Dearly Beloved (Season 20, Episode 19)
Premise: A woman accuses a therapist of rape at his own wedding, but her history of harassing him and others makes SVU doubt her story.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 20, Episode 19
- Starring
- Lt. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Det. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), Det. Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino)
- Guest stars
- Shiri Appleby as Kitty Bennett, TJ Thyne as Dr. Joshua Hensley, Maureen Sebastian as Lana Stallworth, Poppy Liu as Hannah Berkowitz, Garrett Turner as Bo Albrecht
- Director
- Lucy Liu
- Writers
- Richard Sweren & Allison Intrieri
Summary
“Dearly Beloved” begins at the wedding of therapist Dr. Joshua Hensley and Lana Stallworth, where a stranger, Kitty Bennett, stands up when the priest asks for objections and says Hensley raped her. Benson and Carisi take statements. Kitty says she saw Hensley once, on December 11, after her mother’s death, and that he hugged her while she cried, then raped her on his office couch; she found his wedding date on Instagram. Hensley says he has never met her. His appointment book, kept in pencil, has no entry for her slot that day, and Hannah Berkowitz, whose session followed it, skipped that week but says Kitty messaged her on Instagram daily, wanting to talk about Hensley. Kitty also has shoplifting arrests and a restraining order won by Bo Albrecht, a trainer she pursued after meeting him once at a cooking class.
Lana reports nude photos sent to Hensley, a fake dating profile emailed to her and a break-in in which someone poured tomato juice over the wedding invitations. The messages trace to Kitty’s former job; she says she was trying to warn Lana but denies the break-in. Then Kitty discovers she is pregnant, says she could never love a child conceived by a monster and plans an abortion. Benson tells Rollins that at 15 she overheard her own mother say almost the same thing. The paternity test matches Hensley, who is arrested and now admits three consensual encounters after meeting Kitty at a bar. Security footage shows Kitty took him home; she admits sleeping with him but says it came after the rape, once he had talked her out of reporting by claiming she had a rape-fantasy disorder.
Lana reveals that Hensley was her therapist before they dated and that he makes all the decisions. When Kitty gets into Hensley’s home and threatens him with a bottle, Benson and Rollins talk her down, and Lana, hearing Kitty repeat things Hensley told her, shouts that she believes her. Lana then tells Benson that Hensley raped her while she, as his real estate broker, showed him the Chelsea loft they now share, and agrees to testify.
Spoiler, the ending: Hensley is arrested again, for first-degree rape, while Lana testifies before a grand jury. Later Kitty, now seeing a therapist Benson recommended, says she felt the baby kick and has not decided what to do. Benson tells her that a child conceived through violence is still innocent and deserves to be loved if she chooses to raise it.
Why it stands out
- Directed by Lucy Liu.
- Benson tells Rollins that as a teenager she overheard her mother wonder aloud how she could love a child conceived by a monster.
- Shiri Appleby and TJ Thyne guest star as Kitty Bennett and Dr. Joshua Hensley.