Law & Order SVU “Reasonable Doubt” was clearly a ripped from the headlines story based on Woody Allen/Mia Farrow and their marital problems and allegations of child sexual abuse made against Woody. (It also had a dash of Roman Polanski thrown in.) It even had what I thought were look-alikes; for example, Daniel reminded me of a young Woody and Mavis reminded me a bit of Mariel Hemingway, who starred in one of Woody’s movies, “Manhattan” when she was 16. In “Reasonable Doubt.” Frank Maddox and his ex-wife Catherine had a nasty divorce. Frank is portrayed as an exacting director who is a jerk and Catherine is painted as being a nut who surrounds herself with dogs. It isn’t until the divorce – and Frank falling in love with Catherine’s younger sister Rose - that Catherine accuses Frank of molesting their daughter Chelsea. It’s unclear whether Chelsea is being coached by Catherine or if the allegations are true, and it does seem true when the nanny initially supports Chelsea’s account. The story was very predictable but still highly enjoyable, with Bradley Whitford doing his usual fine work as Frank and Samantha Mathis as the slightly unhinged Catherine.
As the case plays out, the nanny suddenly changes her story on the stand which is less than helpful to Barba’s case. Benson convinces Mavis, the middle sister, to tell her story of being abused by Frank. She doesn’t tell it on the stand but does tell it via the media. Despite the fact that some jurors heard the news story, and, coupled with the fact that Frank has fled the country (as did Roman Polanski) before Barba can cross examine him, the trial moves on with alternate jurors and Frank is found guilty. This is unlike the real life Woody situation where he has only been accused and never been put on trial for sexual abuse of a child. That situation – and the fictional SVU case – highlight the fact that allegations of sexual abuse of children can sometimes be hard to prove without hard evidence, especially if the allegations occur during a domestic dispute between spouses/partners. It is even more complicated when, like Woody, it involves a public figure who is greatly respected for his/her talents and those around simply cannot believe that a person like that could do something so heinous. It also doesn't help when one of the parties pointing the finger has a axe to grind or seems mentally unbalanced. Stories of the sexual abuse of children in entertainment go back to the early days of movie making and new stories continue to surface to this day. These days, however, with constant media scrutiny, it’s becoming harder for predators in the entertainment industry to hide their behavior, and it’s becoming easier for people to spread accusations without having hard evidence. Sadly, like Chelsea in this case, nobody is truly looking out for the kids being abused.
As far as Amaro and Rollins, I say NO. Just NO. They have ZERO chemistry. Even if it is simply a sexual relationship, neither of them looked naturally comfortable together on that couch. The scene looked forced. (But I will say thanks for the shirtless Amaro shot!) If Law & Order SVU lacks anything, it is believable sexual tension between any of the characters. Benson and Stabler’s chemistry is a perfect example of what the show should strive for – and no, this is not a plea to bring back Chris Meloni. It’s merely an example of the spark that the characters must have in order to get viewers interested and be believable. Amaro and Rollins don’t have it. Benson and Cassidy didn’t really have it, either.
I also didn’t quite follow Murphy’s line of thought with Rollins that she has a blind spot with men in power, as least as far as bringing up Cragen as an example. It would have made more sense for Murphy to bring up HIMSELF. That interaction with Rollins felt like a set up for something down the road, but it still seemed awkwardly wedged into the story.
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:
Donal Logue – Lt. Declan Murphy
Bradley Whitford - Frank Maddox
Samantha Mathis - Catherine Summers
Emma Bell - Rose Summers
Clare Foley - Chelsea Summers-Maddox
Jeffrey Tambor - Counselor Lester Cohen
Celia Keenan-Bolger - Mavis Summers
Aida Turturro - Judge Felicia Catano
Godfrey - Adam Church
Julyana Soelistyo - Dohna
Kate Shindle - Julianne
Keidrich Sellati - Daniel Summers-Maddox
Geraldo Rivera - as himself
Ann Curry - as herself
Gonzalo Vargas - Fontana
Nicole Sudhaus - Brie
Jacob Wallach - PA
Elizabeth Wardland – Juliet
Danielle Guldin – Female Detective
Francis Dumaurier – Translator
Pablo Gonzales – Pimp
Hettie Barnhill – Jury Foreperson
While filming the show “New York Hustle”, director Frank Maddox goes on a rant about everything going wrong, especially with one of the stars, Rose. He shows one of the stars how he should be kissing Rose. He continues his rant outside where he is met by Benson and Murphy, who he first thinks are extras. They tell him they are from NYPD and it is about his daughter. Frank wonders if it is Chelsea and asks if she is alright. Benson replies that is what they are trying to find out. Frank explains she is with his ex, Catherine, and Murphy says she is, asking if there is somewhere private they can talk. Frank wonders what Catherine is accusing him of now. Murphy explains it is Chelsea’s pediatrician, and Benson adds he thinks Chelsea may be a victim of sexual abuse. Frank scoffs that Catherine thinks it is him, he explains they are in the middle of a custody battle, and walks away, saying he has to call his lawyer.
