Law & Order SVU "Confidential" Recap & Review

All photos from NBC

The guest stars made Law & Order “SVU” Confidential into a great episode, albeit one that really wasn’t about a special victim. Lena Olin was riveting as Ingrid Block, legal counsel to the handsome yet smarmy business owner Richard Morgan, played by the handsome (but not smarmy as far as I know) Richard Burgi. The SVU team gets called in to investigate when someone sees what they think is a possible rape in progress on a security camera. I wondered why a security guy would have someone call the police and also specify to call SVU, and also why it seemed that SVU was first on the scene and not the police. I know the Law & Order SVU squad is special, but I find it hard to believe that they can always be on the scene with what seems like warp speed.

But no matter, once Olin and Burgi appeared on the screen I didn’t care why SVU was called. Lena Olin is a wonderful actress and she is a very compelling presence. The promos for the episode made it clear that Burgi’s character wouldn’t survive for long, so his killing was no shock. But why does it seem so easy for someone to get a gun into the SVU squad? Mind you, I don’t spend a lot of time in police departments, but the few times I’ve been required to visit the local courthouse (for things like jury duty or even something as simple as making a vacation notification to the police), metal detectors are in full use and they have been for years. If there is anyone out there who actually works for the police who reads this blog, please feel free to comment on how guns can still get in to a place like the SVU squad building.

It was nice to see that John Munch (Richard Belzer) still exists as I was starting to think there was some conspiracy going on. This episode made good use of the whole cast and, in my opinion, the episodes where everybody gets some screen time usually make for more interesting episodes. For Law & Order fans that were promised that Sam Waterston was going to make an appearance – after all, it was noted in the official NBC press release for this episode - there was no appearance from Sam.

The episode almost went off the rails when Stabler (Chris Meloni) decides to arrest Ingrid Block, doing so without consulting with Cabot, Cragen, or even cluing in his own partner, Benson. After they are well in to cleaning up his mess, he has second thoughts. (If I were Cabot, I would have smacked him right in the courthouse hallway!) I’ve said this before and I will say it again, Stabler should know better by now and I don’t know why the writers continue to make Stabler into a character that has shown no growth over the years, with Stabler constantly reacting before he engages his brain. I think Chris Meloni deserves better.

Here is the recap:
Security cameras record footage of what looks like a woman being pulled into a men’s room against her will,and then the security camera blacks out. The security company yells to call the police and Special Victims. Detectives Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Chris Meloni) investigate the scene and find no evidence of a crime or a victim. Afterwards, while police and the SVU squad are at the building searching for the possible victim, the building owner Richard Morgan (Richard Burgi), arrives, along with his chief counsel Ingrid Block (Lena Olln) who vehemently objects to the police search. Cragen pleads for cooperation and Morgan agrees to their search. They later find the victim’s body in a trash dumpster that is just being picked up.

At the SVU squad, Benson and Stabler review what they know with Cragen and assume it is an inside job. Detective John Munch (Richard Belzer) tells them that he recalls a similar case in October 1987 with Nancy Pierce who was killed in the same manner, and Daniel Hardy, the maintenance man, was sent to Sing Sing for the crime, but he is still in prison. Cragen sends Benson and Stabler to Sing Sing to talk with Hardy to see if he had any help in Nancy’s murder.
At Sing Sing, Hardy (Yul Vazquez) says he didn’t have a partner because he didn’t kill Nancy. He asks them to reopen his case and asks them to take his DNA to test it to prove it.

Based on a photo of the most recent victim, she is identified as Renee Simmons, a secretary for Mr. Morgan. When Benson and Stabler ask Morgan why Renee was not reported missing, he said he laid her off and 12 others Friday morning, and they collected their ID badges and swiped them out of the building and the employees left immediately. Morgan thinks Renee’s ex, Matt, did this as he went nuts after she divorced him, and he is a stockbroker for a company on the 58th floor. Later, Fin (Ice-T) and Stabler see Matt leaving the building and when they try to stop him, he moves to flee, but runs into a cart, knocking over his briefcase with a bag of weed falling out. They bring him in to the SVU squad for questioning about his ex-wife’s murder. He tells them Renee was “banging” Morgan, she and Morgan had “lunch” at the same hotel every Tuesday.


Afterwards, Benson and Stabler discuss with Cragen possible connections between Morgan and both Renee’s and Nancy’s murders. Morgan testified against Hardy at his trial. Later, when Stabler speaks with Hardy again in jail about Hardy’s case, he tells Stabler that Nancy was going to cash out of her firm and take her money and split but was soon found dead.

Back at SVU, Stabler says that Nancy was killed 4 days before the market crashed in 1987 on Black Monday. They wonder what Morgan had to hide, and Munch pipes In about Morgan’s money, saying Morgan is broke and Morgan is stalling on paying investors. It seems he may have a Ponzi scheme going. They also realize Nancy and Renee both worked in the accounting departments. Fin gets a call and tells the others that Renee was an informant working for the IRS, and they think Morgan found out and killed her. They decide to arrest him before he realizes they are on to him and skips town. They arrest him while dining with what appear to be clients, with Ingrid Block present to protest.

At arraignment, when the judge questions the charges, ADA Alex Cabot (Stephanie March) called Morgan “Bernie Madoff, the Karate Kid Edition.” He pleads not guilty, and the judge tells him to surrender his passport and be confined at home with electronic monitoring and she denies bail. Afterwards, Cabot tells Benson and Stabler that the US Attorney is indicting tomorrow, and Benson says if they are going to get Morgan on the murders it is now or never.

