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'Law & Order: SVU' Season 22 Episode 2 explores how the cycle of abuse continues for domestic abuse survivors

The cases on 'Law & Order: SVU' often show the grim realities of abuse victims and this week's episode was no different
PUBLISHED NOV 20, 2020
(NBC)
(NBC)

Spoilers for 'Law & Order: SVU' Season 22 Episode 2

In last week's premiere of 'Law & Order: SVU', the issue of police brutality and racial bias against Black people was addressed. After a Black man is wrongfully arrested by the police, with Olivia Benson's (Mariska Hargitay) and Odafin "Fin" Tutuola's (Ice-T) oversight, the Special Victims Unit's (SVU) case is completely derailed — with the actual perpetrator using the SVU's mistake to his advantage and freeing himself as well.

We also heard that there was going to be a lawsuit against Fin over his shooting of a Black man towards the end of the last season. Fin had shot the man, Leon, who was recently released from prison and went to his son and the mother of his child, despite a restraining order. When Fin reached the woman's home after the son messaged, he saw Leon holding her at knifepoint, and before the man could make a move on his son, Fin shot him.

In this week's episode, SVU deals with a case of domestic abuse-turned-murder. A man, Dwight, who had spent the night over at the victim, Irina Novak's house is shown first to be abusive and mean to her son, Will. Later, her neighbors call the cops and when Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish) and Katriona "Kat" Tamin (Jamie Gray Hyder) go over, they see her unconscious on the floor, bleeding.

She has a black eye and bruising on her arm, yet Irina says she does not remember anything. Irina and Will refuse to say anything, but Will's father, Mark tells Kat that Dwight is abusive. Later, the cops are called to Irina's house again. But this time, the victim is Dwight, who died after being electrocuted by a hairdryer in the bathtub. Was it a tragic accident or premeditated murder?

Irina was the one who called 911 and she said she did so after finding the body. She also says that Will was at Mark's house that morning, but as SVU interrogates both of them — with Will accompanied by his father Mark — Will confesses that he killed Dwight because the latter was fighting with his mother, and Will was afraid that Irina would get hurt again.

However, Will's confession means he will bear the brunt of the criminal charges, which Assistant DA Dominick Carisi Jr (Peter Scanavino) does not want. When Irina refuses to come clean about the truth of what happened — both Will, and her daughter Leanne are saying two different things — and seemingly is okay with letting her son take the fall, Carisi gets angry and threatens to try Will as an adult to force Irina to tell the truth.

In the meantime, Dwight's pregnant widow also shows up. Will also insists that his mother was not in the bathroom and that it was just him who committed the murder. Will's trial goes ahead, and even then Irina continues to testify in a way that Will committed the murder.

However, Mark testifies that he does not think Will is capable of murder and that he wouldn't hurt another human being unless he was absolutely forced to. Irina keeps saying she was trying to protect him, and finally, she says that Will is innocent and confesses that she killed Dwight.

Later, Irina's lawyer first says she was in a mentally fragile state, but when Irina confesses that she did it, he says self-defense. However, when Irina is not willing to keep putting her son in trouble, the lawyer belittles her and Irina fires him. Irina says she is guilty and though Carisi does not want to pursue charges, she is sentenced to a year in prison.

Meanwhile, Fin is being deposed for the lawsuit. Leon's wife insists she did not want him dead and when Fin's lawyer accuses her of wanting Leon to be free on parole so he could pay child support, she breaks down and says she did not want her child to see his father being killed.

Later, Fin says his concern was for Leon's son, Andre, and that Leon wanted to use Andre as a shield. While Leon's wife continues to defend Leon, Fin says that she and his son would not have made it out alive had he not been shot. Fin's colleagues continue to support him but it is clear that he is losing hope for his career's future.

This week's episode showed how the cycle of abuse continues for victims. Irina says in the episode that she grew up in a house where someone was being beaten up every day and given the way her ex-husband handled Will when the latter confessed, it would seem that Mark may have been controlling too. Even her lawyer's treatment of her makes it clear that she probably didn't confess earlier because of the way he treated her.

As Olivia says, Irina has always listened and done the things that the men in her life tell her to do. Will, who has grown up seeing his mother so helpless, wants to protect her, and him wanting to kill Dwight in the first place, and later confessing to keep his mother safe, proves that. 

The cases on 'Law & Order: SVU' often show the grim realities of abuse victims and this week's episode was no different. Comparatively, Irina got a lighter sentence along with mandated counseling. The episode also draws attention to the fact that mental health treatment should be made a basic right and available to everyone.

'Law & Order: SVU' airs on NBC on Thursday nights at 9/8c.

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