Velasco got a rough lesson in how being an SVU cop works.
Just after battling Hudson University on an assault case, the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit cops found themselves in a case that mixed claims of rape with a hostile takeover.
Velasco was in the middle as Sorry If It Got Weird For You put him through the wringer.
Velasco’s date goes sour
The episode opened with a commercial for Mr.RightNow, a popular dating app. CEO Jackson Wright (Jon Glaser) talked of losing his wife in a car accident and wanted to help others reenter the dating world. His financial chief officer Cressida Gordon (Sherri Saum), and her goddaughter, Lisa Rose (Christine Spang), applauded him for changing the app to Mr.RightForever.
Lisa noted it was Cressida who came up with the rebrand, and she was the real creative force for the company. She was ready to tell her something about Jackson when he entered the room to boast on the stock rising. Cressida went to celebrate with Lisa keeping quiet before using the app herself.
On the other end of the text was Velasco, who was mocked by Fin on the “Russian Roulette” of online dating. He met Lisa at a bar, and after a few drinks, she led him to her place.
A drunk Lisa freaked out when Velasco touched her, her screams of “I trusted you” waking up the neighbors. She then fell down the stairs as Velasco called for an ambulance.
Benson and Fin met Velasco at the hospital with him thinking Lisa must have reacted to more than just a bad date. Benson talked to Lisa, who tried to brush it off as just too much to drink.
But she finally confessed that a few nights earlier, after working late, Jackson had raped her and then acted like nothing was wrong with a “sorry if it got weird.” text.
Cressida was horrified at this, unable to believe Jackson could do this to her own goddaughter. She claimed Jackson’s reputation as a player was overblown, and while “raunchy,” he wasn’t violent. But she was surprised to hear the pair had dated off the app.
Jackson was entertaining another woman when Benson and Velasco visited his apartment with him admitting to being with Lisa. However, he was distracted by breaking news about the app’s stock in freefall just as Cressida issued a statement exposing Lisa’s claims of him as a predator and resigning.
Is this a hostile takeover?
Carisi was upset as it looked like Cressida and Lisa made this up to affect the company. Jackson, of course, denied the whole thing as a plot by Cressida.
Cressida came in to share evidence that four other women also dropped the app after dates with Jackson. However, her reaching out to them under a confidentiality agreement marred the case.
None of the women openly admitted to assault but were offered bribes by Jackson in exchange for silence. Jackson’s lawyer Jericho Swope (Julian Elijah Martinez), pleaded not guilty with him out on bail.
As Carisi talked about Rollins caring for her injured mother, Velasco brought up Jackson posting a video on the “coincidence” of Lisa making these accusations after a date with an SVU cop. He also claimed Cressida was plotting to launch her own company, and this was a plot to take him out. “If this is true, there goes our case,” Carisi groaned.
With pressure on them, Velasco found evidence Cressida had registered a trademark for a new dating app. Cressida said she’d decided to make this whole thing public but denied pressuring Lisa to make this up. She was willing to testify, but Carisi knew the defense would tear her apart on the stand.
Lisa came in, worried the case would be dropped, and she knew nothing of Cressida’s actions. She admitted to being nervous about testifying. Lisa saw Cressida leaving and confronted her on how she was being made out as a liar, thanks to her godmother’s actions.
Jackson took pleasure filming the feds raiding Cressida’s office as “proof” this was a fraud. That press had Carisi’s bosses wanting to bury this with a plea deal, which upset the cops.
Benson got a phone call from a dazed Cressida talking about her mistakes. Realizing the woman was trying to kill herself, Benson and Velasco raced to her apartment to find her overdosed on pills.
Velasco gets grilled hard
Cressida pulled through with Carisi, worried about the case. On the stand, Velasco started calmly relating what happened with Lisa. Swope then attacked Velasco on using the app and his inexperience with SVU alongside being used by Lisa, with Velasco not helping himself with his attitude.
Lisa testified on the attack and denied being part of any plan by Cressida. Swope brought up her drinking and “projection” on Velasco as well as drinking the night she was attacked by Jackson.
Benson visited Cressida, who complained about Jackson “getting away with it again.”
Cressida got on the stand, claiming she’d just set up an alternative app for the subscribers who would flee when she exposed the truth about Jackson. She claimed to have simply panicked seeing her work for years being ruined and was sorry for making people doubt Lisa’s story.
Swope used that as the opening to cast doubt on the entire thing, and when he asked why she never went to Jackson about it, Cressida snapped, “because he did the same thing to me.” The judge cleared the court to get both lawyers in chambers.
Carisi stated he had no idea about this and that it was Swope’s questioning that brought this up. The judge refused a mistrial as Carisi rested his case.
Cressida told Benson that Jackson had raped her years before, actually apologizing for it and how much he needed her. She then made another bold confession.
Jackson took the stand to talk about his late wife, and Cressida had been a friend but now a liar. Carisi pressed Jackson on how he always insisted the app was right, yet Lisa didn’t enjoy it.
Jackson admitted to “ghosting” women and how “most women like it weird.” Carisi then brought up Jackson’s wife planning a divorce just before her death. Jackson openly yelled at Cressida about this while admitting to taking Lisa. He ranted about how women were liars crying rape afterward, with Swope knowing his case was lost.
Carisi talked to Cressida, who felt guilty ignoring Jackson’s anger for so long, and Lisa caught up in it. The jury found Jackson guilty, with Benson thanking Carisi for his help.
The “he said/she said” of the case became complex, yet it worked out in the end, while Velasco has to handle court cases better in the future.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit airs Thursdays at 9/8c on NBC.