Later, Benson and Stabler are questioning Morgan, with Block present, about the murders of Renee and Nancy. Block says they have no proof and blows them off and says they are leaving. As Benson and Stabler enter Cragen’s office, they hear a man yelling “You ruined me!’ and then gunfire. They find Morgan dead in the elevator and an old man who the police said shot Morgan. The man says Morgan stole everything from him. Block stands there frozen in place, blood spatter on her face, and tells Benson she is fine.

As they lead the old man off, Block tells Benson what she saw. Benson offers an apology and Block leaves. Stabler says the old man is Thomas Rooney, 80, and his wife recently died of cancer and Morgan would not give him his money back. Stabler gets a call from the property clerk, while Benson looks at the photos of Nancy and Renee. Stabler informs her the DNA from Hardy’s case is gone so now Hardy is screwed. But Benson runs after Block, who is entering the elevator, and tells Clock she has a few more questions.

In a conference room, Benson shows her the pictures of the two women who were murdered, and says that Block seemed relieved that Morgan was murdered, asking why is that. Benson continues to push, and asks Block if she helped Morgan with his Ponzi scheme. Block said she did not help but she only had suspicions. Benson asks her to help her with Hardy, and Block tries to stand by confidentiality, and says her life was protecting Morgan, and she becomes very agitated about it. Benson pushes Block to step up to the issue. Block says she realizes that Morgan killed Renee on Friday afternoon - after he did it - and he didn’t tell her but she knew, because she knew that he murdered Nancy pierce 22 year ago. Block tells Benson that Morgan had a shadow box in his office that held every karate belt he ever earned, and last Friday afternoon Morgan brought it to her office and asked her to hold on to it for a while, and confirms that Morgan did the same thing when Nancy was killed in Trent Towers 22 years ago. Morgan said he was renovating and asked if he could leave the shadow box with her. She knew he just bought out Nancy’s accounting firm and later asked if he had anything to do with the murder, and he said “ as a matter of fact, yes.” Block goes on to say she pleaded with him about Dan Hardy but Morgan giggled and said he knew about Hardy and, isn’t it great? It bothered her for years.

But Stabler, watching from the observation room, is unmoved, commenting that Block let Hardy rot in prison for two decades. But Cabot says if she came forward she could have been disbarred or have gone to prison. And since privilege doesn’t die with the client, Block just committed career suicide.

Benson goes on and asks about the shadow box after Nancy’s death and Block said that the box was later back on Morgan’s wall. She tells them the box is now in her office, and when the box is later retriecved and taken to ME Warner (Tamara Tunie), she finds Nancy’s epithelials on one of the belts. She also found Renee’s blood and DNA on the belt too. Now they have evidence that can clear Hardy.

In the Supreme Court detention unit, Stabler tells Hardy he is getting out and why. But Hardy asks if he is sure it was Morgan. He asks how they found out, and Block walks in and tells them that she gave the belts to the police, and that Morgan was killed two nights ago. He asks her if she knew Block killed Nancy, and gets upset when she doesn’t answer. She defends her confidentiality but this enrages him, and she stares back at him and then walks out with Stabler.

In court, Judge Donnelly (Judith Light) apologizes to Hardy for his wrongful imprisonment and sets aside his conviction and orders his record expunged and his immediate release. Afterwards, as Cabot says to Hardy she wishes there was more they could do, Stabler says there is, and arrest Block for facilitating a murder, saying he is getting justice for Renee as Block put the murder weapon right back in Morgan’s hands. Benson and Cabot look stunned as Stabler walks out with Block.

Stabler puts Block in the SVU holding cell, and Cabot testily asks Stabler if he knows what he has done. Cragen is pissed because Stabler did not clear the arrest with him or Cabot and didn’t even tell his partner. Stabler claims it was a good collar and he read the statute, but Cabot says that is proof that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Cabot says that Block has a legal right to return the belt, but admits she is tired of defense attorneys hiding behind privilege in order to withhold evidence.

In Supreme Court, Stabler testifies about the belts as they related to Morgan and both murders. Block, defending herself, points out a photo of a man, Victor Tate, and asks if Stabler know who he is. He knows Victor, saying he arrested him in 1998 for rape and later found he did not commit the crime. He adds that Victor is serving out the sentence in Sing Sing, stating that the only man who can prove Victor’s innocence, the real rapist, committed suicide. When Block comments that Tate is still in prison even though Stabler did his job, Stabler confirms that is so. She accuses Stabler of arresting her to assuage his own guilt about Victor Tate, but withdraws the question after Cabot objects.

On the stand, Block testifies to her attorney-client privilege and that it is protected by law. She talks about the box of belts that Morgan gave her and Morgan’s admission of guilt and her only legal option was to give it the box back, but that it disappeared from her office and she did not know how Richard got them back. Morgan would not tell her how he got them back, and she insists this is the truth. Cabot challenges her on her violation of confidentiality, asking why she did not come forward 22 years ago about Hardy. Block, emotional, said she wanted to, and said Morgan was dead and there was no way to hurt him now. But Cabot continues to pressure her, and Block admits she should have stopped him, and Renee Simmons murder is her fault. This admission seems to take Cabot aback, and she says she has no more questions.

