XX.XIV: Part 33

The #42Minutes

In the bowels of the courthouse among furniture discarded from dead judges' offices, the squad agonizes (well, Fin doesn't) about how they'll spin the evidence in the case of NY vs. Annabeth Pearl who shot her husband three times after, according to everyone but Rollins, years of vicious, unrelenting emotional and psychological abuse. The foursome is loosely divided between Fin and Rollins and Carisi and Liv. The latter wrestle with varying degrees of truth and whether or not to twist it during their testimony so the verdict is more likely to swing in Annabeth's favor. Carisi is "creative" to the point that Stone has to object to his own witness' statement and his "treason" stamps a gigantic question mark on what Stone thought was a slam dunk case. Benson, who was on the list as a rebuttal witness, has to testify and, though she tries at first to nuance Annabeth's confession, she admits Annabeth showed no remorse and, in fact, revealed years of premeditation.

The Verdict

Am I the only one who thought it was a little bit hilarious that Stone walked into court that morning all confident and probably a bit smug and had no clue what was boiling beneath the surface?

The format of the episode--placing everyone immediately in the powder keg--was perfection. The complicated case played out through the squad's legal and moral sparring--exchanges that can only take place among people who know and trust one another. Their debates were relevant and raw--what "color" does truth have to be to equate to justice? What happens when the letter of the law doesn't result in a moral, humane outcome? How does one prove "abuse" when there are no physical injuries? How does one describe terror so it becomes real for people who have never experienced it? (FYI--it's Benson's description of her time with Lewis).

On that note--I'm not necessarily sure Benson revealed Lewis raped her. It doesn't quite fit with how the saga played out (even though, in Psycho/Therapist Benson does correct Lewis and say "rape isn't sex). It seems to me that Benson could have been conflating her own terror with that of the hundreds of victims' accounts she's heard in her career.

On the other hand...there is some space in the past arc...and, of course, there's the ambiguous non-verbal reply to the abortion question...we'll see if the writers connect the two. I hope not.

On the other, other hand...I have a sick feeling that all roads lead to Cassidy and the two of them fully disclosing the truth of their pasts...and maybe that's why Benson was feeling pressure when things were getting serious with Tucker. I'd always been under the impression she revealed everything to him, but maybe she didn't, knew he wanted her to, and it ended up driving an emotional wedge between them...I could be riffing wayyyy too much here (and I hope I am), but...it's possible. Still, Cassidy=yuck.

Lastly-WTF Rollins? Look, I go back in forth between loving and hating her, but her skepticism toward victims, her tendency to more often than not assume men are being unfairly accused, and, to quote Tucker, her THIN BLUE LINE CRAP (when she was raped by her former [cop] boss in Atlanta makes me want Liv to boot her ass out of SVU. She needs therapy, quickly, so she doesn't pass down this bullshit to her daughters.

Why didn't they turn on the fan?

Also...Annabeth reminded me of Carisi's sister and I spent way too much time thinking about that.

Quotable

"You and I are done talking." Okay, this was from Manhattan transfer, but the bleeding heart sneer from Stone reminded me of that moment in Barba's office and also reminded me I miss Barba. 

"She saw it...she saw it..." Benson talking about the gun as a threat and she started to get worked up and then she launched into the heart-wrenching description of terror...And. I. Just...GAHHHHHH she's good.

"That's not rape." Peter, your SVU education is not yet over, you ass.

"All it takes is a little love." Too many hints at love, pretty, marriage...and with Cassidy in view, well, see above.

"Believe you me." Nooch, seriously? I HATE that phrase. But, to your credit, it was the only bad one in the ep.

Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom. The main character's "personal curse was his belief that he was too strong to need to be a part of the human family."

Is it Next Thursday, Yet?

One has to wonder if this will create ongoing tension between Stone and the squad. I doubt it because this writing crew doesn't seem to like much continuity from one episode to the next, but one can always hope.

Can Alex Chapple direct every episode, please? Damn those shots were amazing. Can't go wrong beginning an episode with someone walking into a bar and laying a gun and a wedding ring on the table.

So, this was good. Definitely in the top two post-Leight years episodes and maybe sneaking into the top ten of all time but I'm irritated that Nooch has been hiding these writing chops from us for so long.