| "No Good Reason" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 19.04 | → |
| Production number: 19004 First aired (US): 18 October 2017 First aired (UK): 29 October 2017 First aired (CAN): 18 October 2017 First aired (AUS): 26 October 2017 | ||
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| Written By Julie Martin & Brianna Yellen Directed By Martha Mitchell | ||
Summary[]
The Special Victims Unit work to locate a missing teenager that was a recent victim of sexual cyberbullying.
Plot[]
The Special Victims Unit is called in to investigate the sudden disappearance of high school student Mandy Fowler. They soon discover that she was the victim of a nasty cyberbullying attack from her fellow peers and best friend. When she is finally found, she claims that she was raped by three boys from her school at a party, one of them being one of her best friends. The case goes well, until the victim becomes reluctant to testify, due to hatred and bullying from her peers, and Benson must convince her to testify.
Meanwhile, Sheila Porter attempts to challenge Benson's parenting skills as a mother, which infuriates Benson.
After it is discovered that Andrew texted Mandy and implies that he did in fact rape her, they bring him in. In court, Andrew subsequently admits his guilt and he only wanted Mandy to like him like the way he liked her but realizes with what he has done she would hate him. Barba offers a deal that Andrew would do 18 months and will have to register as a sex offender although the lawyer tries to protest, Mrs. Drake accepts the deal and Barba says the Andrew will have to admit an open court that the rape did in fact happen.
In court, Andrew confesses to everything while showing immense guilt at what he has done before sincerely apologizing to Mandy for everything.
Amanda thanks the detectives for everything and asks Benson if she would still go through would coming to her school and the latter agrees. After Mandy and her parents leave, Benson is handed a note and a subpoena for her to appear at trial, as Sheila Porter is petitioning for custody of Noah.
Benson shows up at the school with Mandy who states she is a survivor of sexual assault. Benson then has everyone do an exercise where they admit to past traumatizing experiences. One by one, some of the students apologize to Mandy because they endured some of the same things that she did while noting that it was wrong to tease her because of peer pressure. Others note that what could seem innocent, was actually a terrible event. Stacey soon gets up and apologizes to Mandy for not standing up for her because she was not strong enough while hoping Mandy forgives her and that they can be friends again. Touched by her sincerity, Mandy gives her a smile that implies she has forgiven her, something Stacey returns.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Mariska Hargitay as Lieutenant Olivia Benson
- Kelli Giddish as Detective Amanda Rollins
- Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola (credit only)
- Peter Scanavino as Detective Dominick Carisi, Jr.
- Raúl Esparza as A.D.A. Rafael Barba
Recurring cast[]
Guest cast[]
- Brighton Sharbino as Mandy Fowler
- Madison Pettis as Stacey Vanhoven
- Colton Ryan as Andrew Drake
- Geraldine Hughes as Denise Drake
- Erin Davie as Kirsten Fowler
- John Patrick Hayden as Bruce Fowler
- Tyler Dean Flores as Max Rivera
- Katherine Reis as Ashley
- Gary Lee Mahmoud as Alan Munn
- David Raymond Wagner as Leo Ross
- Antonio Edwards Suarez as Al Rivera
- Sandra Elizabeth Rodriguez as Lisa Rivera
- Travis Przybylski as Daniel Ross
- Jacob Rosenbaum as Ethan Cohen
- Nathaniel Stampley as Neal Vanhoven
- Damon Trammell as Process Server
- Will Herzog as Eric
- Jowin Marie Batoon as Kylee
- Avery Rose Pedell as Deanna
- Elainey Bass as Steph
- Bilaal Avaz as Liam
References[]
- "Pink cloud" syndrome
- Lindsay Bennett
- Johnny Drake (aka Johnny D.)
- Trevor Langan
- Ellie Porter
- Sheila Porter
- Noah Porter-Benson
- Xbox
- Vlogging
Quotes[]
- Rollins: [to Olivia] Mandy Fowler, 15. She posted this on her blog this morning and then disappeared. The photo was being texted by her classmates and it was apparently taken at a party on Saturday night.
- Benson: So she's the victim of cyberbullying or worse.
- Carisi: Mandy hasn't used a debit or credit cards. We got photos of her out at the subway stations, bus terminals.
- Benson: Okay, has she ever run away before?
- Carisi: The parents say no. She's a straight "A" student. She's got no trouble with her peers.
- Rollins: Until this weekend.
- Carisi: [his phone chimes] Hold on. TARU got her cell log. Before she powered down, she texted a guy named Andrew Drake ten times.
- Benson: Okay, we get an address?
- Carisi: Yeah. Upper West Side. That's two blocks from the high school.
- Carisi: [to Andrew Drake] Listen, Andrew. I've been doing this a long time and I don't ask questions I don't already know the answers to.
- Barba: Anything from the kit?
- Benson: There's no DNA. There's genital trauma, bleeding, bruising. All consistent with sexual assault.
- Barba: So one of these boys is guilty. It's like playing three card monte.
- Benson: Yeah.
- Barba: Who has the most to lose?
- Benson: I'd say the kid who took the picture of a half-naked 15-year old girl and texted them to everyone in the school.
- Rollins: There is still a chance that the D.A.'s office can reach a plea agreement with Andrew.
- Bruce Fowler: Wait, wait, wait. Don't... don't we get a say in that?
- Benson: Yes, but the goal is holding Andrew accountable for what he did and if we can do that while sparing Mandy from testifying, I think that's the answer.
- Michael Guthrie: We'll plead to forcible touching.
- Barba: I'm not impressed, Mr. Guthrie.
- Michael Guthrie: I don't think a jury will be impressed by a vic that was too high to ID my client and testimony of co-conspirators who cut a deal.
- Barba: In the interest of sparing Mandy a trial, I'll drop to the "E" felony. No jail time, six years probation, and...