Outside the courtroom, Stabler tells Cabot she took Block apart in there, and she says she will take that as a compliment. But Stabler says this is wrong, and Cabot is confused, saying the only reason they were in court is because Stabler arrested Block. Stabler thinks he made a mistake and asks to drop the charges, but Cabot says it is too late, McCoy certainly won’t let her and the jury had no choice but to convict. Stabler says, ”Unless I give them one” and walks off.

Later, Stabler came back to the prison with Hardy along with him. Stabler points out Victor Tate as Tate mops the floor, and explains the situation with Victor and how Stabler screwed up the case. He asks Hardy to help him with Ingrid Block, saying he does not think Block gave Richard the belts back. Hardy asks if helping “that bitch” Block will get Tate out, and asks what he care, saying she should be punished. Saying if Block had not come forward that would be him - pointing to Tate – pushing a mop for the rest of his life.


Back in court, Hardy is on the stand, saying that Morgan asked Hardy to take the shadow box out of Block’s office and put it in his. Hardy had a master key he could use to get in to her office, and Morgan told him if Hardy told Block about it he would fire him. The next thing, he is being arrested for Nancy’s murder. Block thanks him and Cabot has no questions. The defense rests and Cabot has no rebuttal, so Block moves for a directed verdict of not guilty as the people have not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that she facilitated the murder of Renee Simmons. Judge Donnelly agrees there was no intent to commit a crime, and for the record, says it is abhorrent to her that a district attorney would so blatantly use the system of justice as a means to a political end. Cabot looks stunned. Donnelly finds Block not guilty. Stabler offers Block an apology and Block replies she owes them her thanks. She adds that she represents Thomas Rooney on the murder charge (for Morgan) and he is 80 years old and sick, asking if Cabot can plead him out. She says she will see what she can do.

Stabler wonders why Block is defending Morgan’s murderer, and Benson wonders if she is grateful that Rooney took the monkey off her back, but Stabler wonders if she has a guilty conscience. Back in the SVU interrogation room, Stabler shows Block that she called Rooney two hours before he murdered Morgan, and Benson says Block told Rooney that Morgan was at SVU. She said all she did was make a phone call. Rooney did what she should have done 22 years ago, and said she hoped the law would catch up with Richard, and Stabler replies the law doesn’t always guarantee justice. She says this time she did.

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Law & Order Stars Attend GLAAD Media Awards

A few cast members from the Law & Order franchise were in attendance at the 2009 GLAAD Media Awards, which was held at the Marriott Marquis on March 28, 2009 in New York City. Enjoy the photos of Chris Noth (along with Hedda Lettuce...I kid you not!), S. Epatha Merkerson, and Judith Light.

Chris Noth and Hedda Lettuce

Chris Noth

S. Epatha Merkerson

Judith Light

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Stephanie March Talks Of Alex Cabot’s Return to Law & Order SVU

Stephanie March is scheduled to return to Law & Order SVU as Alex Cabot on March 10, 2009. Stephanie and producer Neal Baer have been making the rounds for interviews. Here are excerpts from two, with links to the full interviews.

Here’s the first except from the NY Daily News:

Now that Stephanie March is back in the role of Alexandra (Alex) Cabot on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," fans will get some long-awaited answers to what exactly happened to her character.

March left the show in 2003, when Alex was shot and placed in the witness protection program. The character briefly reemerged shortly after to testify against her shooter and again in 2006 as part of NBC's short-lived series "Conviction."

But because March was added to the "Conviction" cast during production and the show was canceled after one season, the writers never had the chance to explain how she came to be back in New York and out of protection.

"Stephanie has a great scene with Mariska [Hargitay], Chris [Elliott], Ice-T and [Richard] Belzer where all of [the questions] definitely come up," "SVU" executive producer Neal Baer told reporters yesterday. "We definitely talk about witness protection, we definitely talk about the past, and it's quite a moving scene."

"Hopefully, it will complete a circle and make sense to the audience," added March. "This will be nice and neat."

(NY Daily News full interview here.)


Here is the second, from Movieweb:

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit fans, Alex Cabot is back. The character, portrayed by Stephanie March, will return to the series in a six-episode arc starting on Tuesday, March 10 at 10 PM ET on NBC. March and executive producer Neal Baer recently held a conference call to discuss her return, and here's what they had to say.

I'm just curious to know which Alex Cabot are we going to get, the old Alex Cabot or the Alex Cabot from Conviction? They're not exactly the same Alex Cabot.

Stephanie March:
They're not entire - they're about the same height.

Yeah, I understand that, you're about 5'9 1/2" on this one so I applaud you for wearing heels.

Stephanie March:
Oh thanks, thank you so much. You know I think this is probably - I mean I know exactly how I feel about the character and I'm pretty excited about bringing her back. But Neal could probably speak to this specifically in terms of plot a little bit better.

Neal Baer: Well I think it's Alex Cabot who was both on Conviction and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit because as you'll see in the episode on May - on March 10th, you'll understand why Alex Cabot did not go back to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Why she was fearful and she has changed a bit. She's stronger.

Well it would be harder to get stronger than Alex Cabot was because she was a pretty fierce woman.

Stephanie March:
Well if I may interject, I think she was pretty strong and determined but not as knowledgeable or seasoned. And so I'd like to think that maybe this time around she'll be a little wiser and a little - life has roughed her up a little more. Made her slightly more sympathetic.

