All language subtitles for Law and Order SVU s27e16 Vivid.eng

.

- In the criminal justice
system,

sexually based offenses

are considered
especially heinous.

In New York City,
the dedicated detectives

who investigate
these vicious felonies

are members of an elite squad

known as
the Special Victims Unit.

These are their stories.

- [laughing]

[thudding, shattering]

[tense music]

- Hey!

What the hell? That's my car!

- Hey, don't come any closer!

- Look what you did!
- He said stand back!

- Wha--[grunts]

[siren wailing]
- Run, Harrison!

[tires screech]

[bat clatters]

- Police!

- NYPD!

- Don't move.

Put your hands on the car!

- Let's go.
- Margot--

- Quiet!

- Are you all right?
Do you need an ambulance?

- No, I'm--I'm okay.

- What happened?

- Uh, I just ca--came out
and found them messing up m--

my car.
- Any idea why?

- I mean,

I guess that.

♪ ♪

- I take it you're Zac.

- I just think it's important
to believe victims.

- Well, I couldn't agree more.

But are you saying
that you're a victim?

- I'm saying when people
speak up, nobody listens.

- I'm listening.

Margot, I'm all ears.
- [scoffs]

No, you're gonna say
what everyone else says.

What was she wearing?
Was she drinking?

- Okay, Margot, please.

Just yes or no.

Were you a victim
of sexual assault?

- You see?

You're not listening.

- Look,
this all got out of hand.

Nobody intended for
anybody to get hurt.

- Yeah, kind of hard to
buy that when you show up

with a baseball bat, Harrison.

- Margot said it was
just a precaution.

- What else did Margot say?

- That it's important
to take a stand.

And it is.

And that we should
believe women, and I do.

- You always do
what Margot tells you?

- She's very, very smart.

And she cares about
the world,

and justice.

And--and she's--
and she's smart.

- And she told you
that Zac was a rapist?

- I am not a rapist.

I don't even know what
they're talking about.

- You've never met
either of them?

- No, but a couple days ago,
I started getting

all these DMs on my socials.

They found my work email.

Total strangers saying
I raped somebody.

- Zac, what I need
you to focus on

is why they'd get this idea
about you.

- Man, I don't know.

[stammering] They're crazy?

You know, mistaken identity?

I--I don't even know
who's saying I did that.

- Margot, this is not
a trick question.

It's yes or no.

Is the victim a friend
of yours or not?

- What if she's not?

Do we have to be besties?

- Oh, my God, you--

you don't have to be anything.

I don't know how to
get through to you.

I cannot move forward
with this investigation

until I have a name.

- Who is this victim
you are avenging?

- Like, a name?

- Yeah, exactly, like a name.

- I don't actually know
her real-life name.

- I never met her.

- You never had one
conversation with her?

- No, but it doesn't matter.

What matters is we found
her rapist, and you didn't.

- Okay, Margot,
I need you to give me

something to investigate,
just one thing.

Could be anything.

I need you to give me
one thing.

♪ ♪

Her name is Jaded Ember.

She's a VTuber on Twitch.

Like a virtual streamer.

- I don't expect anyone
to believe me or help me.

I just wanted to
say it out loud.

The guy who raped me,
he's gonna get away with it.

But maybe someone who's going
through something like this,

maybe they'll hear me
and have a different ending.

I don't know.

It would be awesome
if this helped someone.

Otherwise,
what's even the point?

- I mean, you'd have to be
crazy to ignore that.

How could we just
not try to help?

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

.

- And we think he's
casing the houses

until the occupants leave.

So I'm assigning an additional
unit to Sector David.

Questions?

All right, then let's focus on
quality stops and good collars.

And make sure your body cams
are up and running.

Be professional, respectful,
and everyone

comes back in one piece.

All right, thanks. Dismissed.

- Not one officer
checking their phone.

They must like you.

- Well, there may or may not
be a rumor going around

that anyone not paying
attention to the roll

gets zero OT.

- You're laying down
the hammer.

- Guess I'm a natural.

- I don't like this.

