.
- 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.
[dramatic music]
- I really wish you would consider
getting out of that unit.
- Come on, Mother. Let's not tonight.
- Do you think this is healthy for you?
- You were raped, for God's sake.
- If your mom were still alive, how old would she be?
- Uh, my mother, Serena, would have been 77.
- Wow. - Yeah.
- And you were already a detective when she died?
- I was.
- Did she like that you were a detective?
- Well, it sounds like you're being the detective now.
- Do you miss her? - Yeah.
- 'Cause she was a good mom like you.
- Noah, you should know by now
that no one's as good a mom as I am.
- Mom, not at school. - [chuckles]
- Love you. - I love you.
Have a good day. Put your mask on.
[tender music]
♪
[sighs]
Sorry I was late. I--
so I'm walking Noah to school...
- Mm-hmm.
- And out of the blue, he asked me about my mother.
- You went with short answer?
- Yeah. - Good.
- So what is this about a suspect?
- He walked himself in.
He hasn't confessed yet, but he says
he will only speak to the captain.
And heads up, this guy's a charmer.
- I'm guilty. - Oh, my God, Nick.
Whose idea was this? - Mine.
- What, you're captain now, you don't like surprises?
- I've never liked surprises.
Hey. - Hey.
- What brings you to New York?
- Work, a job I've been on the last few years.
A company called FORYM. - Yeah.
- I thought you were a PI.
- No, I told you he went back to grad school.
- In genetics and forensic science.
We test DNA samples
that used to be considered too small or too degraded.
- Solving cold cases.
That seems like a good fit for you.
- Which means we can work together again.
Nick has an old SVU case that he wants to reopen.
- 1996, Haley West is 15 years old.
Raped and strangled on prom night.
- Hold on, this was one of Cragen's.
I remember--I remember him talking about it.
But is it cold?
Didn't they catch the--the boyfriend?
- Ian Ridley, yes.
He actually did confess, and he's still doing time,
but he recanted at sentencing,
and the only DNA found on Haley's body
was from his saliva.
I was approached by a true crime writer
looking into wrongful convictions.
He asked me if we could try to salvage old DNA,
so I'm coming to you.
- Well, let's pull the files, see if anything's there.
- 654.
West. Haley West, right here.
Wow, she's so young. And a sweet face.
- Haley's mother never got over losing her.
Ian's not the killer.
[phone rumbles]
Hm, Burton Lowe, the writer, he's here.
- Nick, I thought you said this place was a dump.
- Ah, well, they've fixed it up since I left.
Burton Lowe, Detective Amanda Rollins.
- How do you do? - Hi.
- Captain's waiting for us.
- Captain, Nick's writer is here.
- Burton. - Olivia.
You haven't changed. - Neither have you.
And now that we've established
that we're both liars... - [laughs]
- Nick, you didn't tell me
that your crime writer was--was Burton Lowe.
- Should I have?
- Um, we are old friends.
- From a lifetime ago.
♪
[dramatic music]
♪
- My mother was an English professor.
When I was 16, I started dating one of her students.
He was a senior.
He was 21 years old, and he asked me to marry him.
- Look at this. Serena would be proud.
- Well, if you recall,
that wasn't Serena's strong suit.
- No, it wasn't, was it? [chuckles]
- [clears throat]
Anyway, Haley West. - Yeah.
- Yes, of course. Please have a seat.
So I called my former captain, Cragen,
and he said that the boyfriend...
- Ian Ridley. - Confessed within 48 hours.
- He did, but he was 18, concussed, traumatized--
- Concussed?
- His initial story was that he and Haley were making out
when an unknown assailant knocked him out.
When he came to, Haley was gone.
- And they found her strangled, beaten body
two hours later in Fort Tyron Park.
- My take, he was probably so guilt-ridden
about what happened.
- He convinced himself that he did it?
- Mm-hmm.
- How'd you get involved, Burton?
- Ian's mother wrote to me before she died.
I promised her I'd do right by him.
At his parole hearing,
the board was ready to release Ian if he showed contrition.
When it was time for Ian to apologize, he couldn't.
25 years behind bars,
two words away from walking free,
and instead he says,
"I believe in two things, the truth and miracles.
I know the truth, and I need a miracle."
