Law & Order: SVU Reveals Velasco's Secret — Read Episode 2 Recap
Well, we now know who was in the car that drove up to Det. Velasco at the end of last week's Law & Order: SVU.
The men that told Joe to get in the car were Drug Enforcement Agency agents, and they want to go him undercover on one of their ops. He's not supposed to tell anyone, but he shares it with Benson, who promises to keep his secret and tells him to stay safe. (Don't worry: He's still working at the precinct, at least for now.)
In other personnel news: The new guy that Chief of Detectives Kathryn Tynan insisted on installing in Capt. Benson's squad shows up in this week's episode... and he makes quite the first impression.
"They call him Batman," Bruno says of Det. Jake Griffin (played by Corey Cott, The Good Fight) — and it's not a compliment: Griffin has a reputation for wanting to be a superhero, and that instinct runs counter to Benson's team mentality. But can he prove that he's a good fit for The House That Don Cragen Built? Read on for the highlights of "A Waiver of Consent."
MEET THE NOOB | When we meet Det. Jake Griffin, he's explaining to Benson that Chief Tynan and his father were partners, and when his dad died, Tynan took him under her wing. He's aware that it looks like "I'm some sort of spy," but swears that all that he wants to do is learn how to become a good detective. Though his background has been in working in the robbery division, he wants to learn from the best, so he's part of Benson's SVU. "I can promise you, the only agenda I have is to learn," he vows. "The education starts now," she says, looking wildly unimpressed. Nevertheless, she brings him along to talk to a woman who stumbled into Times Square, dazed and roughed up, mumbling about something bad that happened.
The woman, Maya, has a tattoo of a QR code on her wrist; Griffin takes a photo of it and learns that it leads to a high-end, members-only "wellness" club that Capt. Curry says has been rumored to be a sex club. And when all of the drugs in Maya's system clear, she angrily declares that nothing happened and that she doesn't want or need Benson's help. Then Benson yells at Griffin about it, which seems an outsize response for his slightly-boneheaded-but-not-really-all-that-bad naivete about how to handle recent victim of sexual assault.
But Griffin redeems himself by having an informant get them an entree into the word-of-mouth-only club. So he and Bruno pose as interested potential members and learn that everyone who joins Sensate have to sign a blanket consent form that basically allows anyone to do anything to you at anytime... with zero consequences.
WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON | The guys go back for an after-hours party where the club's basement becomes a den of debauchery. You know the place is naughty because you can hear moaning, a woman is walking around carrying a riding crop and there's red uplighting everywhere: the broadcast TV signal for kink. A lot of the women seem to be drugged. Despite his insistence that he's no stranger to undercover work, Griffin seems very disturbed. (Benson should've showed him this as a training film.) And after he and Bruno brief the squad on what they saw, Griffin goes back and sneaks into Sensate via an open back door.
Liv is NOT PLEASED when Griffin reports back the next morning... until he produces the phone number of Isabella, a woman who works at the club who is willing to talk. Isabella meets with them and tearfully says she signed the contract, which essentially forced her into prostitution, and is afraid that the owner will ruin her life if she tries to leave. Griffin assures her they can help, and she agrees to work with them to take the place down. NYPD raids the place soon after.
THE FINE PRINT | As the trial begins, we meet Assistant District Attorney CJ Jones (played by Norma Kuhling, Chicago Med), whom Carisi brings in as second chair when he hauls Sensate's owner into court. Jones comes in hot, but she can't get the owner to say that Sensate is anything other than an adult club where people have consensual sex. Eventually, though, the cops find video of Maya — the victim from the top of the hour — looking very out of it as a man leads her away from the club's main room. "They used your shame to silence you," Benson tells her. "Think about what happens if you start talking."
So Maya testifies against the club's owner, saying that she saw drugs sold at the club and that he paid women to have sex with the members. The club owner's lawyer brings up that she signed the consent form. "I didn't sign up to be raped," Maya replies. She relates how the owner threatened her one night when she came to the defense of a shot girl he was berating. And just like that, the jury finds him guilty.
"Hang on to the girl," Benson tells Carisi afterward, referring to Jones. "I like her." He smiles. "Already got her transferred," he says. (For what it's worth, I like her, too!)
LOOKS LIKE HE'LL STAY | Griffin comes to Benson in her office that night, saying he understands if she wants to transfer him out of her unit. But she points out that he made Isabella feel safe, and her cooperation led to good things for the case. He's elated, promising he'll never go behind her back. "Well, that is good to know," she says. Afterwards, though, he makes a beeline for Tynan's home. So...
After he leaves, Bruno rushes in: He's had a call from Organized Crime's Bell: Stabler is in the hospital. If you watched Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 when it originally aired on Peacock, you know where this is going. And if you didn't, you probably want to stay tuned to NBC for the following hour! Also: Did you hear that two different versions of this episode aired Thursday? Which did you see?
Now it's your turn. What did you think of the episode? Is Griffin a good fit for SVU? Hit the comments with your thoughts!