Law & Order: SVU Season 20 Episode 13 Review: A Story of More Woe
Jack Ori
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Thank God Rollins kicked Dr. Al to the curb again.
I know that wasn't the main point of Law & Order: SVU Season 20 Episode 13, but I was worried for a minute there!
He showed up out of nowhere literally a second after Rollins said she wanted Carisi by her side and started orchestrating things, and I didn't trust her to make the right decision this time.
Al seriously freaked me out. He came to the hospital uninvited and later tried to convince Rollins to quit her job so he could take care of her.
It is a perfect setup for a domestic violence storyline, and Rollins should be aware of that considering what she's seen on the job.
Al: I thought you'd take a nice long maternity leave. Or quit your job.
Rollins: Quit my job? But I love my job!
Al: I know, but I want to take care of you.
Rollins: I know you do, Al, but I can't marry you.
Al: Why not?
Rollins: Because I don't love you.
Al's calm acceptance of Rollins' rejection was disturbing, too. He acted like he didn't care.
I hope I'm wrong, but I got a stalker vibe from him, and now that Carisi and Rollins seem to be headed for couplehood, I'm expecting the worst.
Speaking of which, Carisi's reaction to Rollins going into labor was perfect.
He went from work-focused and oblivious to entirely focused on her in a matter of seconds, all without being overbearing.
The nurse thinking he was the father wasn't exactly subtle, but I didn't care. We got Rollins asking Carisi not to leave her side! SQUEE!
The case itself wasn't hard to figure out, but it was interesting anyway.
The writers did a good job of leading viewers down false paths. I predicted that Laura's father was abusing her as soon as they mentioned Laura having sexual trauma and I pegged Britney as the real killer right away.
Brittany: So you're calling me a liar.
Benson: No, we're not saying that. We're just trying to understand what happened.
Rollins: There are just some things that don't add up.
Brittany: You know what? I don't care! You know why? My dad is dead! So what difference does it make who killed him?
Of course, that would have been a short and boring story if that was all there was to it since those super obvious reveals happened in the first 10 minutes!
I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and as soon as Greg turned out to be a significant part of Laura's life, I predicted he was the real abuser.
Related: 23 Times Law & Order: SVU Made Us Cry
The one thing I got wrong was my assumption that Britney wasn't the killer. I wish I'd been right about that for her sake!
It made for some tense drama for her to find out that she had murdered her father based on a lie, though. Kudos to Zoe Margaret Coletti!
That last confrontation between Britney and Greg was heartwrenching to watch, and I flinched when Britney stabbed Greg.
Britney kept me guessing throughout the whole thing, too. I wasn't sure whether she and Greg had planned this together or if she was as much an unwitting pawn as Laura was.
I thought she could turn out to have sociopathic or even psychopathic tendencies and have killed her father for her own reasons.
I also wondered at the end if it was true that she thought Laura was pregnant. I guess it wasn't that important to the story, but it might make for an interesting sequel sometime.
Benson: Shakespeare? That's pretty grown up.
Laura: I'm grown up.
Benson: Good, cause I have a grown-up question for you. You and Greg...
Laura: I love him like a brother.
Benson: Is that what Greg told you to say? You were reading Romeo and Juliet.
Laura: He helps me with my English homework.
Benson: I saw the inscription. To Juliet from Romeo.
Laura: You think I'm too young to be in love?
Benson: No, you're not... with someone your own age.
Laura: My mom killed herself! I'm not like other girls, playing with baby dolls. I'm a real woman.
Benson: Is that what Greg told you? Because he told us you just had a schoolgirl crush.
Laura: No he didn't! He wouldn't!
Benson: We know that it wasn't your father that had sex with you. It was Greg.
Laura: I won't betray him!
Benson: But he betrayed you.
Laura: No he didn't.
Benson: Yes, he did. He told us he was in love with Susan.
The only moment that made me groan was Carisi finding the inscribed copy of Romeo and Juliet. As soon as Susan mentioned Shakespeare, I knew that was going to happen.
I forgive SVU for that, though, because Laura's conviction that Greg loved her was that good.
Greg had groomed Laura, and her belief that they were star-crossed lovers was a creepy mixture of childish beliefs and Greg's brainwashing.
He was so far inside Laura's brain that even Benson couldn't get through to her.
Benson tried everything and Laura cried a couple of times, but Laura's loyalty to Greg was pretty much unshakable. I don't doubt that she was crying and depressed even if that was part of the script to get Greg.
Related: How Law & Order: SVU Has Evolved Over the Years
I'm also not sure that using Britney as bait to get Greg was the right move. She was a sixteen-year-old girl who had just gotten tricked into killing her father! Wasn't there some other way SVU could have got the man responsible besides making her talk to him?
I wish she'd at least had a session with one of the department psychiatrists. Elizabeth Olivet has made a number of cameo appearances, and this would have been a perfect time for another one, though Dr. Huang will always be my favorite SVU shrink.
Cop: They have to see their father's dead body. You deal with kids like this all the time. I don't know how you do it.
Carisi: Sometimes, neither do I.
I wasn't sure what was going to happen to Britney, either, after Benson got her to put the knife down.
Fin's opinion that the world would be better off if Britney had killed Greg notwithstanding, she did stab him in front of a bunch of cops who were watching the undercover mission!
I'm glad she got probation and counseling, even though I agree with Benson that it won't do all that much good.
I can't imagine how messed up this girl is going to be from having killed her father based on a lie, and I'm not sure Greg hadn't molested her too, even if it hadn't gone as far as sex. The way he held her hands at the table was weird.
What did you think, SVU fanatics?
Did the case hold your interest, or were you more concerned about Rollins' baby drama?
Do you think Dr. Al is going to stalk Rollins?
And did anyone else gasp with shock when Britney stabbed Greg?
Weigh in below, and don't forget you can watch Law & Order: SVU online if you missed anything!
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.