- New DNA technology can be that miracle.
If there's even 15 cells from the original sample,
my company can tease out a genetic profile.
- After 25 years? - Oh, yeah.
- I'll need to call Carisi. That's our ADA.
- Understood.
[soft dramatic music]
♪
- Here you go.
I had to send my gnomes deep into the crypt
to get this out. - I owe you, Melinda.
- Once an SVU detective, always an SVU detective.
You're lucky this wasn't tossed.
You do know this is a closed case.
- Yeah, we know that the saliva
on Haley West matched Ian Ridley.
We're just--we're hoping there might be some other samples.
- Barely--there was a trace of seminal fluid
in the autopsy rape kit. - And it was never tested?
- The quantity was too low in '96,
and, as is stated here, the suspect confessed.
M.E. Rogers had no reason to perform more testing.
- But it's still viable? - Maybe.
The kit sat in freezer purgatory
this whole time.
As DNA degrades, it's much harder to analyze.
- But with our new tech, mixture deconvolution,
KinSNP analysis--
- You get a chance to rebuild the genetic profile.
Well, look at you, Dr. Amaro.
- Doctor, no, not yet,
but I am working on it, biophysics.
Yeah, it's good to see you. And thank you for this.
[dramatic music]
- Cognitive reenactment?
How'd you get a judge to sign off on this?
- Oh, I didn't.
I pulled a favor from an ADA
who used to be one of my detectives.
- An ADA, a geneticist... Your ex-detectives go places.
- Well, I wish they wouldn't,
because, as my mother used to say, everyone leaves.
- Serena was a little dark.
- You know, Burton, if you needed help on a case,
you could've just told Nick you knew me or gotten in touch.
- I guess I was afraid
that you'd just say no considering how we ended.
- You know, my mother made me write that letter to you
to break off our engagement.
She told me that you had a real girlfriend in college.
- I did not.
I was in love with you. I told her that.
- But you disappeared.
- Oh, I wanted to write you, to see you.
She told me if I even tried to get in touch,
she'd have me immediately expelled.
- Well, then she lied to both of us.
[soft dramatic music]
- To be continued.
♪
Hello, Ian.
This is Captain Benson of the SVU.
- Hey.
- Mr. Lowe got you to reopen my case?
- If the detectives on the case missed anything back then,
then I wanna find that out.
- Okay, well, thank you.
♪
I know it's been, like, 25 years,
but I'm kind of--
kind of freaked to be back here.
- That's--that's completely normal, Ian.
Returning-- returning to the scene
can trigger memories, right? And that's why we're here.
So anything that comes
to your mind, a sound, a smell, that can be helpful.
♪
- All right, guys, guys, he's not going anywhere.
- Yeah, just give him a minute.
- Prom night.
Haley and I booked it out here past the chaperones.
I snuck a bottle of champagne.
We just wanted to be--
we just wanted to be together alone, you know.
- Okay, so what kind of night was it?
- Warm, pitch dark.
These lights-- they weren't here back then.
So I lit a cigarette.
Haley looked so pretty in the dark.
Then we started kissing.
- Okay.
Kissing and then?
- Well, then we went under the bleachers
to, you know, go further.
- But you didn't get that far? - No.
Haley was leaning against that post.
I was kissing her. I had my eyes closed and then--
- Okay, Ian, your eyes were closed.
Did you hear anything?
- Yeah, footsteps on the gravel,
then somebody bashing me on the skull.
I remember Haley screaming, him dragging her,
and then it all just went black.
- So you're there now. You're there now.
- My ears were ringing.
There was blood everywhere.
I saw her corsage in the grass over there.
- Do you remember calling the cops?
- My parents did that. I ran home.
They took me to St. Luke's. I got 12 stitches.
- And the cops still thought you did it?
- I was so messed up, I thought maybe I did do it,
but I didn't. I swear I didn't.
I loved Haley.
My whole life ended the night that she died.
Haley. [sobbing]
♪
- It's okay.
♪
.
- He was 21 years old, and he asked me to marry him,
and I said yes
because I wanted to get away from my mother.
- It's kind of interesting, isn't it?
Him showing up in your life now?
Stabler, Burton. Something's going on.
- Nothing's going on.
I mean, Burton is obsessed with his work.
