‘Law & Order: SVU’: Can Benson Convince Baxter to Drop a Case?

Here Are Their Stories

For exclusive news and updates, subscribe to our Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Newsletter:

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 12 “Calculated.”]

Some cases are more complicated than others, and it gets even more intricate when one involves making a deal and promising to deliver something huge. But in order to make sure justice is fair in the latest Law & Order: SVU, Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) must appeal to DA Nicholas Baxter (Law & Order‘s Tony Goldwyn).

When SVU is called after a teen is caught with an underage nude on his phone, Detective Kate Silva (Juliana Aidén Martinez) doesn’t think it’s a major crime. “Some cases are too small to prosecute, but I don’t think this is one of them,” Benson tells her. Homicide cases are different, with “SVU … a more subtle art.”

The investigation soon uncovers that a college admissions advisor has been posing as teens on an app, Ghost Letter, to solicit nude photos; the students thought they were talking to classmates. But when they arrest Adam Parker (guest star Jared Canfield), he shuts down the encrypted email server he used — and only he can grant them access to the identities of 50 pedophiles to whom he sold the images. He wants to make a deal, and while Benson is firmly against it, ADA Sonny Carisi (Peter Scanavino) argues for it: Adam won’t walk free, plus they’d get these 50 pedophiles (who knows what else they’re guilty of?) and have the chance to get the photos back. He’s willing to make a deal with the devil to get 50 more. Benson asks if he’s trying to prove to Baxter that he’s back to his regular self. (He previously froze in court while still dealing with the trauma of his hostage experience.)

Adam will still do time with the deal made, and it is contingent on him delivering. So they set up a sting, luring the pedophiles to a hotel to meet with teens. They also have no choice but to trust him to get the language right since they made a deal — “Didn’t we, Carisi?” Benson says pointedly.

Related

13 Actors Who Guest-Starred on Both ‘Law & Order’ and ‘SVU’

But after eight hours, there are only five on the hook, and so they tell Adam he didn’t come through. (Carisi did promise Baxter 50.) That’s when he gives up how he found these pedophiles — an online game where they talk to kids. The squad then uses that platform to lure in more pedophiles, though Silva isn’t sure about one she’s talking to; she thinks he might actually be a teen himself. (One of the messages: “What’s a condom?”) The email on the account puts Matthew at 32, however. He’s the last perp they arrest at the hotel, but he’s special needs and Silva worries she worked him too hard. She appeals to Benson to read his file.

The captain then goes to Carisi, who’s in a good mood, having delivered 50 cases to Baxter. Why not make it 49, she suggests, telling him about Matthew. Silva had thought this was a de minimis (too small to be meaningful) case, and as Benson sees it, that’s what Matthew is. When it comes time to arraign, however, Carisi asks for the same $25,000 for bail as the others. But he does look bothered by doing so.

After Matthew’s mother talks to Silva, the detective again goes to Benson, who tells her to trust that she’ll take care of it. With that, Benson goes back to Carisi to try to get him to dismiss Matthew’ case. She also plans to go see Baxter and wants him to come with her. He does, and they “ambush” the DA in the parking lot after his assistant says he’s left for the day. Carisi warns her that’s not how to ask his boss for a favor, but she tells him, “Baxter and I have our own relationship. He owes me.”

Virginia Sherwood/NBC

At Baxter’s car, Benson asks him to reconsider the charges against Matthew. He argues it’s a serious case (attempted rape in the second degree, endangering the welfare of a child), but Benson counters that justice is about being fair and this arrest isn’t that. “You know, a lot of people on the eighth floor talk about you,” Baxter remarks. Benson asks what they say. “That you’re a pain in the ass. You get personally invested in every case. They think the courts are no place for emotion,” Baxter says. “Well, if you can separate justice from emotion, I’d like to see you try,” Benson tells him. Baxter asks Carisi’s opinion; the ADA thinks he’s innocent enough to go to the judge and ask him to be merciful, not punitive. Baxter agrees to look at the case file … and Benson makes sure he reads it in the car, not when he’s back in his office.

Benson’s plea works, and Baxter drops Matthew’s case. Benson tells Silva a thank you would be nice, then thanks her in return — for reminding her what a de minimis violation really looks like. While Silva delivers the good news to Matthew and his mother, Benson goes to see one of the girls whose photo was shared. It’s not the mistakes that define us but the choices we make after that do, she tells her.

What did you think of Goldwyn’s guest spot? What do you think of the Benson and Baxter dynamic? Let us know in the comments section below.

Law & Order: SVU, Thursdays, 9/8c, NBC