With Barba, Rollins and Amaro watch a video of Chelsea Summers-Maddox, 8, being prompted by Catherine, explain the abuse. She said Frank said she spilled ice cream on her dress but HE did it. He said they had to go to the laundry room and took off her dress and sat her on the washing machine and said it was fun the way it moved. He held on to her so she wouldn’t fall. Frank and Catherine are divorcing after he was caught sleeping with Catherine’s younger sister, Rose, who is starring in Frank’s show New York Hustle. Catherine made the video and Amaro noted the time jumps. Barba moans about this being a high profile couple in a divorce and tells them to get ready for the media circus.
Later, Benson and Murphy are at SVU in the interview room with Frank Maddox and his lawyer, Lester Cohen. Frank says he has a reputation as an ass, admitting he is an ass but he is not a child molester. He thinks this is Catherine trying to get back at him for his decision to “consciously uncouple.” Murphy asks if that was before or after he got caught sleeping with his little sister. Frank claims he and Rose are in love Cohen states they are her as a courtesy and Frank is late for a story meeting. Murphy says they understand the importance of the world of fictional character. Cohen asks if he understands that the pediatrician should be charged for making a false report? Benson replies that before they do that, they just need to hear Frank’s side of the story. She asks Frank if it is correct that he and Chelsea were together in his ex-wife’s apartment. Frank states that is correct, he is her father. He adds that the Tibetan nanny was there; they weren’t alone and his son Daniel was there. Benson explains that Chelsea told the pediatrician that he and Chelsea were playing games…private games. Frank replies that is absurd; it’s Catherine putting words into his daughter’s mouth. He adds that Catherine is borderline; the house is full of cats, bunnies, she has 16 stray dogs, and she talks to the dogs and thinks the dogs talk to each other. Cohen tries to get him to relax and Frank continues, saying she is nuts. Murphy asks if he can answer with a yes or no and they can end this, asking if Frank sexually assaulted his daughter. Frank calmly says if he wanted to sexually assault his daughter, why wouldn’t he wait, sue for custody, he’d have total access. Murphy asks if that was a yes or a no. Cohen says that was a no – a clear no. Benson asked what happened last Sunday, and Frank says they were playing chess. Benson mentions if it was in the laundry room and Frank explains no, there are spiders there and everybody who knows him knows he has arachnophobia.
Afterwards, Barba comments that is not exactly a confession. Murphy counters that it is more about what he DIDN’T say, and Amaro adds that they asked him point blank if he did it and sometimes at SVU they work up to that question. Murphy tells Amaro there is a technique behind it; he gave Frank an opportunity to deny it and he didn’t. Amaro retorts he knows about psychological techniques but Frank could have been rattled. Fin counters that Frank didn’t seem rattled to him, he came up with that arachnophobia excuse. Benson adds that Frank also used distancing language, he never said his daughter’s name and he never even looked at her photo. Rollins comments that none of which proved guilt. Barba says Rollins is right and they can’t move forward without the girl’s testimony. Murphy instructs Benson and Amaro to go to the country house and work the mother, adding that this alleged incident took place in her New York apartment, and Benson chimes in to Rollins and Fin that they should talk to anybody who was there – the nanny the brother. She adds that they will need a warrant to get into that laundry room. As they all leave the room, Rollins approaches Murphy and says that Frank IS afraid of spiders. Murphy counters that someone who is afraid of needles, if they are a heroin addict, will find a vein.
At the Summer-Maddox Farmhouse on Monday, April 14, Benson and Amaro speak with Catherine who explains Frank’s obsession with Chelsea, but Benson explains they need to hear the story from Chelsea and Amaro said they also need to do this to pursue the case. Catherine doesn’t want to pursue it, and Amaro explains they can do it without her. Catherine protests that she is a good mother and loves her daughter but Benson asks again to speak with her as they want to keep her safe. Catherine agrees.
Inside, Chelsea explains to Benson and Amaro about playing pretend with her father and Amaro asks if she knows the difference between the truth and pretend. When Catherine seems to interfere with the answers, Amaro takes her out of the room to have Benson speak with Chelsea alone. Benson talks about the video she made with her mom and Chelsea said her mom just said to say what happened. Meanwhile, Amaro speaks with Catherine who said her nanny let Frank into the apartment; she was at a matinee with her sister. When Amaro mentions Rose, Catherine snaps that they are not speaking. She was with Mavis, her little sister from Oregon who was visiting, Frank has a set visitation schedule but Frank won’t pay attention to is. Chelsea said they played a secret game in the laundry room and her vagina hurt. Amaro asks if this were Chelsea’s words or hers, and Catherine said they were Chelsea’s. She took her to the doctor and Frank can deny it all he wants but he was in that laundry room.
