The SVU squad is testifying in a trial against a woman who killed her husband. But is she a victim?
Law and Order: SVU “Part 33”
Season 20, Episode 14
Airdate: 2/7/2019
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Staff Writer
Out of the box episodes aren’t SVU’s forte. The show is a procedural drama with a few serialized storylines. As a result, there aren’t many episodes that deviate too far from the show’s formula. When the show does try to venture out and get creative with it’s approach, it can wield mixed results. For example, the episode “911” from SVU’s seventh season took almost entirely place in the squad room and features Olivia Benson speaking to an abducted child on a speaker-phone. Mariska Hargitay, the actress who plays Benson, won an Emmy for her work in “911.”
In contrast to that, the seventh episode of the 19th season, “Something Happened,” also took place primarily in the squadroom. The episode features Benson interrogating a woman for nearly the entire hour. It bored me to tears.
“Part 33” is also an out of the boxepisode. It might be one of the best episodes the show has ever aired.
CASE RECAP:
There’s a case in “Part 33,” but we don’t see much of the detective work. That’s not the point of the episode. The episode focuses on our SVU squad and how they view the perpetrator and the motivations for her actions.
Annabeth Pearl walks to the bar and grill across the street from her house with blood on her gown and a gun in her hand. She sets the gun on a table along with her wedding ring as she sits down, and the patrons run away.
The SVU detectives come and take her to the squad room. We do see Rollins finishing up taking Annabeth’s statement, and Benson walking into the room to talk with her.
The episode then shifts to the New York Courthouse where Annabeth’s trial is taking place in Part 33. ADA Peter Stone, in a strange twist, is the one prosecuting Annabeth for murdering her husband who was a police officer for the city.
“This is a very simple case,” Stone says to the jury. “The defendant, Annabeth Pearl, hosted a dinner party with her husband Thomas at their apartment on West 26th Street. Three people ate a New York strip, baked potatoes, and creamed spinach. Three hours later, when the guests had left… Annabeth put on her nightie, walked into the den, picked up the gun that was sitting on the coffee table and shot her husband Thomas three times while he was watching TV.”
“The detectives assigned to this case will tell you how they arrested Annabeth an hour later at a local eatery with the murder weapon still in her possession. They’ll tell you how, without provocation, she confessed to the murder.”
Here, the main discussion point of the case comes into play. “Now, the defense will play on your emotions,” Stone says. “They’ll tell you about a bad marriage, an abused wife, but what they can’t tell you is that Thomas ever hit Annabeth, or that she was ever in imminent fear of physical harm. This is a very simple case. Annabeth Pearl is guilty of murder in the second degree.”
Annabeth’s attorney hits back. “What Mr. Stone didn’t tell you was that that dinner was the culmination of six years of continuous psychological abuse. The straw that crippled the camel, if you will: criticism, insult, blame, all of which served to diminish Annabeth’s dignity, destroy her self-worth, and erase her self-confidence. Now Mr. Stone may call what Annabeth did murder, but I call it self-preservation. I’m sure you will too.”
Rollins, Tutuola, and Carisi are waiting to be called to testify in Annabeth’s trial. Benson is the last to arrive. The episode focuses on these four individuals and how they view Annabeth and the motivation for her actions.
Rollins takes the side of the deceased husband, believing that no matter the circumstances surrounding the Pearl’s relationship, the murder was unjustified. Carisi knew the husband and is quick to believe Annabeth when she claims that he abused her. Tutuola attempts to remain neutral, but many of his past discretions are brought up by his colleagues as a result.
Tutuola is the first to be called. He gives a straightforward account of what he knows of the crime. Rollins and Carisi, usually friendly with one another, verbally spar instead. Rollins, irritated with Carisi’s speech, tells him to “not go all Liv on him,” referring to Benson and her tendency to side with whomever she perceives to be a victim.
Benson then arrives. Carisi wastes no time suggesting to her that she “color” her testimony to paint Annabeth in a more sympathetic light, much to Rollins disgust. Benson’s testimony is important for the prosecution; if she delivers it (she is only a rebuttal witness), she will tank the defense’s case. Once again, Benson holds a victim’s fate in her hands. The situation is a bit different this time.
Carisi is the next to be called; in his testimony, he bends the truth to benefit Annabeth. Stone is furious and hunts down Benson in a hallway when the judge calls a recess, thinking that Benson is behind Carisi’s defection and telling her to “keep your bleeding heart out of my courtroom.”