Neal Baer: She's definitely more vulnerable, that you see from the very beginning and she's more questioning. So as Stephanie just said you know she was maybe more surface tough then. You'll understand when she comes back that that maybe was more of a cover and that she is much more questioning and much more open to the situ - to the complexities of the situation.

Stephanie March:
Exactly.

Neal Baer: I'm trying to steer around with a - by not giving away the plot... You know you'll certainly recognize her as the Alex Cabot you loved five years ago on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit because it's still Stephanie and we're writing her as Alex Cabot. So it's just hugely fun for us.

Stephanie March:
Hopefully it will complete a circle and make sense. I mean it makes sense to me because I'm in the middle of it, but as people see it I think it will make a lot of sense.

So we're going to find out how you managed to come back from witness protection?

Stephanie March:
Yeah.

Oh well hallelujah. That was really one of the biggest drawbacks that I think people had with Conviction that they were left without an explanation.

Stephanie March:
Well I think this will be nice and neat and make sense.

Neal Baer: Yeah, there is definitely a - she, Stephanie has a great scene with Mariska, Chris, Ice-T and Belzer where this definitely comes up, we definitely talk about witness protection. We definitely talk about the past and it's quite a moving scene. And it's also really nice to see Stephanie with BD because they're - we have some interesting shows going back to season two with Richard Thomas and Karen Allen where I remember Stephanie and BD's character fought with each other and really grappled with some issues.

Stephanie March:
Yeah, and we get to revisit it. Plus I like working with BD because he's my friend anyway so this time I get paid to have dinner together.

Are you coming back in a Liz Donnelly type role or - because you were bureau (team) on Conviction.

Stephanie March:
Well I will say this much, I am coming back to that which has most affected me. I'm coming back to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Neal Baer: I'm glad you brought up Liz Donnelly because Stephanie will be doing a very big show at the end of sweeps on March 31st with Judith (Light).

(Movieweb full interview here.)


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Law & Order SVU “Persona” A Riveting Episode

Now this is what Law & Order should be about – the story, not the actors or the guest stars. And in this case, they delivered an episode that was compelling and filled with drama. We also got a special appearance of the hard-nosed, and apparently hard-hearted Elizabeth Donnelly, which greatly enhanced the story.

First the recap, my full review follows afterwards.

The episode opens with a woman going to a drug store pharmacy to get the morning after pill. When the pharmacy challenges her request, she causes a scene, which brings out security. During her outburst, she claims she was raped. Detectives Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Chris Meloni) are called in, and Stabler instructs security to release the rape victim from the handcuffs. The pharmacist says she is going to press charges, and Stabler tells her not to press her luck.

The detectives take her to the hospital where she is examined. The doctor (Didi Conn) shows them photographs of her injury. The victim, Mia Latimer (Clea Duvall), describes her attack, saying she was threatened with a knife. She describes her attacker as “tall, white, big.” She was told not to look at him. She and her husband were trying to get pregnant and she knew she was ovulating, and she did not want to have the rapist’s baby.

Benson and Stabler arrive at the crime scene where Forensics Tech O'Halloran (Mike Doyle) has already arrived and said the rest of the team already left. He said all he could do was set up the crime scene tape. Someone dumped oil over the area where the attack occurred and if the attack happened where Mia actually said it had, she would have oil all over her clothes, which she didn’t. She lied to them. But, she was clearly injured from a beating, so they concluded the perp was her husband.

At the Latimer residence, Mia answers the door and when asked, says her husband is not home. They confront her with the fact that she lied, and while they are talking, her husband Brent (Nathaniel Marston) arrives home, carrying flowers. They tell him they are investigating burglaries in the area, he says he has good security, back up by several guns. He gives his wife the flowers and kisses her. When Stabler cautions him on keeping his weapons secure, Latimer seems agitated and tells them he can take care of his own home. The detectives decide to talk to the neighbors to get info as “the walls have ears.”

Wheelchair-bound downstairs tenant Jonah Malcolm (Mike Farrell) says he’s a crime buff and makes references to the Hitchcock movie “Rear Window” as his wife Linnie (Brenda Blethyn), joins them. Jonah seems to want to talk; Linnie doesn’t want to get involved. He describes fights at the Latimer’s; also saying Mia had a broken arm last spring. But Linnie is worried that they will get kicked out of their rent-controlled apartment by talking about the matter. When Linnie walks away, Benson follows her and continues to discuss the Latimers. She says she’s afraid of Brent Latimer – he’s a monster, nice on the outside, nasty inside.

Later, we see Mia coming in to Linnie’s place, saying she got her message. But Benson is there, and Mia doesn’t want to talk to her. She says she doesn’t need protection, but Benson offers to help. Benson forces Mia to look at her injuries. Mia says he always says he’s sorry and brings her flowers. Benson tells her that her husband won’t change, and she needs to tell her what really happened. She says he wanted to have sex and to make a baby. He tracks her ovulation, takes her temperature every day. She doesn’t want to have a child with him, but he called her a selfish bitch and beat her. Linnie offers to take care of Mia and tells the to go “arrest the bastard.” They take him off in cuffs.

Latimer is being arraigned, with Benson present. He pleads not guilty, of course. ADA Greyleck (Michaela McManus) argues the case with Latimer’s attorney Trevor Langan (Peter Hermann). The judge sets bail at $50,000, and Greyleck asks for an order of protection for his wife. Benson whispers something to Greyleck, who comes back to the judge and asks for Latimer’s firearms to be surrendered to the NYPD. The judge agrees.

