The SVU experiments with a new, but old technique while Ariel Winter guest stars.
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Online Editor
Law & Order SVU: “The Darkest Journey Home”
Season 21, Episode 2
Airdate: 10/3/19
***SPOILERS BELOW***
Captain Olivia Benson of the Manhattan Special Victims Unit is not good at her job. She hasn’t been good at her job in quite a few years. Sure, she nabs probably hundreds of perps a year, but getting there is always more of a challenge. Rules are bent, and victims have a hard time getting to see her point of view until it’s almost too late.
In this episode, while the squad is working on getting justice for the gang-rape of Raegan (Ariel Winter), we flashback to something from Benson’s point of view: her week-long assault and kidnapping at the hands of William Lewis back in May 2013. The event has stayed with Benson since it happened, and while it’s mostly in the back of Benson’s mind sometimes it comes to the forefront, as it did here.
CASE NOTES:
William Lewis has been dead since April 2014, but his interactions with Benson changed the way that she approaches her job. The rule-bending, vigilante Benson has always been there to a certain extent, but her increased presence is a direct result of the horrifying trauma that Lewis inflicted on her. Her increased authority since her ordeal has only exacerbated the questionable decisions she sometimes makes, as does her personal friendships with the majority of her colleagues. But it’s unarugable that despite his death, Lewis got what he wanted anyway: Benson will always have to deal with his presence in her head.
The flashbacks are brief, but at the end of the hour, their purpose is made clear: it helps Benson to connect with Raegan, because they both went through a similar trauma. They’re totally different people though: Raegan is a girl who parties hard and constantly makes bad life choices, regardless of the consequences for herself might be. She cheats on her fiance, constantly lies and she definitely could use a psychologist.
While Raegan absolutely did not deserve what happened to her, she would have been crucified on the witness stand; Carisi and the squad realize this and cut all of the three perps that raped Raegan a deal to avoid having the case go to trial. Raegan is not exactly pleased with that, but at the end of the hour, comes to realize that everything is still going to be alright eventually.
Benson’s trip down memory lane is brought on by some mandatory on-the-job training done by Dr. Alexis Hanover (Amy Hargreaves); Rollins and Tutuola also take part in the training sessions, although we don’t see any flashbacks on the screen from them. Rollins talks about an unspecified time that she was raped (although it can be inferred that the rapist was her former boss at the Atlanta Police Department who was prosecuted a few seasons back), and Tutuola talks about the time that his mother was shot dead when he was a child.
JACOB’S FINAL RULINGS:
– While the technique was heavily hyped as being something new, it doesn’t seem all that different from the techniques that we’ve seen utilized on the show before. I will say, however, that it did look very visually interesting when it was used for both Benson and Raegan’s interactions.
– Amy Hargreaves is a fantastic actress, but I don’t think this role gave her the chance to show it. I wouldn’t mind if the show brings her back again in the future in a more hands-on role.
– The SVU needs a new detective, possibly two. Rollins and Tutuola are really overworked, and the show could use some fresh blood anyway.
– Carisi’s new boss didn’t appear in the episode, but this is just a reminder that she’s real shady.
