Screwed (Season 8, Episode 22)
Premise: A killer’s murder trial turns into a trial of the squad itself as Fin’s former stepson exposes the detectives’ past lapses.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 8, Episode 22
- Starring
- Det. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Det. Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), Det. John Munch (Richard Belzer), Det. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Det. Chester Lake (Adam Beach), Capt. Donald Cragen (Dann Florek), ADA Casey Novak (Diane Neal), ME Dr. Melinda Warner (Tamara Tunie), Judge Elizabeth Donnelly (Judith Light)
- Guest stars
- Chris “Ludacris” Bridges as Darius Parker, Steven Weber as Matthew Braden, LisaGay Hamilton as Teresa Randall, Ernest Waddell as Ken Randall, Michael Weston as Simon Marsden
- Director
- Arthur W. Forney
- Writers
- Judith McCreary
Summary
“Screwed” opens with Nancy Grace and Star Jones discussing on television the murder trial of Darius Parker, Fin’s former stepson, accused of killing Nina Stansfield. His confession and the bodies of Nina and her baby son were thrown out before trial, leaving Novak with the blood at the scene, Darius’s DNA and his knife. Reporters besiege the squad, one files assault charges against Stabler, and Benson, Stabler and Fin are subpoenaed as defense witnesses. Darius sits as co-counsel beside his lawyer, former police officer Matthew Braden, and his attempt to skip trial on grounds of illness is refused. Warner’s passing mention of the baby on the stand prompts a mistrial motion, which the judge denies with a warning to both sides, and ex-girlfriend Angela Bowden identifies the knife as one she bought him.
Fin’s ex-wife, Teresa Randall, Darius’s mother, refuses to testify and is jailed for contempt. On the stand Fin admits he twice failed drug tests as an undercover narcotics officer and once left a dealer’s seized guns and drugs in his car overnight, something his son, Ken, saw as a boy and told Darius; the dealer’s conviction is later overturned. Braden also goes after the money Benson gave her half brother, Simon, when he jumped bail, and FBI Agent Dean Porter dodges a subpoena. Munch and Stabler argue over blame, and Cragen brings in Det. Chester Lake from Brooklyn SVU to stay. Kathy tells Stabler she is pregnant and asks him to come home.
Watching Braden, detectives see him lunching with Lt. Allan James, the Chief of Detectives’ executive officer, and Cragen orders them to drop it. Questioned about his daughter Kathleen’s 2005 drunk-driving arrest, Stabler denies asking officers to bury it; the judge, who knew of the arrest, steps aside, and the charge against Kathleen is revived. Benson visits Teresa at Rikers and tells her she herself was conceived in a rape, and Teresa testifies that Darius is her son, born after she was raped at 16, and that he learned this from his dying grandmother and was raging at Teresa two days before the murder. Cragen confronts James, who admits feeding the defense to repay Cragen for costing him his rank 15 years ago, and says he is retiring.
Spoiler, the ending: Cross-examining his mother himself, Darius forces her to name her rapist: her own father. Benson and Porter go to Internal Affairs to give statements about the money she sent Simon, and the jury acquits Darius of murder and assault. Darius rejects Ken, who says he can no longer stand by him, and Fin tells Darius he will never think about him again. What becomes of Benson’s badge and Cragen’s command is left unresolved.
Why it stands out
- In the season finale, Ludacris (credited as Chris “Ludacris” Bridges) makes his second appearance as Darius Parker, concluding the story begun in season 7’s “Venom,” with Steven Weber as his lawyer.
- Writer Judith McCreary said she wanted the detectives to finally face consequences for past misconduct.
- Adam Beach’s Det. Chester Lake transfers to the squad ahead of joining the main cast next season, and Nancy Grace and Star Jones appear as themselves.