Gues Star Chloe Sevigny
This week on Law & Order SVU, the show opens on a businessman checking in at the airport in Hong Kong. He sits down and takes out his laptop to video chat with his wife. She’s at home in New York City. Next thing he knows there is a home invasion. A masked gun man tells him, via video chat, that if he calls the police, his wife is dead. His wife, Christine Hartwell (Chloe Sevigny) is raped right in front of him, on video chat. The next scene, Detective Nick Amaro (Danny Pino) and Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) does the run through. By the time the cops show up, the wife is gone. All that is left is the crime scene. Cue the theme music.
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. By the time the cops get to the airport to meet the husband, Boyd Hartwell, from Hong Kong, Boyd is already on the phone with Christine about a ransom. She made him promise, "No cops", or they will kill her. He tries to make a run for it, but of course the cops catch him. They play the cell phone conversation. There’s a drop off place and an ask for $250,000.
#4 Best Moment of the Show. Amaro’s wife shows up in the squad room, dressed to the nines. Amaro lets out an audible, “Oh shit!” It turns out they had a date for Valentine’s Day. He goes out to greet her, “Did you forget? I’m home for a week and already you’re taking me for granted.” He says, “Never”. But we know otherwise.
#3 Best Moment of the Show. The drop is made. The place is crawling with undercover cops. Next thing we know, a blonde woman comes in for the pick up. The cops move in. It turns out, it’s the wife! It’s Christine Hartwell. “Please just let me give them the money. They’ll kill me. Please.” What?!?
#2 Best Moment of the Show.
Christine has quite the tale to tell. She describes three black males who assault her. Fin and Rollins trace her cell phone to a health food store clerk who says he’s Christine’s dealer. He supplies her with all the drugs she wants. She even has a regular delivery man, Kevin Fahey, who brings it to her house. The cops take the delivery man into the station. It turns out he’s been having an affair with Christine. Kevin says it was all Christine’s idea to go to a loft her husband’s partner owns. It turns out the partner has a thing on the side with Christine. It turns out his partner has a motion sensor camera hooked up. It turns out the camera caught Christine and her supposed kidnapper on videotape. It turns out Christine was not a victim after all. Boyd is shown the video tape, but he still stand by his wife. Despite all this mounting evidence, Christine still maintains her innocence. Finally, it starts to go bad for Christine, but she has a plan. During the break, she corners a male juror in the stairwell. We don’t know what happened, but back in the courtroom we find she’s done her job. The jury is hopelessly deadlocked, 11:1. The judge declares a mistrial. She’s going to get away with it!
Finally, the #1 Best Moment of the Show. We see Amaro tailing his wife who knocks on the door of a townhouse. Another man answers the door. His wife goes into the house. It’s obvious she’s having an affair with the man. This is not a happy ending for an episode titled, “Valentine’s Day”.
Next week on Law & Order SVU, a vigilante squad who calls themselves, The Justice League, take justice into their own hands. The cops want them to stop.
