Episode 439 - S20E5 - Accredo

0:05 Hello listeners and welcome back to another episode of Law & Order Special Viewing Unit. The show where we view, review, and lovingly ridicule everyone's favorite cop drama. Law & Order Special Victims Unit. Every episode in a row from the beginning.

0:19 At his mercy.

0:20 Even the pointless episodes. I am your host.

0:24 I think this episode definitely had a point. And the point is, don't fuck with Rollins.

0:29 Also that, but.

0:31 Rollins is crazy.

0:32 But there was no tension to any of it. It just was so linear. Maybe it's because it was like more of a normal episode. I'm your host, Matt Rooney. Joining me as always, the Keith Raniere of this podcast. That's Aviv Rubenstein over there. How are you doing tonight, Aviv?

0:45 I guess they couldn't protect her from the dark side of her life after all.

0:49 Who would have thought? The cult didn't solve all of my problems.

0:52 I'm sorry. I have to scratch that. Payback, you fugly bitch. Yeah.

0:57 For the revenge porn, which is just like. Something you would see in a Victoria's Secret catalog.

1:03 Yeah, I mean, that's a flaw of the show, unfortunately.

1:08 Here's the thing. I understand it's in the world of this. Just blur it the fuck out.

1:13 Or do the bar thing. Especially because the gore is pretty brutal in this episode.

1:20 Yeah, right? I was sitting here. Watching the episode of the like, oh, look at these revenge porn stuff. And I was just thinking, I was watching the MLB playoffs over the weekend and they've got that fucking Sidney.

1:33 Sweeney ad where she's literally not wearing any clothes.

1:36 It's like, go that route then.

1:38 Sports.

1:38 Yeah, but like, if you're going to convey it, make it look like it's something that's not just like literally all over Twitter presently.

1:47 It's funny because they say that it was posted to Facebook and so it can't be nude because it would get taken down.

1:54 Well, I don't. It's whatever. So how are you doing this week of Eve?

1:58 I'm doing good. I have a couple of stories. It's been about a week and a half since we recorded, so of course a couple of weird things happened to me, and I have a couple of recommend, soft and hard recommend. Okay.

2:12 Soft and hard. Is that the consistency of the poop you're going to be telling me about in this story?

2:17 Oh, hell no, because it was only soft. So, okay. I, on... Just to sort of level set.

2:24 I like how I set you up for that one, by the way.

2:27 On Friday, I went to my friend's 40th birthday party slash wedding. It was like wedding light. Wedding without the wedding. So it was catered. It was at a wedding venue. Just for the fuck of it?

2:45 Just for the fuck of it.

2:47 Oh, that's very nice.

2:48 Did you have to pay to get in?

2:50 I did not have to pay to get in, which is very nice of her. And wore a suit. You saw the suit.

2:56 I did. It was very sharp.

2:58 Yeah, thank you. I walked in and said, give me the wallpaper. And so I.

3:05 Did you stand at the mirror like out of Garden State?

3:07 Like in Garden State, yeah. So I have a system whenever there are past apps. Which is, I find the guy who's passing the apps.

3:20 Uh-huh.

3:22 I just single one person out, because there's usually a T. Single one person out, and I'm like, oh, thank you. I'll just take one. And then they inevitably say, take as many as you want. And I say, oh, I will. If you need to get rid of stuff, you just come find me. Okay. I will take them off your hands for you.

3:48 Oh, so it's like they're trying to get them out the fucking door so they can go sit down? Okay.

3:53 And so I say this. I make direct eye contact, and I say, if you've got to get rid of stuff, you come to me. And then they always do.

4:02 I am the garbage disposal. Yeah, it's great. You don't even have to pass them. Just bring them all to me.

4:07 Just walk right to me, which happens sometimes. And so it usually works great. At this particular event, we had some Swedish meatballs. They were delicious. There were so many Swedish meatballs, I couldn't even deal with them.

4:25 You couldn't keep up.

4:27 I couldn't keep up. So they put all the extra Swedish meatballs on the charcuterie table. And so, you know, half hour later, I walk over. I take some meatballs. Is that a crime?

4:40 No, it's a buffet, so I would think not.

4:43 Well, the same guy comes up to me, puts his hand on my stomach, and goes, you've had enough, man. You're cut off.

4:54 Did he actually mean that?

4:56 No, I think it was mostly a joke, but he did not want to be there. He absolutely hated everyone.

5:03 Yeah, it's really good if you're a cater waiter to just outrightly insult the guests.

5:08 At one point, he's like, where do you put it all? And I was like, in my mouth. What?

5:13 You should have just looked left, looked right, been like, in my pockets.

5:18 In my ass. So yeah, I got cut off from the- They're like a meat anal bead. Just like on a string of spaghetti. Mamma mia. I know they're Swedish meatballs. Everyone relax. So yeah, the meatball man told me that I was having to, he cut me off from the meatballs. He said I had too many meatballs. That's... So... Did you.

5:44 Fire back with like, fuck you, I'm taking these anyway?

5:47 Fuck yeah, I just picked up the whole tray and left. No, I, you know, I was like.

5:52 You gotta pick it up and just be looking, not breaking eye contact, walking backwards, eating them, staring them dead in the eye.

5:59 That's right. So, okay.

6:00 You don't scare me. Cater waiter.

6:03 You're not the boss of me. So, okay, what you were referring to, however, you mentioned, is that.

6:10 Was this as a result of all of the meatballs?

6:12 You know, it wasn't, no. A couple weeks ago, I applied to, last week, I applied to an open teaching position at a school. I'm not going to name the school, but at a school, a pretty good school. And as a part of the, like, the the thing the the job posting it's like if you have any additional questions or anything like you can call or email hr and so i emailed i emailed the hr people and i was like hey like just making sure you got my thing this is who i am like give me a call if you need anything this is my info and so monday i i got i got the squats i i am i am fighting for my life sweating profusely third, third shit of the day, third shit of the hour.

7:09 And I, and my phone rings and it is a like non, it doesn't look like a scam number. And I thought it was the person who was like, needs to fix our dishwasher. Cause our dishwasher is broken. Um, so I picked it up and it's like, hi, uh, this is blah, blah, blah from this university. Can I speak with, is it, avia and i was like oh no it's aviv that's me what can i do for you and they're like oh we just wanted to call and reach out like you said that you sent us an application i just want to make sure we have and i was like sure sure sure and i'm like like from the neck down convulsing with diarrhea and i have to put on my like white person business voice uh-huh teacher voice be like oh it's so nice to

7:54 hear from you i like really hope that we can work together in the future let me know And meanwhile, my entire lower half is trembling. Trembling.

8:04 I'm telling you, man. You got to be like, oh, can I? Could you hold on for just one second like my dog or something like that?

8:10 It wouldn't have been one second. Oh, I know. It would have been a long time.

8:14 Just get the initial out of the way so you can recoup a little bit before the next wave.

8:22 So, yeah. So I nailed that. It was quite fortunate.

8:28 You play a dangerous game, sir.

8:30 I was playing a dangerous game of poop roulette.

8:36 It sounds... Everyone loses in this game, even.

8:39 Which leads me to today's game that we're playing. Oh, boy. A couple quick Rubenstein recommends.

8:46 All right, what do you got?

8:48 Soft recommend to the social reckoning.

8:50 Okay, see, I've heard god-awful things about it.

8:54 I mean, those things are true. It is a completely different type of movie than The Social Network. So fans of The Social Network, of which I am, should not try to do it. Just don't fucking bother. It's, like, okay. I mean, I think the movie was sort of doomed to fail because.

9:17 It didn't have Fincher attached.

9:20 It didn't have Fincher attached. It didn't have Eisenberg attached. But also, it, like... Sorkin has this streak of, like... optimism, right? Like in the West wing or in the newsroom, it's like, if we only band together and work at the problem, we can fix things. Sure.

9:39 It's the, it's, it's the project Hail Mary of it all.

9:41 Yeah.

9:41 Yeah.

9:42 Yeah. But, but that's sort of his default operating procedure. And that the movie takes that tack where it's like this person, she's like a whistleblower for Facebook. She like, you know, does this big triumphant speech at the end. And then nothing changes and things get worse. But there's no like, forgive the pun, no reckoning with the difference between like what the characters are feeling and what actually happens.

10:08 It's just like, she's like pumping her fist in the air because she did the hard thing. And then it's like, Facebook is so much worse now. Okay, why did I watch this?

10:16 Yeah, it's like, The end of Breakfast Club, but, like, the school's on fire behind Judge Nelson.

10:21 Literally, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And so, okay. But, I can't believe I'm saying this, hearty, hearty Rubenstein recommends... Oh, don't do it.

10:33 Don't do it.

10:34 To Digger.

10:34 Fuck you.

10:35 Oh, I knew.

10:37 I fucking knew you would.

10:40 Of course you would. It is out of its goddamn mind. Matt, it's crazy. I can't.

10:49 I can't abide this. I cannot.

10:52 Is this entire movie inside of a snow globe? Maybe.

10:55 You know, I think the best Letterboxd review I've seen of that one is movies cannot change the world.

11:05 That was from Demi Adejuibe. I also follow him on Letterboxd. I don't know how he.

11:12 Just came across my feed. I don't follow him.

11:15 Demi is like the most popular person on Letterboxd. He's like a Letterboxd celebrity. He's a comedian in LA. He's not just a Letterboxd guy. Okay, fair. That is correct. That is what the movie believes too. It's really bizarre. The movie, it's saying... Two opposite things at the same time, like coin flip style, and then manages to get the coin to land exactly on its edge and be like, isn't life fucked up? Yeah, it is. Hmm.

11:51 Interesting.

11:53 No, I'm not going to spoil it for our listeners, but are you ever going to see it?

11:59 No, and you know what? Because it's an Iñárritu film, right?

12:02 It is Iñárritu.

12:03 I have never actually seen any of his films.