Mia s worried because they let him go, thinking even taking away his guns won’t stop him. Her parents are dead and she has no friends, and Brent cut her off from all the money. Linnie suggests going a shelter, but she refuses. When Benson says she should be OK financially after she files for divorce, Mia tells her she signed a prenup, she married him at 19 and never had a job. Linnie says she deserves someone better. But Mia agrees to go to the a shelter.

At the Domestic Violence Safe House, Benson is telling Mia not to disclose the location to anyone, and tells her the rules. She can have no contact with Brent. Mia feels like she’s in prison, and she knows all about rules – Brent has lots of them.

Back at the squad, Benson mentions to Stabler that going to the safe house should have been Mia’s choice and she pushed her into it. When Stabler mentions that Brent will be going to jail, Langan arrives, and tells them that Mia recanted her charges against Brent – on video, so Brent will be released.

Later, Benson goes to the Latimer residence, and is greeted by Brent. He tries to blow her off, but she says she has a right to see Mia. He lets her in, and calls out to Mia, who arrives looking fresh, perky, and happy, and says everything is fine. She wants to be home with her husband, and says she made a mistake, and Brent forgives her. He says goodbye to Benson, and says to tell her partner he wants his guns back.

Benson goes downstairs in the laundry area to see Linnie, and Linnie is annoyed that Mia doesn’t seem to care. Benson sees a doorway, and Linnie says it’s the old servant’s steps that were left there after they converted the apartment, and they also share the laundry. When Benson looks like she has an idea, Linnie tells her that she can’t stay there, but Benson stays it’s the only way she can protect her. Linnie is unsympathetic, but relents under pressure from Benson.

While she is staying there, Benson hears Brent yelling at Mia. She kicks in the door and tells Brent to put his hands on his head, Mia standing there with a knife in her chest. He says she attacked him. Benson yells for Linnie to call 911, but Mia bleeds out.

Later, at the Latimer home, Cragen (Dann Florek) tries to reassure Benson. As she leaves the apartment with Cragen, Linnie is there, and asks Benson if it was worth it, and she chides her for pushing Mia. But Jonah asks Benson to not let Brent get away with it.

At the crime lab at One Police Plaza, it appears that Brent’s claim of self-defense won’t stand up. But, they did find prints on the kitchen phone that matched an old homicide from 1974. A man named Vincent Cresswell was killed in his sleep by his wife, shot 6 times. His wife Caroline was arrested at the scene, but she fled just before trial and has been a fugitive ever since. The face of that killer is a young Linnie Malcolm.

At the Malcolm residence, Linnie says she has been dreading this for 34 years. She also never told Jonah about it. She said when she escaped, she had nowhere to go, and had no money, spending her last dollar on a bowl of soup. At the squad with Stabler, Jonah recalls meeting her that day, and Linnie is also at the squad, telling Benson that Jonah saved her life as she had no money or friends and was thinking about suicide. She had no family to go home to. They tried to have children but Jonah said she was infertile, but she said she was on the pill, as she could not risk her identity being discovered. Jonah wonders if their marriage is even legal.

She says she met her first husband at an anti-war protest, and after the war ended the world moved on but Vincent was still angry. No one wanted his “bitter poems” and he blamed Linnie for “stifling his muse”. He was into drugs and booze and beat her all the time. He bought a gun and when he was drunk he talked about suicide, one day he said he was going to shoot her and kill himself, and she knew he meant it. She was planning to leave, stashing away change and had almost $50 dollars, and he found it and accused her of selling herself for the money. He raped her, over and over. When he went to sleep, she took the gun from under his pillow and shot him. She still had the gun in her hand when the police broke down the door. She never told anyone he raped her.

Looking from behind the glass, Cragen muses to Greyleck that marital rape wasn’t a crime until 1984 and today this would be ruled self-defense. Greyleck says Linnie will have to face the original indictment but if they can corroborate her story, she is probably looking at probation. A voice from behind states “Over my dead body” and Greyleck says, surprised “Judge Donnelly”. Donnelly (Judith Light) says “Not any more.’ She’s taken a leave of absence to return to the DA’s office for “unfinished business”, meaning Linnie Malcolm AKA Caroline Cresswell.

She enters the room and says “Hello Caroline, remember me?” Benson looks stunned, and Linnie says she knows she was the prosecutor on her original case. Donnelly orders Benson to arrest Linnie for escape in the first degree, and when Benson balks, Donnelly says if she won’t do it, she’ll bring in a detective that isn’t personally involved. Benson arrests her, under her original name.

At arraignment, Donnelly requests remand. The defense requests home confinement with electronic monitoring because Jonah needs her for his care. She is remanded but the defense adds they will be presenting an affirmative defense because Caroline was a battered woman. The judge allows the defense.

In Donnelly’s office, Benson confronts her with the fact that she spent her entire career protecting abused women, and now she is going after one. Donnelly comments “You don’t know, do you?” and asks Benson if she ever asked how Caroline escaped. (She hadn’t.) Caroline asked for a meeting to plea bargain, and then escaped out of the bathroom, Donnelly taking the blame. Her colleagues continue to refer to her rookie mistake as “doing a Donnelly” and said Benson has no idea how it was working in law enforcement back then for a woman. Caroline made her look like a fool, but this is not why she’s going after her. She tells Benson that Linnie “snowed her” but that she snowed her too. Donnelly pulls out a letter fro Caroline and read it, Caroline asking for her help. She wanted to plead guilty but had a problem that she could only speak to her about in private. It was ruse to get her down to her office, she thought. She says Linnie is a smart and manipulative woman.