- There's nothing to like.
It is what it is.

- Yeah, but can I still be mad
for you?

- Ah, shoot, I got
a budgeting meeting coming up.

But tell Griff if he double
parks in front of the precinct

again, I'm gonna
have his ass towed.

- I'm not gonna lie.

That interview from last night
kind of broke my brain.

- Yeah, I feel like I know less
after talking to them

than I did after reading
the two-sentence police report.

- I had to cut Zac loose.
He said he'd stay in town.

- Yeah, we got nothing
to hold him on.

- What'd I miss?

- A whole lot of questions.

- Okay, so I found the
rest of that clip

from Jaded Ember's Twitch site.

She's got a ton of fans
on GameCast.

Mostly livestreams herself
playing video games.

But here's the part
of the video where

she talks about being raped.

- I was in therapy when
it all came back to me.

It's so crazy how your brain
can just forget things

that are, like, too traumatic.

But I can feel him

pressing down on my neck,

telling me to relax.

I could hardly breathe.

I couldn't scream.

I--
[breathes shakily]

I don't know.
This sounds crazy.

I hope you guys believe me.

- So it's a recovered memory.

- Yeah, from someone who
won't reveal their identity.

It's tricky.

- Did she identify her rapist?

- No, nothing.
No name, no details.

- But our vigilante Margot
claims that

her detective skills
are so incredible that

they have cracked the case.
- Mm.

- Well, Zac is also a gamer.

He's got a big following
on Twitch.

He and Jaded Ember were dating.

But Zac claims they never met,
only online.

They had a big public
ugly breakup about a year ago.

Her fans just jumped
to their own conclusions.

- It seems real thin.

- Well, how many of her fans
think that he's a rapist?

- Oh, most of them.

- So he could be looking
at more of her fans

tracking him down
and harassing him, or worse.

- So let's get a subpoena
for her identity.

That way,
if she makes a complaint,

we have something
to investigate.

April Deieso?

- Uh, yeah?

- You're Jaded Ember.

- What's this about?

- We're from
Special Victims Unit.

Can we talk to you for a sec?

- I don't recognize them.

Yeah, I know Zac.

He's a dick
and a terrible boyfriend,

but he didn't rape me.

- Well, thanks for
clearing that up.

- How bad was it? Is he okay?

- He was shaken up,
but he's fine.

You made some pretty
serious allegations

on that live stream.

We are sorry that
that happened to you,

and we would like
to investigate.

- No.

I know that it
sounds kind of weird,

that I'm saying I was raped,
but I don't really remember.

And I--I know
how crazy that sounds--

- But it's not crazy.

So, April, it's very common
for victims

to block out significant
details from their assault.

- Right, but I only remember
bits and pieces,

and I don't wanna be,
like, quizzed on everything.

- You said you remembered this
while you were in therapy.

Can you talk to us
more about that?

- I--I don't think I can.

- What do you mean?

- I was on a psychedelic.

- Okay.

- It was a clinical trial
for PTSD.

It's this drug
called protryptamine.

- Okay.

- No, I--

I really shouldn't
have said anything.

I know how it sounds.

Nobody's gonna believe me.

- We're here because
we think that

there is something
to investigate.

- There's not.

I don't remember enough.

You won't be able to find him.

- Let us try.

[suspenseful music]

So the clinical trial has
been over for almost a year.

And the drug is being
tested for the treatment

of PTSD, anxiety, depression.

- And April had no memory
of this assault

before taking a hallucinogen?

- No, she doesn't.

But it's--it's not
a hallucinogen.

It's not like LSD or DMT.

It activates
serotonin receptors,

increases prolactin,
which boosts

about every happy hormone
you can think of.

- And this makes you
recover memories?

Or invent them?

Look, I gotta ask you,

are you sure that this assault
actually happened?

- Well, we don't know yet,
but April believes that it did.

And now so do a lot
of internet warriors.

So we're just--we're
trying to get to the truth.

- All right, look,
even if April recalls details,

you're gonna need
a lot more than that.

The issue here--she wasn't
aware this crime happened

before taking a psychedelic.

