Bombshell (Season 12, Episode 19)
Premise: The stabbing of a seemingly ordinary executive leads Benson and Stabler undercover at a sex club, where a pair of grifters prey on lonely married men.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 12, Episode 19
- Starring
- Det. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Det. Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), Det. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Capt. Donald Cragen (Dann Florek), ADA Gillian Hardwicke (Melissa Sagemiller), Dr. George Huang (BD Wong)
- Guest stars
- Rose McGowan as Cassandra Davina, Ryan Hurst as Doug Loveless, Tom Irwin as Jerry Bullard, Kathleen McNenny as Jane Bullard, Richard Petrocelli as Aldo
- Director
- Patrick Creadon
- Writers
- Daniel Truly
Summary
“Bombshell” begins in a parking garage, where a drunk man trying to open the wrong car turns out to have been stabbed in the groin and abdomen; a bystander yanks out the knife, and a head injury puts him in a coma. He is Jerry Bullard, head of an aviation parts firm, who was supposed to be at meetings in Washington. His wife, Jane, calls him utterly ordinary and their marriage happy, and their daughter, Janette, agrees. Witnesses point to Aldo, a former butcher who wanders the streets at night in a bloody shirt. Huang finds that Aldo, who says he has not slept in a year, has fatal familial insomnia, a rare inherited disease. The bleeding Bullard knocked Aldo over, and Aldo points the detectives to a nearby door.
Behind it is The Swing Set, a members-only sex club. Posing as a married couple, Benson and Stabler learn that Jerry was a regular devoted to Cassandra, a striking member who shows Stabler a scar she blames on her jealous ex, Doug. Other members describe Doug storming in a week earlier and Jerry squaring up to him. Jane then admits that she and Jerry swing together. On the detectives’ second visit Doug barges in again and is arrested with a new knife. When Jerry wakes, he tells his family he fell in love with Cassandra, then names his attacker: Jane. She confesses that she waited in the alley and stabbed him, enraged that he had been draining tens of thousands of dollars, including Janette’s college fund, for Cassandra, and that she took his wallet and phone to fake a mugging.
Doug is released, and the detectives tailing him see him kiss Cassandra. Both are arrested for a con in which Doug plays the violent ex so Cassandra can seduce and drain her rescuers. Aliases found in their home tie them to the death of a Miami swinger, Claude Bailey, whose account was emptied of $50,000. Jerry hires defense attorney Dave Seaver for Cassandra, and Judge D. Andrews rejects Hardwicke’s request for remand and sets bail at $250,000 each. Jerry pays Cassandra’s, leaving Doug in jail. Miami’s DNA results tie Doug to Bailey’s killing and reveal that he and Cassandra, who are lovers, are also brother and sister.
Spoiler, the ending: Told the truth, Jerry stays with Cassandra and invites her to live with him. Cassandra defends her bond with her twin brother and says Jerry has promised a gift for them both. Jerry has bailed Doug out and brought him home, and when the detectives arrive Doug lies dying, stabbed with his own knife. Jerry says he and Cassandra can now be together forever, as she begs her brother not to leave her.
Why it stands out
- This is BD Wong’s last episode as a regular cast member playing Dr. George Huang; his departure was not announced until July 2011.
- Rose McGowan guest stars as Cassandra, a grifter who targets men at sex clubs, with Ryan Hurst as her supposed ex-boyfriend, Doug.
- Benson and Stabler go undercover as a married couple new to the swinging scene.