WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Law & Order: SVU Season 23, Episode 4, "One More Tale of Two Victims," which premiered Thursday, October 7th, on NBC. This article also contains descriptions of sexual assault.
Law & Order: SVU's latest episode starts with newcomer Detective Joe Velasco officially joining the SVU squad, filling in the gap left by Detective Katriona "Kat" Tamin's departure, to Detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola's displeasure. He complains to Captain Olivia "Liv" Benson about newly acting Chief McGrath sending a potential spy into their ranks, as Liv heads to a last-minute meeting called by McGrath, annoyed. Liv arrives to find McGrath already taking over former Deputy Chief Christian Garland's old office, to her displeasure. She and McGrath review case files and he appears dismissive of certain cases. Liv questions why she has to review every case with him. McGrath condescends to her, while also insinuating that Velasco is indeed his eyes and ears in her squad. New lovebirds Detective Amanda Rollins and ADA Sonny Carisi check in with each other and Rollins warns Carisi to be careful what he says in front of Velasco.
Elsewhere, a woman orders ice cream for her son at a truck as two men catcall her. Later she dances and makes out with a man at a rooftop party. He walks her home and she tells him he can't come in because she has to relieve the sitter. The next scene shows an unseen man raping the same woman in her home while her little boy watches - the man threatens to kill him if he cries.
SVU arrives at the scene of Crystal Nuñez's assault and Fin reports that the perp got in by ringing the bell and saying he was maintenance. He then forced Crystal to put on her nightie and raped her in front of her three-year-old son. Fin reminds Velasco to profile the rapist and not the victim as they investigate Crystal's apartment. Rollins interviews Crystal at the hospital. She says she didn't really see her rapist's face or recognize his voice, but that he seemed to want to pretend it was a normal encounter, and he even knew her name. Rollins says they'll run a rape kit, even though Crystal says he wore a condom. She then recounts her full night to Rollins but leaves out the part where she hooked up with the guy at the party, nor does she mention he walked her home. Instead, she tells Rollins about the neighborhood guys who catcalled her earlier while she was buying ice cream for her son, Manny.
At the office, Liv is under immense pressure from McGrath to make headway since this rape is gaining media attention. The team reports no security cameras and no offenders in the neighborhood. Velasco says she's been arguing with her ex, but he has an alibi. The prints they found on her door match a man named Travis Hillsdale, the man who works at the ice cream truck. Fin and Velasco interview him and he confirms he knows Crystal and says there are two men who constantly harass young moms at his truck. He also says he returned a sippy cup to Crystal's apartment last week, giving a reason why his fingerprints would be there. Fin asks him to come to the station to ID a suspect but then puts him in a lineup instead. Crystal says she recognizes him in the lineup but not as her rapist. Rollins comes into Liv's office and reports that Crystal's rape kit has come back but it's not good news, as there are three different semen DNA samples there, so narrowing down the one rapist will be tough, especially since Crystal swore she hadn't had sex with anyone else.
Rollins and Liv speak to Crystal and ask her to identify who the other men might be so they can eliminate them as suspects. Crystal is afraid to tell them because of her ex, who she slept with two days prior. One the men they interview is the one she hooked up with on the rooftop. Fin and Velasco come to talk to him as he instructs a spin class and he details their consensual encounter. He says he walked her home but she told him he couldn't come up, and that he left and didn't return - because he went home to his wife. Rollins goes to visit Crystal's downstairs neighbor, Arlo, the other man Crystal consensually slept with. He says the last time he was in her apartment was a few nights ago but denies it was Friday, because he spends every Friday with his mother. Fin and Velasco then interview Crystal's ex and Manny's dad. Fin says he has an active domestic violence charge against him stemming from an argument between him and Crystal, but he swears it's a misunderstanding and he wants to kill the man who attacked her.
