Wonderland Story Recap – Law & Order: SVU

“Wonderland Story” began with a farewell roast for Sergeant John Munch as he retires from the Special Victims Unit but not from working altogether — he is going over to the DA’s office as an investigator and will be popping by from time to time on SVU.

As you might expect, there is a lot of ribbing going on at Munch’s well-attended (3 judges!) farewell party. Oliva Benson jokingly reads from her diary about her first impression when meeting Munch and Cassidy at SVU. She thought she’d stumbled into traffic enforcement or post office security. And that was about as mild as it got. Munch says his ex-wives came and want to have a three way — with his brother — the story of his life. Everyone gets a turn at a joke that only a crew who have been together this long can appreciate, even if the viewer can’t. But then Benson gets a message and tells Amaro they have to go. Munch cracks that he hasn’t even gotten to the Cassidy jokes: every time he sees them together, he thinks they can both do better. Hi-larious, but someone has been raped.

Outside, Benson informs Amaro that she got a text from Sarah Walsh, a rape victim in a prior case (“True Believers” ), who thinks she has been raped again. “Thinks?” Amaro marvels.

At Sarah’s, the detectives talk with the sobbing woman who says she woke up naked and sore down there. Benson notices that her ear is cut and Sarah thinks her rapist ripped out her earring, pulling her head down by her ear. Amaro gets the details of what she can recall from the prior evening. Playing Jenga at the Brass Monkey with her friend, Nicole, and fiancé, Matthew. Questioned by Amaro, she cops to consuming a beer or two but begins to feel she’s being blamed. Benson seeks to undo that impression. Sarah recalls leaving with Nicole and Matthew, who walked her out, but has no memory after that. She is certain the man she accused of raping her before, Michael Wedmore, has struck again.

Fin and Rollins check out Wedmore, now conveniently out of town at a church retreat with his fiancée. His boss and mother alibi him. The rape kit comes back with proof that Sarah was drugged with GHB, but no DNA from semen. They still plan to keep tabs on Wedmore.

Fin and Rollins have a talk with Nicole, who explains she and her man left Sarah around 11 pm, giving her a watch that was a pass to an underground party with an Alice in Wonderland Theme. The detectives keep the watch. Benson and Amaro go to Sarah’s and inform her of Wedmore’s alibi. Sarah has a hard time processing the possibility that she could have been raped by someone other than Wedmore because that would make her, in her own eyes, a magnet for rapists. Benson tries to explain that predators have a sixth sense when it comes to vulnerability, which was ridiculous. She was drugged, Olivia! Sarah says she is sorry she ever told them about it and orders them to leave her alone.

But the police still have to investigate without or without Sarah, so Fin and Rollins go off with the watch to attend a Wonderland party. They find a nightclub in a water tower; Lia, a hotsy totsy Maxim cover girl, and Cameron Tyler, a member of Multi-Millionaire Land after selling a game app for $180 million. Lia points them to club promoter, Andre, an ex-boyfriend. All Andre knows is Sarah was asked to leave because she was toasted.

Fin and Rollins are sent to find out if there is a neighborhood watch group. Lo! and behold, there is and there’s an old lady who snaps photos of any goings-on from her window. One of the goings-on shows Cameron Tyler carrying Sarah out of the party. Well, well! Cameron told Fin a big fib, that he was in the Hamptons. Now how can they nail this guy down now without Sarah’s help?

Benson and Amaro pay Sarah a visit and who do you suppose is there? Why, it’s Cameron. Amaro takes him into the hallway for a man to man talk while Benson learns how the two know each other and the extent of their relationship. Cameron claims he just took Sarah home and never went upstairs. He lied so his jealous girlfriend wouldn’t know and even expresses guilt that he should never have left Sarah alone.

Amaro and Benson don’t believe Cameron, of course, and their suspicions are well-founded as Rollins turns up a prior sexual assault charge against him in the Hamptons a year ago. The victim recanted and Fin assumes it was a payoff. His suspicions are well-founded, too. They visit the woman at her business, Café Celine, which she opened not long after recanting her accusations. She has nothing to offer but purple potato chips.

Back at SVU, they interview Nicole and learn that some strange stuff happened to her at a 4th of July weekend bash at Cameron’s house. She passed out after sucking up Tequila and woke up sore all over with a torn ear lobe. They enlighten Nicole as to what really happened to her. Nicole had some suspicions but didn’t want to know because she and Matthew made a pact to stay chaste until after their wedding. Nicole is sent in with a wire to trick Cameron into admissions by pretending to be pregnant after someone had sex with her at his party while she was passed out. Cameron admits it was him when she demands a list of men at the party for DNA test purposes, and he offers to pay her off above and beyond an abortion. The detective show up and it’s off to the slammer for another rapist. He gets his lawyer but the cops get his videos and “trophies,” the earrings he ripped off his victims, who were all passed out cold. The lawyer tells smart-ass Cameron to keep his trap shut and wants to speak to the DA.

Benson visits Sarah, who is glad Cameron will be put away a long time but worried over her “magnet” status. Her father, she says, thinks she should get a gun. Benson reveals that she has been assaulted twice, despite being a gun-toting member of NYPD. Sara is shocked to think of Benson as a victim, as the detective admits even she blames herself sometimes, and shares some therapy tips that may not work all the time, but they help.

Random Bits: There was a sort of weak women/strong women theme running through this episode. They never would have nailed Cameron if they had to rely on Sarah Walsh to convict him. Benson reveals her weaknesses to Sarah, who must also have felt wholly inadequate in comparison to Benson and Nicole. Now there is hope for Sarah. Is a third installment of her story possible, where she again attacked by Michael Wedmore, but this time is strong enough to make him pay for his crimes?

Sure, it is and by that time, Olivia Benson may be a Sergeant. Captain Cragen called Benson in his office to tell her he wants her to take the Sergeant’s exam because she’s his senior detective now that Munch has flown the coop. Benson doesn’t think she is quite ready yet but one day she will be.

Wonderland Story Cast:
Mariska Hargitay – Det. Olivia Benson
Ice-T – Det. Odafin Tutuola
Richard Belzer – Sgt. John Munch
Dann Florek – Captain Don Cragen
Kelli Giddish – Det. Amanda Rollins
Danny Pino – Det. Nick Amaro
Dean Winters – Brian Cassidy
Sofia Vassilieva – Sarah Walsh
Finn Wittrock – Cameron Tyler
Amelia Rose Blaire – Nicole Price
Todd Almond – Andre
Aisha De Haas – Wedmore’s Mother
Jacqueline Hendy – Cameron’s Lawyer
Matt DeCapua – Matthew Forte
Leslie Shires – Celine Dubbois
Ilona Saic – Lia