Law & Order SVU has clearly moved into soap opera territory with “Jersey Breakdown,” peppered with personal drama focusing on Benson, Amaro, and Rollins. It looks like there is real trouble brewing between Benson and Cassidy, some of it coming from the demands of his new job with IAB and some coming from her new role as acting squad commander for the Special Victims Unit. Benson is also learning a lot about how to be the boss. Speaking from experience, it is not an easy transition being promoted to management and having to supervise the people you worked with side-by-side. Benson is trying to be a leader and not being “bossy” but the downside is her frustration is showing. She is struggling with the multitude of decisions at work. It’s carrying over to frustration with Cassidy, who asks her to make the most minor decisions about dinner. Benson has made enough comments in previous episodes that there are been some bumps in the relationship that it’s likely the pressures of her work may be the thing that pushes the relationship over the cliff. We’ve probably also seen Benson with a wine glass in her hand more often in this season then in all of the last 14. At the end of the episode when Benson decides to open the second bottle of wine, are we to conclude that she is developing a drinking problem? I am also unable to explain the ring that Benson is wearing on her left hand ring finger in the squad room; I believe this was the only scene where she wore it so I assume it was an error. Another issue for Benson is that, as acting squad commander, she needs to get Amaro out of staying her house ASAP, for obvious reasons.
Rollins is gambling again – quelle surprise! – and later, she encounters a New Jersey detective who appears to have seen her in a New Jersey casino. Early on in the episode, Rollins also blames her dog Frannie for her lateness, an excuse that should never be used more than once. (It’s like the old “The dog ate (or peed on) my homework” excuse, an excuse that can only be used once for it to be credible.) If she blames the dog one more time, I think we should make Frannie a special victims case. When Amaro later questions the validity of the excuse, Fin seems to think that it can be explained away because we all know how some are about their dogs. I think Barba is on to Rollins and hopefully somebody will give Benson a heads up to look at Rollins' behavior more closely.
Amaro thinks he is going to patch his marriage back together, but as we can tell by the phone call that Benson gets at the end, that isn’t going to happen any time soon. He’s getting a little annoying with the childish whining about being on desk duty.
I can only wonder if we have any drama in store for Fin and Barba in coming weeks. Fin seems to have a very private life so that means there has to be some dirt somewhere. Who knows, maybe Barba will have a wardrobe crisis, like being caught wearing a tie and suspenders that don’t match? I don’t mind the personal stories every now and then but I don’t want the show to turn into “Days of Our SVU Lives.”
There WAS a special victims case between all this personal drama, and it was a case which brought in Connie Rubirosa, who is now working for the Feds. The downside is the “corrupt judge funneling kids through a juvie facility and getting kickbacks” has been done before on Law & Order SVU “Crush” from season 10. Of course, it was a New York judge that time; this time it was in New Jersey. ( I feel sorry for people in New Jersey who must feel like they live in a political cesspool after this episode...okay, considering recent news stories maybe they do.) The story was predictable; seriously now, who didn’t know it was the New Jersey prosecutor who raped the girl? The episode felt looooonnnng, maybe it was because there was so much stuff crammed into it. It seemed like there was an ending (Rollins and Clare) …after an ending (Benson and Amaro)…after an ending (Benson drinking wine in her apartment). I’m on the fence whether I liked this episode or not, but I am glad that it did end.
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:
Alana De La Garza – Connie Rubirosa
Chaz Palminteri – Perry Cannavaro
Stefanie Scott – Clare Wilson
Dayton Callie – Judge Dolan
Bill Sage – Bobby Masconi
McKean Rand -
Geoff Wigdor -
Andrea Bianchi - ADA Gina Masconi
Scott Decker – Detective Moore
Monica Wyche - Gert Marmer
Shwayze – Shelton Teague
Alli Caudle – Erin Fogarty
Adam Heller – Arnie
Sheila Tapa – Officer Merlo
Lorrie Odom – Female Corrections Officer
Matt Wood – Officer Kenneth Parker
Allyson Morgan - Nurse Shelby Roberts
Johnny Wu – Officer Mills
Jane Fergus – Reporter
Eric Morace – Sheriff’s Officer
Beau Berglund – CO Alan Newman
Chris Mazza – Counselot Mitch Moynihan
Two guys walking down the street see a young girl sitting on the ground in an alley and one guy asks if she needs help, adding that she looks really out of it. She asks for help and when the guy moves in to help her stand up, he comments that she has a nice body and the other guy laughs. Guy #1 slips off her top from her shoulder, saying it’s OK she likes that. He moves her back to the ground and then says she is a pretty girl and should not be out there alone. A guy walking on the street doing cleanup sees them and asks what they are doing and tries to stop them, with a police car coming up behind them, turning on the siren. The cops tell them to all get their hands in the air and the guy who came upon them tells the cops the 2 guys were trying to mess with the girl. One officer calls for a bus.
