What the Hey: Law & Order: SVU “Plastic” Recap

SVU returned on Thursday, January 10, 2019 with “Plastic,” the 11th episode of Season 20. It was about a 30-year-old woman named Ava Parcell who fell into the clutches of a deviant plastic surgeon named Heath Barron, and his girlfriend and accomplice, Sadie Parker. The two of them are a couple of smooth operators and besides botoxing, there’s been some brainwashing. Never fear, Olivia Benson was there!

Mark Feuerstein, Alyssa Sutherland and Willa Fitzgerald

Ava was dancing at a party at the loft of her friend, Trina, when she suddenly felt sick and dizzy. She went to the ladies room and splashed water on her face. Sadie appeared and asked if she was okay. Ava said she just had too many Moscow mules, but Sadie went to get her doctor boyfriend to help. The scene changed to Trina, kicking everyone out of her bedroom. Ava’s dance partner said Ava left because she was wasted.

We then see Ava staggering down the street ringing random doorbells, looking for help. Finally, one man responds when he sees her collapse on camera. Ava tells him she was raped, 911 is called and she is transported to Mercy Hospital. When Benson and Sonny Carisi get there, they’ve already got tox screen results. The rape kit shows bruising and more. Ava has a high blood alcohol and tested positive for drugs. The detectives don’t think they will get much reliable information from the victim.

Ava insists she never does drugs and tells them all she can remember after going into the bathroom, which ain’t much but with a little prompting from Benson, she remembers waking up in a strange bed, untying her ankles and running out of wherever that was. She also recalled a sweet smell, like Gucci Rush, and suddenly realized that a man and a woman were taking turns raping her.

Fin and Carisi went to see Trina and immediately put Lee, Ava’s dance partner, on their suspect list. Trina gave them a bottle of wine that Sadie’s doctor boyfriend gave her and, through tests on that, they eliminated Lee and located Dr. Heath Barron., a reality TV star, “Mr. Mommy Makeover,” well-known on the talk show circuit. His gal, Sadie, had her own business selling designer cupcakes. That’s why when Ava identified him from a photo array, she was asked if she’s sure she didn’t see him on TV. But in addition to not doing drugs, Ava never watches TV. She further identified Sadie as the woman who so kindly helped her, giving her a drink from a water bottle. It was a total blackout after that until she woke up.

Benson went off to see Dr. Barron who claims that Ava gave him and Sadie ecstasy. Sadie told Carisi a similar story. According to them, everything was Ava’s idea, drugs, threesome and even tying her up. Benson tried to probe further but was cut off by Heath, who has a public profile to maintain. He’s not talking anymore without a lawyer.

Back at SVU, the detectives relate the claims of the couple to Ava, who angrily insists she did not want any of that to happen to her. Benson says they will start building a case by getting a search warrant for Barron’s apartment. (On what grounds, we wondered). The search yields a stash of USB drives and a book correlating a woman to each one. Ava is the last name on the list. The video on the drive shows an unconscious Ava. In it, Barron asks Sadie if she likes to watch and she responds affirmatively. Horny Heath and Swinging Sadie are arrested.

The smooth operators had explanations for everything in interrogation. When the detectives speak to the women on some of the tapes, they all say their participation was consensual. While the detectives unsuccessfully tried to find at least one person willing to expose Heath Barron and Sadie, the pair were released on their own recognizance and went on TV to deny the charges. Ava showed up while the TV interview was running and lost it. She refused to press charges but Benson assured her they would keep looking and they would find other girls. “Let them testify,” Ava hissed as she left.

Carisi soon found an encrypted video on Heath’s computer. When they get into it, there’s an underage girl being abused. The girl’s image is matched to a missing Brooklyn teenager named Ceci Taylor. 14 years have passed with no sign of her. Their investigation leads them to where Heath Barron lived 14 years ago when he was a medical student. They want to find out if the video was filmed there.

Benson goes to visit Hal Taylor, Ceci’s father, and shows him the video. Mr. Taylor was pretty broken up and worried that it’s out there on the internet. Benson is sure it’s just on one computer. “What the hey,” he says, “thank heaven for the little things.” He says that Ceci was a happy camper until high school when she decided she wasn’t popular because she wasn’t pretty. On Ceci’s birthday, 7 years ago, they had a fake funeral to give them closure, but there’s no such thing. His wife died last year, hit by a drunk driver. In all this time, he’s never been given any hope that Ceci might still be alive. “What the hey,” he says, “maybe it’s a good thing Ruthie’s gone,” meaning no doubt that at least she doesn’t have to see this video, too.

Fin and Carisi, meantime, visit the home of Tamara Kimbel where Heath lived. Mrs. Kimbel rented it to what she believed was a serious med student, although she knew he had a crush on another student who was more into blue-collar types with dirty fingernails. Her home does indeed turn out to be where the video was filmed. But wait, there’s more. Some panels in the basement wall look funny to Fin and they ask Mrs. Kimbel to leave so they can check it out. When Fin pulls the panels away, the remains of a body fall out just when Mrs. Kimbel comes back downstairs and drops her coffee cup in shock.

Back at SVU, Carisi and Fin think they have Barron dead to rights now but it turns out the body is not Ceci’s. Barron and Sadie are brought in for more questions. Rollins shows the video to Barron and his lawyer and gets a song and a dance. Barron gets up to leave but Rollins tells him that he better sit down because he’s being investigated for murder now.

Benson is working on Sadie and shows her the video, as well as a photo of the body found at the house. They go back and forth, when Sadie suddenly pipes up with: “What the hey? You’ll never prove any of it.” Well, it’s not a common expression and Benson knows who said it before. She realizes she is talking to Ceci Taylor. In record time, Benson breaks down “Sadie”/Ceci’s defenses and undoes 14 years of brainwashing and even gets the name of the dead girl. Ceci’s father is called in and has a tearful reunion with his daughter. Ava was watching the exchanges between Benson and Ceci and agrees to testify.

We know what’s going to happen to Heath Barron. As for Ceci, Peter Stone is going to cut her a deal in exchange for her testimony. They will also likely take into consideration that she was a minor when she first fell under Dr. Evil’s spell.

Ripped from the headlines note: If you don’t know the real story this was based on, google Grant Robicheaux.

Selected Cast of “Plastic”
Mariska Hargitay – Olivia Benson
Ice-T – Odafin “Fin” Tutuola
Kelli Giddish – Amanda Rollins
Peter Scanavino – Dominic “Sonny” Carisi
Philip Winchester – ADA Peter Stone
Mark Feuerstein – Dr. Heath Barron
Alyssa Sutherland – Sadie Parker aka Ceci Taylor
Willa Fitzgerald – Ava Parcell
Kevin O’Rourke – Hal Taylor
Caroline Lagerfelt – Tamara Kimbel
Jasmine Richard-Brooks – Trina
Bradley Rose – Lee Black