12:06 I don't love Birdman, and I really don't love The Revenant. This might be the only Iñárritu film that I've seen and liked.

12:13 But those are his only three big ones, I guess, right?

12:15 No, his big ones. He has other Spanish-language ones. I think he has other English-language ones, too, but nothing on the same scale. Oh, he did Babel. Babel and 21 Grams. Those are too.

12:28 Big yeah i also never saw either of those.

12:32 I didn't like babble this might be the only energy film i've ever liked did you.

12:36 Like 21 grams i didn't see it no but based off of the track record.

12:40 Here yeah probably don't like the chances but okay everything you've seen about digger is about tom cruise being this guy digger rockwell who's like a like an oil guy right yeah turns out Weird.

13:00 What a weird description.

13:03 It's projected to lose $ 250 million, by the way. That sounds about right. People are not okay about this movie. You know, I loved it. I was in basically every second of it, and yet the two people sitting next to me who were not together both walked out. And it made me love it even more. I was like, yeah, you can't handle Digger.

13:28 Oh, boy. They are going to put Iñárritu in director jail for this one.

13:32 Yeah, yeah. He's in trouble for sure, but I think the acting is great. Cruise is great in it. Riz Ahmed is great in it. It's nuts. It's out of its goddamn mind.

13:43 This reeks of Oscar bait, and it's going to be noticed. It's going to backfire horribly. One of the greatest flops of all time, but it's going to sweep the Academy Awards because it's just pretentious enough.

13:53 I mean, maybe. It feels more like.

13:57 It'd be like a big fuck you to the studios being like, yeah, that's right. Fuck you and your fucking mergers.

14:02 Fuck you. I mean, kind of. It feels more like Doctor Strangelove than anything else.

14:09 Interesting. I mean, how was Doctor Strangelove received at the time of its release?

14:14 Not great.

14:14 See, there you go. So maybe in 20 years we're going to be talking about this as the greatest piece of cinema ever.

14:20 I don't know about that. I don't think it's quite as good as Dr. Strangelove. But yeah, I think it will have like a reappraisal in 10 years or so.

14:27 So you're getting it on the ground floor. You're getting ready for the I told you so's.

14:32 I'm pro Digger. You heard it here first.

14:35 Yeah.

14:36 And coming up on the docket tomorrow, I'm seeing you can see everything.

14:43 Oh, I am curious to hear what you have to think about that one.

14:46 And then on Friday, I'm seeing The Devils. Have you heard about this?

14:50 Don't think so.

14:51 The Devils is a 1972 movie by, I believe, Ken Loach. It was like, oh, Ken Russell, sorry. Ken Russell. And it is about, like, sexy, horny nuns. It's about, like, some weird 16th century, like, sect or parish where, like, someone thinks, like, that, like, the nuns are witches and the nuns all fuck each other or themselves. It's it, it was banned in a lot of countries and given an X rating and they just are like re-releasing it now on home, you know, on disc or whatever. And so there are a handful of theaters that are in LA and around the country that are playing it. And, uh, yeah, it's, uh, You know, it's going to be fucking weird. I don't know much about it. Vanessa Redgrave is in it. But everyone I know who has seen it is like, this

15:52 is a weird one. Huh. So yeah, I'm seeing that. It's based on a non-fiction book. So I guess this actually happened. And Aldous Huxley wrote it.

16:05 Is it a dramatization? Like out of unsolved mysteries?

16:09 Apparently with full penetration. Oh, right.

16:13 So you're going to the Porto Theater. Right on.

16:15 Good for you. It's playing at regular theaters, too. But yeah, I think that there is... Okay, Beef. That's fine.

16:24 Regular theaters, I'm sure.

16:26 Regular, degular theaters. Yeah, I... Next time we talk, I will have seen... Okay. My hair will be completely white. But it even... After its restoration, it was still given an NC-17 for sexual content and graphic nudity. Has been recognized as one of the most controversial films of all time by numerous publications and critics and remained banned in Finland until 2001.

17:00 And the thing that's so bad about it is because it's a bunch of nuns fucking?

17:06 I don't know. Maybe. I think that there's probably other stuff that happens. It's called The Devils.

17:11 Well, okay, but... Okay. I will be interested to hear the full rundown after you go and see this thing, because it sounds interesting to say the least.

17:23 Yeah, I think it's pretty chaotic. I didn't even know about this fucking movie and then someone... texted me and was like, do you want to go to this?

17:32 I mean, but here's the thing. It is also like the premise of that really is kind of like a fucked up version, but like a really shitty setup to like a porn parent.

17:42 Yeah.

17:44 It kind of is from the description that you just gave.

17:48 So I don't know if I ever mentioned this. I took a profanity in media class, cinema of the profane class in college, which everyone just referred to as porn 101. where the professor, who was a Dutch-Israeli man named John Bernstein, would just, like, show us actual porn and be like, eh, what is this? Is this porn? Is this art? And so I know that in the 70s, we were really towing the line there of, like, transgressive, like, yeah, what if we watch people fuck in this movie? Does that make it not art? And people are like, you know, I don't know.

18:28 I mean.

18:30 We didn't watch this one because it was probably still banned.

18:35 I mean, that's an interesting question in terms of, I mean, that's also part of the reason why porn is protected by the First Amendment.

18:42 Yeah, yeah. And the definition is, I'll know it when I see it. So have you ever heard of the movie Salo? No. Salo is a movie by Pier Paolo Pasolini, who is one of my least favorite directors of all time, also known as 120 Days of Sodom. is about four fascist libertines in World War II rounding up nine adolescent boys and girls and torturing them sexually for 120 days.

19:14 And it's just a depiction of that.

19:15 Yep. And it was so harrowing, so graphic, that the director was murdered. Wow. Wow. They fucking, someone fucking killed him because, I don't know if it's like definitely because of that, but he was not a popular man. Right.

19:36 No, I wouldn't imagine.

19:37 Wow.

19:39 Now here, okay. Now we, we on this podcast have wrestled with this idea numerous times in terms of the idea of like, okay, is like the, depicting something terrible like that, but it's fake, so is it better than someone actually doing it?

19:57 Unfortunately for Pasolini, I've seen that movie. Some of it's not fake.

20:04 Oh, it's the Milo and Otis.

20:06 Of Yeah, they killed those kids. I mean, those kids are doing sexual acts. It's really, really hard to watch. Pasolini was murdered in 1975 at a beach. He was savagely beaten until the point where he was almost recognizable, run over several times with his own car, multiple bones were broken, and his testicles were crushed by what appears to have been a metal bar. Also, an autopsy revealed that his body had partially burned with petrol after his death. Wow.

20:40 That guy got killed.

20:43 That guy got killed, killed.

20:45 That guy got, got, wow.

20:48 I don't know that anyone has ever been killed more than this guy has been killed.

20:53 This is like to the level of like the family guy with the chicken level beatings. Like, it's just, that is, did the guy, I'm assuming they caught the guy.

21:03 No.

21:06 Or they may have been like.

21:07 You know. One guy, Giuseppe Pelosi, coincidence. was caught driving Pasolini's car and confessed to the murder. He was convicted. And they're like, you definitely didn't do this by yourself. And he was like, I don't know who I did it with. That's crazy. And then 29 years later, in May of 2005, he's like, yeah, I didn't actually do it.

21:31 So he was just taking the fall for everyone else?

21:33 Yeah. He said that three people with Southern Italian accents had committed committed the murder in front of him while calling Pasolini, quote, a dirty communist. Oh, hold on.

21:46 Wait, hold on. Hang the fuck on. That was their issue? It was just a coincidence?

21:53 No, no. So it wasn't a coincidence. The thing about Salo is... They weren't mad, the people in power say, weren't mad that he was abusing children in his movie. They were mad that he was depicting fascists as pedophiles. Wow.

22:16 That whole.

22:18 That guy got the most murdered of anyone who's ever been murdered.

22:24 That is... Boy, that is fucking something to hear.

22:29 Isn't it?

22:31 That is like the twist of the century of that story.

22:35 So tonight, how's your week been, Matt?

22:41 I mean, it's hard to think. I mean, that's... Jesus Christ. Okay.

22:47 Anyway, my point with that was like, in the 70s, we were doing some real fucked up shit. Sure.

22:52 The streets ran red with blood of communists, you see.

22:56 Yep.

22:58 And it's important that you remember that detail the more you know. I am doing okay. So I don't, I mean, it's not nearly, I can't follow that up in terms of crazy, but I have a Reuter recommends because I also saw a crazy movie this week.

23:13 Mr. Rogers.

23:15 No, I took myself to the theater to see Primetime. And obviously not as crazy as just depicting child sex abuse on film and releasing it in theaters.

23:27 Honestly, that movie is not not related to Solo. It is like a very similar sort of craziness. I mean, it's.

23:39 True, but I don't understand how you can say that, given the fact that it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we're just going to watch child, forcible child porn on TV versus this. Robert Pattinson movie.

23:53 Yeah, I think more stylistically, like, the weird cuts and POV shots and stuff like that. But yeah, I agree.

24:03 That movie was fucking great, but it was just... Arpatz nails the impression. Fucking Stone Phillips. It is pretty fucking undeniable that that impression is a banger. It's right on.

24:17 Incredible. Yeah, I really loved it. It was.

24:21 a lot funnier than I thought it was going to be, or at least there was some really good one-liners in there. And the fact that the guy that played Xavier wasn't Brian Posehn, I'm like, Brian Posehn, how did you miss out on that one, man?

24:36 I mean, the guy that they got, I was like, is that the real guy? But yes, I agree.

24:43 And the fucking, yeah, everyone was just fucking.

24:45 Yeah, Merritt Weaver steals the show.

24:49 Get your shit together. I, I was just like, Oh, this is like one of the more cynical things I've ever seen. Yeah.

25:00 Really, really, really cynical. Woof.

25:02 Really good though. Uh, enjoyed it very much. Uh, I will have to probably wait a minute to watch. I do want to watch it again as soon as I can because I'm like, there's probably a million things that.