- Even if this treatment
is gaining legitimacy?

- Well, it doesn't matter.

People v. Hughes,
People v. Tunstall,

both of these cases
evaluated memories

that were recovered
through hypnosis,

and the courts have
repeatedly found

that testimony needs
to be supported

by pre-hypnotic recollection,
okay?

They're absolutely going to
apply that here.

- So this is dead in the water?

- You can use this statement
to ID a suspect,

but then you're gonna need
independent evidence.

You're gonna need a confession.

- Well, you know,
it's a clinical trial.

They've gotta have records.

So maybe there's more
details in the session.

- Those are not
gonna be admissible.

- But it's a very good place
to start.

I'll see if I can get
permission from April

to talk with the therapist.

- Protryptamine
is both plant-derived

and chemically stabilized,
making it more compatible

with our brain chemistry
than most psychedelics.

And the vast majority
of our participants,

they no longer meet the
diagnostic criteria for PTSD.

I won't be going back to
traditional treatment again.

- So it's a miracle drug?

- I know it all sounds
a little kooky--

pop a pill, listen to music,
lay down in a dark room,

and see what feelings come up,

but we have seen what
it could do for people.

- Which one of you
treated April?

- We both did.

- At the--at the same time?

Is that typical?

- It's protocol, and necessary.

I mean, the sessions can bring
up strong, sometimes difficult

emotions, and can last hours.

- What were you
treating her for?

- PTSD.

At the time, we believed
her symptoms--hyperarousal,

numbness, hypervigilance--

all stemmed from growing up
in an unstable household

with an alcoholic mother.

- You think it's possible
it actually

stemmed from sexual assault?

- Obviously,
we don't know for certain.

But whether or not an event
happened is unimportant.

- Seems it would be
very important.

- Detectives,
we're not in the business

of investigating
the accuracy of a memory

or catching criminals.

We are in the business
of healing.

We explore the meaning behind
the memory, true or not.

- Yes or no.

You think she was raped?

- No, I don't.

[suspenseful music]

I pulled her session files.

Take a look yourselves.

I trust that you'll protect
both April and our work.

- Thank you.

♪ ♪

- Dr. Severson, got a minute?

- Uh, unfortunately, no.

I'm late for an appointment.
Sorry.

- We'll walk with you,
and then maybe you

could tell us what you
wouldn't say up there

in front of your partner.

- Uh, there's really
not much more to say.

- That's fine.

We'll just ask more questions,
widen the net,

involve a lot more people.

You know, that won't impact
the clinical trials at all.

- Nah, 'cause you know
what pharmaceutical

companies really love?

Police investigations.

- Look, I'll start by saying,

I don't mean to disparage
my colleague.

I have a lot of respect
for Dr. Catmull.

He's worked in psychedelics
a long time,

which may be the reason
he's a little too invested

in pushing protryptamine
over the finish line.

- And if it gets stalled,
all that research money

goes down the drain.

- It's not about the money.

It's about helping people.

Jonah wasn't wrong to question
recovered memories

in any setting.

Sometimes they're metaphors.

But he didn't give you
the whole truth.

April has a history
of using psychedelics--

about five years ago.

It wasn't revealed
in the initial interview.

It came out in therapy.

But that should have
disqualified her

from the study.

- Why didn't it?

- Because she's
a success story.

Jonah wanted it in.

- So what does that have
to do with her memory

of being assaulted?

- Jonah omitted the time period
when April was using,

when she was meeting
a lot of men

and blacking out
on a regular basis.

- You think that's when
this happened?

- I can't say for sure
it was rape,

but something happened
to that girl.

♪ ♪

.

- April was trying to put
together a list of the men

that she dated five years ago,

but her memory's spotty.

- Can you remember who
you dated five years ago?

- Well, we are not talking
about me, thank you very much.

What do we got?

- Combing through dating app
matches and cross-checking

names with databases.

- Liv.

- "No psychedelic
is a magic bullet."

- For this writer.

For others,
it's the new frontier

for mental health medicine.

