Law & Order SVU “Info Wars” tapped into today’s highly-charged political environment, with extremists battling each other for the upper hand and loudest voice in their respective positions. This was a tightly written story with dialog that felt natural, believable, and, for the most part, fitting to the characters. The episode highlighted the ugliness of fanatical views from both extreme right and left groups, peppered with some choice insults from the key characters. This included a jab from the defense attorney about a potential suspect’s “tiny, tiny hands” (we know who they are really skewering here) and the rape victim’s annoyance with Barba, saying he is incompetent and referring to him as a “little schnauzer.” Barba perceives the trial as being “the Titanic meets the Hindenburg meets my first year of little league.” (It was the case that was a dog, not Barba.)
What is most surprising is that nobody wins in this episode, and I was okay with this. This doesn't mean I didn't want justice for the victim, but SVU and Barba had a weak case, and Barba was right to cut his losses.
In this case, a loathsome, right-wing, Ann Coulter-like pundit, Martha Cobb, is raped at a protest where she is speaking. This was a Facebook event held at the forever problematic Hudson University, (the local hotbed of crime!). But there’s no semen to be found at this rape as her attacker used a protest sign pole to assault her. There’s no video surveillance in the area where she was attacked, so the SVU detectives only have as evidence what Martha recalls (which isn’t much), a protest sign pole with her blood on it, and some DNA found under her fingernails. This was one of those unusual SVU cases where the detectives had little definitive evidence to work with, and that’s what made this story interesting. Everything that seemed like a sure thing was far from it. This also is a rare case where Benson doesn’t treat a victim like a saint, going so far to say that in Martha’s case, her assault “doesn’t endow her with sainthood.” I would have expected this comment coming from Barba, but never Benson, who, in her advocacy for a victim, usually jumps in head first before looking.
It’s protester Justin Vichinsky’s DNA under Martha’s fingernails, and he is quickly arrested by Fin and Carisi, for menacing. Martha, who has a chip on her shoulder the size of Manhattan, gives Benson a hard time all the way through, and it’s obvious that Benson’s usual sympathetic tone doesn’t work on Martha. Justin’s’ lawyer, Jed Karey, thinks he will have an easy go of it, but Martha quickly identifies Justin from the line up as her rapist. Jed makes quick work at trying to defend his client to the press.
Benson isn’t completely sold on Martha’s identification as Martha was slightly hesitant when she made it, and Benson thinks Martha’s memory is suspect. This is also unusual for Benson as she frequently has blinders on when it comes to victims. Benson admits she loathes what Martha stands for, but knows she has to trust, but verify. She also comments that with the case getting fast tracked, they didn’t have time to rule out other suspects. I found this an interesting observation on her part, seeing that every week it seems the SVU cases are moved into the courtroom at abnormal speed. Barba encourages Benson to do her due diligence.
Benson and Rollins connect with Martha at her book signing to see if Martha can recall any more from that day. When they show her a photo array, she hesitates upon seeing a photo of Randy Platt, and then admits he’s been at a few of her speeches but her security checked him out and thinks he is completely harmless. This of course is a signal to viewers that there is trouble brewing for the case as “completely harmless” means he is likely an extremist nut job.
We later find that Randy Platt is the founder and “Grand Wizard” of the “Patriots of the American Way”. He lives at home with his mom and spends his day blogging and tweeting. (Translate: loser.) But the riots at Hudson turned Randy into an Internet celebrity via a misogynist video he posted that immediately goes viral (don’t they always go viral in the SVU world). While Carisi and Rollins are questioning Randy’s mother, someone throws a Molotov cocktail into the front window of her home. When Randy gets home to the waiting detectives, he willingly comes down to SVU when they make the request. But in SVU interrogation, when Rollins and Carisi bring up Martha’s assault at the protest, he makes a quick exit from SVU.
Benson and Rollins speak with Martha at the hotel and bring up Randy, and then add that Justin’s lawyer thinks she is a opportunist and is just looking to sell books. While there, they see a new video from the protest that Martha stated a reader sent to her. Back at SVU, Rollins looks at this video which shows Justin clearly holding the sign used to assault Martha, and Rollins thinks Martha's ID is rock-solid. This is another signal to viewers that a twist is coming!