Downstairs, Rollins and Benson are now the ones verbally sparring with each other. “You know, Liv, I love you,” Rollins says. “And I respect you more than anyone I’ve ever met in my life. So don’t take this the wrong way, but I think, sometimes, you see victims where there aren’t any.” While Rollins served as the antagonist in this episode, she was right in criticising her peers.
Benson is now beginning to doubt herself. She wants to believe Annabeth, she wants to help her… but what if she’s wrong? She does think that the environment Annabeth lived in made her powerless to leave her husband. Rollins dismisses this;if Annabeth was strong enough to shoot him, she could have left him. The discussion of what constitutes abuse and torture is a heavy focus of “Part 33,” and it culminates in Benson snapping on Rollins.
“You have no idea what utter terror is, what pure and utter terror is,” Benson says, reliving her abduction at the hands of William Lewis over five years ago. “You know, they say that your heart beats faster, but that’s not true. It doesn’t. It stops. Everything stops. You don’t breathe because you’re scared that it might upset him, and if you get a cramp in your foot and tell yourself to just let it throb because you’ll live through that pain, it’s a hell of a lot better than what he’ll do to you.”
Rollins looks horrified at Benson’s account, as her Lieutenant continues. “And the pain is so complete and so overwhelming that you could go without food for three days and you don’t close your eyes because you’re scared that you’ll never open them again. And then you pray… please, God, don’t let him climb on top of me again.”
Benson breaks down, and Rollins comforts her, saying, “Nobody should have to live like that.”
Benson is right, but is Rollins too. “Tommy Pearl is not William Lewis,” she says. “Annabeth was not held hostage.”
Benson is unmoved. “Wasn’t she? She lived with that fear every day for six years. Maybe we’re all victims. Maybe we’re just all victims of the past.”
Rollins’ is then called to testify. Her testimony is straight forward, repeating what was said in the interrogation. It’s now Annabeth’s turn to testify, and we hear her speak for the first and only time during the episode. She testifies how the presence of the gun and environment in the house made her feel afraid and disposable. Stone then cross-examines her, getting Annabeth to state in open court that her husband never hit her and she never refused sex. Annabeth claims she was terrified to refuse. Stone replies, “That’s not rape.”
Tutuola returns downstairs and finds Benson still struggling with what to say on the stand, as it’s all but certain she’ll be called to Part 33. When Benson asks Tutuola if Annabeth belongs in prison, he says it’s not his place to judge. Benson calls him out on his “B.S.”
Tutuola then gives a more direct answer. He tells a story about catching a big fish that was difficult to reel in. Once he caught it, he threw it back into the bay. “Anything that’s willing to fight that hard to stay alive,” he says, “deserves to live.”
It sounds an awful lot like he’s advising Benson to lie. Benson doesn’t have much time to decide what to do; she’s called to Part 33. Benson walks into the courtroom, puts her hand on a Bible and swears under oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Stone asks if Annabeth expressed remorse for what she did to her husband, and Benson tries to give Annabeth an out for what she said in the interrogation. Stone shuts her down, asking for direct answer.
“No,” a heartbroken Benson says. “She said that she was glad that her husband was dead, and that she’d prayed about it for years.”
The episode ends. We don’t see the verdict, but it’s made pretty clear that Benson’s testimony tanked Annabeth’s defense. It’s rare to see Benson in such a position. I’m sure Benson and Stone will have tension between them going forward.
JACOB’S FINAL VERDICTS:
– For the record: I cannot blame Annabeth for her actions. There are numerous forms of abuse. It’s clear that her marriage to her husband wasn’t a happy one. But Rollins brought up valid points. There were other options for Annabeth to explore than killing her husband.
– Speaking of Rollins, I guess she elected not to take a maternity leave?
– It’s left unexplained, but I would like to know why Stone was the person selected to prosecute Annabeth.
– I mentioned William Lewis in this article. For those who need a refresher, he was the serial rapist who abducted Benson twice in Seasons 14 and 15. I’ve talked about him before, but I cannot stress enough how important that character was to Benson’s own character arc. I something talk about how often that Benson steps out of line and puts herself in harm’s way more than she needs to. It’s entirely reasonable to consider that the reason that Benson acts as a sort of vigilante for justice for these SVU victims is because of the hell that Lewis put her through. And even now, after all these years, she still can’t fully get over him. It doesn’t justify Benson’s leadership style at times, but it is a reasonable explanation.
– “Part 33” showcased Mariska’s fantastic acting ability, but it’s important to recognize that the rest of the cast held their own as well.