Some studies say psychedelics
can assist in memory recall,

but others say
that it impairs it.

I had a psych professor
at Fordham

who had a section on how
psychedelics affect the brain.

She can break it down for me.

- Good. Go talk to her.

- So how does protryptamine
make you remember things?

- It's more that it modulates
the brain's fear response.

Our brain protects us
from traumatic memories.

And a psychedelic
like protryptamine

can allow you
to recall those events

with less shame and judgment.

For me, psychedelics weren't
so much about memory.

I just felt very
connected and present.

- You've done psychedelics?

- I might have had
a crisis of faith or two

that required some
highly classified trips

to Oaxaca a few years back.
- [laughs] Ah.

- You're not gonna
turn me in, are you?

- Yeah, the DA's on its way.

- It wasn't a clinical trial,
of course.

She was a lovely woman,
luckily.

You're very vulnerable
in that state.

I'm glad to see the practice
is becoming more regulated now.

- There have been problems?

- It's not just protryptamine.

Sex abuse is a known problem
in psychedelics,

even the naturally
occurring ones

like ayahuasca or psilocybin.

- Mm.

- All those happy hormones,

they mess with your
personal boundaries.

They trick you into thinking
you're okay with things

when you're not.

- Which is why
there's two therapists--

make sure
nobody crosses a line.

- The first time,
I was totally freaked out.

- Okay.

- I didn't sleep at all
the night before.

And I got there,
I took the pill,

and, like,
immediately fell asleep.

- Oh.

- When I woke up, I felt...

like I...

understood what love meant.

- Wow.
- [laughs]

Not--not, like, being in love,
but just how

everything and everyone
is all one.

It's--it's hard to describe.

I--I know I probably
sound nuts.

- No, it sounds
kind of, um, incredible.

So when did you
remember the assault?

- The third time.

- Okay.

- They had me put
an eye mask on,

and it makes things
a lot more intense.

It felt so vivid,

this strong feeling of...

violation.

I could actually feel it
happening in my body.

I was crying.

- Did you tell your therapists?

- One of them was
sitting with me.

He was rubbing my back
and my legs, holding me.

- Is that a common practice
for your sessions,

the physical touch?

- Y--yeah, I guess so.
- Okay.

It's just that's--
that's quite unorthodox,

for a therapist to--
to cross that boundary.

What happened afterwards?

- I went home.

- Mm-hmm.

- And I could still feel it
in my body the next day--

soreness between my legs

and my throat,

like somebody had choked me.

They said it wasn't unusual for
the brain to convince the body

that it had really happened.

- In my experience,
the opposite is true.

Um...

it's the body

that doesn't lie.

And your body was telling you

that you had been violated.

[suspenseful music]

And I think that you were.

But not five years ago.

Have you considered that maybe
you were assaulted during--

during your session?

♪ ♪

- No.

♪ ♪

For a long time, I felt
really good about the therapy.

It changed my brain.

It made me more open
and optimistic.

And now it just feels
like it got rotten.

Like I'm too sick to be fixed.

- That's not true.

You're not too sick
to be fixed.

They took advantage of you
when you were vulnerable.

And now they're gonna pay.

♪ ♪

.

- Okay, so if the sessions
always had two therapists,

what are we thinking?
Both of them did it?

One of them did it
while the other watched?

- Or they weren't always
together all the time.

- April doesn't know
who was there

because she had a mask
over her eyes.

- Well, we both know
for a fact

they're willing to lie
to cover it up.

Catmull fudged
the session notes.

Severson sent us
on a wild goose chase

looking at
five-year-old Hinge matches.

Catmull has an M.D. and a PhD.

He's been big in
the psychedelics community

since the '90s.

He's a real cheerleader
for its benefits.

He's got no complaints
against him.

He did a ton of research papers
on protryptamine therapy.

And I looked into
Catmull's financials.

He's got significant
investments in all of this.

Okay, if protryptamine
gets distribution,

he will make a lot of money.

- Hmm.

- Severson's a PsyD.

He's new to psychedelics game.

He still has
a private practice.

