Combat Fatigue (Season 25, Episode 10)
Premise: After a juror’s outburst forces a mistrial, Carisi retries Maddie Flynn’s kidnapper, who fires his lawyer, makes bail and defends himself.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 25, Episode 10
- Starring
- Capt. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Sgt. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Det. Joe Velasco (Octavio Pisano), Det. Terry Bruno (Kevin Kane), Capt. Renee Curry (Aimé Donna Kelly), ADA Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino), Judge Karyn Blake (Ami Brabson), Judge Colin McNamara (Stephen C. Bradbury)
- Guest stars
- Patrick Carroll as George Brouchard, Leslie Fray as Eileen Flynn, Allison Elaine as Maddie Flynn, Zack Robidas as Peter Flynn, Phoebe Lloyd as Slater Dent
- Director
- Michael Smith
- Writers
- Story: Gabriel Vallejo; Written by: David Graziano & Julie Martin
Summary
“Combat Fatigue” opens in a jury room, where eleven jurors bully the lone holdout into voting guilty in the trial of George Brouchard, the Canadian who kidnapped 15-year-old Maddie Flynn, took her across state lines by train and sold her. The jury returns a guilty verdict, but the defense asks for a poll, and one juror tells the court she was pressured into her vote. In chambers, Slater Dent says Brouchard never contacted her, yet she believes the two of them share a connection and will be together once he is cleared. The judge declares a mistrial.
Eileen Flynn tells Benson that Maddie, a month into rehab for opioids, got into her mother’s oxycodone and, while high, admitted to sexual contact with Brouchard, though her rape kit was negative. On the record, Maddie says he kissed her, cut her hair and kept a lock of it in a small leather pouch at his throat, undressed her and bathed her before handing her to Leonard Fleming. Carisi adds a charge of first-degree sexual abuse, knowing her earlier denials make her a risky witness. Brouchard turns down 25 years because he would have to register as a sex offender, fires his lawyer, Harris Malone, to represent himself, and posts $1 million bail with an ankle monitor.
Velasco and Curry watch him sketch near children in a park. Peter Flynn shows Benson texts suggesting Eileen has fallen under Brouchard’s spell; she says she was only trying to win him over. At the retrial, Tanya Garcia and Benson testify, and Brouchard gets FBI Agent Shannah Sykes to admit that when she grabbed him on a train, she was asking about her own missing sister. Maddie repeats her account, and on cross-examination concedes there were parts of their time together she liked, such as watching the stars from the train. Then Velasco calls: Eileen is at Brouchard’s motel with a gun, demanding the pouch with Maddie’s hair.
Spoiler, the ending: Benson has Brouchard cuffed, sends the others outside and talks Eileen into lowering the gun, which turns out to be unloaded; she faces a misdemeanor and probably no jail time. In closing, Brouchard argues that Carisi has not proved his case, and Carisi calls him a self-pitying coward. The jury convicts Brouchard of kidnapping and first-degree sexual abuse of a minor, and he is remanded to await sentencing. Benson then takes Maddie to meet Dr. Heather Lentz, telling her this will be different from the therapy and group sessions she has tried, and promises to wait for her.
Why it stands out
- Brings the Maddie Flynn kidnapping story, which began in the season premiere, “Tunnel Blind,” to a verdict.
- Jordana Spiro, who plays FBI Agent Shannah Sykes, appeared in Season 23’s “A Final Call at Forlini’s Bar” as a different character, Delia Hackman.
- The episode was written by showrunner David Graziano and Julie Martin.