Liv and Fin report back to Chief McGrath, who uses the fact that Crystal slept with more than one man to insinuate that Crystal is making up the rape. Benson is rightfully furious and indignant, as she actually believes victims. McGrath tells her to slow her roll because there's no case in his eyes. True to their morals, Benson and Rollins continue to investigate. At Liv's doctor's office, he says her ankle has been badly fractured and suggests she retire. She argues she is nowhere near retirement, though her doctor says it's not the same job she used to love, with added stress over the past years and the harshness of McGrath. He offers to mark her as fit to return to service or to fast track her to retirement and her pension.
Benson and Rollins visit Crystal and offer to get counseling for her son, but she's more upset they haven't made traction on catching the rapist. Rollins and Benson get a call to another scene, where a woman was raped in front of her own 18-month-old son. This time the victim is a Deputy Police Inspector's daughter.
Rollins and Benson interview Peggy, the latest victim, and Deputy Inspector Grogan's daughter, and her story matches Crystal's. The rapist asked her where her daughter was and raped her in front of her kid, too. She tried to fight back and shoot him but he overpowered her and threatened to shoot her baby. Peggy recalls he was white and average looking and he said the same thing he told Crystal about her kid: "If she cries, she dies." As a police inspector's daughter was attacked, McGrath now takes this case seriously, which he didn't for Crystal.
Liv and her squad review the case, and Velasco pushes back against investigating Crystal, as McGrath had said to slow down. Liv reiterates that since the two cases are connected, that's old news. Rollins and Benson talk to Peggy, who paints herself as a better person than Crystal, so she doesn't believe the cases could be related. She does mention she goes to the same park as Crystal and they always stop at the ice cream truck. Fin and the squad go to talk to Travis and he runs and waves a gun. Velsaco jumps him and he drops the gun, but Velasco gets a little too into police brutality. As Rollins cuffs him, Travis swears he didn't do it.
Rollins says they have the perp's DNA from Peggy's fingernails and they can match it to Travis's gun if needed, while Velasco says he got overheated just because he was afraid Travis would get away. Peggy immediately IDs Travis in a lineup, while his lawyer worries that Peggy's dad may have tipped her off. McGrath gloats that Velasco is a keeper. Liv is less convinced. Carisi and Rollins interrogate Travis about Peggy and Crystal. He denies everything. Carisi says they can get him on both rapes, but McGrath doesn't want to "muddy the waters" with Crystal's case.
Benson refuses to give up for Crystal, though and insists they search her apartment again for more proof against Travis. Rollins and Velasco come to run touch DNA with CSU. Crystal is indignant that they didn't do this until a cop's daughter was raped. Velasco contributes a smart observation, then: since Manny had been in the bed with her that night, his blankie should have the DNA of the rapist on it.
At the courthouse, Rollins tells Carisi the touch DNA and semen from Manny's blanket is a match for Travis's. When Travis enters the courtroom for his arraignment, he has a broken arm and swollen eye socket. Someone truly beat him up. Carisi is prepared to pursue charges against Travis for his rape of Crystal but is then told then that the state is dropping the charges and they will only pursue Peggy's case. Crystal is upset. Benson assures her he will do at least fifteen years, but she knows it's little comfort for Travis to suffer no consequences for his rape of Crystal.
McGrath comes to congratulate Liv on her good work and she and Carisi both glare him down. Rollins and Fin are appalled at how Travis was assaulted while in police custody, while Velasco assures her he won't lose his own temper again. Benson comes to talk to McGrath about Crystal's case being dropped. She asks if Velasco is the one who told him about Crystal's custody issues - and that she's very upset with McGrath's interference. The Crystals of the world matter just as much to her as the Peggies and she refuses to be part of McGrath's double standard again. She stands for survivors and their decisions. She says if he ever stands between her and a sexual assault victim again, she will resign immediately. They understand each other -- but McGrath's understanding appears calculated and villainous.
Law & Order: SVU stars Mariska Hargitay, Ice T, Kelli Giddish and Peter Scanavino. New episodes air Thursdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.
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