Law & Order SVU “Post-Mortem Blues” was a great close to the Olivia Benson/William Lewis story line. Benson stuck to her guns about the truth, but in actuality, it was a lie that got her off the hook. It wasn’t HER lie however; it was Lt. Murphy’s lies, which he refers to as “the bigger truth.” Brooklyn ADA Derek Strauss, who is painted as the bad guy in this episode for his relentless pursuit of Benson and the NYPD, is actually in the right, and he's getting very close to the truth. It’s Murphy’s testimony, and his outburst in the grand jury where he told his own version of events, that saves Benson’s skin. Mind you, William Lewis was a psycho who knew how to work the system and to manipulate others, but the moral of “Post-Mortem Blues” should not be that those in positions of power can use that power to manipulate the system to their own benefit. Maybe Derek Strauss is right to be suspicious of the NYPD.
Only Benson – and the viewers – have all the facts. We all know Benson beat Lewis while he was handcuffed. We also know that Lewis shot himself in a manner to frame Benson for his murder. We believe Benson not only because we saw what happened but we know how she thinks. Her peers trust her because they know her. But Murphy twists the truth and lies for her yet he hardly knows her. In reality, we would normally be alarmed that someone in a position such as his would alter the truth in order to get one of his own off the hook. Still, I think most viewers are happy to see Benson cleared, regardless of how it happened. Even the always prickly Lt. ("Mother") Tucker (cue the Darth Vader theme song) seems to be offering Benson a way out on this one. It was good to see Benson continue to take the high road with IAB and stick to her story, after all, she doesn’t know whom she can trust.
Benson seems to be suffering from a bout of naiveté lately. She was clueless as to the ramifications to her career, her pension, and her life had she told the truth about beating Lewis. Rita Calhoun had to be the one to snap Benson back to reality. I would think with Benson's tenure in law enforcement that she would already know the effects of telling the truth. It could be that same naiveté that made her think she could go rogue and deal with Lewis all on her own.
I always enjoy the SVU episodes that have a strong legal slant so this episode hit all the right notes with me. It’s such a shame that there wasn’t any reason to bring in Rafael Barba.
Donal Logue is an absolute delight on SVU and he nails this role. Lt. Murphy came in and immediately took charge with much confidence, something that the SVU has needed for quite some time. But his leadership style makes Benson look like a weak and ineffective commander; at minimum, an inexperienced one. While Benson took and passed the Sergeant’s exam, she did not seem fully ready to lead her former peers. Hopefully Murphy taking over for a while will help Benson decide how far up in the chain of command she really wants to go. And, perhaps Murphy can get control over the SVU team (good luck with that), as they all appear poised to go off the reservation whenever it suits them. Now that Murphy has the situation with Benson straightened out, he may need to do some work with Amaro, who has some major trust issues, has a chip on his shoulder, and seems to think he has all the right answers. Amaro’s lie about Benson making a spontaneous admission was a dangerous thing to do and could have caused Benson great harm and/or ruin her credibility. (We assume that he lied about it - we weren’t in the car the whole time with them – but based on Murphy’s warning to Benson to not say anything to Amaro we are led to think there was no such spontaneous admission.)
The bottom line: regardless that it took a lie – or as Murphy calls it, “the larger truth” – to get Benson cleared, we can all be happy that she can get on with her life, and with her recovery. That’s a happy ending I can live with.
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:
Tamara Tunie – Dr. Melinda Warner
Donal Logue - Lieutenant Declan Murphy
Elizabeth Marvel - Rita Calhoun
Greg Germann - ADA Derek Strauss
Robert John Burke - Lt. Ed Tucker
Michael Potts - Sergeant Cole Draper
Karen Tsen Lee – DNA Tech Susan Chung
Lily Pilblad - Amelia Cole
Bill Irwin - Dr. Peter Lindstrom
Curt Bouril - Detective Carlson
Nikki Estridge - Detective Delano
Sarah Bisman – Bronwyn Freed
Allyson Morgan – Nurse Shelby Roberts
Edelen McWilliams – CSU Tech
Brian McCarthy – Grand Juror
Pablo Schreiber – William Lewis
The detectives race into the abandoned granary. Meanwhile, William Lewis is an upper room with Benson. They hear a helicopter fly overhead and sirens, and Lewis comments that her friends are here. He says let’s make it interesting, and he gets on her radio and says it is William Lewis and – as Benson looks down at the gun – says he is here with Sgt. Benson and they are playing a little game of Russian Roulette and they are halfway through. He states he is sliding the gun across the table to Benson and there are 3 chambers left and one bullet. The detectives hear this on the radio. Lewis tells Benson to pick up the gun and she does so. Amelia starts to cry; he shushes her. Benson holds the gun to her head as Lewis tells her to pull the trigger or he will. He goads her to do it now. She pulls the trigger and still no bullet. Lewis grabs the gun as the detectives continue to search the building and they can hear Lewis on the radio say that there are two chambers left and one bullet. Murphy asks where the hell are they, and Fin says the ground floor is clear and Amaro states they are not outside. Lewis then says to Benson she knows how lucky he is. Benson tells Amelia to look away, and Lewis pulls the trigger but still no bullet. He says game over, and point the gun at Benson’s head. She shakes as he says to say goodbye. He shuts down the radio and then tells Benson this is the last thing she is going to think about before she dies. He moves the gun to her other hand and holds her neck, saying this is the last thing is she gonna see. The detectives hear a gunshot and Amelia screaming. They race upstairs to the direction of the shot as Lt. Murphy radios in a 10-13 that the officer is down. The call out that they are the NYPD as Amelia screams and Benson, her face covered with blood, looks at a dead William Lewis in shock.