25:11 I didn't pick up on. You should do a primetime, you can see everything double feature.

25:16 Jesus Christ, I might go into a state of psychosis if I do that.

25:19 You just see Elizabeth Holmes' eyes floating like in The Great Gatsby.

25:27 She turns into like my own personal Freddy Krueger. I can never sleep again. Every time I close my eyes, they're just staring back at me.

25:34 We are saying Elizabeth Holmes is a pedophile that was burned to death?

25:38 I'm not not. I guess I'm going to find out whenever we watch this movie. I don't know what the conclusion of the film is.

25:44 That's true. No one knows.

25:46 Exactly. And now, without further ado, on to the main event where we're going to be viewing and reviewing season 20 episode... What's this now?

25:56 Do you hear that?

25:57 Oh, oh, hark. Do I hear something? It's coming around the bench here.

26:01 Coming over the mountain?

26:02 Coming over the ridge.

26:03 Around the mountain. So... It's everyone's favorite new game show. Okay. That is, I have to consult what this is called. Live listener feedback from Leanne O'Shea mystery secret delivery guests. Okay.

26:20 Rolls off the tongue.

26:22 So Leanne has prepared a snack. And she is right off camera. Correct.

26:31 Yes.

26:32 Right over here. Yeah. I'm not telling you what the snack is. You're going to have to guess.

26:37 What the snack is.

26:39 What the snack is.

26:39 But you know what the snack is.

26:41 Cue the music. You're going to have to guess.

26:44 What snack she has prepared and is going.

26:46 To bring to you. What the snack she has prepared and is about to deliver. Oh, is it here?

26:51 Oh. Oh.

26:53 Can't look. So. Okay.

26:58 This is okay.

26:59 Okay.

27:01 Okay. Can I ask questions about the snack?

27:05 Of course you can. Okay.

27:06 Is it, is it a, like a prepared or is it like something that's like out of a bag type situation? I can see that it was in a bowl or a plate of some variety. So it's on a dish.

27:17 At one point it was in a bag. At one point it was, what was the other thing you said?

27:22 Has it been like, is it was like prepared?

27:25 It has been prepared. And at one point it was in a bag. The bag that we brought it home from the grocery store.

27:29 Well, you know what, like a bag of chips, I mean, like that, like the.

27:32 Container that is the thing. No, no, it is prepared. Okay. It would be weird if Leanne, like, delivered a snack and it was a single chip on a plate. Wouldn't put it past her, but.

27:43 That would be hilarious. Is it, uh... Is it like a heat?

27:48 No. Is it... Is it a heat?

27:51 No, like a heated up, like a pizza roll or something like that?

27:57 Is that your guess? Pizza roll?

27:58 That's my guess.

28:00 Chocolate chip cookie.

28:01 Chocolate chip cookie.

28:02 All right.

28:02 Well, I don't know about the preparedness unless she had just baked it, but okay. You know what? That's fine. That's fine.

28:09 I mean, she baked it.

28:12 Oh, it wasn't like a store-bought. Okay. That was part of the question.

28:14 Okay.

28:14 Okay.

28:15 Okay.

28:15 Right on.

28:15 What do you mean she didn't fucking prepare the cookie?

28:17 No, I.

28:18 Don't you... Don't you.

28:19 You had said the bag, it came home and I thought it was the thing.

28:23 It came home from the grocery store in a bag.

28:25 Right, but that, okay. I thought it was like you buy an individual cookie in that little wax paper bag.

28:32 No, no, no. This was a grocery bag.

28:36 It did not seem like it was a ludicrous idea.

28:39 This has been Live Listener Feedback, Leanne O'Shea. Special delivery secret snack. Oh, good.

28:48 Well, now that... that's out of the way and he gets to eat a cookie there. On to the main event where we're going to be viewing and reviewing season 20 episode 5 of SVU entitled Acredo right after this. We're back and we're going to be viewing and reviewing season 20 episode 5 of SVU entitled Acredo. Just a reminder to our listeners, all the episodes are available to watch on Hulu and Peacock. So if you want to watch it, go for it. This one is kind of dull.

29:18 It's fine. Yeah.

29:19 It's it's this is the NXIVM cult episode, guys. So if you want.

29:23 To watch it, I'm not really familiar with the NXIVM cult. And I know that you watch the show.

29:28 Oh, I thought you had as well.

29:29 Your help. No, I have not.

29:31 OK, it's been a minute since I've watched it, but I will impart what knowledge I remember. So if you're into that, watch this episode. If not, listen to us break.

29:41 It down instead. If that's what you're into.

29:44 Yeah, but before we get into breaking down the episode and the grandest tradition that we have on this podcast, Aviv, you are going to hit us with a 90-second recap of what happened in this week's episode. And listeners, if you want to watch Aviv do the 90-second recaps, you can see him do that on our Instagram, which is at SVU Podcast on Instagram. So, Aviv.

30:04 Official Instagram of my shirt this week, which is a frog smoking a heater, smoking a dart.

30:10 Smoking a heater, huh? Yes. And, Aviv, I believe the time to beat at this point.

30:16 Still 2.05.

30:17 Still 2.05. All right, so, Aviv.

30:19 2.05. I did not do a great job last week.

30:20 Ultimately, the goal was 90 seconds, because that's what we put on the clock here, but the best we've got.

30:25 I feel like I should get 10 seconds per season. No. Can a guy get 10 seconds per season?

30:30 Well, that's... What, so that's an extra 10 seconds for you? No, it's 20 times.

30:33 Okay, no, no, no.

30:34 Sorry, I was like.

30:35 That's three minutes and 20 seconds.

30:37 Yeah, no, you're not getting that either. You're getting 90 seconds.

30:39 It was.

30:40 You should be happy with the 90 you have. It used to be 60.

30:43 All right?

30:45 So you got an extra... Or we should have started it as like a two minute.

30:50 At the start of the season. Listen, there's still time.

30:54 Okay, you know what?

30:55 Fine.

30:56 I'm feeling generous. And since 205 is the time to beat right now, I will meet you.

31:02 Two minute recap, baby.

31:03 We're going to switch it to the two minute recap.

31:06 When did we go to 90? I don't remember.

31:08 I think it was shortly after we gambled on whether or not Snack or Whack would continue.

31:13 No, it was before that. I feel like it was before that.

31:15 You're probably right. It was before that. Listeners, does anyone remember? Do we have like a Wikipedia for this?

31:20 Does anyone remember laughter? I don't know.

31:23 All right, Aviv, so we're going to premiere this five. We're going to, in the newly revamped grandest tradition that we have on this podcast.

31:30 Hey, here we go.

31:30 Aviv, you are going to hit us with a two-minute recap.

31:34 I got two minutes, baby.

31:35 So, Aviv, we're going to put.

31:37 Two minutes in honor of 205, which is the episode for this week. Two-zero, season 20, episode five.

31:46 Sure, there we go.

31:47 Boom.

31:47 Boom. Look at that tap dance, listeners.

31:49 Boom.

31:50 Incredible, incredible improv skills here.

31:52 All right, Aviv.

31:54 So we're going to put two minutes on the clock. Aviv, why don't you tell us what the fuck happened to this week's episode of SVU?

32:00 Okay, you guys. Olivia is working out during work hours, and that's all for us to know that she wears a Fitbit, because this is a very Fitbit-centric episode. Meanwhile, a lady, Abby... is a member of like a cult called a credo and it's not a pharmacy. And it's just like a, it's like a women's empowerment cult. Not that women being empowered is cultish, but other stuff is cultish. And, um, she's being stalked by her ex-boyfriend who we think is calling her nonstop. Then she winds up dead with like a piece of her flesh missing seven style. And, um, Oh, her name's not even Abby, uh, Vicky, yada, yada, yada, Vicky. Um, But the apartment is registered to someone named Abby. They get Abby's parents in from Connecticut, and they identify this

32:54 girl as not being Abby. Because Abby's on set of just the fucking Handmaid's Tale. And I'll spend the rest of this recap talking about how they have a conversation in front of, I hope, a dummy of a woman hanged to death. Moving on. Nobody's fazed. They talk to her crazy ex-boyfriend, Brad, or Brett. Check out the big brain on Brett. And he said that she left him for this cult run by Arlo Beck. Anytime you see a British man with an untucked shirt, he's a cult leader.

33:32 And he's just, like, with a bunch of kind of hot women talking about, like, we be. Congratulations, you're beautiful, you have permission to love yourself, blah, blah, blah. And so it's him. It's fucking him. Turns out that the boyfriend has an alibi because he was meeting up with a different member of the cult at the time, and she brought him home, and they're like, well, that's weird.

33:57 What are the odds of that happening? So they meet Gina, who's like, eh, well, you know, I used to fuck a lot, and now I kind of still fuck. And so this was a total coincidence. And I definitely didn't do this to Vicky. And then they find Gina's, they, very lucky, find Gina's ex-husband, who's like taking pictures of the cult doing yoga, being like, oh yeah, here's some pictures of Gina stepping on some girl's head. You want to put her in jail or something? Get my money back?

34:33 So Gina breaks. She says that she did it because she's a serf. and she, she is someone else's surf and Vicky was her surf and they got to beat each other in order to be, to reach level six later Lotus status or, or whatever. And so they, they, they use Fitbit data to track this woman, Layla, Lila, someone for the, they, they track her using her Fitbit, which is so fucked up. This, that's, that's in fact the most fucked up thing that happens in this episode. And, So she doesn't break. She goes into jail. Gina's going to jail. But we know that it was the main cult leader guy, Arlo, just because Vicky wanted to leave.

35:19 And so they're going to arrest him. He bails. And they head him off at the airport, at Westchester Airport. And Amanda's got to go tell 1PP that she's pregnant, Dick Wolf.

35:34 Ah, missed it by that much, Aviv. Really? Really.

35:37 No, not really.

35:37 335.