He specializes in
complex trauma, PTSD, EMDR.

No complaints
against him either.

- He and Catmull started
working together two years ago

for Serolyte Pharmaceuticals.

The parent company
is based in Japan.

The U.S. division
developed protryptamine

and is running the trials.

- Okay, well,
these clinical trials

often record their testing.

So I mean, maybe there's
video of these sessions.

Let's see.

- Who's Judd Flannery?

- Catmull wrote all of
his papers with the guy.

And then it looks
like they stopped

around the time Severson
came into the picture.

- I wonder what split 'em up.

- Yeah, let's find out.

- Dr. Catmull and Dr. Severson

are some of our
finest researchers.

Jonah has been with it
from almost the beginning.

- Uh-huh.
- Since they paired up,

their sites consistently report

the best patient scores.

Why?

- Well, have you ever
had any complaints

about either of them?

- No.

What kind of complaints?

- April Deieso
recovered a memory

of being sexually assaulted
during one of her sessions.

We are looking into
the possibility

that she was assaulted
during that session.

- That's not possible. April?

Are you sure?
- Yeah.

- She was so pleased
with her treatment outcome.

- So are these sessions
recorded, Ms. Fuentes?

- Yes.

But given how sensitive
the content is,

I can't turn anything over
without a patient's permission.

- Well, I can help you
with that.

This is April's consent.

And you should have a digital
copy of that in your inbox.

- I can't give you anything
without a subpoena.

- All right,
we will get a subpoena.

We'll be back.

- Save the world,

as long as
you have a court order.

- Either of you guys
ever take that online quiz

where you put in how many times
a year you visit your parents,

and then it tells you
how much time you got

left with them before they die?

- Hard no.

- I used to calculate how much
closer I was to death

working at a job
I didn't care about,

so one day I just walked.

- All those years in medical
school to work in a bike shop?

My dad would have throttled me.

- Well, never been happier.

Don't get me wrong,
I love helping people.

I just hated everything else.

- Including Catmull?

- You know, I thought
I was so lucky when he

asked me to be
his research partner.

It didn't take long
to realize he didn't

care much about the science.

Has he been arrested?

- Why do you ask?

- Dude's a druggie.

I caught him swiping pills
from our inventory.

And I reported him to my
supervisor at Serolyte,

and she said they'd
handle it internally.

- But they never did.
- I don't know.

But there's definitely
this mentality over there

that nothing can stop
the momentum, you know?

- You ever see him act
inappropriate with a patient?

- You mean, like, sexually?

No, but I wouldn't put
anything past that guy.

A shrink with no empathy?

That's wild.

One time I asked him why
he got into psychedelics.

You know what he said?
- Huh?

- "It's where the money's at."

- Judd Flannery was
a fresh graduate who

was incompetent and incapable.

That's why I ended
the relationship.

Look, for all I know,
he stole the meds.

- You think we're on the hunt
for some pills

that went missing
two years ago?

We're way beyond
that now, Jonah.

- Nah, this is about
what you did to April.

- [scoffs]
What are you talking about?

- Get her vulnerable
and compliant,

assault her, and convince her
it was a hallucination.

- What are you saying, that I--
- That you raped your client?

Yeah, that's what we're saying.
- Absolutely not.

- The only question is,
was it a tag-team situation

with you and your partner?
Or was it all his idea?

- I leave the session
sometimes.

I know I'm not supposed to.

Austin--

Austin encouraged me
to take breaks.

- Sure, sure, sure, sure.

It's always
the other guy, isn't it?

- I can prove it.

I have videos,
everything we sent to Serolyte.

I've got copies.

- Have you watched them?

Because you had a feeling
you knew what was on them,

didn't you?

[tense music]

[April crying]

- Let it go.
- No.

- Just relax.
- No, don't touch me.

- Shh.
- No, no, no.

I don't want...

[crying]

- April, you need this.

- No.

Please don't.

I--I can't breathe.

I can't breathe. No.

Please, no, I don't want it!

Please, stop!

- Can you open
your thighs for me?

