. Cragen explains the situation about Lewis. Barba smirks, asking if they called him in for a class B misdemeanor because she wanted to use up all her favors in one fell swoop.