35:38 Fuck me. So, you know what?

35:41 Take all the two minutes you ought to be. I will meet you. I'll meet you part of the way there. Yeah, so this one, it also does the... It starts with the rip from the headlines. It's very like, this is not the NXIVM cult.

35:53 This is not. I promise you, this isn't NXIVM.

35:57 HBO, you can't sue us for this.

35:59 But Hulu certainly can. Sure.

36:02 So, yeah, I... You know, the second... Because, again, I didn't realize it was the next same thing until they show the brand. It's like, oh, fuck, that's what the fuck this is.

36:14 So there was a brand? Yes.

36:16 That was, like, one of the big things. Also, the Master Surf thing, where they didn't call it Master Surf. They called it Master Slave.

36:26 Oh, good. Uh-huh.

36:28 Yeah. And it's the classic cult thing of everyone was. It's the charming cult leader really has everyone convinced, and then he gets to fuck all the women and then brand them.

36:43 That's kind of every cult. But also, they did the cult thing in the episode, and it seems like in real life, of collecting... blackmail on all of the members so that they could never leave.

36:57 Yeah, so they have to put up, quote, collateral is what's in the episode. I don't recall that being part of it. I don't think it was necessarily the collateral, but it's the classic, like, you've sunk so much fucking money into this, you kind of can't get out. I don't recall.

37:10 It wouldn't surprise me. According to the New York Times, the women were made to record false confessions to things that they didn't do and provide nude photographs for blackmail. That sounds about right. Yeah. So Keith Ranieri, who is this fucking guy?

37:25 I don't know. A con man. He looks like a fucking bridge troll, frankly. And I was like, this is the fucking guy?

37:33 Not British. And in the episode, they say that Arlo was like an astrophysics whatever.

37:41 Astrobiologist. At my note, there was... Astrobiologist?

37:44 That's a thing. What the fuck? So they say that he's lying. So I'm not saying that this is... His claim is true. But in real life, Keith Ranieri went to Rensselaer Polytechnic. Pretty good. Genius.

38:02 Again, I don't even remember what the fuck this cult was about. I mean, I think it was just, you know, like any cult. It makes you feel better and whatever the fuck. Which is really, isn't that kind of every cult? That's just what it is. It's like, we make you feel good in this way, but you do all this other stuff.

38:17 Yeah. It seems like it was a mix of Scientology and also just weird Ayn Rand stuff and hypnosis.

38:27 Yeah.

38:29 It was a good.

38:29 I remember thinking it was a very good documentary and that it was fucking batshit nuts.

38:34 Multi-level marketing schemes. Wait, they also wore different colored cloth for ranks and they would bow to each other like in judo.

38:44 Yeah, I do remember the scarves.

38:48 That's so dumb. At some point, I mean, I guess this is true because people, like, leave cults, but at some point where you're, like, wearing the scarf and bowing, like, you gotta know, right? You gotta know that you got God.

39:01 No, you know what it is? Because then you think someday they're then gonna bow to fucking me once I climb up the ranks.

39:07 Yeah, temporarily embarrassed millionaires. Right?

39:10 So it's like, no, no, no, no. It's the promise of then you get to wield that power without realizing that you yourself are, you're all just Hawn's on the board for the guy at the top of the scheme.

39:21 Truer words have never been spoken.

39:23 Yeah, I mean, that's, and it's people that already are, they're susceptible to being manipulated as is.

39:29 So it's... And that's the cult leader's true gift, right? Is, like, identifying... Is being able to spot the.

39:39 Yeah, is to be able to spot the marks. That's truly... That's any con man. Or con person, excuse me.

39:47 Con person. Flim flam, man.

39:49 I'm just saying.

39:50 So we open on Olivia just fucking working out. What are we doing.

39:56 Here, guys? Yeah, and my note is like, what the fuck is this about? And then whenever she's like, oh, 12,000 steps, I was like, got it. I already know where this is going.

40:03 Light work, motherfucker.

40:05 Yeah, it's, I don't know. Here's the thing. She seems to be on her lunch break. I'm like, did you take a shower after this workout, Liv?

40:13 Certainly not. And then she's like, I gotta go back to, yeah, she's working out on her lunch break. I am at 12,299 steps today. You are? Yeah. Yesterday was 14,524. Oh, but you got the dog in there, so that's... I got the dog. I do my six-mile hike every day.

40:31 Yeah, so.

40:32 It is as cloudiest as a lot of schlepping.

40:35 Yeah, gotcha. I am nowhere near that.

40:38 Oh, yeah, I forgot in my recap that there's, like, this lady lawyer who's, like, named Claudia, who's, like, part of the cult, and then Rollins, like, browbeats her into being normal again, I guess.

40:51 She gives a real, like, you believe in yourself type thing. It was, I don't know.

40:57 Rollins is crazy. Crazy in this episode, and, like, wildly different levels of pregnant.

41:04 Yeah, at certain points it's like, she is, that baby is, they are like, get it in, get it in, she's gonna.

41:10 Be gone here. There's a moment at the end of the episode where she's like, I'm gonna tell 1PP that I'm pregnant and I'll be on desk duty or whatever.

41:21 I'm like, this is, they are all police detectives. If you couldn't notice Rollins.

41:28 But she says, oh, it won't be that long, it's only... A month. She says, like, a month or a couple months. But if you look at her mouth, that's ADR, because she says eight months. Motherfucker. She's supposed to be one month pregnant?

41:49 Well, I think maybe she's factoring in what the maternity leave would be on top of that, maybe?

41:55 Maybe. Generously?

41:57 So that means she would be, what, because maternity leave.

42:00 Is three months? Four months pregnant, yeah.

42:02 So.

42:02 Still. I mean... Yikes. Yikes, guys.

42:07 Well, it's just.

42:09 I mean, that's a good ADR. Honestly, you needed that.

42:13 Agreed. No, I agree with you on that. Someone was like, wait a second, this isn't... No one's... We got to go back and redo that. No, but I will say this. It was really funny in the scene where she says to Rollins, like, look, Rollins, you can hide it with clothing. I'm like, get the... Am I... Am I taking crazy pills?

42:32 Am I the only one? It's like, you can very clearly... Like, it's not even.

42:35 Yeah, I'm sure that they, like, wrote this episode not really factoring in how actually pregnant Kelly Giddish was. Kelly Giddish was gonna be.

42:45 Yeah.

42:45 And then everyone's like, oh, I had no idea. You had no idea?

42:49 Like, it really does just make me think of that 30 Rock joke, whenever Avery's pregnant, and she's just, like, holding the ham while she's giving, like, a financial report or something like that. And I'm like, she might as well be doing that in this episode.

43:02 Yeah. She might as well... She's not even... She's holding a ham inside of her belly. So, okay, we meet this... group of women female entrepreneur workshop named a credo and claudia is talking about how she used to like schlep a lot she uses the word schlep no one named claudia uses the word schlep but fine and and now she's like because of this workshop she's now like a junior partner at her firm and And I'm like, wow, we're doing an episode on girl bosses. Cool.

43:40 My first note here is Claudia. I was like, I'm already like, nope.

43:48 And no one else says it either. Everyone else says Claudia and only she says Claudia.

43:54 So I was already immediately like, what the fuck? My next note is, Acredo, this is a cult.

44:00 The cult. So they make this girl Vicky stand up and talk about her story, which the main cult lady, whose name is Lila, says is so inspiring. And Vicky's like, yeah, so I had an abusive boyfriend, and I couldn't leave him, and you guys helped me leave him. Thank you very much.

44:24 Yeah, I'm like, that's it? That's the inspiring story?

44:27 I mean, good on you.

44:28 Well, no, I know, but to be that light on the details, to be like, it's such an inspiring story. It's like, I mean, basically, it was three sentences of, I used to have a shitty, abusive boyfriend. You guys helped me leave him.

44:40 You guys helped me. Well, she did. She didn't want to say anything. My story's not that good, I guess. But after the meeting, this girl, Gina, wants to hang out with her, and she's like, no, thank you. And then the main leader lady, Lila, is like, do you want to go get... I know this incredible Italian place.

45:03 They have gluten-free pasta. No, they fucking don't. Or it's not a great Italian place. No incredible Italian place has gluten-free pasta.

45:11 Yeah, only one thing can be true in this scenario.

45:14 No, they fucking don't.

45:17 Yeah, so she... We then cut to our soon-to-be victim, Vicky, and... Right, Vicky? Vicky.

45:23 Yeah, Vicky. Vic Icky.

45:25 Vic Icky, the Vic Tim. And she is.

45:29 Oh, that's lazy. You know? What do we call her? Uh, Vicky.

45:33 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, Vicky. But she's in this gigantic apartment, and I'm like, what the fuck does this lady do? I guess maybe Acrito helped her. I was like, is Acrito paying for this?

45:45 Acrito set her up with this other girl's apartment, I suppose.

45:49 That's also kind of the question I had, because I'm like, Clearly, I know this is a cult, so, like, where... And then my next note is, like, how old is this girl even supposed to be?

45:58 I don't know what's... Around 25, I guess. So, before she leaves the... Before she, like, goes to her apartment, Lila's like, listen, if this guy's stalking you again... And Vicky's like, no, I just, like, don't want to hang out with you. Like, please leave me alone. And so she's home. She's yelling on the phone, stop calling me, leave me alone. And we're supposed to think it's the ex-boyfriend.

46:29 Right, it's the red herring, but no.

46:30 The red herring. And then, speaking of red herrings, I don't know if this happened to you, we get this weird shot into a mirror of Vicky going into her bathroom and turning on the bath. But the way it is framed... It looks like Vicky walks into the bathroom and then like a shadowy figure just walks behind her.

46:54 And it took, she like passes a couple times across the lens. And so it took me like two or three times to realize like, oh no, that's like a mirror and you're seeing Vicky twice. Not like some random person that's just following her.

