The Presence of Absence (Season 24, Episode 16)
Premise: A young widow is assaulted by the man she met online, who turns out to be her best friend, and the case goes to trial.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 24, Episode 16
- Starring
- Capt. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Sgt. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Det. Grace Muncy (Molly Burnett), ADA Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino), Judge Colin McNamara (Stephen C. Bradbury), Judge Karyn Blake (Ami Brabson), Det. Tonie Churlish (Jasmine Batchelor)
- Guest stars
- Eden Malyn as Zoe Greene, Tory Trowbridge as Jenna Scott, Nia Vardalos as Minonna Efron, Charles Warburton as Richard Scott, Gabriel Sidney Brown as Cooper Davis
- Director
- Norberto Barba
- Writers
- Story: Kathy Dobie & Nolan Dunbar; Written by: Brianna Yellen & Brendan Feeney
Summary
“The Presence of Absence” follows Zoe Greene, whose husband, Brian, died of an aneurysm two years earlier, as her best friend since college, Jenna Scott, coaxes her onto a dating app. Zoe matches with Klaus Darcy, a handsome man supposedly educated in Sweden, and his texted orders become a dominance game; they meet only in hotel rooms, with Zoe blindfolded by Brian’s neckties. At the squad, Muncy is told she still may not call Velasco, and Officer Tonie Churlish arrives, sent to Manhattan SVU for now on Chief McGrath’s orders. Zoe tells Muncy and Fin that the night before, Klaus finished inside her after she said no and used their safe word.
Muncy lashes out at Churlish for recording Velasco, and Klaus’s photo turns out to have been copied from a Swedish rafting guide’s website. Semen recovered from Zoe’s lingerie then gives a family DNA match to Brian, whose college arrest put his DNA on file. That points to his 23-year-old nephew, Cooper Davis, a medical student who turns out to be a popular sperm donor with an alibi. When Klaus texts asking to see Zoe one last time, the squad watches the hotel room, and Klaus turns out to be Jenna. She says she did it all for Zoe: Zoe always wanted a family, and Cooper looks like Brian. Because Jenna used her finger, Carisi cannot charge rape; she is charged with one count of first-degree aggravated sexual abuse and eight counts of third-degree sexual abuse, and is released without bail. Her lawyer, Minonna Efron, turns down a deal.
Against Benson’s advice, Zoe insists on testifying. On cross-examination Efron reveals that Zoe and Jenna had sexual encounters in college and has Zoe read her own texts praising Klaus and pushing to meet him after Jenna tried to talk her out of it. Carisi warns that the jury now sees Zoe as a liar. Testifying for herself, Jenna says she assumed Zoe knew who Klaus was and never heard the safe word. Carisi has the courtroom lights turned off and brings someone to stand before her; Jenna guesses Zoe, but it is her husband of ten years, Richard.
Spoiler, the ending: The jury acquits Jenna of aggravated sexual abuse and convicts her of third-degree sexual abuse, a misdemeanor, and she is held until sentencing. Zoe does not want her jailed, and Carisi says he can probably get her probation with counseling if that is what Zoe truly wants. Zoe, having lost her husband and her best friend, wonders about trying a dating app again, and the episode closes on doubts over whether the outcome was justice.
Why it stands out
- Officer Tonie Churlish joins the Manhattan squad, sent by Chief McGrath with Benson’s agreement on Fin’s recommendation.
- Nia Vardalos returns as defense attorney Minonna Efron, her first appearance since Season 15.