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Tommy Baker's Hardest Fight

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"Tommy Baker's Hardest Fight"
← SVU, Episode 23.12 →
Production number: 23012
First aired (US): 20 January 2022
First aired (UK): 1 August 2022
First aired (CAN): 20 January 2022
First aired (AUS): 17 February 2022
  th of 502 produced in SVU  
← th of 502 released in SVU →
  th of 1271 released in all  
Written By
Candice Sanchez McFarlane & Bryan Goluboff

Directed By
Ed Bianchi

Summary[]

When a popular fighter doesn't show up for the biggest bout of the year, Rollins and Velasco are drawn into a complicated web of secrets. McGrath confides in Benson.

Plot[]

Rollins and Velasco go to the Brass Monkey bar on a Friday night to watch a TV fight between Tommy Baker and Kiki Alves, but Baker doesn't turn up for it. Two uniformed police officers are called in when Baker is found in his truck, badly beaten and raped, and his cell phone is open to the Grindr website. They contact SVU and have him taken to the hospital, along with his wife Chrissy, and his father, Duke Baker.

There, Benson and Rollins find Deputy Chief McGrath, who orders them to arrest someone soon. They interview Chrissy, who denies the "Grindr rumor." She knows that Tommy is gay and in a solid relationship with another man, Phil Diaz, Tommy's physical therapist. In the hospital chapel, Phil tells them Tommy was planning to come out in the ring and on national TV. The only other people in on the plan are Chrissy and Jax Bell, the owner of the fighting promotion company FWO.

Fin reports TARU's findings: the Grindr account was created just a day earlier, so possibly someone was trying to prevent Tommy from coming out. It's time for the squad to map out Tommy's activities on Friday.

After listening to Chief McGrath complain about raising his teen daughters (one was "acting out"), Benson hears from Velasco that CSU hasn't found enough blood in the truck where Tommy was placed, so the crime occurred elsewhere. In other news, Tommy had racked up debt, so the fight would have been crucial to his bank account. Rollins and Velasco go talk with Ricky Nowak, who trains at the same center as Tommy. Ricky tells them that everybody loves Tommy, and he saw him Friday morning when Tommy showed up to talk to Jax. Ricky says, "Whatever it was, Jax was pissed." He could hear them yelling at each other. "Tommy came out of the office real shaken up," Ricky reports, and that Tommy was in a bad mood and just left. Jax is at the network with his lawyers.

Benson and Tutuola meet Chrissy at the Bakers' penthouse, where she says she doesn't know much about Jax Bell but isn't sure he's trustworthy. On Friday, she went to lunch and out around New York with Duke Baker, as she and Tommy never see each other in the few days leading up to a fight, so that he can "get in his zone." Next, they speak with Jax Bell, who says that he saw Tommy briefly on Friday, but only to wish him well. They challenge him that he was overheard in an argument, so he revises: "I just lost millions of dollars. The last thing I wanted was for Tommy to miss that fight." Plus, Jax says, they were planning to build a campaign around the first champion to come out as gay - "Our Rainbow Warrior!" He says their conversation was actually about Tommy getting cold feet because his father surprised him by showing up. Tommy was afraid of his dad, who would kill him for coming out in such a public way. Jax's opinion of Duke Baker: "one nasty son of a bitch."

CSU confirms that drops of Tommy's blood were found on the floor of the gym. Rollins and Velasco go to meet Duke Baker. Benson and Tutuola discuss a parallel situation: Duke Baker has a reputation of violence in his hometown (Rollins is familiar with the story, and with the fact that his policeman brother made sure he never got a conviction), while Fin says that police were called to Chief McGrath's house the night his daughter was "acting out," but he told the cops not to report it. Fin resents this "abuse of the badge."

Duke Baker tells Rollins that he knew his son was gay and tried to toughen him up by teaching him to fight. He himself has only about two months before pancreatic cancer will end his life. The squad has been checking Tommy's financials, which show that he has been living the high life and has just bought a Porsche - but Ricky Nowak is driving it. Chrissy admits to Benson and Rollins that she has been giving Tommy's things, cash and credit cards, to Ricky, but he just keeps asking for more. She confesses that she and Ricky are romantically involved, and that Tommy found out the night before the fight.

They find Ricky's apartment tossed, but with no sign of him. Rollins and Velasco find Ricky at the Amtrak station leaving town. When they catch him, he demands a lawyer. He tells them that the attempted murder was a crime of passion.

So Benson and Fin go talk to Phil, who confesses his devastation when he heard that Tommy wouldn't leave Chrissy. Ricky urged Phil to steal from Tommy too, but Ricky got greedier, and Tommy discovered their actions. Phil went to meet with Tommy at the gym and apologize, but Ricky ambushed them and struck Tommy over the head with a weight. They assumed Tommy was dead, with Ricky going to dispose of the body and Phil being told to clean up the gym and make it look like nothing happened. He breaks down in guilt, as he had no idea that would Ricky assault Tommy. His outburst wins no sympathy, as the detectives claim that Tommy wanted to make it easier for people to come out of the closet, but greedy people like him and Ricky made it harder. Phil is reduced to tears with these words. They tell him that there is no need for Carisi to bring a case against them.

Benson and McGrath talk, with him congratulating her on getting the assailants. Benson reveals Phil agreed to a deal, in exchange for testifying against Ricky and, since Tommy will fully recover, A.D.A. Carisi might not take the case to trial. McGrath calls it a good win, while thanking her for not telling everyone of his episode and she tells him to consider receiving counseling. He ponders it, as it might help him mend fences with his wife and she might let him in the house again. McGrath tells her not to tell anyone if he does see a therapist, with her stating she wouldn't betray his trust.

Much later, Tommy has recovered and talks about his experience on live television, stating he was initially scared, but he now has the courage to speak his truth and he comes out. Tommy's family, SVU, McGrath, and his fellow athletes are seen watching with approval, as Tommy states he is uploading this video in the hopes that other closeted individuals will not be afraid to be who they really are.

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

Quotes[]

quotes

Background Information and Notes[]

  • The ninth season episode "Fight" also uses mixed-martial arts as a springboard for its story. It also features a guest appearance by a former UFC fighter, Forrest Griffin.
  • Actress Elle Fanning is referenced in this episode. Fanning previously guest-starred on the eighth season episode "Cage" as Eden.
  • This is the second episode in a row to have a character come out as LGBTQIA+.

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3 4 5

Chapel
Mercy Hospital
365 West 32nd Street
Friday, January 14

FWO Training Center
499 West 44th Street
Saturday, January 15

Penthouse of
Tommy and Chrissy Baker
323 West 54th Street
Saturday, January 15

Apartment of
Ricky Nowak
810 10th Avenue
Sunday, January 16

The Oculus Train Hub
Monday, January 17

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