- No. Stop!

- Okay, that's enough.

- There might not be enough
there to prove rape,

but we absolutely have him
on sexual assault.

We're still going
through all the videos,

but Liv, we've already
found two other women

Severson did this to.

- Get him.

- Three crisis calls this
morning, all before 10:00 a.m.?

I think I deserve this.
- Dr. Severson.

- Whoa.
- Detectives,

this isn't the best time.

- Is it ever? Get up!

- What on Earth are you doing?

- Arresting you, Doc.
- What?

- Here, enjoy that.

- You have the right
to remain silent.

Anything you say can and will
be used against you.

.

- So I'm gonna start
with the obvious question,

which is, did you forget
that you were being recorded?

Or--or did you just not care?

- [chuckles]

Captain, I can see
how this might seem strange

if you're not versed
in this therapy.

- Mm-hmm.

- But that's what
this therapy looks like.

- You assaulted her.

- I comforted her.

A person who's
taken protryptamine

needs reassurance.

They need someone there
to hold them together,

both mentally and physically.

- I have to stop you
for a second

because you can't
just sit there

and pretend that we didn't see
clearly what is on this video.

- You don't have the context.

Are my methods unorthodox?

Absolutely.

But the use of touch,
so long as it's non-sexual,

has been very effective.

- You call that
there non-sexual?

Yeah?

Do you know what
that word means?

- Nothing that has transpired
between my clients and myself

has ever been sexual.

- Mm-hmm.
- Well, not for me.

I don't derive any benefit or
pleasure from these sessions.

- Yeah, well, neither was she.
She was in tears!

She said "no," "stop,"
multiple times!

- And if I told a surgeon,
"no, don't sew up that incision

you just made," would he stop?

- I think I get it.

So what you're saying
is that sometimes when

a person is feeling
vulnerable, right,

they just--they just
wanna be held.

- Exactly.

The level of this therapy
is so intense,

you have to experience it
to understand.

I think someone like you would
benefit from it, Captain.

[tense music]

- Well, that is, uh,
so kind of you to think of me.

Um,

where was Dr. Catmull
during all of this?

- Uh, I don't recall exactly.
He may have been on a break.

- The other two patients
that got your special,

uh, hands-on care, where was
Dr. Catmull for those?

- I would have to
check the videos.

- He wasn't there.

Every single time.

Honestly,
you're real smart, Doctor.

You're smarter than me.

You're smarter than most people
who sit in that chair.

I mean,

creating your own
hunting ground

and then hiding behind
a clinical trial,

and then having your victims
sign up for it themselves.

That is, uh--
that is brilliant.

- Regular genius.

- But you're no different

than every other predator.

You know that.

And now everyone else
will, too,

because we have it all
on video.

♪ ♪

- Captain Curry.

Executive Officer.
Look at you, rising the ranks.

- Thanks, Chief.
- Here for CompStat?

- Yeah, my first one.

- Better not be late.

- Hey, I'll catch up with you.

Griff.

- Hey, Captain.

Wow, you're all dressed up.

- Yeah, well, CompStat meeting,

so I had to drag
this thing out.

Little, uh, field trip
to the records room?

- Uh, yeah.

Yeah, Cap asked me
to pull some old case files.

Thinks we might have
a repeat offender.

- Hmm.

I didn't hear
anything about that.

- Yeah.

Well, hey,
we miss you up there.

I gotta go.

- Hey, I just arraigned
Severson, and--

you're not gonna believe this,

but he pled
to the entire indictment.

- You're kidding.

- The judge gave him 15 years.

- For three rapes?
[scoffs]

- Look, Amanda,
I'm not upset about this,

and you shouldn't be either.

This case in no way
was gonna be a slam dunk.

The video was inconclusive.

Even if April and the other two
victims were ready to testify,

they were in an experimental
treatment program.

That was always gonna
be tricky with the jury.

To be honest,
I'm surprised this lawyer

didn't wanna go to trial.

- Oh, my God,
he's protecting his study.

- From what?
- Scrutiny.

Look, Severson is a creep.