47:07 Yeah, like he's already in the house. But there's a knock at the door, classic. And she goes to answer the door. She looks out the peephole. And then lets the person in?

47:19 I guess so.

47:20 And then we cut.

47:23 Yeah. Olivia is telling Rollins that 1PP needs to know about her pregnancy. And she's like, give me a couple days. And then they get a call. It's a rape homicide.

47:34 Because we find out that Carisi and Finn had, it was either Knicks tickets or Rangers tickets. And they have a ticket for Rollins. But she is instead, I guess, going to blow them off to keep working.

47:47 Mm-hmm, because she can still do it, goddammit. And as they approach the body, it's relatively gruesome for SVU standards, at least. And Olivia's like, Rollins, stand back. And she's like, I can do this. And then she absolutely cannot do this. New guys, the back pubes cuts out.

48:03 The back pubes cuts out, exactly.

48:05 But yeah, Olivia's very sad. We have sad Olivia.

48:08 And we find out specifically that the doer cut a piece of skin, Off of her, around her ribs.

48:19 Off of her, like, rib cage, and sexually assaulted her with a table leg. So, I.

48:25 It is pretty brutal, what they show.

48:27 It is brutal, but this might be, like, I don't know, me getting ahead of myself, but, like, if she was sexually assaulted with a table leg, wouldn't you maybe assume that the doer is not a man?

48:44 Well, there is a yada yada line in the next scene when we go back to the station and they're doing kind of an around the horn because I don't know if it's fit or creasy, actually. It says, like, my bet is that he's impotent.

48:56 Oh, right, right, right, right. Good call, good call, good call.

48:59 So they kind of, they don't then say, like, or it's a woman, but they do talk about the fact that it's like, okay, it's a rapist, but he didn't, he used a foreign object rather than, you know, his own body.

49:13 And they also... They scrub the apartment. There's no mail. There's nothing that has her identify... in the entire apartment, which is really fucking weird. And Rollins researches the address and finds that the apartment is owned by a Richard and Laura Shane from Connecticut. So they get Richard and Laura Shane in, and the Shanes have a daughter named Abby.

49:40 Yes, so they call them in basically to ID the body, and they offer to do a picture identification.

49:48 How old is Abby? Yeah, they're like, oh. What does Abby look like?

49:52 They're like 25 years old, you know, pretty conventionally attractive with giant blue eyes. They're like, all right, here we go.

50:00 And she lives in the apartment when she's not on a movie set.

50:05 She's not on location.

50:06 She's supposed to be in Pennsylvania shooting a movie.

50:09 In which my note is, okay, you're in New York, but you're shooting in Pennsylvania. Is this an M. Night Shyamalan gig? It has to be, right?

50:16 Tax credits? I don't know.

50:17 Yeah, because why else would you go and reverse there?

50:20 I don't know. Literally, tax credits. No?

50:23 Sure.

50:23 Okay.

50:25 So they're like, all right, here we go. They open it up, and for once, it's like, oh, not our daughter.

50:30 Yeah, not Abby. That's great. But Laura, the mom, is like, you know, Abby's got a lot of needy friends. She lends out her apartment to people all the time, and she's currently making a dystopian horror series, hard cut to, it is legitimately just Handmaid's Tale. It is the costumes from Handmaid's Tale.

50:54 Yeah, and I don't understand. How did they, I mean, is it because it's based off the source material of the Margaret Atwood book?

50:59 I suppose so. I don't fucking know. Like lawsuit level Handmaid's Tale similarity. And I mentioned this in the recap, This is the weirdest fucking scene in the entire, maybe, history of the show. They're talking to Abby. She doesn't seem that phased, by the way, that Vicky's dead. She thinks it's probably Vicky's ex-boyfriend, Brett or Brad. She can't remember.

51:25 And then they sort of walk from set to seemingly not set. Like, not an area where they're shooting. And there's just a woman hanging... from a tree by her neck, dead. Obviously, it's a dummy. I'm assuming in the world of the show, it's also a dummy. That's an assumption. And we just have to watch them talk to each other with this woman lynched behind them.

51:54 Yeah, so given the fact this is supposed to be the NXIVM episode, is this supposed to be like the Allison... Whatever the fuck.

52:00 Yeah, there was a member of the cult that was an actor, right? I almost said Allison Mack, but.

52:03 It's not Allison Mack. Yeah, she was on Smallville. Allison Mack, isn't that the Secret Life of.

52:08 Oh, that's Alex Mack. Allison Mack then, I think. Allison, actress Kristen... Nope.

52:15 Never mind. Missed it on that one.

52:17 Kristen Lara Kruak, who was on Smallville. Oh, and Allison Mack.

52:22 Oh, okay. So I was like, oh boy, how did I miss by that much? I was pretty sure.

52:27 It was both of them.

52:29 Ah, there we go.

52:31 Yeah, Kristen Kruak played Lana Lang on Smallville, probably. And Allison Mack played Chloe on Smallville, which I don't really know.

52:43 I mean, I never watched that show, but I know people were into it. So that means she's supposed to be in this Acredo cult as well?

52:52 I don't think so.

52:53 Because that's a major.

52:55 Because she would have said something different.

52:58 Well, unless she's trying to cover up. Because she's in the cult.

53:02 I don't know. That feels.

53:05 Well, because the parents say she has a bunch of needy friends, so it sounds like maybe she's providing money to them that is then going into the cult? Okay, you're... Because the cops never circle back to her to establish that, but if that's the parallel that we're trying to draw, then that would make sense that she's... Or a former cult member, and that she just didn't say anything because she thought they would fucking kill her too?

53:28 Maybe? I don't know. Maybe I read too much into it. You've convinced me.

53:34 It feels like there's enough connective tissue there that it should be that, but it's also this show.

53:39 So in the real story, this guy Keith Ranieri did a lot of weird NGO foundation things. Okay. So in 2002, Ranieri succeeded in recruiting members of An influential family of the heirs to the Seagram fortune. Like Seagram's gin.

54:10 Yeah, and soft drinks.

54:12 Yeah, and so specifically these women, Sarah Bronfman and Claire Bronfman, their father, his name's Edgar Bronfman.

54:25 Okay.

54:26 So far, so good.

54:27 This is sounding vaguely familiar from when I watched the documentary.

54:30 Yes, so back in college, you and I were big fans of a band called The Exit.

54:38 I was about to say The Exit, yeah.

54:39 The Exit. And they were a three-piece. Jeff DeRosa leads one of the two singers, is now on Dropkick Murphys, was my neighbor in Boston. Oh, right on. Gunnar Olsen, drummer, great drummer. And then third member, Ben Brewer.

55:00 Mm-hmm.

55:01 Originally born, Benjamin Bronfman. Oh. Oh. So Claire and Sarah Bronfman are his aunts.

55:13 Okay.

55:14 And Edgar Bronfman, their father, Ben's grandfather, took an NXIVM course in 2003. Weird.

55:23 Didn't he also marry MIA?

55:25 He did marry MIA, yes.

55:28 What a weird... web of people and.

55:31 Events crazy right and so um.

55:34 Oh did ben get involved with this shit doesn't seem like okay good well i was gonna say like oh no.

55:39 But but i mean like they were in the cult when we were seeing the exit they were in the cult until 2007 2009 yeah seven that's fucking when the exit broke up same year exit broke up coincidence you tell me yeah tell me but yeah weird right yeah very strange And Ben's an entrepreneur now. He owns a carbon capture company.

56:06 Good for him. Yeah.

56:08 I don't think Abby was a member of this cult because she said that Vicky's personality changed over the last... Oh, I guess, honestly, I think you're right. I think you are right because she says, oh, her personality changed after joining this women's group. quote, I guess they couldn't protect her from the dark side of her life after all. Right?

56:31 So she's running interference for them.

56:34 I mean, that's how that would read. Yeah. She also puts them onto them.

56:41 She also points directly. Yeah, that's true. She plays dumb, so it might just be a coincidence. Or sloppy. It might just be sloppy.

56:50 Could be sloppy.

56:51 Who could say?

56:52 But....

56:54 So they go to this cult. Sorry. Entrepreneur class.

57:00 Let's call it what it is. It's a fucking cult.

57:04 A credo. And Rollins reads their brochure and is helping goddesses find their power. So they walk right into a fucking thing. Gina opens the door and is like, thank God you're here. You're right in time for the meeting. I was like, okay, this is a....

57:24 So many red flags here. It's a women's empowerment group.

57:29 Yeah, led by a man. What's wrong?

57:31 Led by a man. And the first thought for these ladies isn't, this is a fucking scam.

57:38 This is a fucking scam. What do you mean? This is 100% a scam.

57:41 What the fuck are you talking about? It's a women's empowerment group led by a dude.

57:46 Okay. So this dude's name is Arlo Beck. He's British. He has an untucked shirt. And... He's like talking to one of his acolytes and he's like, good job. And she's like, you gave me permission to love myself. And he's like, okay. Then he sees Rollins who's absurdly pregnant and goes, congratulations. You're beautiful. Okay. Thanks, sir.

58:14 I guess.

58:15 And then he starts like trying to basically cold read her. And be like, you're not with the father, are you? What was your first clue? The fact that she's not wearing a fucking wedding ring? Asshole.

58:27 And, yeah, it's bad. Like, they really take dead aim at Rowlett. They're like, ah, yes. Because I imagine this guy's thinking, like, she's probably super hormonal, so I can really influence her.

58:36 You really manipulate her, yeah. I mean, you can basically go up to any white woman and say, I'm sorry for what Josh did for you, and she'll start crying.

58:44 Yeah, I mean, there's probably any number of other names you could go in there. Josh is a good one.

58:47 Ryan. Ryan.

58:49 Yeah, that's probably another really good. I mean, depending on the age.

58:52 Yeah. Yeah. These days it's like Caden.

58:55 Right. Something like that.

