The big guest star in “Diss” was billed as Snoop Dogg, but he didn’t have much of a story in this episode. The real performance was delivered by Orlando Jones, playing the rapper “Snake” who is in a “diss” war with Snoop Dogg’s character, RB Banks. Snake’s wife was attacked – but not sexually assaulted – and while things seem to point to a feud between the rappers, the attack has nothing to do with it. Lucky for the SVU, they were there to intervene in what could have been a gun battle.
When the rappers are ruled out, the story got a little confusing for me and I momentarily had trouble connecting the dots. The SVU for the most part was chasing down Dallas’ attacker, but Fin was on his own mission. Part of it was tied to the current case, part of it was tied to an old murder, and part of it was tied to the death of his mother. I figured early on that Carisi questioning some random "lookie-loo" on a bike on the scene, highlighting the model of his bike, would turn out to be key in their investigation.
This episode was a nice feature for Ice-T, giving Fin a deeper back-story after all these years. We learn that he saw his mother killed in a shooting outside a bodega, and as his father had been involved in illegal activity, Fin was sent to live with Snake’s mother, Jo Anderson, for a short while. The current case also gives Fin a chance to close the loop on a murder that happened years before involving his friend Snake.
The story had cookie-cutter rapper stereotypes, which disappointed me. I also found interesting the commentary on the dark side of social media and celebrity stalkers. Clearly, social media is critical to the survival of some shows and has helped keep SVU alive, yet the show frequently likes to bite the hand that feeds it. Yes, we get it, social media has a dark side. When Benson was talking about celebrity stalkers, I had a twinge that made me feel Mariska speaking from experience. I feel sorry for celebrities who get hounded by rabid fans. Sometimes I think some fans need to take William Shatner’s advice and “get a life.” A big plus with this episode was that it was visually interesting!
Here is the recap:
A woman - Dallas Monroe - gets pulled over by police. They tell her to step out of the vehicle. They push her against her car and one officer says to be sure to frisk her for drugs. One officer gropes her. Looking worried, she says if they want to have some fun, to at least let her look at them. One officer comments “What did I tell you?” The woman turns around and then kicks one of the cops and takes his gun, ordering the other cop to give her his gun. He complies. She orders them to the ground and they comply. The scene changes to a music video of this event, a director yelling to “cut.” The director talks sex appeal, but the singer says she is talking police brutality, black lives matter, and me too. He says as long as she’s shaking that booty while she’s talking, he’s good. Her daughter Lexi asks if they can go to Dave and Busters now, and Dallas says daddy has his concert tonight, and another man offers to take Lexi there. She asks Bill about Veneshia opening for Snake’s concert, and he asks that Snake didn’t tell her, and she says he didn’t. Lexi asks if Wallace can take her, and Dallas agrees, telling Wallace to take her home before. She moves to leave the set.
Later, Wallace gets Lexi home and notices something is not right. He enters cautiously and pulls out a gun. He calls out for Dallas. He finds her on the floor in blood, unconscious.
Afterwards, EMT’s take her away in an ambulance as a crowd has gathered outside her home. Benson, there with Rollins, asks if that is really her, and Rollins replies yes. She adds she fought back and she shouldn’t have. She was struck multiple times in the back of her head, has bleeding behind her ears with a possible skull fracture – they have to do tests. Benson asks an officer if she was raped, and the officer states they will have to run a kit but her robe was torn. Carisi speaks with a possible witness outside and he said it was dark, he wasn’t looking. Carisi complements him on his bike, which he says is a Mongoose. He asks if he can go and Carisi lets him. Benson approaches and asks if the person knew anything, and Carisi says he is just a lookie-loo. Benson comments she hates celebrity cases, and Carisi mentions the singer has 10 Grammys and 25 nominations; the president could be on the gurney and get less media attention. A reporter asks Benson if it was Snake and Benson replies no, no comment. Carisi moves the reporter’s microphone away as they enter the home.
Inside, they look over the scene. There is a glock which they will run for prints. It was under her body. Fin comments there was no sign of forced entry and the alarms were off, the security cameras were hacked last week. Rollins says a neighbor walking her dog at 8:15 saw Dallas in a heated squabble with her husband Justin Anderson – AKA Snake. Benson comments she knows who he is, and Fin doubts that he did this. Carisi says maybe not but he wouldn’t be on that; the Third has already investigated two domestic disputes at this address in the last month. Fin says the bodyguard said Snake is in concert at the Apollo.
At the Apollo Theater at 253 West 125th Street on Monday, April 22, Fin and Carisi arrive backstage to the concert in progress. Snake pulls Fin out into the stage and Fin gives Snake the news. Snake tells the crowd the show is over, it’s a family emergency. The crowd is not happy and Snake leaves the building.
As they leave the Apollo with a crowd and paparazzi there, Carisi asks Fin if he knows Snake, and Fin explains they grew up together, their moms were best friends. Carisi says he could have told him that. They get in Snake’s limo and question him and they mention the argument the neighbor said he had with Dallas before he left. He denies laying a hand on her. Carisi brings up previous visits by police, and Snake says when Carisi gets a woman, we’ll see if they yell now and then. When Fin asks if that is all he did was scream, Snake asks Fin “you too?” and asks what the hell happened to him. Fin states they are just trying to find out why they were arguing. Snake explains it was about Veneshia, there were reports they were together which were false. Carisi notices the injuries on Snake's hand, and asks how he go that bruise. Snake claims he got into a fight with a pappo who was too close to Lexi and he was protecting his daughter. He asks Carisi if that is alright with him, calling him “wonder bread.” Fin asks that it made the news, and Snake explains his manager paid off the pappo, Amir Khoury. He adds when he left Dallas, she was fine.
Now at the hospital, Rollins explains to Fin, Carisi, and Snake that Dallas has brain swelling and had to be put in a medically induced coma. A rape kit was sent to the lab. When Snake questions the rape kit, Fin explained they decided to cover their bases. Snake tells Fin whoever did this is about to die, and Fin tells him, “C’mon cuz”. Snake sees Dallas and moves to be with her. Carisi wonders to Fin if this is a good idea; he knows Snake is his buddy but he is still a suspect. When Rollins asks about Fin knowing Snake, Fin explains he hasn’t seen him since he was 16. Carisi thinks Fin thinks he is innocent, and Fin says they need to talk to the paparazzi. Carisi asks what if Snake runs for it, and Fin replies that Rollins is there, wondering where will he go? He asks Rollins if she is good and she nods. Fin and Carisi leave.
