Showdown (Season 27, Episode 8)
Premise: A con man’s report that his girlfriend was raped and kidnapped sends SVU after the wrong suspect, and the mistakes follow the squad into court.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 27, Episode 8
- Starring
- Capt. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Sgt. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), Det. Terry Bruno (Kevin Kane), Det. Jake Griffin (Corey Cott), Capt. Renee Curry (Aimé Donna Kelly), Chief Kathryn Tynan (Noma Dumezweni), ADA Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino)
- Guest stars
- Bella Valdes as Nikki Suarez, Joshua Leonard as Greg Morrison, Bryan Fitzgerald as Quentin Welsum, Toby Huss as Det. John Whalen, Glenn Fleshler as Dan Olin
- Director
- Juan José Campanella
- Writers
- Story: Nicholas Evangelista; Written by: Kevin J. Hynes
Summary
“Showdown” begins when Greg Morrison, a 50-year-old motivational speaker who served two years for securities fraud, reports that a man using a voice changer taped him up and raped and carried off his 24-year-old girlfriend, Nikki Suarez. Det. John Whalen of the 21st Precinct runs the citywide search and hands the rape to Bruno and Griffin. At a police conference upstate, Chief Kathryn Tynan tells Benson she was the longtime partner of Griffin’s late father, Jimmy. Morrison’s account looks worse when another girlfriend, Kelsey James, arrives looking for him. Bruno pushes him until he asks for a lawyer, and Benson, back in the city, has him released. Architect Sean Davey says he mailed back Morrison’s keys and that Nikki once spoke of a man stalking her. Rollins and Curry learn from Nikki’s roommate that she wore a smart ring, and Carisi gets an emergency order for its location data.
After a sighting, Benson finds Nikki in a Brighton Beach bodega. Tynan wants Benson beside her at a press conference, but Benson stays to interview Nikki, who says she was blindfolded with tape, raped, moved in a car trunk and raped again before pulling herself free. Benson orders Morrison out of Nikki’s hospital room. Before the cameras, Tynan will not rule out rumors that Nikki staged a “Gone Girl” hoax. Nikki names Quentin Welsum, a tech founder she dated once, who then flooded her phone with insults and has a Queens stalking conviction. Bruno blames himself for fixating on Morrison. Welsum is caught after a chase in Brighton Beach; his alibi, Ned Wilson, admits Welsum paid $100 to borrow his car, where duct tape with Welsum’s print is found. Welsum then claims Nikki asked him to fake her abduction and calls lawyer Dan Olin.
Carisi is angry that Griffin’s reports named Morrison the prime suspect in a probable murder. At trial Nikki cannot identify her attacker, the print examiner concedes the thumbprint is partial, and Olin uses Griffin’s report and Tynan’s comments to paint a muddled investigation. Benson takes the stand to lay out the evidence, but the judge strikes her statement that Welsum is guilty.
Spoiler, the ending: After two days the jury deadlocks, the judge declares a mistrial, and Welsum stays remanded for a retrial. Griffin hands in transfer papers, and Benson tells him to sit down. Tynan arrives, greets Jake warmly and invites him to Sunday dinner, then tells Benson that she questions her supervision and renews her offer of a job at Police Plaza. Benson refuses; when Tynan answers that the choice is not Benson’s to make, Benson tells her to stay out of her way.
Why it stands out
- Benson’s strained relationship with Chief of Detectives Kathryn Tynan, introduced in the season premiere, turns into an open confrontation.
- The episode reveals that Tynan was partnered for years with Jake Griffin’s late father, Jimmy, and pushed Benson to take Jake on.
- This is Corey Cott’s last episode credited as a guest star before he joins the main cast.