58:56 But they learn about Vicky's boyfriend, Brad, who is a line cook, and he posted intimate photos on her Facebook after they broke up, which we see the intimate photos. It's just her lingerie. with the caption pay payback you fugly bitch now everyone knows what a slut you are okay uh okay yeah whatever i.

59:20 Think we also find out that she had just recently deleted her facebook as well as a result of and he's being posted.

59:26 But you can't really be serious or menacing if you use the word fugly. Also, frankly, they should have known it was a woman by the use of the word fugly. No dude says fugly.

59:40 Why would Regina George refer to herself as a fugly slut?

59:46 I mean, this is basically exactly what happens in this episode. Right.

59:52 It is, but it's just so funny, that line reading from Tim Meadows in that movie, when he.

59:57 Says, fugly. Fugly slut. I have a nephew, Amferny, that I'm mad at. Not as mad as I am at my sister for naming him Amferny.

1:00:06 That's such a good read.

1:00:09 So they go to the restaurant to meet Brad, and my man is doing a bad Christian Slater impression. He's like, I was at the bar. Which one? A lot of them.

1:00:21 I don't know if it was one that was right around the corner, man.

1:00:24 I was on Mr. Robot.

1:00:27 Like the Christian Slater is kind of, it's like a Jack Nicholson, but like mixed with a Dennis Hopper almost.

1:00:32 Jack Nicholson light. Yeah, right. And he says, they bring him in and he says that he's got a job. He's going places. He's going to open up his own place and she's an unemployed public school teacher. Okay. My man.

1:00:47 Sir, I think it might just be the summer. That's how that works. You know that, right?

1:00:51 And it's not like New York is awash in public school teachers that they're turning people away.

1:00:59 Yeah, I don't. I mean, I feel like that was an improv line. It's like, I don't know. I guess it's the best take we had.

1:01:06 It's weird.

1:01:07 She's an unemployed public school teacher, sure.

1:01:09 But he says he remembers which bar he was at. It was on Leroy Street, and he even met a girl. Um, and so they're going to like, but Leroy street is like pretty close to the apartment where Vicky was murdered. So they still think it, it might be him. And there, so they're going to like, they're going to like go look in his, they're going to get like a, a, a warrant to go look at his apartment.

1:01:32 And we never really find out what happens to this guy, given the fact they have the mountain of evidence against him when they go into the apartment.

1:01:39 When Gina, um, comes clean, I think that they probably let him go.

1:01:45 Well i would certainly hope so no so they go in and uh why they don't turn the lights on why don't they turn the lights.

1:01:53 On aviv there's a because because it's scary spooky they olivia mentions that that rollins could like go on desk duty and like is she okay to do this and she's like i'm okay to do this i'm still a cop and then olivia goes do you want to go move furniture and i didn't I like heard that line kind of a couple times and didn't understand what she was referring to. Is she referring to like moving furniture around in Brad's house?

1:02:23 Yeah, because she wasn't, because Rollins wasn't basically assigned to go search that guy's apartment. She's like, no, I can still do my job. Stop treating me differently. And she's like, do you want to go move furniture? I don't.

1:02:34 Yeah.

1:02:34 Because it's like, yeah, let the men do all the heavy lifting and the annoying stuff.

1:02:40 So it's classic missing knife from the knife block situation.

1:02:46 Yeah, and so this is the other part, because he's supposed to be like a chef, and he's going places, he's going to be blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And this also should have been a clue to the cops, where it's like, they put the nice knife in the dishwasher?

1:03:02 There's no way that that guy would do that. That's my note. They find the missing knife in the dishwasher. You're not supposed to put good knives in the dishwasher.

1:03:10 And someone that's, like, a professional chef like that probably has what they appear to be a pretty nice set of knives on a magnetic rack.

1:03:17 So, like, that should be a clue. I'm also going to say, having lived with a couple chefs, the sink would be full of dirty dishes. Correct. Chefs do not do their dishes. But they also find a bloody shoe and a pair of jeans with, like, blood on the pant leg. Okay. Okay.

1:03:36 And it's all just a little too convenient was my note here.

1:03:39 It sure is. But his alibi checks out. He is on camera at the bar with a gal. And his alibi almost checks out. He could have done the murder and then gone to the bar. But Rollins and Carisi are looking at this video of Brad at the bar. And they're like, oh. My God. Because the girl that he picks up is Gina, the girl from this women's group, a credo. And even worse... And they also.

1:04:18 Notice, yeah, they notice, as she is all over this guy, that when she's got, like, her arms up dancing and stuff, they can see that she has what they think at that point is a tattoo.

1:04:32 Under her arm, like on the ribcage, the same part of her body that was like cut, the Vickie's was like cut. Right.

1:04:40 So they go and confront her at the cult house.

1:04:45 That's Brad Simon's? That's Vickie's ex? I never knew what he looked like. Yeah, I never knew. Is how that line is delivered.

1:04:53 That is correct.

1:04:54 What are the odds?

1:04:56 Who knew? And they're like, what's up with this? Oh, it's not a tattoo. It's a brand.

1:05:01 Yeah, it's a tattoo that says Japanese and Chinese.

1:05:04 Yeah, exactly. Don't ask questions. But then the Keith Raniere analog comes out, and it's just like, yes, that was her idea.

1:05:11 They all do it. It was Vicky's idea about her progress. So it says AHM, which we learn later stands for something, but it also doesn't look like AHM. It just looks like a fucking... Legends of Zelda Triforce thing.

1:05:26 Yeah, it doesn't. I mean, I guess I didn't get that great of a look at it, but it's like it doesn't look like much of anything. It's just OK, fine. But yeah, they've all got these brands in the same spot. And it's it's a women's group with a dude at the head of it. And no one's like. this is a fuck like immediately. How are they not like, this is a fucking like from minute one. They're like, yeah, that's a cold guys.

1:05:51 It's a little unclear whether Olivia sees through this. She goes inside and Lila, she's like, she's like perusing, uh, uh, what the fuck is his name? Not Oliver Arlo. She's perusing Arlo's books and it's like the feminine mystique or whatever. And, um, And Lila comes in and is like, he's read all the books on his shelf. How many men can say that?

1:06:18 How many men can read?

1:06:19 A surprisingly small number of them.

1:06:24 And she says, you know, Lila says it's a man's world. And I used to be this high-powered corporate person. And I was always just basically getting fucked over by... the dudes and Arlo has like freed me of this. And Olivia's like, well, I run my unit. And she's like, but who runs you? And I would have loved to do like a hard cut to see both Rollins and Olivia's minds just instantly broken. Like they're getting the brands.

1:06:55 They're like, whoa.

1:06:57 Oh, fuck.

1:07:00 Oh my God. You know, I would have also loved it if that's what the rest of this episode was, it was like a deep cover sting where Rollins has to go undercover.

1:07:09 Rollins like loses herself. Right.

1:07:12 And it's like, there's some sort of a dramatic thing where fucking Arlo is like, ah, yes, cause he's, cause he's really giving it to her. He's really trying to work her throughout this episode. So it's like, so she's like, you know what?

1:07:22 You're right.

1:07:22 Takes it. And then he's like getting ready to brand her. Then he's just like, not so fast, like pistol whips or something like that. That would be fun.

1:07:27 That would be fun. Um, but, but instead Arlo's giving Amanda a tour of, let me check my notes, the crack house. The, like, fucking crack house mattresses that he has just, like, lining the floor.

1:07:42 Yeah, it's the fuck room. That's where you just go to, everyone just goes and fucks. All the mattresses pushed together on the ground. No sheets. Don't ask questions.

1:07:50 No sheets.

1:07:51 Heavens no. Why would you have any sheets? And it's locked, by the way. There's no one in it, but it's locked.

1:07:56 Oh, it is. It sure is locked. And so she's like, this is where you cure these women of their of their problems. And he's like, I just, they cure themselves. I just watch.

1:08:07 It's like, okay, well we know what his role in all of this is then.

1:08:11 Yeah. There's like a cock chair, but, but, but she's, he's like, ah, let me try to work you with like a woman becomes a cop. Why? It's either. Cause like daddy didn't love her or, or men, men are bad or something. Yeah. Is, is that, is this doing it for you? The guy that the guy that impregnated you, he's not around. Take a look at Jeff mentalist over here.

1:08:34 And she's like, you know, you're full of shit. You're a fucking con man. And I am a cop because I want to put people like you in fucking jail.

1:08:47 He's like, gotta go.

1:08:50 I will break you. Don't you worry.

1:08:53 They read about Arlo on his website. And this is where they learn that he is a astrobot. and badminton player. Cool.

1:09:03 Okay. Astrobiologist? That's not a thing, is it?

1:09:06 I'm sure it is. You know, people study the biology of space.

1:09:10 It's all dead.

1:09:12 Yeah, but they found bacteria on Mars.

1:09:17 Yeah, okay. Fine. Fine.

1:09:20 I think that that's not crazy. I mean, it's crazy that he claims to be one, but that's a real doubt.

1:09:27 Because they say he's got a degree in astrobiology, and I think they say from fucking Oxford.

1:09:32 I'm like, what? Yeah, right.

1:09:34 Get the fuck out of here.

1:09:36 Like, the people who are studying the makeup of other planets' soils are astrobiologists and astrogeologists.

1:09:46 All right.

1:09:47 All right. Fair enough. Withdrawn.

1:09:50 All right.

1:09:52 But, okay, so they learned that this whole organization was started with somebody. Arlo started it with this woman named Marina Basso, and I guess, like, used her money to start it, it seems?

1:10:08 Yeah, I was a little unclear, because they're supposed to be divorced now, and she is very, you know, casually eating at her kitchen island in her what seems to be palatial estate that they're talking about.

1:10:20 Yeah, that looks like a fucking restaurant.

1:10:22 Yeah.

1:10:24 But she says that Arlo, she kind of talks about him with disgust in her voice, but says that he could charm meat from a lion.

1:10:33 Which I kind of liked that.