You realize that his last podcast series--
he got a man off death row. - Yeah, I Googled him too.
You also saw that he just split up with his girlfriend?
- Yeah, the French journalist. I did see that.
- And right after, out of all the cold cases,
he chooses one from SVU?
- Because Ian Ridley is innocent.
[dramatic music]
- The rape kit sample was corrupted,
but we did find a tiny amount
of seminal fluid on her underwear,
enough to tease out a genetic profile.
- And it's not Ian's.
- No, no, we excluded him right away.
No hits in CODIS. We're looking at RMNE.
- So random man...
[together] Not excluded.
- I know. - Of course you do.
Then you also know that the DA's office
is unlikely to exonerate Ian--
- Without a viable suspect, mm-hmm.
- That's the downside of CODIS,
just doesn't have all the answers.
- But now that we have a genetic profile,
FORYM can start a search of multiple
geological databases and ancestry sites.
- With any luck, we find distant relatives,
digital shoe leather.
- So we start wide. We bore in.
I mean, it's all new bells and whistles,
but it's basically old school. Work the tree.
- So I'm getting out of here? - One step at a time, Ian.
The lab did find male DNA
on Haley's body that wasn't yours.
- Whose was it?
- Well, we don't know that yet,
but someone who uploaded their DNA
to a genealogical website
is a close relative, either a brother or a cousin,
and we've identified three possible suspects.
- One of the men lived in California at the time,
one in Ohio, but one of the men was local.
- In fact, he worked at your high school.
- Mr. Murray?
[soft dramatic music]
I mean, he was the girls' tennis coach,
but there's no way he did this. He loved Haley.
♪
- Well, like I told Liv,
Roger Murray was never a suspect.
I mean, how solid is this new tech?
- It works, but we don't have Murray's DNA yet.
We do have a familial match.
- Captain, you interviewed him three times--why?
- Well, he was one of the last people to see her alive.
He was a chaperone at the prom, and he also said
that he saw Haley and Ian get in a fight.
- Hm. Yeah, what else did he say?
- Well, he said that Ian was really weird,
couldn't get a date in his own grade,
and that Haley had confided in him
that she thought he was kind of creepy.
- And you believed Murray?
- Well, I had no reason not to, Amanda.
Ian confessed.
And Haley's mother has said
that Roger was like a second father to that girl.
[dramatic music]
- I've never changed one thing about this room.
Helps me remember Haley as she was,
not as a murder victim.
- We're sorry if this brings up
any painful memories, Mrs. West.
- They've never gone away. - Mm-hmm.
- She was an artist, an athlete.
She loved tennis. Roger Murray saw her potential.
- What can you tell us about him?
- Well, after my husband's death,
he saved me.
He tutored Haley on her SATs,
helped her with college planning.
- So they spent a lot of time together?
[soft dramatic music]
- Is this about that writer and his podcast?
I told him I'd never let my daughter's death
be entertainment someone listens to while they work out.
- We're only here as NYPD.
We're just trying to give you some closure.
- Closure?
My husband and daughter are dead.
I'll never see Haley walk down the aisle.
I'll never bake cookies for my grandchildren.
- And we can't change what happened to Haley.
- Hey, leave me alone. Ian confessed.
And Roger sends me a card every year
on the anniversary of her death
just to let me know...
I'm not mourning alone.
♪
- Excuse me, Mr. Murray. - Can I help you?
- Yeah, I'm ADA Dominic Carisi.
I was wondering if we could talk to you about Haley West.
- Yeah, her mother told me that you guys were nosing around.
Look, I told everything I knew to the police.
It was Ian Ridley.
- Yeah, we know. I'm Nick Amaro.
Yeah, my old captain, Cragen,
told me he appreciated all your help back then.
That's why we're here.
- I don't understand, Ian's in prison.
- Oh, he is,
but, you know, he's trying for an appeal.
- Yeah, he's trying to get the DNA re-examined.
- Unbelievable. - Yeah, tell us about it.
Look, as a precaution, we're gathering samples
from anyone Hailey interacted with that night,
and Haley's mom told us you chaperoned.
- Yeah, I chaperoned, but-- - What's going on?
- How you doing, ma'am?
I'm Dominic Carisi. I'm with the DA's office.