As Barba and Benson discuss the case with Martha, she seems over-confident and Barba worries she will turn this into an info war. She says she will be who she is and tells Barba to relax, “this is in the bag”. This is yet another signal that it is NOT in the bag. After Martha leaves, Benson seems to have even more reservations with Martha. When Barba reminds Benson that the unlikable Martha has been raped Benson says, “And that doesn’t endow her with sainthood.” This, coming from Benson, made me chuckle.
No matter that Benson has issues with the victim, Barba is past the point of no return and goes to trial. Martha testifies to what happened. The defense brings up Randy Platt, and the Park Milano Hotel, where Martha is staying as a guest of the Young Conservatives club. Later, Barba runs into Jed, and over drinks, Jed tells him he doesn’t think Justin has it in him and goes to these protests to meet girls.
The next day, Justin testifies and while doing so, goes off on a rant and makes himself look bad. But Jed calls Randy Platt to the stand, and his bigotry is apparent, especially when Randy points out all the black jurors, and maybe one Jewish or homosexual juror, that Randy’s group would want to purge. Jed brings up that three witnesses heard Martha call Randy “an ignorant troll who fetishizes guns because of [his] tiny, tiny hands” at the bar at the hotel the night before her speech when he made a (failed) pass at her. Randy comes back with name calling at Jed, and Barba luckily gets time to stew over this news as the trial resumes the following day.
Barba later tells Benson this was like “the Titanic meets the Hindenburg meets my first year of little league.” The fact that Martha never mentioned she spurned a sexual overture from Randy the night before the assault is a huge problem. Benson then has a forceful heart-to-heart with Martha, and Martha admits that she remembers Justin screaming at her and his rage, but recalls nothing after she was hit on the head and maybe she conflated things. She is “pretty sure” it was Justin.
“Pretty sure” doesn’t cut it with Barba, and, in dramatic fashion while questioning Randy, he pauses and then announces that the people are unable to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Justin sexually assaulted Martha and he moves to dismiss the indictment. He adds the perpetrator of this crime will never be known to a legal certainty. Benson is stunned and everyone seems confused. The judge comments that while this is unusual, he appreciates Barba’s candor, adding that few prosecutors have the courage to make this call. The case is dismissed. Does this signal problems for Barba down the road, from those people who don’t necessarily agree with Barba’s courageous decision?
On the courthouse steps, as the discussion continues to the press who are eating up the controversy, Barba comments to Benson “Do you just love free speech? You get what you pay for.” He adds that the case stopped being a search for the truth and turned into a political Rorschach test about which side butters your political bread.
Later, Benson breaks the news to Martha, who is at the restaurant where Justin works. Martha knows she won’t be the first or the last woman who was raped at Hudson University not to get justice. (No kidding; crime at Hudson is critical to the whole Law & Order brand.) She is also writing another book, a screed on the whole criminal justice system, and she will send Benson an advance copy. Benson responds that she doesn’t have much time for reading, and tells Martha to be well and take care of herself, then exits and leaving Martha to sit there, alone. But the person who I think needs to be well and take care of themselves is Barba; based on the next episode, “The Undiscovered Country”, I think trouble is on his doorstep.
Cast:
Mariska Hargitay - Lieutenant Olivia Benson
Ice-T - Detective Odafin “Fin” Tutuola
Kelli Giddish - Detective Amanda Rollins
Raúl Esparza - ADA Rafael Barba
Peter Scanavino - Detective Dominick “Sonny” Carisi, Jr.
Guest stars:
Rhea Seehorn - Martha Cobb
Kurt Fuller - Jed Karey
Jonathan Judge-Russo - Randy Platt
Adam William Zastrow - Justin Vichinsky
Lee Roy Rogers - Selma Platt
Joe Grifasi - Judge Hashi Horowitz
Adam Zastrow - Justin Vichinsky
Lisa Helmi Johanson – Esme Parker
Tuck Sweeney - Henry Anderson
Maceo Oliver – Sergeant Miller
Lars Engstrom – Campus Cop
Amber Jauni – EMT
James P. Chery – Antifa Protester #1
Tam Young – Antifa Protester #2
Sophie Zucker – Female Student
Alan Kelly – Alt-Right Dude
Brocton Pierce - Juror
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