At Rikers, Benson is talking with Linnie, saying she wants the truth. Linnie says she did not plan to escape, it just happened. She asked why she wrote the letter to Donnelly, but she says she doesn’t remember. She says she deserves to go to jail, but Benson said it was self-defense. She won’t tell Benson why she ran away. Benson says she should help herself for Jonah, he deserves to know the whole story.

She says that after Vincent raped her, she was crying, and he told her to shut up so he could get some sleep. He put the gun under the pillow, and said he knew she liked it, and if she was a good girl she would give him more in the morning. Now on the stand, Linnie continues her story. It didn’t bother him what he did to her. Hurting her was the only thing that made him feel good. She pulled the trigger, and kept seeing him slap her and kick her and rape her, and she kept shooting until those images went away. She only remembers the blood everywhere.

Donnelly begins her cross-examination, and brings out the she never told the police about the rape and the beatings. She says her story is very convenient, and there is no proof. When asked why did didn’t tell that to a jury 34 years ago, she balks. Donnelly states she ran because she was guilty and she knew it. But Linnie counters that she was pregnant. Donnelly challenged that the hormones made her do it, did they make her run, too? She said she ran so she could get an abortion. She said she could not get an abortion in prison, she could not bear the thought of having his child. She came to see Donnelly to see if she could get an abortion, then she would plead guilty. This causes Donnelly to seem to show some concern on her face. Linnie says that Donnelly was so strong and self-confident that she was ashamed of her weakness. She couldn’t tell her, how could a woman like Donnelly ever understand a woman like herself?

The verdict comes in. Murder in the second degree – not guilty. Escape in the first degree – guilty. When the judge says they will meet later for sentencing, Donnelly stands up and declares the people will be recommending probation. The judge will hear her reasoning, and adds she tends to agree with her.

As Donnelly goes to leave, Linnie asks her why. Donnelly says back in the days when she was trying so hard to be one of the boys, she forgot why she became a lawyer. Linnie also thanks Benson for her help. Linnie calls to Jonah saying it’s over, but Jonah asks when she had the abortion. She says it was when he went to Seattle, he left her money. He’s angry that all the decisions they made were based on a lie. He wanted children and grandchildren and now he will never have them. She says she is sorry, but he says he doesn’t know her. She asks for his forgiveness, but he can’t, and he leaves., leaving Linnie standing alone.


I was surprised how quickly I was pulled into this episode. At first, when the pharmacists gave the woman a hard time about wanting the day after pill, I thought that we were going to get dragged into another preachy episode. But when the woman asking for the drug says she was raped, and it turned into a case of spousal abuse, the story got interesting. By the way, my own opinion is that pharmacists should just dispense what they are instructed, and if they have problems with that then they shouldn’t be in that line of work. In this woman’s case where she was raped, she shouldn’t have to explain to anyone, least of all a pharmacist, why she needs the drug. I also thought that this didn’t give the woman the right to get violent with the pharmacist, so Stabler really shouldn’t have been going off on them for restraining her after she became violent. Stabler shouldn’t be assuming that the woman, just because she said she was raped, was a victim.

I’m also not sure why they leapt at the assumption that it was Mia’s husband who was abusing her. I can understand where they may have assumed she knew her attacker, seeing that he rape claims didn’t match the crime scene. But, these annoying details aside, I was pleasantly surprised to see Nathaniel Marston pull off a decent performance as the over-controlling husband.

Olivia, of course, still seems to meddle when maybe she should not have. I can see that by seeing victims of abuse on a regular basis would make her push hard to get the victim away from her abuser. In this case, it backfired, because the victim herself wasn’t ready for a new life away from her abusive husband and an otherwise stable life and home. I can see where someone who has never worked and is living in a nice home, with financial security and nice things would not want to leave it for an uncertain life, even when it’s an abusive household. Olivia didn’t seem to take this into account, and as a result, Mia left the safe house to return to a more certain life, albeit one with abuse.

I also am amazed that the detectives always seem to have so much time to work a case that they are able to even go so far as to stay in the victim’s building in order to catch the abuse. I suppose it’s no different from a stakeout, only staying inside the home and not outside. Lucky for Olivia that the abuse happened quickly afterwards, but with a sad ending. It’s also nice to see that it takes more than one kick to knock down a door in New York City, even from someone as tough as Olivia.

But, since the previews highlighted the guest star Brenda Blethyn, I knew that something more was coming, and was bracing myself for a twist that would ruin what seemed like a decent story. I’m glad to say that this time I was wrong. For a change, even though the guest star becomes the center of the story, I thought that Blethyn turned in a riveting performance as a woman who herself was the victim of abuse, and also someone who committed a murder years before because of that abuse. Unlike the appearance a few weeks ago with Ellen Burstyn, Blethyn was completely believable in her role, and, in a way, kept viewers hanging on whether she killed because of the abuse, or if it was just a con.