- Ian Ridley is trying to reopen the case.
I mean, it's a bunch of nonsense--
- Which is why we need your husband's help.
We know how much Haley meant to him.
- Roger, do whatever they ask.
- Haley was beautiful that night.
- Her mother said that she was like a daughter to you.
- I loved that girl, and I would never hurt her.
She knew that. - I'm sure she did, Mr. Murray.
- You looked out for her. You protected her.
- That was all I ever tried to do.
- At the night of the prom? - [sighs]
I let her down.
I mean, I saw Ian dragging her out.
I should've stopped him.
- You should have, or you did?
- Well, that was a long time ago.
Uh, whatever I said back then, that was the truth.
- The thing is, Mr. Murray, with this new DNA technology,
it picks up the tiniest amount.
Like, even if you were to have touched her corsage...
♪
- Yeah, and I might've done that.
- Okay, that's helpful.
- Yeah, and now that I think about it, I did.
I touched her arm because I pulled her away from him.
- Well, was that at the dance or on the field?
Just in case we find your DNA on her corsage.
They found that at the field.
- What, and they kept that?
♪
No, I really don't remember,
but it--it might've been after the--afterwards, sure.
- So you did follow them. It makes sense.
You were worried about her. - Haley gave me a look.
She was afraid of Ian,
and she wanted me to protect her.
- Which you always did.
- Yeah, and I was the only one.
I'm--no dad, her mom overwhelmed,
and that Ian, he was a bad kid.
- So you had to follow her and Ian?
- Yeah, and he was all over her.
Hand on her--her breast. His mouth everywhere.
- You had to stop that for Haley.
- Who knows what he might've done?
So, yeah, I stopped that. I stopped that good.
- How'd you stop Ian, Mr. Murray?
- 'Cause we know Ian was hit on the head.
They found a bottle at the scene.
- Yeah, it's champagne
because the--the kid brought it himself.
She was only 15.
- So you had to step in for Haley.
- I really don't remember,
and I'm gonna need my digitalis and a lawyer.
♪
- All these years lying to himself.
- My guess: he was aroused. She screamed.
He put his hand over her mouth.
- Okay. - Sorry, my writer's head.
[chuckles] I'll tell Ian.
- Oh, let's wait for the DNA. - Oh, right, right.
Wow, Olivia, how do you do this?
- It's a lot, you know,
but I spend time with my son.
I listen to music. I go on walks when I can.
- How about a walk now? I could use one.
- Give me a minute.
- New York, still my favorite city.
- Not Paris?
Didn't you live there with your girlfriend?
- Ex. - Oh.
- She may have ruined that city for me.
An old man dating a young woman
always ends up playing the fool.
Have you been to France? - I have, Paris once.
- Romantic trip? - It was, actually.
- Oh, is he still in the picture?
- He's not.
- Well, here's my hotel.
- Plaza?
- Podcasting has been very good to me.
You have time for a nightcap?
- I could be persuaded.
- Uh, I'm sorry.
That wasn't very gentlemanly.
- I didn't mind.
.
- When a father is absent,
it is not unusual for a younger girl
to be attracted to an older man.
- That's what this is about?
- It happens a lot more than you think.
- How old were you?
- Almost 17. - And he was?
- Older than 17.
- Hey, beautiful. Midnight snack?
- [chuckles] - Raided the minibar.
What you thinking about?
- I'm just time-traveling.
- Can you believe?
All those years,
and it didn't matter.
- [chuckles] They added up.
- Well, in certain places.
- [laughs]
- Do you know what I think about
when I think of you? - What?
- Us cycling through Central Park,
picnicking on the Great Lawn as night falls
and the city lights surround us.
- [sighs] - What?
- That was a sweet night.
- So is this.
[phone buzzes] - Oh, I'm sorry.
That could be my nanny.
No, it's a text from Amaro.
"Good news. The semen sample came back
"from Haley's underwear,
and it is a match to Roger Murray."
- [sighs]
I don't even know how to respond to that.
- [exhales deeply]
[laughter]
[phone buzzes] Mm.
And it is my sitter.
I'm sorry. I gotta go.
Listen, I will-- I will call Carisi,
and I will push him to get Ian released.
- Okay, he needs a lawyer.
