The Dollhouse Recap on Law & Order: SVU

The SVU squad was on the track of a dirty cop involved in the death of one of the girls at “the Dollhouse.” The real title of the episode was “Brothel” (2-14-19 S20 E15) because that’s what the Dollhouse was.

A Tale of Two Sergeants: SVU Sgt. Fin enlisted the help of a Vice Squad Sgt. named Phoebe Baker to help solve the case at hand. Fin dated Phoebe after he was divorced from his wife 20 years ago and, apparently, the fallout from the breakup of his marriage caused him to treat Baker in a manner she did not deserve.

Sgt. Odafin Tutuola and Sgt. Phoebe Baker

In this episode, he did the exact same thing, then he had the nerve to ask her if she wanted to give it another go.

Torie Meeks and Anne Kuzmin

The case involved the death of Torie Meeks, one of the sex workers at the Dollhouse. She was found dead from a fall and the cops were unable to determine if she jumped off the roof or been pushed. They called in SVU because she was “roughed up … half undressed, thumb marks on her biceps, bruises on her thighs.”

Inside the building, they found an apartment where everyone obviously left in a hurry. After inspecting it, Olivia Benson said: “At least we know what our vic was running from.” One of the officers asked what she meant and she replied: “Ever been in a brothel, fellas?”

They are able to identify Torie Meeks quickly and also track down Judge Kofax, who sentenced Torie on a breaking and entering charge, and the case manager she was assigned to. They also found a very fancy and expensive shoe at the apartment and tracked it down to the last customer Torie had. Collum O’Connor readily told them everything that he knew but they gave him a hard time to make sure he wasn’t Torie’s killer. They did get some useful information from him, like the name of the operation and descriptions of the two men and one woman he saw there, and how Torie hit one man over the head with a bottle and took his gun and ran out of the room, saying “I’ll go to jail, it’s better than this.”

At this point, Fin offered to enlist the help of Phoebe Baker. She found a Dollhouse advertisement on the internet right away. They didn’t even have time to take Torie’s photo off the ad. Fin and Carisi want to set up a sting and Baker offered up her squad to conduct it. They went to Judge Kofax for a warrant, interrupting his cocktail hour with Judge Barth. He was only too happy to sign the warrant. But when the raid went down, the Dollhouse had vanished again and Fin was positive they were tipped off.

Then they learned that the gun that was lying next to Tori’s dead body is supposed to be bagged and tagged as evidence in a bust made by Baker’s squad. What’s really at the Property Clerk’s office is a brick. Fin told Baker that someone on her squad is responsible. She got a little rattled and checked with the record keeper of that info and came up with the names of the three officers who signed in on the day of the bust: Bromland, Fisher and Ramirez. Baker insisted that they are all good cops and asked Fin not to go to Internal Affairs just yet.

Olivia Benson was not happy about leaving Internal Affairs out of the loop while Fin gave Baker time to clean her own house. She decided they needed to put the three named officers under surveillance. Baker and Fin had their eyes on Ramirez and when a van rolled up with a bunch of girls in it, they knew they had their dirty cop. Baker went off to get a warrant from Judge Kofax but it was taking too long and Fin couldn’t get a hold of her on her cell. They went in, only to find the place vacated again. This time, a girl named Anne Kuzmin was left behind because she was too drugged up to navigate. She was taken to the hospital.

Outside Fin confronts Baker. He now suspects her of being the mole tipping off the Dollhouse operators. She can’t believe he would even think that and tells him where to go. Fin says that when Anne Kuzmin comes to, they are going to show her Baker’s photo. Baker is highly insulted and storms off.

When Anne is questioned, she identifies Ramirez and says he has a gun and get the girls drugs. The woman involved is nicknamed “Fee” (uh-oh) but Anne cannot identify Baker. Benson sent Fin to apologize to Baker for his mistake so they could get to the bottom of who is really behind all this.

Baker and Carisi set Carlos Ramirez up by having a phony conversation about Anne Kuzmin dropping names in exchange for a plea deal within his earshot. Then Fin and Carisi followed Ramirez and he led them straight to Judge Kofax.

Once they corral the three running the brothel (Ramirez, Devon Jones and Felicia Taggart), they all name Judge Kofax as the mastermind of the operation. They then enlist Judge Barth’s help in getting the goods on Kofax, who comes up with one of the craziest stories we’ve ever heard on this show. He claims he never took a dime of the money the girls made but has been helping them stay alive even though they are dead inside. His motivation for all that was because he wasn’t able to help his own daughter who died of an overdose at age 16. The judge ended up taking 25 years in a plea deal, or a life sentence, as Carisi pointed out.

Olivia Benson went to check on Anne Kuzmin who was back in recovery, giving her the old pep talk– “you’re going to get through this” and “you can be anything you want.” Anne looked at her blankly and asked her if she really believed that. Benson did say something about helping to get Torie’s name cleared over some drug charges so maybe she can wave her magic wand and make Anne’s record disappear, too.

Fin went to meet Phoebe Baker and told her how sorry he was about the way he treated her 20 years ago but she said it was all water under the bridge. Fin said he was not the same guy anymore and Baker said she was not the same girl either. He said if she was into it, “maybe we could try again.” Baker said she was flattered but she was seeing someone else. She didn’t know if he was “the one” but they were good together. She was probably thinking no way am I up for a third time of you and your crazy suspicions, buddy boy.

Next week: After that, they showed the coming attractions and said “the search for victims leads to someone in Benson’s past.” Then they showed Brian Cassidy. LOL. So dramatic! Phoebe Baker really was someone out of Fin’s past. Benson just saw Cassidy last year! We’re assuming this is when Benson will find out that Cassidy was molested as a child and it can go one of two ways: her boundless sympathy for victims will fan the flames of love again or they will suspect Cassidy of murdering the perp.

Selected Cast of “Brothel”
Mariska Hargitay – Olivia Benson
Ice-T – Odafin “Fin” Tutuola
Kelli Giddish – Amanda Rollins
Peter Scanavino – Dominic “Sonny” Carisi
Jennifer Esposito – Sgt. Phoebe Baker
John Rothman – Judge Kofax
Jenna Stern – Judge Barth
Rebecca Forsyth – Anne Kuzmin
Baylen Thomas – Collum O’Connor
Suzette Gunn – Felicia Taggart
Adrian Alvarado – Carlos Ramirez
Dwelvan David – Devon Jones
Sophie Lee Morris – Torie Meeks