Also a great addition to the show was the hardened Elizabeth Donnelly, played perfectly by Judith Light. I didn’t realize judges could take a leave to be a temporary prosecutor, but I really didn’t mind, seeing that I think Donnelly is 1,000 times better than Greyleck, who I don’t care for as a prosecutor. I really miss Judith Light on the show and I am always pleased when they bring her back even if only for short appearances. Since Donnelly has worked Special Victims for so long, I can understand why Olivia was puzzled that Donnelly seemed to be going so doggedly after Linnie. I though that putting the question in the viewers mind about Linnie’s motives, though, was the one thing that gave the show some much needed drama, something that has been absent for quite some time.

It was interesting that Linnie was faced with the same problem that Mia was faced in the beginning of the episode – unwanted pregnancies from abusive spouses. In this day, Mia can fix it with a pill, where Linnie was faced with having to bargain away a justifiable murder in order to attempt to get it. When Linnie mentioned that this was the real reason she wanted to plea bargain with Donnelly, and the chance to escape just seemed to present itself, the realization of the real mistake Donnelly made was apparent on her face. Had Donnelly been able to stand up to the ridicule of having someone escape from her, maybe she would not have assumed all those years that Linnie was guilty. In a way, her own verbal abuse from men made her take it out on someone else, and maybe she wasn’t the strong woman she thought she was.

It was also heart wrenching to see Linnie’s husband Jonah decide to leave her because of her lies to him. I suppose that was expected, but still, Mike Farrell and Blethyn played the scene very powerfully.

This wasn’t a traditional case – no Munch and Fin, either – but at least we didn’t get sucked into some sort of Stabler or Benson melodrama or cheesy contrived situations or evidence. This case was all about the crimes and the people involved in those crimes. For a change, it was about the special victims.




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Dick Wolf Honored at the International Emmys

As I mentioned a few weeks ago on my companion blog, ,These Are Their Stories, Dick Wolf was presented with the International Emmy Founders Award at last night’s International Emmys in New York City. It was originally announced that Jeff Goldblum would attend, but I don’t see any evidence he was there. But there were quite a few of other Law & Order franchise cast members available. There were also some members of the franchise who were also presenters for other awards.

Sam Waterston presented the special International Emmy Founders Award to Wolf, and was joined onstage Monday night at the New York Hilton Hotel by his co-star Linus Roache, plus Dann Florek, Tamara Tunie and Michaela McManus from Law & Order SVU.

Here are a few pictures from the event. Hopefully more will be available to share with you soon.

Dick Wolf and Judith Light

Julianne Nicholson

Sam Waterston (Reuters)

Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order SVU “Authority” Forces You To Suffer

Well, despite the decent performance by Robin Williams in this 200th SVU episode, even he couldn’t save an awful story, bad detective work, and bad prosecuting.

This episode begins with an almost hard to believe scenario. An employee at “Happy Burger” was forced to strip down to only an apron, and was gagged, by Dwight Lomax (Scott Adsit), the manager of the establishment. The manager claimed that he was told to do it by a Detective Milgrim because apparently the worker stole from a customer. (In reality, there have been real life cases like this, one in Kentucky (story here) where an 18 year old employee at a McDonald’s was forced to strip and perform a sexual act in the McDonald’s back office. She – and the assistant manager who took the call – were duped into believing the person ordering her to do these things – via telephone no less – was a police officer. Hard to believe, but there it is.)

The manager is brought to SVU for questioning, and when the man explains why he did it, Stabler (Chris Meloni) says “You’re an idiot.” (No kidding.) And the detectives are told this has happened before, and Stabler wonders why they hadn’t heard about it. Good question!

Munch (Richard Belzer) later comes to the man’s defense in a sideways manner, saying that Lomax was a victim of corporate America, that the franchise mentality mandates conformity, and employees are lemmings. It was classic Munch, and it was good to see his cynicism back in full force.

Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler dig into the case, and discover “Detective Milgram” is really Merritt Rook (Robin Williams). (Stanley Milgrim is the name of a man who was testing people’s tolerance levels for pain on others by faking electric shocks – you can read about him here.) Rook claims to have an alibi for the time the phone hoax occurred, and conveniently has a hotel receipt, fishing license, and business card from a diner with a phone number of a waitress. While Munch checks out the alibis via the phone, we hear him calling the waitress, who sounded strangely like a young Mrs. Doubtfire. OK, clearly we are supposed to know immediately this is really Rook faking it, but it doesn’t occur to the detectives, even after the third alibi call. It isn’t until Cragen (Dann Florek) also conveniently happens by, hears them talking about fishing in the area, and just so happens to know that fishing was banned in the area due to chemical runoff in the area. When the “hotel clerk” is asked about the fishing up there, he answers that they’re “biting up a storm”, so now the detectives know that even the alibis are a hoax. The get to Rook’s apartment and catch him in the act with his multiple alibi phones in place.

Keep in mind that they already knew Rook was an engineer, and if they would have bothered to check out his background they would have found out he had an audio background AND that his wife and daughter died due to a medical mistake. In my opinion, this is another example of the lazy, halfhearted work done by the SVU detectives. It seems that lately they react too quickly before they really have enough facts.

