The Punch List (Season 25, Episode 3)
Premise: An escort reports that two men forced her at gunpoint to have sex with a drugged stranger, but the man, a married dermatologist, says he does not remember.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 25, Episode 3
- Starring
- Capt. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Sgt. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Det. Joe Velasco (Octavio Pisano), Det. Terry Bruno (Kevin Kane), ADA Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino)
- Guest stars
- David Krumholtz as Dr. Raymond Goldberg, Audrey Hare as Tess Long, Ian Colletti as Duvall Mathis, Quinn Spivey as Reese Bailey, Gabrielle Miller as Denise Goldberg
- Director
- Norberto Barba
- Writers
- Story: Gabriel Vallejo; Written by: David Graziano & Gabriel Vallejo
Summary
“The Punch List” begins with Dr. Ray Goldberg, a dermatologist in the middle of a home renovation, whose wife, Denise, asks him to pick up celadon tile samples. When his friend Andy cancels their night out, Ray goes alone to a club where a member of his staff, Anna, got him on the list, and he shares his VIP table and a bottle of vodka with two young men. The next day Benson brings Officer Tiffany Gomez into the squad, having asked for her, and an escort named Tess walks in saying she raped someone. She explains that on an outcall to an empty apartment, two young men who were high, one of them holding a gun to the back of her head, made her have sex with an older man who was barely conscious, saying they were giving him the night of his life. Benson tells her she is the victim of rape.
Benson is called away when Eileen Flynn finds her husband, Peter, hanging by his belt in Maddie’s room. He survives, and Benson stays with Eileen, leaving Fin in charge. In the Brooklyn apartment, above a bodega, Fin and Bruno find celadon tile samples and Ray’s errand list, and a ride-share record leads to Ray. In front of his wife, he says he remembers little of the night. His cards show $12,000 spent at the bodega. Carisi needs Ray to identify the men, so Fin and Bruno, using Carisi as the bad guy, tell Ray the DA may prosecute Tess on her own confession. Ray agrees to help and picks out the men on the bodega’s video by their skin conditions. Club receipts identify Reese Bailey and Duvall Mathis, who each say Ray was the one chasing a wild night, deny any gun and blame each other. Tess identifies both.
Spoiler, the ending: With Denise gone to her sister’s, Ray refuses to testify but agrees to wear a wire to a meeting with the two men at the club. Denise turns up; Ray tells her he is working undercover and sends her home, then gets the pair to say the gun was only a starter pistol. Both men are arrested, and the pistol is found in Duvall’s apartment. Carisi offers Reese attempted rape and three years to testify against Duvall, and both end up taking pleas. Benson, back at work, tells Tess that the fake gun does not change what happened to her and that both men will serve time.
Why it stands out
- David Krumholtz guest stars as Dr. Raymond Goldberg, the dermatologist at the center of the case.
- Officer Tiffany Gomez (Edie Salas Miller) joins the squad at Benson’s request, after her first appearance in “Truth Embargo.”
- Continues the Maddie Flynn story through her father’s suicide attempt.