- And I know exactly who to call.
- My client was completely absolved
by the DNA evidence.
He spent 25 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit.
What possible reason could there be for a delay?
- The DA's office is supportive.
We've agreed to release Mr. Ridley from prison.
- But you haven't vacated the conviction.
- You said Roger killed her.
He should pay for what he did to Haley.
- Yes, he should.
- We all want justice, but I can't
just declare Murray guilty without due process.
- You did it to Ian 25 years ago.
- Burton, please.
- Look, I'll ask the judge to expedite,
but I'm gonna need to start prepping my witnesses.
- I'm happy to testify.
- My expert witnesses.
Where's Amaro?
- Well, thank you, counselor.
Before I put Ian in the car, he told me
he feels safe in your hands.
I just wish he'd had a real lawyer the first time.
It's gonna be an adjustment for him.
- He knows that.
Excuse me. Showtime.
- We get it.
- I do have a podcast to promote.
- Two words of advice. Watch yourself.
I used to have clients in publishing.
He's got a reputation.
So just... eyes open.
- Always.
[phone ringing]
Captain. - Liv, I'm glad I caught you.
I've been thinking about Roger Murray.
- Yeah, he's fighting the DNA evidence.
- That's why I'm calling.
He always felt so guilty about letting down Haley's mother.
Make sure that she is at that hearing tomorrow.
- We'll do, Captain. Thank you.
- Well, thank you, Captain.
You don't know how proud it makes me to say that.
[soft dramatic music]
♪
- [sighs]
♪
- Our company's Brooklyn lab has New York State Department
of Health approval to perform forensic DNA testing.
- Thank you, Mr. Amaro.
And here is that certification, Your Honor.
- Thank you, Counselor Carisi.
- Your Honor, again, my client is a retired teacher
who spends Saturdays coaching
his granddaughter's softball team
on a field that's been named after him.
He still gets holiday cards
from kids he taught three decades ago.
- We're not addressing any of that at this hearing.
The people have presented their case.
- Frankly, Your Honor, I worry that the ADA and this court
are being used to publicize
this DNA company before it goes public.
- Enough, Mr. Roth.
I've heard your arguments,
and I've heard this state's case.
I'm ruling in favor of the state.
The DNA will be admissible at trial.
- Thank you, Your Honor.
- I need to change my plea. I want to change my plea.
- Not the time. Not the place, Mr. Murray.
- Mr. Murray, we can talk about this.
- No, I don't wanna talk about it anymore.
♪
I killed that poor girl.
♪
I'm sorry, Joyce.
I've--I've never forgiven myself.
♪
- So is it over?
- The judge will want Murray to allocute,
make sure that the guilty plea
was knowing and voluntary, but--
- So, soon?
- I'll speak to the DA, insist it's time.
- [laughs] - Congratulations.
- To both of us.
I'm gonna call Ian, and then dinner?
- That sounds great. - Excuse me.
You're a Captain Benson, the head of SVU?
- I am.
- Can I ask you what you're doing
working with a predator? - I'm sorry?
- Whoa, what's going on?
- You don't remember me, Burton?
Andrea Malone.
- Yes, of course. I remember you, Andrea.
You were my editor's intern on--
- On your last novel 10 years ago.
Ask him what he did to me back then.
I was only 20 years old.
- Andrea, if I've upset you in some way,
this isn't the time or the place.
- Upset me? You raped me.
♪
I want him arrested.
.
- Is she okay? Did you talk her down?
- No, Burton, I didn't talk her down.
I listened to her.
Fin and Rollins are taking her to the station
to get her statement.
- Olivia, I swear to God, I did not rape her.
- Well, that's not Andrea's recollection.
- I haven't seen her in 10 years.
I am completely blindsided by this.
So you're saying that you two were never involved.
- I'm not saying that. - Burton, so what did happen?
- We had a flirtation
the summer she worked for my editor.
The night before she went back to college,
I took her out for dinner to say thanks.
We had a few drinks.
We ended up back at my hotel room.
It was completely consensual. - And after?
- She left later that night.
I gave her the cab fare home.
She never said a word.
I have never been in this situation before.
Just tell me. What do we do now?
- We don't do anything.
I have to recuse myself from the case.
My sergeant will call you and let you know next steps.