He's a predator.

But he is a true believer
in his therapy.

- He'll take the hit
so his company doesn't.

- And Serolyte had
all the videos of Severson.

They knew what he was doing.

And they did nothing?

- And it's despicable,
but unfortunately,

they don't have
a duty to report--

- So they get off
on a technicality?

Come on.

[suspenseful music]

- Don't--don't look at me
like that, all right?

For once, I'd like to be able
to stay within my jurisdiction

when it comes to you, Liv.

♪ ♪

[scoffs]

We can't charge
Serolyte criminally.

But we can try
to shut 'em down.

♪ ♪

- Sonny, gotta say,
shutting down

an entire corporation
because of one bad apple

doesn't sit well with me.

Serolyte seems to be
getting some good results

out of this drug.

- Well, I have no issue
with protryptamine,

psychedelics in general, when
they're handled appropriately.

But what I do have an issue
with is poor oversight

and not paying attention when
a doctor assaults his patients.

- And that man is
going to prison.

- But that does nothing to
solve the underlying issue.

Look, their complete
lack of oversight

has created
the perfect conditions

for this to happen again
with another doctor.

- I'm not saying
we don't take a look.

But shutting down
the company could

shut down the entire
pursuit of this treatment.

- But if you do nothing,
then patients

are gonna stay vulnerable.

Look, listen, how about this?

Cross-designate me.

Let me take it on.

- [sighs]

♪ ♪

.

- She said both doctors would
be in the room at all times,

for my protection and theirs.

- And did Ms. Fuentes
have you sign

a consent form for your
sessions to be recorded?

- I did.

They said it was for the study,
and no one else would see them.

- And I'm assuming
that you did not consent

to either doctor
lying under a blanket with you

and touching your body.

- No, absolutely not.

- And did Ms. Fuentes
or anyone else

from Serolyte Pharmaceuticals
ever reach out to you

about what was on your
recorded video sessions?

- No.

- Even after Dr. Severson
was arrested

for sexually assaulting you?

- Not a word.

- Thank you, Ms. Deieso.

No further questions,
Your Honor.

- Ms. Rettstadt, your witness.

- Ms. Deieso,

what you endured
at the hands of Dr. Severson

was reprehensible.

And I don't wanna put you
through a long list

of questions, so I'll be quick,
all right?

- Okay.

- I really just have one.

Did this therapy help you?

- I don't know how--

I was assaulted.

Raped.

- I know.

But that's not what I'm asking.

You had been treated for PTSD.

Is that still your diagnosis?

- He's a monster.
- I don't disagree.

He is.

And according to your
post-clinical trial follow-up,

your PTSD is, medically
speaking, no longer present.

So I'll ask again.

Did it help you?

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- When I wake up at night,
I feel like I'm being choked.

I feel hands on me.

Feel him on top of me
over a year later.

I think about
what would have happened

if Dr. Severson
hadn't done this to me,

what that life would have
been like.

I'll never know.

I just don't want what happened
to me to happen to anyone else.

♪ ♪

- Ms. Fuentes, your company
has safeguards in place

to prevent sexual abuse,
correct?

- Yes, we do.

- For example,
you require two therapists

to be present for the entire
duration of every session.

- Correct.

- And you also require
that each session

be recorded on video.

- Yes.

- But that didn't really stop
Dr. Severson, though, did it?

- We were horrified
by his criminal actions.

But to say that
one bad actor is indicative

of our entire company is false.

- Right, because you know
for certain that

there was only one bad actor.

You got the videos, right?

So if anything inappropriate
had happened,

well, you would have seen that.

You do record every session,
don't you, Dr. Fuentes?

- Yes.

- And have you ever
seen a therapist

leave a session when
they weren't supposed to?

- I never saw that.

- No? In all those videos?

That's astonishing.

I mean, how many hours
would you say there are?

There's gotta be thousands.
- Yes.

- And approximately how many
hours of those sessions

did you watch?

- I haven't had an opportunity
to review.

- You never watch the videos

that you require
for the purpose

of protecting your patients?