The detectives enter the room to see Benson tied to the table and William Lewis bent down with his head on the table, dead. Amaro asks Benson if she is okay and Benson replies that Lewis is gone and that he was about to shoot her. Murphy yells out to her not to say another word, and then tells the others to get Benson and Amelia out of there now. As Rollins helps down Amelia. Murphy cautions them all not to touch anything. He also says they go now, this is a crime scene. Amaro helps Benson to get untied from the table and Rollins continues to help Amelia. Benson looks down at Lewis as Amaro leads her off. Fin, Rollins, and Amaro look back at the scene as they exit.
Outside, Murphy helps Benson into a car. He tells her he will meet her at the hospital and cautions her not to talk to anybody, including Amaro, until the rep shows up. Benson looks dazed and Murphy tells her she did good. He shuts the car door and pounds on it twice to alert the driver to get going.
Amaro drives the car, saying nothing. Benson sits silently in the back seat, frozen in shock.
In the hospital, photos of Benson are taken. The nurse tells Benson she is done with the blood work. Amaro complains if they are done with the body probing, can they get somebody in there to take care of her. The nurse replies that the doctor is on the way. She tells Benson they will give her something for her heart rate and blood pressure and asks Benson if she can call anybody for her such as family. Benson says no, it’s a…and then just says no. When the nurse leaves, Amaro asks Benson how she is holding up. Another nurse approaches and explains to Benson she is testing for GSR, and then tells Benson “Hang in there, Sergeant.” Benson asks how is the girl, Amaro explains her father and sister are with her, and physically she is unharmed. Benson asks, “he didn’t…” and Amaro replies, “No, he didn’t. She was…bait.” Benson adds, “For me. He got what he wanted.” She looks back at Amaro with vacant eyes.
Meanwhile, the lobby of the hospital is full of police and Lt. Tucker from IAB is also there. Fin complains when he sees Tucker but Murphy tells him easy, given their profile, One PP will want this whitewashed, dissecting every second of the last 24 hours. Rollins complains that still Tucker can’t wait for the blood to be off her face, and Murphy tells them both to stand down, he has this. As Tucker approaches, Murphy stops him and says Benson is not receiving visitors. Tucker introduces himself and asks who is he, and Murphy introduces himself as acting commander of SVU. When Tucker questions since when, Murphy explains it was since Lewis escaped. Tucker criticizes Murphy that he’s been on the job two days and his Sergeant slips her detail and possibly executes a man she’s been accused of beating, and Murphy shoots back that Benson did what she had to do to save a 12 year old girl. Tucker coldly stares at Murphy and asks if he witnessed that. Murphy explains he heard some of it on the radio and they were on the scene at the immediate aftermath. Tucker states he needs to hear Benson say that, and as Tucker makes a move, Murphy stops him and says once Benson is out of shock and her doctor clears her for visitors. Tucker pauses and then says fine, adding he will be seeing Murphy and the rest of his squad at IAB. Tucker walks off.
Fin asks how is Benson, and Amaro says they are giving her an exam now and something to calm her down, He comments that the vultures are already circling, and Rollins explains that Murphy backed them off. Murphy states not for long; IAB is going to be calling them all into their inquisition. Amaro feels it is open and shut, and Fin adds it will be as long as they all agree now that they made it there in time to see Lewis shoot himself. Amaro and Rollins say nothing, but Murphy is against lying under oath, saying it must be the absolute truth. He adds that the girl was turned away but she heard them enter and that any detail they shade or omit will boomeranged back so if their impulse is to help Benson on the margins to restrain themselves, less is more. Amaro comments that Murphy does not know Benson, they do, and she is telling the truth. Murphy counters that he is not arguing, all he is saying is Amaro sounds defensive and IAB will smell that. He tells them to keep it simple; Benson will tell her story and don’t tell it for her.