1:10:34 Yeah, but that he, she left when she found out that Arlo was sleeping with Lila, and he's like, no, honey, I was sleeping with her for your own good because you're so jealous all the time. Which, like, the balls on this bet.

1:10:51 I mean, if... Man, that's an all-or-nothing bet on that one.

1:10:57 You kind of got to respect it.

1:10:59 Right? It takes some chutzpah to pull that one off.

1:11:05 It does take some chutzpah. And so we go back to SVU, and Rollins got, like, four times more pregnant since the last time we saw her. But they're going to keep kind of tailing the women of a credo. Specifically, there's like this beach park yoga thing that the women, this is meet the women of a credo and it's like come to this yoga thing. So they go to the yoga thing.

1:11:36 It's nice. It's right on the water and they show up and the main girl, what's her name?

1:11:40 There are so many of these different Lila's running the yoga thing. I hate to do this. She's calling out those moves too fast. She's doing it way too fast. I mean, she's probably not teacher certified if we're being real.

1:11:56 Well, you know, but she's got to prepare for the role, man. That's on the actor.

1:12:01 No, no, no. I mean, Lila, I think the character is not teacher certified. She just shows up and does shit.

1:12:06 Oh, I got you.

1:12:07 But she does make a second reference. She's like, monitor your heart rate on your fitness trackers. She, like, says that. They're, like, tagging that fitness trackers exist in this world.

1:12:21 And that everyone in this cult appears to be wearing one.

1:12:24 Yeah.

1:12:25 Keep that in mind.

1:12:26 Remember, remember.

1:12:28 Yeah, so she says to Finn and Carisi, basically, we've been advised not to talk to you. And then they find a guy basically kind of peeping, not even... hiding at all.

1:12:40 Just not peeping just like just fucking watching they say it's him again.

1:12:44 Just like 20 feet away from them it's kind of funny actually.

1:12:47 He says he's gonna keep like they go up to they talk to him and he says I'm gonna keep shooting until I find something I'm not spying on women I'm spying on these cult women and my I.

1:12:58 Want my money back get my money back.

1:13:01 And my ex-wife Gina who's the woman who um picked Brad up from the bar um is like with them, which is interesting. Cause when they, when they interrogate Gina about where she was and why she picked up Brad, she's like, Oh, I used to have such low self-esteem and I let men pick me up and do whatever they wanted to me. So this was me picking up a man and being in control. Are you believing any of this? And like, that turns out to be, I mean, maybe not complete bullshit, but she was married.

1:13:33 Yeah.

1:13:35 Anyway, He's got other pictures specifically of Gina stepping on someone's head. Well, that sure was lucky. Right.

1:13:43 And so they're just like, we're going to take this. And the guy's like, right on. Again, the money.

1:13:47 Please give me my money back.

1:13:48 Please get me my money back.

1:13:50 From my whore of an ex-wife.

1:13:53 So they're looking at the pictures. They're like, all right, well, let's bring, let's bring what's her name in, the ex-wife, Gina in.

1:14:01 Because whose head is she stepping on? Vicky's. Yeah, so that's not good.

1:14:07 No, so they're like, oh, let's bring her in. And she's like, look, man, she was, have you ever seen Full Metal Jacket with the fucking, with the soap?

1:14:15 The blanket party?

1:14:16 Yeah, we had to do that to her. The code red.

1:14:20 Exactly. Honestly, this is basically the plot of A Few Good Men.

1:14:23 Kinda, in some ways. So Rollins at this point can't, because we, I think we skipped over, no, excuse me, that's after this. Rollins basically goes fucking nuts here.

1:14:35 She says that it's not abuse, that this is what's called starting over. And Vicky was my serf. I was her lord. And I was ordered to do this by my lord because I, too, am a serf. And Rollins is like, I can't fucking deal with this.

1:14:53 She kicks in the door and is like, that's it. Rips the chair out for me. She's like, get down on the floor, you fucking bitch. I'm going to beat the fucking shit out of you.

1:15:01 Hell yeah, Rollins. Give birth on top of her.

1:15:04 And my note here is immediately, it's like, well, any information you get out of this interrogation is now inadmissible in court because it was completely coerced. You, like, threatened to, like, beat this woman practically.

1:15:15 I'm kind of into it, though. Oh, I don't... Like, on a personal level.

1:15:20 I mean, this show hasn't given a shit about the law or any of the rules for decades at this point, it seems. So, yeah, no, it's fine.

1:15:27 I also... I just, like... For whatever reason, Rollins getting so frustrated that she just has to beat on someone is funnier to me than when Stabler does it.

1:15:38 It's funnier, especially because she's super pregnant.

1:15:41 Yeah, I think that might be what it is. It might be that, too. So she says, I just did what my lord told me to do. And then we hard cut to Rollins just eating a salad, doing a lot of salad acting. And Olivia's like, so you want to talk about it?

1:15:58 And she shares how when she was a kid or growing up, she was like up in her room. She had a TV and she would turn it up really loud.

1:16:08 She really likes family ties, specific Alex P. Keaton, specifically Alex P. Keaton. Of course, she liked the young Republican motherfucker.

1:16:17 Wouldn't she? Well, she is from Georgia.

1:16:19 Yeah.

1:16:19 But basically, it's a tale of the mom being with a physically abusive partner.

1:16:27 Her dad. It was her dad.

1:16:29 It was her dad, and she would get so pissed. There was this vase that it wasn't expensive or anything like that, but her mom really liked it. And one night, the dad threw it at her and broke it.

1:16:41 She wasn't mad at the dad. She was mad at the mom for staying.

1:16:44 Yeah, for basically putting up with it.

1:16:46 And Olivia's like, oh man, I didn't know that. You didn't know her dad was abusive? I feel like we knew her dad was abusive.

1:16:52 I don't remember. I mean, maybe it's one of those things where it was like slightly alluded to, but like never actually fully explored.

1:16:59 I guess so. But because Gina has broken, now we have some more information, specifically that the nude pictures were given to a credo as collateral, along with like money, classic cult shit, And that the brand that they have, A-H-M, stands for At His Mercy.

1:17:22 Woof. Woof.

1:17:24 And so they're like, man, but Gina's never going to flip on the person who actually did the murder because we are certain that Gina didn't do the murder. Maybe because she was at the bar. I don't know. They don't really run that down.

1:17:39 She says her job was to go in and plant the blood.

1:17:45 Correct but like they're like where'd you get the blood and then she just didn't answer and i'm like you got the blood from her body.

1:17:52 I think it was i guess i was just assuming it was supposed to be like a cut because we we're not going to hear who she says but then they're going to reveal in the next scene.

1:18:00 I don't know but they reveal that she didn't say anything that she she won't she won't flip on her her lord but okay cool so they they assume it's lila because duh And they're like, well, you know, we got, we can't really prove that she was there. And if she was, we got her cell phone records. And if she, if she was there, she didn't bring her phone. And then dot, dot, dot.

1:18:30 But, oh yeah. Cause like, oh, that means her phone was there. But what about her fitness tracker? And everyone in America should have been like, oh wait, right. That's what the police are doing with all this information. Because Lord knows the companies that make these things don't give a fuck about our privacy.

1:18:44 And in fact, they're selling.

1:18:46 All of this data to the highest fucking bidders. and the police.

1:18:52 So they use her fitness tracker data not only to place her at the scene of the crime, but Carisi's like, her heart rate hit 130 while she was doing the murder. That's a good workout. That's in the fat burn zone.

1:19:07 Yeah, he's like, all right, so here's the best I can figure. You see this? This is her climbing up the six flights of stairs. And then it drops off here because that's where they're just, like, hanging out and stuff. And then, boy, oh, boy, murdering someone sure does take a lot of time.

1:19:20 I actually think it would be funny. Like, it is a funny scene if someone's in the middle of doing a murder and then the Apple Watch lights up. It's like, are you working out?

1:19:32 Yeah. Or it's like, your heart rate's going really fast right now. Are you okay? Are you okay? I'm calling the cops.

1:19:39 And so.

1:19:40 Or if you fall over, it's like the SOS thing goes off automatically. It's like, no, no, no, no, no, no.

1:19:44 No, no, no, no, no, no. So they go to pick her up. And she's once again doing some sort of weird yoga meditation thing. She's like, feel the heartbeat. We're going to feel your fucking heartbeat. And then as they arrest her, she's like, as you were, everyone....

1:20:04 It's like, we're getting weirdly paramilitary now, I guess.

1:20:07 Yeah, so she says that she's not going to say anything, and then she talks a lot.

1:20:13 Well, she goes, so she's in jail. This is when Liv goes to visit her in the jail?

1:20:16 Correct.

1:20:17 Okay, so Liv says something to the effect of, has he called you yet? I'm like, Liv, she's in prison. That's not how, if she's If she's on the phone, it's because she's making the call.

1:20:31 You don't get inbound calls. But she's like, he doesn't give a shit about you. He's a con man. He's a con man. Did he get you a lawyer? Did he contact you? Did he say fucking anything to you? And then Olivia says, most women in here are here because they believed a man's lies. That's kind of sexist. Women can commit crimes all on their own, you know, Olivia.

1:20:57 Yeah, I mean, to say most. She should have just said women in here, because then it's like unspecific.

1:21:03 A lot of women in here, yeah. But she's like, I'm staying silent. And Olivia's like, were you silent or were you silenced? Good one. But she says, if you cut a deal, you could maybe get out of here by the time you're 50. And... Meanwhile, there is.

1:21:25 She does not have a lawyer present. Liv does not have the district attorney. Like, Stone is not there. Liv is just throwing around these promises.

1:21:36 Empty promises. But Lila's like, you know, I couldn't face my fears. Okay, what the fuck is that? And so, hard cut to, we have arrested Arlo, and Claudia is his lawyer. Oh, I.

1:21:53 These two deserve each other with a name like Claudia.