This comes back to haunt them when Rook goes to trial, and decides to represent himself. He dances circles around Casey, and also punches holes in the testimony of Lt. Morales (Joel de la Fuentes), by showing the original picture they used to show Rook going into the library to make the original hoax phone call. I would think in this day and age, anyone could take a photo like the original shown and enhance it enough for it to look like anyone. Casey again provides a weak prosecution, not really presenting any solid witnesses, and she seems startled at how well Rook has done. She even opens a door wide for him when, bringing out a childhood arrest, Rook says “I can explain” and she answers, “I’m sure you can.” He goes ahead and comes up with a convincing rationalization for his teenage criminal record. Later, when Casey wonders how good Rook would be if he had a law education, I thought out loud, “I wonder how well YOU would be if you actually USED your law degree!”

Rook is found not guilty, and uses his newfound fame to draw attention to fighting authority. He turns up on Joe Scarborough’s “Morning Joe” show (in an act of shameless, blatant self promotion by NBC) with a sheep named Elliot, telling people not to act like sheep when it comes to authority. He holds a public protest of sorts, which turns into a large pillow fight. (Was that Mo Rocca helping to lead the charge? He wasn’t in the credits but it looked like him.) I laughed when Munch joined in and got a laugh from his fellow detectives. It was also funny when he returned to the squad in a light cloud of feathers. He seems to understand Rook, and also adds that Rook lost his wife and child in childbirth. Now, where was this information earlier?

Stabler and Benson check this out, and in talking to a nurse (played by Didi Conn), they find that the doctor involved with Rook’s wife’s childbirth was killed in an auto accident by ramming into a truck, and it was believed it was from brake failure. This immediately raises the suspicion of Stabler and Benson, who manage to get the accident re-investigated. Apparently it was later ruled as a suicide, when a suicide note was revealed that referenced repeated calls from a detective Milgrim regarding the death of Rook’s wife. The detectives figure this is enough to go back and get Milgrim for the death of the doctor. Conveniently it’s found that Milgrim’s website shows a gathering at Grand Central Station in a short while, just enough time for Benson and Stabler to get there.

Shortly after they arrive, they find themselves in the midst of a “freeze” event, where people just stop and freeze for a few minutes while the rest of the world goes by. Benson sees Rook standing still, radios Elliot, and approaches Milgrim. Rather than cuff him, though, she takes his arm. At that point, everyone un-freezes and Elliot loses Rook…and Olivia now seems to be gone. They find on surveillance that Olivia ditched her gun and cell phone and seems to be Rook's hostage. Now if she had cuffed Rook to begin with, this would have never happened.

Stabler discovers that Rook’s wife was a singer, and he had produced one of his wife’s recordings. If they would have done a simple background check on Rook right from the start or even before the trial, they may have already known this. Again, incompetence, I say. But, it leads Elliot to a recording studio. Elliot goes in alone (there’s a cop being held hostage and Stabler goes with no backup?), where he finds Rook holding Olivia in a soundproof room, wired with explosives, and Olivia is tied to a form of electric chair. Rook taunts and screams at Stabler to shock Olivia to save her, but Stabler refuses. Rook then gives up, pronouncing to Elliot, “You’re a man. Thank you.” We then see that he wasn’t shocking Olivia at all, it was just a recording. I would think that since Rook was supposed to know how to work audio hoaxes, that Olivia was never really in peril. Now, if they had studied their lesson on the real Stanley Milgrim, Stabler would have known right off the bat that the whole scenario with Olivia wired to an electric chair was a hoax. Detectives – DO YOUR HOMEWORK.

As they walk out with Rook, he asks to tie his shoe. They allow him, and he bends down and triggers a bomb in the building, which provides a diversion for him to escape. They assume that he jumped into the river and he’s dead. Well, you know detectives, Rook IS A HOAXSTER. I wouldn’t believe he was dead until I saw the body. Are they setting us up for Rook to return? I hope not.

I have no problem with Robin Williams and I understand that with this being their 200th episode that they wanted a big star. I get it. While I think Robin did a great job at the end of the show, I found his presence somewhat distracting and thought maybe a lesser name could have pulled off the role better.

I also think that with each week, the detectives become less thorough in their work and too quick to act. After all, in the initial situation, no lives were in immediate danger, they could have taken a little time to do a complete check on Rook and his past and his connections, and by doing so they may have been able to convict him. I think the DA’s office should also hold some of the blame for presenting a weak case, and presenting it sloppily. It’s clear that Casey needs to have someone riding her to make sure she has all her ducks in a row before she proceeds. She needs the scrutiny of someone like Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) or Bureau Chief Donnelly (Judith Light), the latter who was always a great balance for Casey’s predecessor, Alex Cabot (Stephanie March). SVU is just missing something when it comes to the prosecution of cases, and I hope with Diane Neal leaving the show the producers will use this as a chance to bring some life back to this segment of the show.

It was great to see Munch back in full form, and also great that we only got one tiny scene with Chester Lake (Adam Beach). I hope when Beach leaves that we can get back the Munch and Fin (Ice-T) dynamic.

As far as this episode, they threw way too much into it. They seemed to be trying too hard to make this episode exciting, and instead, it seemed long and overly complicated. There was no drama, no thrill. Putting Olivia in peril again for the second week in a row detracted from the suspense. It only made me more annoyed that she seemed to err in her judgment, which eventually got her into trouble. When they assumed Rook was dead and then seemed to give up, I wanted to do the same thing.

So, if you want to have your own protest of authority, maybe you should just not watch this episode. It's not worth the suffering.


Robin Williams & SVU cast talk about their work on ‘Authority”


"Authority" Two Minute Recap



Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information,
here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.