Law & Order SVU “Revenge” depicted the incel (“involuntarily celibate”) version of “Strangers on a Train”, with members of an incel group thinking they could exact revenge via getting revenge for others in their group. By doing it under the guise of not having a connection with the victims, they think they can get away with it. Unfortunately, one of them does have a solid connection, and this is his undoing.
Despite the fact that the case was solved almost too easily and the story itself not too compelling, I was surprised that I liked this episode. I don’t know why. Sometimes when I view the NBC promo clip for an upcoming episode, or even read the description, I get turned off. But in this case, my instincts were wrong. I liked the pacing of the episode and the writing. It felt comfortable, like one of the older Law & Order SVU episodes, maybe because there wasn’t any personal drama for the lead characters. This kept the focus on the case. There was a nice balance of detective work and legal wrangling and the hour moved quickly.
The legal case hits a bump when the detectives use GPS information received by accident from the phone company. Carisi is kicking himself for using the GPS data, saying he should have known better. Benson gives him a pass on this, reminding him he is a cop, not a lawyer, despite his law degree. I would not have been so forgiving. First: they got a memo from Stone saying that data like this can’t be obtained without a warrant due to a recent Supreme Court ruling. Second: they knew it was data they weren’t supposed to have, even if the phone company sent it in error. Third: how hard would it have been for Carisi, knowing the new law and having a legal education, to ask Benson in advance about using the information during interrogation? Benson could have conferred with Stone first, allowing Stone to go for the warrant - maybe the judge would have granted it. If I were Benson, I would have been harder on Carisi. He SHOULD have known better.
Here is the recap:
Rick and Ann are having intimate time in bed when a knock comes at the door. Rick answers it to find a man with a pizza, wearing a motorcycle helmet, who forces his way in and attacks them both at gunpoint. Later, with police on the scene, Benson and Fin question Ann and Rick about the incident. During questioning, they find that Rick and Ann didn’t order a pizza and that the attacker kept calling Ann “Stacy” and Rick “Chad”. The detectives wonder if the guy hit the wrong apartment
Carisi and Rollins speak with the doorman who was away from his post as he had to pee. There are no “Chad” or “Stacy” named tenants. Carisi looks at the tenant list and sees the name Chad Moore, but the doorman says Chad’s wife is Brianna. Benson and Fin confer with Carisi and Rollins; Benson tells Fin and Carisi to check pizza joints within 30 blocks and Benson and Rollins go to speak with Chad.
The discuss the situation with Chad and Brianna. They say they don’t know Ann or Rick. Rick knows nothing but Brianna seems unsettled. Benson gives her her card.
Back at SVU, Rollins explains they have the pizza guy on security camera but his face is covered. Fin got nothing from pizza joints. Brianna arrives at SVU and speaks with Benson and explains that she had an affair a year ago, his name was Jake Sanders and he taught her spin class. She broke it off and Jake did not take it well. Jake has a gun,
At Pro Cycle on Friday, October 5, Carisi and Rollins arrive and Jake, on a bike, tries to flee. They chase Jake in their car and quickly apprehend him. Carisi finds a gun on him and they arrest him. At SVU in interrogation, Jake says the gun is legal but he denies attacking Chad. Benson observes and Fin says Jake is not the attacker; video shows him teaching a spin class at the time of the attack. Benson gets a phone call and tells Fin they have another rape, same MO.
At the apartment of Paolo Ricci and Beth Palmer on Friday October 5, Fin speaks with Paolo who does not know a Chad. He did not buzz the man in. Beth explains how the attacker called her Stacy. The man was short and shoved her face into the couch and pulled her hair and screamed at her like he hated her. Benson wants to get her and Paolo to the hospital. Beth says she opened the door and didn’t ask who it was. Fin enters and tells Benson they have yet another Chad and Stacy.
Back at SVU, the detectives discuss what they know so far. Carisi put the names Chad and Stacy through RTC, Accurint and TLO and got nothing. But he tried the Dark Web and found that Stacy is not a specific person. A Stacy is any woman that an incel wants but cannot get because of guys called Chads. They mention a guy in Toronto who drove his van through a crowd of people because he wasn’t getting any. Fin states there is no reason for anybody to be involuntarily celibate, this is why god invented hookers. Carisi counters that sex workers are part of the problem; these guys think they should not have to pay for sex and woman should want to please a man at any time. Rollins comments “Welcome to the 17th century.” Carisi says there are 6000 guys willing to write about this stuff on line.
Benson speaks with Ann but she doesn’t know anyone who would do this. Rollins speaks with Beth about the same issue and she mentions a time before Paolo a year ago she wanted to meet people. She went to Tudor Mansion where they throw parties so people can hook up. They vet everyone and she met a creepy guy outside there who they wouldn’t let in. . He said that “Riley’s cool” in the third person and then saw him in other places later as if he was following her. He had red curly hair and was weird. She gives Rollins information on Tate Brightman who runs the place.
At the Brooklyn Heights Promenade on Saturday, October 6, Tate tells Carisi and Fin it is like a traveling party. People pay him to make sure they are mingling with the right sort of people. He maxes out at 200 people out of 1000 applicants. He says his applicant list is confidential, and Fin counters he has never heard of pimp/john confidentiality. Narcotics are forbidden. Carisi suggests they show up to make sure that is the case, and Tate decides to cooperate. He finds a Riley Porter on his list, who applied five times. He shows them Riley’s address.
Later, Riley is in SVU interrogation with Fin and Carisi. He explains his line of work. They speak about women in derogatory manner to get Riley to start talking, saying that their boss Olivia has buffalo nuts and too good for mortal men and that somebody needs to give it to her good, like Riley gave it to Beth Palmer. Riley plays dumb but they continue to press him and denies raping Beth as there is no such thing as rape. He says it is in the Constitution; all men are created equal and entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Sex makes them happy and taking it is a fundamental right. Carisi tells him they will check his cell phone and security cameras and if he was anywhere near Beth Palmer’s apartment last Tuesday he will be pursuing happiness in Ossining for the rest of his life. As Benson observes, Rollins enters and tells her they have another one, this time he shot the boyfriend.