- Understood.
[dramatic music]
♪
- It was the night before I left
for my senior year at Holyoke.
I tried to put it out of my mind.
I managed to do that for 10 years.
- Why come forward now?
- All the press about the case,
Burton freeing an innocent man, putting a rapist behind bars.
I thought, "How dare he? He should be behind bars."
- You interned for Burton?
- No, for his editor, Kristin Thorton.
I wanted to be a writer.
Burton would come into the office.
We'd talk.
He asked me who my favorite authors were.
He gave me books. We talked about art, music.
He put a bunch of songs on a zip drive for me.
"Girl from Ipanema."
- And the night of the assault? - He took me to Balthazar.
A few martinis later, we ended up at his hotel...
kissing.
I remember lying back on the bed.
I was drunk.
I must have passed out,
because when I came back to, he was inside me.
I just let him finish.
- Have you ever told anyone else about this?
- No, not until today.
When I saw Burton, I just went off on him
and your captain.
- It's a 10-year-old "he said, she said."
He wasn't violent, but she was drunk.
She may not have been capable of consent.
- No outcry at the time. No rape kit.
- Well, if she's not capable of consent, that's rape three,
but 10 years ago, past the statute.
What did you tell her?
- That we don't have enough to arrest Burton.
Should I call Carisi and see if he thinks there's a case?
- He won't unless other women come forward.
So call his publisher,
his editor, and his podcast producer.
- Want me to deal with Burton?
- No, Fin, I--I'll talk to him. Thank you.
- I am so sorry.
- This woman--is she credible?
- She was.
Whether you can prove its rape three, I don't know.
Burton was 50. She was 20.
He spent the summer grooming her.
- How? What--what did he do?
- He solicited her opinion about his novel,
took her out to nice restaurants,
gave her books, music. - Music?
- Yeah, like a Brazilian compilation.
"Girl from Ipanema." Older man move.
[soft dramatic music]
♪
[Getz and Gilberto's "The Girl from Ipanema"]
- ♪ Tall and tan and young and lovely ♪
♪ The girl from Ipanema goes walking ♪
♪ And when she passes
♪ Each one she passes goes "ah" ♪
[bossa nova music]
[soft dramatic music]
- "To the girl who's tall and tan and young and lovely."
He gave you "The Girl from Ipanema" too?
- And I thought he was so sophisticated.
[sighs] Did you get anything?
- All his editors and publishers acknowledged
he's a ladies' man, but no HR issues.
- As of now.
Andrea posted on her Instagram last night.
- Saying what?
- Saying that she thinks that we're protecting Burton.
She gave the details of her assault,
and five women replied
saying Burton did the same thing to them.
I have their usernames here somewhere,
but, well, you get the point.
♪
- Burton's a stalker. Our PR firm used to rep him.
I was an office assistant.
- Can you elaborate on the stalker part?
- He brought me coffee, then flowers,
got too close at events, asked me out for drinks.
One night, I gave in. - He asked for a nightcap.
- So you went to his hotel room?
- He came to mine with champagne.
I let him in, and it happened.
- Did you want to have sex with him?
- I didn't stop him.
You're asking if he's a predator?
You wouldn't have come to me if you thought otherwise.
♪
- How many women so far?
- With Alexandra and Stacey, uh, eight or nine.
- What do you have?
- So all of the women say
they felt pressured, uncomfortable.
None of them say that he assaulted them.
- Okay, so he's not a rapist. - Maybe not, but he's a creep.
- Or an old-school player.
- He played me, but had to have known you worked here
when he asked me to look at this case.
He used me to get to you.
- Nick, he wasn't trying to deceive you.
I asked him about that.
He said that he wasn't sure how I would react.
So I know that his wanting to free Ian Ridley is sincere.
- Is it? Or this about his career?
His podcast? Liv, I'm angry right now.
- Okay. - I knew this guy was bad news.
- All right, why don't you let these ladies go home, please?
Nick, Ian Ridley has been exonerated
after 25 years.
I don't want whatever this is to overshadow that.
- I'm sorry I walked him back into your life.
- Please. I'm--I'm a big girl, Nick.
- Still, I mean, how old were you then?
Hmm, 16? He was 21.
My daughter's 15.