- Me, personally? No.

- Okay, not personally,
but who does?

- You have to understand.

We keep the videos as records.

We simply don't have
the manpower

to review that much footage.

We're a research-focused
entity.

- Whose primary purpose
should have been

to keep your patients safe.

And if you had done your job,

then you would have seen
three women,

the very people that you were
supposed to protect,

be assaulted
by one of your doctors.

Isn't that true?

- Yes.

- Nothing further.

- Ms. Fuentes,
you may step down.

Both counsel, approach.

♪ ♪

Ms. Rettstadt, if things keep
going the way they're going,

I'm inclined to rule in favor

of the attorney general's
office.

- Your Honor, I--

- However, I also understand

that Serolyte Pharmaceuticals

is at the forefront of
a breakthrough medication

that has the potential
to change the face

of mental health treatment,

perhaps under
the right leadership--

- Hold on, Your Honor.

- The Serolyte board
would not object

to removing Ms. Fuentes
from her position

as CEO, Your Honor.

- In that case, I'd be inclined
to deny the attorney general's

application to shut them down.

- Your Honor,
respectfully, I disagree.

Three women have been
victimized on Serolyte's watch.

- Victimized by Dr. Severson,
who's out of the picture.

- Did SVU find
any other instances

of therapists abusing patients?

- No, they did not.

But the potential
for abuse is there.

And unless we shut them down
until real changes are made,

it'll stay there.

- I admire your passion,
Mr. Carisi,

but I don't think
you've made your case.

You're welcome
to take an appeal.

Step back.

♪ ♪

- Well, you went down
swinging, Sonny.

I'll give you that.

- Yeah, well,
thanks for a spot on the team.

- Any time.
- Take care.

Well, you warned me that we
were punching above our weight.

- Yeah, I did.

- So you're not gonna give me
the "I told you so" speech?

- When I was a kid,
my mom had an abortion.

Nearly killed
her Catholic heart,

but the baby would
have been born

with all kinds of problems.

All this information came out
about this antidepressant

that she was using off and on.

And I remember this fancy
lawyer, he came to our house,

and he wanted her to join
a class-action lawsuit.

He told us that
hundreds of babies

had been born with birth
defects because of that drug.

- What did she do?

- The class action
was denied certification.

Case never went to trial.

My mom, she--she
couldn't afford to file

an individual claim, so--

so that was that.

- Carisi,
Severson is behind bars.

Removing Fuentes is definitely
gonna shake things up.

You didn't really
lose this case today.

- Look at you
with the pep talk.

Usually I'm the one telling you
that we did all we could.

- Well, people change.

- What's this?

- A few files that you missed.

This one was a killer.

So the witness turned out
to be a fabulist,

just makes up a whole bunch
of details,

and then--and then the whole
case fell apart at trial.

- Captain, I can explain
what's going--

- I don't know why you're
pulling my old cases.

I suspect it's because
somebody told you to.

So you go ahead, Griff.

You look into anything
you want.

Because I don't
have any secrets.

And whatever mistakes
I've made--and I'm sure

there have been a ton--

I stand by.

- Wait.

Look at this.

- What is that?

- It's from a shooting in a bar
in the Upper West Side in 2001.

Look at it.

Involving
a Lieutenant Jimmy Griffin.

[suspenseful music]

And Detective Kathryn Tynan.

♪ ♪

Yeah, you're right,
I was tasked into looking

into your old cases, okay?

And I used that as cover
to dig that up.

♪ ♪

- What are you planning
on doing with this, Griff?

- I'm gonna find out the truth.

And I'm gonna give that
to the commissioner.

I--I don't care
what happens to me.

I don't care what happens
to my dad's legacy after this.

Legacy--like, what the hell
does that even mean?

Tynan--I mean, you know this.

Tynan--she's been there
for me...

Through some very
hard times, okay?

I--I cannot take
any of this anymore.

I gotta know.
I gotta know the truth.

- This is gonna
blow everything up.

♪ ♪

Are you ready for that?

- No.

Are you?

♪ ♪

.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[wolf howls]