1:21:56 Claudia. And so it's basically this Svengali defense. Like he didn't touch any of the, any, he didn't hurt anybody physically, but he like commanded his acolytes to do it. And he's like, whoever put that baby in your belly doesn't love you. And I love you. And I, I know what, I know what's, what's really going on. And Ron's like, your con's over. And he's like, we'll see. We'll see.

1:22:24 Bold in front of your attorney. Yeah, and then Liv has a whole dressing down about how he's the worst kind of predator because he lures her.

1:22:32 Into the week. Makes women feel good.

1:22:34 Yeah, he makes women feel good, but it's all a lie. It's this whole fucking thing. He's like, you're the most dangerous predator out there.

1:22:41 And then he does a slow clap. An ironic slow clap.

1:22:47 He's like, yes, that's very good, detective. The game is afoot.

1:22:49 The hop. So we can tell by the close-ups that they're going to break Claudia. They're just going to, she's like on the cusp.

1:22:58 Yeah, and it's like, if I'm him, I'm looking over her being like, you know, hold on, hold.

1:23:03 On, hold on, hold on. Oh boy. Claudia, wait outside.

1:23:09 I mean, I know I'm overly confident, what with being a con man, but I don't know. I'm getting a little squirrely about this.

1:23:15 So when they go to court, And what happens like in the courtroom is less important than Rollins like cornering Claudia in the hallway and basically going, listen, we've all fucked a loser.

1:23:31 Look, I hate myself for having this baby, but you know, I'm going to get through it. Which is like, that's a weird message to be delivering to this woman.

1:23:40 Yeah. And like the damage that the loser that I fucked is already inside of me. This baby. But it doesn't have to be inside of you. Are we going to kiss?

1:23:54 What is happening right now? I have to go arrange for bail.

1:23:59 I got to go. I got I got I got I got to go. But we cut over to Olivia FaceTiming with Noah. Noah's like, I don't want to do homework. Olivia's like, let's hear your little shit.

1:24:11 And he's like, fuck you, and hangs up on her. Here's the thing. I will take these little Noah pop-ins because they're like for like 15 seconds and they're not. It's just like yada yada and it goes away. So I'm like, okay.

1:24:24 Also, I don't want to blame Noah. Noah's a little piece of shit because his mother is never around.

1:24:30 Yeah, that's true. We haven't seen Lucy in a while.

1:24:32 Because he's just home alone now. He's eating fucking Cheerios. So Claudia does break, and she says, you know, it is my responsibility to let you know that my client is trying to skip bail.

1:24:53 So yeah, flee the jurisdiction. So come get him. He's at the Westchester County Airport.

1:24:59 He's on his way to the Westchester County Airport, where I had a really weird dinner once. Oh, yeah. And, like, weird sort of, like, gasoline ex machina, where they just, like, get there and arrest him because his ex-wife... Didn't gas up the jet. Marina. Didn't gas up the jet. And he's like.

1:25:18 Why is she there? And why is she letting him... Is she actually still in... This is the part that I didn't understand. It's like.

1:25:25 I think it goes back to her saying he could charm meat from a lion, right? Like, he charmed her to... into doing it, and then when he's like, I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids, she's like, shut up, Arlo.

1:25:38 Well, here's what I don't get, though, because it's like, okay, fine, he can charm meat from a lion, but you also divorced him, so it's very clearly telling us that you were able to break from his charms. What with the divorcing him?

1:25:50 Yeah, yeah. You know, people relapse. Okay. His dick must be amazing.

1:25:57 Or he's convinced everyone that it is.

1:25:59 Yeah, right. And so as he's being loaded into the car, Amanda's like, I'm going to go tell 1PP about my pregnancy because no one knows. And Olivia's like, you can say that I knew. Amanda's like, I'll tell them that you didn't know. And Olivia's like, no, don't do that. And okay, what? Who the fuck? Oh my God, who cares?

1:26:24 And then she goes, She says who the baby daddy is, which is that guy, that Dr. Douchebag guy. And Olivia goes, I'm happy for you, Amanda. Okay.

1:26:35 Dick Wolf.

1:26:36 Dick Wolf. Who cares? Oh, my God.

1:26:38 What a such a flat ending.

1:26:41 Yeah, really. If I read this script as an assignment, my diagnosis is usually like, oh, you realize that you were on page 45, right? And you had a brick wall that you were about to run into.

1:26:55 And then everyone lived happily ever after. Goodbye.

1:27:01 The end. Bye. From Trivia Corner. Sebastian Roche previously played a rock star accused of... He's the guy that played Arlo. Yeah. He's a that guy.

1:27:16 He pops into a bunch of stuff.

1:27:17 He is a that guy. Previously played a rock star accused of rape in... the law and order original recipe episode discord. It wasn't an SVU episode because it was from 1993 before SVU existed. Ah, um, Sebastian Roche. You also might recognize from, uh, 1923, which is one of those like Yellowstone.

1:27:40 Yeah. Sure.

1:27:44 Don't. Yeah. I don't, I don't watch any of those. Um, and he's also on, Big Sky, which appears to not be in that universe. But yeah, he's around. He's got a lot of stuff. He's on Once Upon a Time, Criminal Minds, Fringe.

1:28:05 Yeah, again, if you saw it, you'd be like, oh, again, it's the classic that guy.

1:28:11 19 episodes of a show called Odyssey 5. After witnessing the sudden implosion of Earth from orbit, a group of Five Odyssey astronauts is sent five years back in time by an alien force to find the cause and prevent the disaster. A vast conspiracy stands in their way. Odyssey 5. Sounds kind of good.

1:28:33 Yeah. Not a bad premise, it sounds like.

1:28:37 Yeah. I don't... it's three three seasons two seasons some some kind of some number of seasons nominated for one emmy i've never heard of this show peter weller is the main guy robocop.

1:28:51 What years what years are from 2002.

1:28:53 To 2004 huh weird it sounds like it's a fox show I thought it was going to be like a sci-fi channel show, but it appears not. Odyssey 5. Earth was destroyed on August 7th, 2007. I wish.

1:29:12 Boy, oh boy. No, then we'd still be in fucking W territory.

1:29:18 Yeah.

1:29:18 Pre-Obama.

1:29:21 Odyssey 5. Tell me what network it was on. 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Crazy. How many reviews? What is this fucking show? Showtime. Oh, that's why. That's why no one saw it.

1:29:35 That's the ticket.

1:29:37 Yeah, so he was a rapist on something else. Whoops. I didn't mean to say it like that.

1:29:45 This fucking guy is a fucking rapist.

1:29:51 And as we mentioned... The credo was ripped from the headlines drawing on the news story of the NXIVM cult, which was charged with trafficking women and using them as slaves. And Sarah Carter, the character Lila Finch, is loosely based on, as you said, Allison Mack, who was arrested in connection with NXIVM and Carter... Sarah Carter, the actor who plays Lila, and Allison Mack worked together on three episodes of Smallville. Oh, man.

1:30:27 Maybe that's why they cast her.

1:30:28 Oh, boy. Yeah. Give an inside track to the character, man. Allison Mack was charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy, and she pleaded guilty and served 21 months in prison for her role in recruiting women for Keith Ranieri. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. No Goose. What? Oh. No Goose. Perfect episode. Oh, wow.

1:30:56 I mean, I find that hard to believe, but okay.

1:30:59 So from User Review Corner. Oh, boy. From Labengie-12163 from December 6, 2020. One out of ten stars. This is the title. So basically, SVU writers believe women are stupid and weak. Wow. Did Olivia really say most of the women in prison are because they believed a man's lies? Is this show really about women's empowerment? A women's empowerment group led by a man that is a cult? What the... WTF?

1:31:38 I am insulted as a woman that all of my problems in life is the fault of a man. Honestly. Right on. Yeah.

1:31:48 Yeah.

1:31:48 Pretty good. valid read they they uh they had me in the first half there not gonna lie and from the other side of the aisle from malibu 3721 from january 19th 2021 the day before joe biden's inauguration 10 and 10 stars when people only respond to manipulation that's the title the people complaining about the line Benson uses on Lila, how most women are in prison because of men's lies completely missed the point of the line. And I enjoy the fact that it shows Benson blurring ethical lines. Well, you've got a lot of things to enjoy in this show.

1:32:28 Someone who has been manipulated is most likely going to respond to manipulation, which is exactly what Benson did when using that line. Generous, generous Malibu.

1:32:41 Yeah.

1:32:42 Right.

1:32:42 Like, uh, That's a way you could read it.

1:32:46 Oh, boy. And that's our episode for this week. Law & Order SVU Season 20, Episode 5. Credo, if you agree or disagree with us, if you would like to be our serfs, let us know. We're at SVU Podcasts on Blue Sky and Instagram, the official Blue Sky and Instagram of Mexium?

1:33:03 Ew, but okay. And you can take that to the bank, the book bank, Senator, and for longer or weirder things or tweet-sized emails, send us an email, specialviewingunitspidermonkeygmail.com, and give us a rate and review wherever fine podcasts are sold, except for Spotify, because fuck Spotify.

1:33:19 And tune in next week when we view and review and lovingly ridicule Law & Order SVU Season 20, Episode 6, Exile. A young woman wakes up in the hospital with no memory of her assault. And Carisi's investigation stalls when she disappears.

1:33:39 Oh, boy. Here we go.

1:33:40 And joining us next week, Sandrine Holt as Lisa Abernathy is back. And Tara Polyhemus plays Kristen. She looks a little bit like Shauna Shipman from Yellow Jackets. Oh, okay. Did you watch Yellow Jackets?

1:34:04 The first season, then I fell off of it.

1:34:05 Good. Stop right there.

1:34:08 I think I got like halfway through season two and then fell.

1:34:10 Off of it. No need to watch anymore.

1:34:11 Yeah, agreed.

1:34:14 And until then, for Law & Order Special Viewing Unit, I'm Aviv Rubenstein.

1:34:19 And I'm Matt Breuder. We will see you guys next week.

1:34:23 Dunk up.

1:34:23 Dunk up.

1:34:33 Thank you.