- And it was a different time then.
We were in love.
Anything that we did, I wanted to do.
It was my choice.
- Well, that's the thing about predators, Liv.
The good ones, the smart ones,
they make their victims believe that.
- Nick, thank you, and I appreciate
that you have graduate degrees,
but I've also been here for a very long time,
so I don't need your expertise, but thank you so much.
♪
- Well, physician, heal thyself.
- I think we're done now.
♪
.
- She told me that if I didn't stop seeing him,
that she would have him kicked out of college,
and I told her that I was moving out.
She was halfway through a bottle of vodka,
and she dropped it.
It shattered all over the floor,
and then she picked up the jagged edge of the bottle,
and she came at me,
screaming,
"I'll never let anyone else have you."
[soft dramatic music]
♪
[sighs]
[knocks]
- Oh, Liv, come in.
I'm so glad to see you. I've been calling.
- Yeah, I know.
- Can I--can I get-- can I get you something?
- No, no. No, thanks.
- Listen, first, I wanna apologize again
for the incredibly awkward situation.
- Yeah, it's been a long couple of days.
- Are you--are you sure I can't get you something?
- No, trust me.
- Well, I'm gonna have another because it's been a hell
of a 48 hours for me too.
My publisher's having a meltdown, my publicist.
Do you know this woman, Andrea Malone?
Do you know that her posts just went viral?
- I know. - You know?
- I did.
- I mean, do you what that means in this day and age?
Cancel culture? My podcast's on hold.
My reps are useless.
Have we resolved this?
- Burton, my detectives found Andrea's story credible.
- What?
♪
Do I need a lawyer?
- The case is beyond the statute of limitations,
so there's nothing that we can charge you with.
- Well, 'cause there's nothing to charge.
I didn't do anything, Olivia.
And this one woman is destroying my name!
- First of all, it's not one woman.
There are others.
- Oh, no. Oh, oh, God.
Wait, who?
I have a right to know my accusers.
- Look, none of the allegations rose
to a level of chargeable offenses,
so you're off the hook.
- I haven't been a saint, Olivia.
If a beautiful, younger woman seemed interested in me,
I'm human. I was grateful.
Yes. Did I sleep with some of them?
Absolutely.
But I never took advantage of anyone ever.
- That's not what these women are saying.
Burton, listen to me. Come on.
You were a powerful, successful man.
These women looked up to you. You abused their trust.
- Oh, come on.
They didn't complain at the time.
Have I pursued women? Yes.
You know what it used to be called?
Seduction, not rape.
Come on.
You know me, Olivia.
- Do you really not understand the power differential?
Do you not understand that you were their mentor?
- I was, and so what?
It's okay for them to obliterate a lifetime's work?
My reputation? Over these--these fabrications?
That's okay. But what about Ian Ridley?
What about all the good I've done?
I need you to stand up and defend me here, Olivia.
You're a captain at the SVU. You can do that.
- I can't. - Why not?
- You slept with me
when I was 16, Burton.
You were 21.
And technically, that is-- that is sexual assault.
♪
- Oh, are you saying
that you're a victim now?
♪
We were in love.
- I was a teenager. My house was a mess.
You knew that.
You knew that I would do anything
to get away from my mother.
- Oh, please don't get her voice in your head.
We both know she was stone crazy.
- Was she? Was she, Burton?
Or maybe--
maybe she was trying to protect me.
- Do you remember the first night we had sex
40 years ago?
I do.
You didn't put up much of a fight.
And the other night, are you gonna change
the narrative there, too, and say that I raped you?
- No, Burton, of course not.
- Because that sure seemed like consent to me.
What the hell do you want from me, Olivia?
An apology because I was in love with you?
- Maybe.
Maybe I wanted
some sort of acknowledgement
because I was so young.
♪
- Well, you're not gonna get it.
- I can see that.
- Oh, come on.
Where--where you going?
Oh, that's it? We're done?
- Goodbye, Burton.
♪
[glass shatters]
♪
I hate him for what he did to you.
- So do I,
and if he hadn't,
you would not be here.
♪
- Nick, it's Liv.
I wanted to tell you that you were right about Burton,
and I'm sorry for being so defensive.
And thank you.
♪
.
[dramatic music]
♪
[wolf howls]