Fashionable Crimes (Season 17, Episode 20)
Premise: A teenage model accuses a celebrated fashion photographer of rape, but she backs out under pressure, and then the photographer is shot dead at his family’s runway show.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 17, Episode 20
- Starring
- Lt. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Det. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Det. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), Det. Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino), Sgt. Mike Dodds (Andy Karl), ADA Rafael Barba (Raúl Esparza), DA Investigator John Munch (Richard Belzer), Judge Colin McNamara (Stephen C. Bradbury)
- Guest stars
- Fisher Stevens as Alvin Gilbert, Griffin Dunne as Benno Gilbert, Sandrine Holt as Nora Wattan, Virginia Gardner as Sally Landry, Tom Pelphrey as Matt Kroger
- Director
- Martha Mitchell
- Writers
- Story: Brianna Yellen; Written by: Penelope Koechl & Jill Lorie Hurst
Summary
“Fashionable Crimes” opens with Benson called away from a photo session with Rollins’s baby, Jesse, to meet Sally Landry, 17, an aspiring model just in from Iowa for Fashion Week. Sally says famous photographer Alvin Gilbert pushed her to the floor of his loft and raped her during a shoot, while his assistant, Nora Wattan, who had plied her with drinks, took pictures. Fin recalls that he and Munch looked into Alvin 12 years earlier over an Italian model, a case that vanished when she became the face of a Gilbert perfume. Sally’s boyfriend and manager, Matt Kroger, has a domestic violence record and vows to deal with Alvin himself. In a controlled meeting, Nora tells Sally the photos are on a separate memory card, which is enough for a warrant.
During the search of the studio Alvin fights to keep his camera and is arrested for resisting, while his brother, designer Benno Gilbert, and Benno’s wife, Claire, fret about their runway show and stock offering. With his lawyer, Sunil Varma, Alvin claims Sally came ready for sex. The pictures show a terrified girl, but Barba expects the defense to call them staged. Nora is charged as an accomplice, and Alvin gets $500,000 bail on a first-degree rape charge. Nora, with a lawyer found by Varma, rejects a deal. Of about two dozen models interviewed, half say Alvin pressured them into sex, and none will testify. Munch finds the earlier victim, who now runs an agency that sends girls to Alvin.
Sally then backs out of testifying, afraid the photos will spread online. Benno says Matt showed up with a gun and left with $50,000, which Matt calls a consulting fee; Sally is then booked to close the Gilbert show. Warned that photos of a 17-year-old are child pornography under federal law, Nora turns on Alvin and hands over videos, and Barba adds ten rape counts. At the show, Matt is refused entry and shouts threats, and Alvin is found in the courtyard out back, shot in the groin and the chest. Matt’s gun does not work and his hands show no gunshot residue. The weapon, found on the roof, looks like Alvin’s own, and security video shows him recognizing the shooter calmly.
Spoiler, the ending: When Benno and Claire come in, Dodds talks about his own troubled younger brother, and the detectives say residue will be on the dress Sally wore when Benno hugged her. Claire confesses, then Benno does too, so each confession raises reasonable doubt about the other. Dodds is sure Benno fired, and Benno eventually takes a plea. At home, Munch, who has been looking after Noah, tells Benson retirement suits him, and they say goodbye.
Why it stands out
- Richard Belzer makes his final on-screen appearance as John Munch, and his last on screen before his death on February 19, 2023.
- Griffin Dunne and Fisher Stevens guest star as the Gilbert brothers, Benno and Alvin.