Meanwhile, Benson, at home in bed, awakens to a strange noise. She sees a note by the bed which says “Morning Sunshine. See you for dinner tonight! Brian.” She tosses the note back on the bed side table and opens the bedroom door to see Amaro finishing getting dressed. He apologizes for possibly waking her. She asks what time is it and then looks to see it is 5AM. She apologizes for the couch and he says it is not the couch, he’s not sleeping and it doesn’t matter because he is on desk duty which he is getting tired of. Benson replies she knows and encourages to talk to someone, mentioning her shrink. Amaro says he sees his priest. Benson was thinking of him doing something different, but Amaro says no, he is glad that works for her but that is not him. She tell him he can stay there for as long as he needs. He mentions he has the trial and she could use the quiet and the last thing she needs is to worry about him. She tells him to stop, he is her partner. He scoffs and says yeah, but with Cragen gone she is his boss too? Showing frustration, he explains he has had time to figure this out, and he holds up his left hand to show his wedding ring and says he and Maria are getting back together. Benson asks if they have been talking, and Amaro admits not yet, he is going down to D.C. this weekend and he is going to get his old life back and that’s what he needs to do now. Benson phones chimes for a message and tells Amaro there is a vic at the ER who was assaulted under the High Line. Amaro says he can go, but Benson says he can’t, that’s why it’s called desk duty. She says she is sorry and then quickly turns to go back to her bedroom to get dressed.
At Mercy Hospital, Benson is already there when Rollins stops off the elevator and removes her sunglasses, Benson commenting that Rollins is late. Rollins explains she had to take Frannie to the vet, she ate chocolate again. Benson, sounding annoyed, tells her the next time, let her know, she could have called Fin, and reminds Rollins that Amaro is on desk duty and they are short handed. Benson leans over and gives Rollins a look, saying she’s gotta show up. Rollins replies “Copy that, Sergeant” and asks what are they looking at. Benson explains that a young woman, Erin Fogarty, found passed out under the High Line, her clothes were torn and there were signs of assault. There were 3 guys at the scene all pointing fingers at each other. Rollins cracks that another great week at SVU begins.
In the room, Erin claims that she told the nurse she is fine and does not want the police. Benson says there are here and something happened, they just want to know what. Erin comments that she does not have to talk to them if she is the victim? Rollins notes that Erin said she is the victim, and Benson tells her they are holding three guys, who did what? Erin says the nurse told her if she does not want to pursue this, they can’t make her, and Rollins explains she already did the rape kit and that is the hard part, and Erin counters that she is crashing now and just wants to get out of there. Benson explains that is not happening and to sit back down, she needs to talk to them, now.
Later, in the squad room, Fin speaks to Elton who says he was there in the street doing community service, In the interrogation room, Amaro speaks with Tommy who says he and his buddy Jeff were walking toward the train and saw the other guy in top of her and then the cops show up. Fin also talks to Jeff who says they were glad they got there before it went any further. Afterwards, Amaro says here we go again, the girl doesn’t want to press charges – Benson pipes in and says “as of now” – and Rollins says the girl didn’t even want to tell them what happened. Benson asks what they got from the suspects, and Fin explains the conflicting stories. Rollins says the rape kit may help, pre-ejaculate was found on her breast and semen in her vaginal canal. Benson tells them to swab all three suspects and hold them on dis-con for the altercation and she will rush the DNA.
Later, Fin brings Jeff into the interrogation room and Amaro tells Jeff he has good news/bad news – they found Tommy’s DNA on the girl’s breast, but not Elton’s, telling Jeff that he lied. Fin accuses Jeff of wanting to go next, which would make it gang rape and that is 15 years. Jeff insists he did not touch her and Tommy was just playing with her boobs. Amaro shouts that it is still lying. Amaro asks about the semen inside of her, asking who else was with them. Jeff insists no one. He explains she was sitting there crying, her top open and her skirt up and he told Tommy not to but Tommy wanted to “seagull” her and if she was raped, it happened before they got there.
Meanwhile, Benson and Rollins have been watching the questioning and Benson says “Seagulling, the girl had a rough night.” Rollins counters that Benson was kind of rough with her. Benson retorts that if she doesn’t talk, they don’t have a case, and she seems credible. As Benson walks off, Rollins says “So we get her to talk.” Amaro steps out of the interrogation room and asks Benson, who has his back to him, if she has a minute. She tells Rollins to tell the hospital to hold Erin… and Amaro interrupts again, saying “Liv.” She stops talking to Rollins and looks at Amaro, appearing annoyed, and tersely asks “What?” Amaro, appearing frustrated, asks if they can talk in private. He walks away from her leaving Benson and Rollins to give each other a look. Rollins walks away and Benson follows Amaro.
In the holding cell, Amaro tells Benson they are short staffed and he is not good with the desk duty, he wants his gun back. Benson tells Amaro that it is just a few weeks since the shooting and he doesn’t know what could startle him. Amaro asks if she thinks he will shoot somebody else, and Benson replies that he could hesitate. She adds that PTSD is real and it is a process, and not to rush it. He begs her to let him try one tour, he’ll know. Benson shouts that it’s not just him she has to think about; the entire squad is her responsibility now. Rollins pokes her head in the cell doorway and apologizes for interrupting but they have a problem: the hospital lost Erin. Benson looks exasperated and leaves the room with Rollins, leaving Amaro in the cell.