- Michael Guthrie: No way. He's not going on the registry for this.
- Barba: It's a sexual offense. It's mandatory. Rape three, that's my final offer.
- Mandy Fowler: The kids at school hate me enough. They think I'm a liar. They trashed my locker.
- Benson: I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how difficult this has been.
- Mandy Fowler: I can never go back. Everyone's blaming me for taking down Andrew and Daniel and Max. Me, not them. If you don't believe me, just search Twitter for #freeandrew.
- Mandy Fowler: [while posting a video on her vlog] I just don't care. No more police. No lawyer, no more trials, no more being the victim. And I feel great because I figured out that you can change the past. I have the power and I've decided whatever happened, it's done. It's over. It doesn't matter because I'm not that girl and I'm never gonna be that girl again.
- Rollins: [to Mandy Fowler] You know, it might feel good to take control. You know, you can keep a promise to yourself that if it does get bad, you could always do something about it.
- Mandy Fowler: You don't know how I feel.
- Rollins: I know more than you think. You know I told you my name was Amanda, too. Well, when I was your age, I lived in a tiny town in Georgia and everybody gossiped. And I did something stupid and I got a reputation. And it's all about the names that they were calling me: "Easy Ass Amanda" and worse. It took a long time and I realized what other people said about me, it didn't define me. Only I can define me. And when I was old enough, I went and got this. [shows Mandy a tattoo that has her name on it] It's my name, Amanda. Just to remind myself that's who I am, not any of these other names that I was branded with.
- Barba: [while reading the texts that were sent to Mandy] "We hate you, you ugly bitch," "You wanted it, now you're crying rape, you piece of trash," "Liar, liar, ugly little liar."
- Benson: Mandy's been sent dozens of texts, messages, photos. She's been bullied non-stop for the past three days. She hasn't told her parents. She hasn't told anyone.
- Barba: Do we know who's sending these?
- Rollins: Yeah, I mean, it's kids from the high school, boys and girls. And girls are actually more brutal.
- Benson: The school has issued some suspensions, but they say that they can't police off-campus social media use.
- Barba: Yeah, they're teenagers, so they don't listen to their parents.
- Rollins: Yeah, and they're empowered because they're behind a screen. I mean, even Andrew's been texting her.
- Barba: Anything that rises to the level of harrassment?
- Benson: Oh. Yes. "Why are you doing this?", "Call me back", "We need to talk." It's... it's non-stop. I mean, you ask me, that's harassment.
- Barba: You ask a judge, it's not.
- Rollins: The level of viciousness from these other kids, I mean... they... they drove her to a point, you know, right; I mean, she was... she was on the edge of the cliff.
- Barba: And you and Liv pulled her back.
- Barba: The strongest message we can send is a conviction on the rape. How is Mandy's state of mind now? Can she testify?
- Rollins: She's... she's getting counseling and her parents are supportive, but... it's gonna take time.
- Barba: Which we don't have.
- Benson: Can you make the case without her?
- Barba: If I have to. I wouldn't want to.
- Benson: Kids have always been cruel, but when did they become cowards?
- Rollins: Since the invention of the Internet.
- Benson: What kind of world are our kids going to grow up...
- Rollins: I don't... just whatever we think we're gonna have to worry about, it's not gonna be that. It's gonna be something we never saw coming.
- Benson: [a witness has chosen not to testify] Now what? Max is the one who saw Andrew go into the study. He saw Andrew on top of Mandy, heard him bragging.
- Barba: So without Max, I don't have a case.
- Benson: Can you compel his testimony?
- Barba: Yeah, I could, but it usually backfires.
- Benson: Well, if Andrew wasn't open to a plea before, he certainly won't be now.
- Barba: Yeah, not without some leverage. What did Max mean when he said that Andrew liked Mandy too much?
- Benson: It's a teenager's justification for taking what he wants without consent. We've heard that before.
- Barba: Yeah, but we haven't heard it from Andrew.
- Benson: Maybe Mandy has.
- Barba: I thought you told her not to communicate with him.
- Benson: And since when do teenagers listen?
- Mandy Fowler: [to her classmates] I'm a survivor of sexual assault. I felt broken. I was sad, angry, but then what came after the bullying, I felt like I was underwater, drowning. And I want you to know, what you say, what you say to each other, it hurts. It has consequences.
- Benson: [to Mandy's classmates] I think, if you look around the room, we can all agree that we're all in this together. You have the power to change this by being more accepting, more compassionate. You're not alone.
Background Information and Notes[]
- The episode is inspired by the Netflix series "13 Reasons Why", with the plot being similar to the first season. The title of the episode is also a riff on the show's title.
- The song in one of Mandy's vlog videos in the open is "Scars to Your Beautiful" by Alessia Cara.
- Actress Brighton Sharbino's sister, Saxon Sharbino, guest starred two episodes earlier in the episode "Mood".
- Rollins mentions losing someone five years ago on a case who was also pink clouding their rape. She's referring to Lindsay Bennett who committed suicide during the episode "Girl Dishonored".
- Benson mentions that Sheila Porter visited her and Noah Porter-Benson in the middle of the night, which happened in the last episode "Contrapasso". Benson reveals she just slammed the door on her, rather than deal with her at that time (the episode had ended with Sheila at the door introducing herself).
- Two deleted scenes from this episode were posted on Youtube:
- Carisi says Ethan Cohen's apartment number is 223, but that's the number on the outer gate at the street, leading into the building.
Episode scene cards[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|
|
Home of |
50 Hill Street |
Wollman High School |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|
|
Office of |
Supreme Court |
Wollman High School |
Footnotes[]
| Previous episode: "Contrapasso" |
"No Good Reason" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 19 |
Next episode: "Complicated" |