Fast Times @DIGGYSPENTHOUSE (Season 23, Episode 5)
Premise: A young dancer accuses two social media stars of raping her at their content house, and the case is fought online as much as in court.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 23, Episode 5
- Starring
- Capt. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Det. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), ADA Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino), Judge Felicia Catano (Aida Turturro)
- Guest stars
- Lena Torluemke as Willa Bartola, Taylor Trensch as Diggy Wheeler, Jakob Winter as Tate Rivers, Conor Sweeney as Liam Rivers, Ainsley Seiger as Det. Jet Slootmaekers
- Director
- Martha Mitchell
- Writers
- Story: Denis Hamill & Monet Hurst-Mendoza & Kathy Dobie & Micharne Cloughley; Written by: Brianna Yellen & Brendan Feeney
Summary
“Fast Times @DIGGYSPENTHOUSE” starts when Noah shows Benson a TikTok, since deleted, in which dancer Willa Bartola says Tate and Liam Rivers raped her at the Wheelhouse, a content house where influencers live together and post videos around the clock. Willa tells the squad that Diggy Wheeler, who runs the house, invited her for a tryout; after shots in the hot tub she grew dizzy, and Tate and Liam took her to a downstairs bedroom and assaulted her while she told them no. She never reported or had a rape kit done, and she deleted the video after Wheelhouse fans doxxed and harassed her. Her friend Kevan Wright, who found her sobbing in a bathroom that night, backs her account.
Det. Jet Slootmaekers of Organized Crime, at SVU on another case, knows the Wheelhouse, and Benson borrows her. Diggy has asked to apologize, so Willa meets him at the house while the squad listens. Tate and Liam appear and livestream themselves pressing her to call her accusation a stunt until police step in. When the pair post a new video mocking her account, Carisi charges them with rape. Their fans swarm Carisi and Rollins outside court, and Judge Felicia Catano declines a gag order but warns both sides to stop posting about the case.
At trial, Benson testifies that survivors often disclose online and can take time to come forward, but defense attorney Jericho Swope paints Willa as a performer chasing followers, citing her approving comment on another influencer’s rape video. Diggy, listed as a defense witness, livestreams an apology to Willa and then testifies for the prosecution that he overheard Tate and Liam planning to discredit her. Under cross-examination he lashes out at them and is held in contempt.
Spoiler, the ending: The jury acquits on every count. Carisi then learns that the forewoman posed with Tate and Liam outside court and had been invited to join the Wheelhouse, and that another juror got a similar offer during the trial. Facing jury tampering and bribery charges, they take a deal for seven years. Diggy invites Willa and Kevan to start a house for survivors. In the crossover thread, Sgt. Ayanna Bell’s informant, vigilante Elvis Baktashi, reveals that Rita Lasku, a missing waitress Stabler befriended, is being trafficked and that 12 underage girls from Albania are about to land at JFK.
Why it stands out
- Originally aired under the title “Fast Times @TheWheelHouse.”
- Begins a crossover with Law & Order: Organized Crime that concludes in the fifth episode of that show’s second season; Ainsley Seiger and Danielle Moné Truitt appear as Jet Slootmaekers and Ayanna Bell.