"Official Story"

Guest Star John Doman

This week on Law & Order SVU, the show opens on a group of Occupy Wall Street protestors carrying signs reading “99%” and “Kill Rand” behind police barricades.  A stretch limo pulls up and a businessman gets out of the car.  A protestor (Jacob Wallach) confronts him, “How do you sleep at night, Rand?”  “I’m serving my country, man.  I sleep just fine.”  William Rand (John Doman), CEO of Battle Tested Security is seen on TV in an interview.  Cut to Detective Nick Amaro (Danny Pino) who opens the door to his home and sees his wife, Zara Amaro (Alison Fernandez).  “Surprise!”  His daughter rushes to her arms.  “Welcome home.”  Cut back to Rand, back in his limo, supposedly headed home at the end of the day.  He takes a drink out of a water bottle and starts to feel woozy.  He asks the driver why he is going uptown, “We’re supposed to be going to the Heliport.”  He blacks out.  Obviously, the drink was drugged.  Cut to a kid on a school field trip that spots a disheveled and tied up man in the grass by the park.  It’s Rand with the words, “Payback is a bitch” written on his naked body.  The tour guide says, “Get the kids out of here.  I’ll call 911”.  Cue the theme music.

Turns out, all this is about something that happened four years ago.  Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Amaro gets the whole story from the real victim, Cory Green (Megan Ketch).  She retells the whole nightmare.  She was working for Battle Tested Security in Bahrain for less than a month.  They drugged and raped her, then held her for 72 hours in an interrogation room.  Finally, she was able to call her dad.  After she reported the crime to the Department of Justice (DOJ), her rape kit disappears.  “It’s not just what these guys did to me.  It’s that they knew they could get away with it.”  The cops are even more determined to nail the bad guys.  In walks David Haden (Harry Connick Jr.) the new Executive Assistant District Attorney.  The DA is here because it’s a kidnapping of a high profile figure.  He has pull and gets into the US Attorney’s Office.  “You mean now that we are privatizing war, these contractors are above the law?”  The US Attorney pushes back, “They are prosecutable, at the DOJ’s discretion.  If you can prove there is a cover up of the rape.”  Amaro even reaches out to his wife about how much she deals with these contractors.  She says she knows someone and will hit them for more information.  “These people have reach.”  She assures him, she can handle herself.  “Can we let this go for now?  I’m only here for a few more days.”  It’s obvious they are still in love.  Meanwhile Benson and Haden are having a romantic dinner.  Haden pointedly lets it slip that he’s divorced and the ex has the kids.  He pushes for Benson to have another round.  She is interested but gives him a rain check. 

This is not a summary of the episode; it is a recap of the five best moments of the show.  Here’s the countdown to the Five Best Moments of the Show.

#5 Best Moment of the Show.   The Occupy Wall Street guy who confronts Rand is questioned by Benson and Amaro.  He says he saw a military guy hanging around with the decal ‘Special Forces’ on the back window of his car.  Surveillance cameras caught him.  His name is Donald O’Keefe (Holt McCallany), former marine.  He’s doing security, escorting oil to Somalia.  Captain Craigan gives the go ahead to bring him in.  “Handle with care.  This is a guy who shoots pirates for a living.”  The cops go in with extra reinforcements.  They find O’Keefe inspecting arsenal by a ship yard.  The cops are expecting trouble.  Instead, O’Keefe was expecting the cops.  “Is this about Donald Rand?  What took you so long?  After what he did to my little girl, he got what he deserved.”  Turns out his daughter is Cory Green, the real victim.  After all that backup heat, O’Keefe gives himself up without a fight.  Looks like it was much ado about nothing.

#4 Best Moment of the Show.   O’Keefe spills everything, “My daughter worked for Rand’s company in Basraid for only a month before four of those animals drugged and raped her.  She reported it to the nearest base commander.  Four years later, no charges have ever been filed.  The Department of Justice (DOF) says it’s out of their jurisdiction.  They are not military.  Detective Odafin Tutuola (Ice –T) responds, “So a rape for another rape, that’s okay with you.”  O’Keefe replies, “I gave him enough of the baton to make him think about it, every time he sits down.”  The mental picture is not a pretty one. 

#3 Best Moment of the Show.   Now that the cops have O’Keefe in custody, Rand asks for a line up.  The suspects are all lined behind the one way glass.  Rand takes one look and denies ever remembering anything.  He turns around and walks back out with his assistant.  WTF?  The cops feel so used.  Everyone thinks Rand recognized O’Keefe and plan to even the score himself.

#2 Best Moment of the Show.   Finally, Haden has his ace in the hole.  Dr. Rausch (Annie Meisels) spills everything.  She examined Cory after the crime.  She performed the rape kit.  She remembers Cory’s wounds.  She remembers everything.  She spills it all in Haden’s office.  The next day Dr. Rausch sits in front of the grand jury and denies having any memory of the incident.  Haden goes apocalyptic. “You do realize you’re under oath here”.   It’s no use.  She’s obviously been gotten to.  She looks shaken, but still holds onto her story, “Yes I do.” 

Finally, the #1 Best Moment of the Show.  The last moments of the show was on light speed; so hang on tight, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.  In one continuous scene, every loose string is tied up.  O’Keefe gets a shiv in the gut from another inmate.  Cory is held down and raped again.  George Coleman (Craig Walker), who is supposed to be in protective custody (as he is the only insider who will flip), is found dead in bed, supposedly from alcohol overdose.  Benson’s apartment is tossed and Amaro’s wife is threatened as ‘they’ know where and when she will be deployed.  But all is not lost.  Another insider flips.  This time, it’s someone with insurance.  He has secured the rape kit just for a rainy day.  It’s Joe Marshall (Billy Brown).  “I was told to secure the rape kit.  I removed it from army custody and transported it to corporate headquarters.”  Amaro asks, “Who gave you those orders?  “The CEO of Battle Test Security, William Rand.”  Rand is arrested seconds before he boards his helicopter.  By the time Cory gets to tell her dad on the phone, “They got him daddy.  They got them all.  We did it.  I love you too.” It’s almost anticlimactic. 

Epilogue.  Amaro tells his wife over the phone, “Hey, how was your flight?  You okay?  No, it’s done.  You be safe over there.  Yeah, I love you too.  I miss you.”  He hangs up and kicks his desks in frustration.  You know it’s not over for him.  He still worries about her.

Next week on Law & Order SVU, Mariska Hargitay reminisces over her two favorite episodes.  Sounds like old footage to me.