Law & Order: SVU Season 19 Episode 13 Review: Chasing Demons
Jack Ori
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"Chasing Demons" was so crazy that I'm not sure what to make of it. I couldn't decide whether I was watching Law & Order: SVU or Days of Our Lives.
Law & Order: SVU Season 19 Episode 13 revolved around Cassidy's entirely unnecessary return and a murder mystery involving alcohol, memory loss, and a random suspect turns out to be the guilty party.
This is the stuff soap operas are made of, but I expect better of a high-quality drama like SVU. Also, for the love of all that is holy, please let this not be the beginning of Benson and Cassidy renewing their romantic relationship.
Nothing against Dean Winters, but Brian Cassidy is a useless character who should have been retired permanently after he left SVU way back at the end of Season 1.
He's a hothead who is painfully mismatched with Benson, and I can't think of a single positive thing he contributed to the show over the past 20 years, besides leaving it.
What sticks out in my mind whenever I think of him and Benson attempting to have a romantic relationship is that he had no interest in the cultural things she wanted to do, and she was bored by him.
Who, exactly, thought this return was even necessary, never mind a good idea?
Rollins: You and Cassidy... have you...
Benson: Not ever since the DA's office cleared me of child abuse charges.
Rollins: That's understandable.
[Cassidy comes over.]
Cassidy: Hey, Amanda. Hey, Liv. How's my new boss doing?
Rollins: Great, considering he only got the case from Barba two weeks ago.
Cassidy: Great. Let's go put the final nail in this bastard's coffin.
The case that Cassidy botched sounded interesting, and I was really getting into the dilemma of these parents not wanting their kids to have to go through the trial process a second time.
It makes sense that that couldn't last for the whole hour, but wasn't there a better way to proceed than this ridiculous murder scenario?
I'm disappointed in this on so many levels.
Law & Order: SVU Season 19 Episode 12 was incredibly powerful and arguably one of the best episodes of this show in its long history. So to follow it up with this nonsense, especially after a long hiatus, is a real letdown.
Related: Raúl Esparza Quits Law & Order: SVU After Six Years!
I wanted to see how Stone does as a prosecutor. Managing SVU and yelling at Benson about her decisions isn't really the DA's job, and it's not the conflict between him and Benson I was hoping for.
Plus this whole scenario was contrived. I didn't blame Rollins for her disbelief!
Rollins: What's with the men's boots in your apartment?
Benson: Excuse me?
Rollins: You really gonna make me work this hard for it?
Benson: They're Cassidy's. It's not what you think. He went to West's brownstone to 'admonish' him.
Rollins: Admonish him?
Benson: He never got the chance. He got hit over the head from behind and when he woke up he found West's body.
Rollins: And you believe that?
I also thought it was out of character and unrealistic that Benson let drunk, crazy, full-of-blood Cassidy in and let him stay with her and Noah. Benson told Stone that she doesn't sleep at night because she's worried about him ever since the Sheila Porter fiasco. So what is she doing letting a potential murderer live with them?
I enjoyed getting to see Noah and Amanda's one-on-one time, but this was ridiculous!
I did enjoy seeing Rollins be Benson's protector instead of the other way around, though. When she first tried to warn Benson about Cassidy, I couldn't help thinking she was trying to warn her past self about her sister Kim and avoid all the trouble she got herself into.
Rollins: You're really gonna sit here and let Liv destroy her own career? Stone's in her office right now ripping her a new one cause he found out we're back investigating the West case. What are you gonna do if charges are brought against her?
Cassidy: That's not gonna happen.
Rollins: Why? Cause you've got your own ass covered, Brian?
Cassidy: That's real rich coming from you, Rollins. You have a couple of skeletons in your closet, don't you? Who bailed you out, huh?
I was surprised Amanda had a key to Benson's apartment, but I guess it makes sense since she's the backup nanny for Noah. Anyway, I enjoyed her tirade against Cassidy.
While he might have been right that she was a little hypocritical, at least she tried to take responsibility for her actions. Cassidy did not seem capable of it, and I was surprised he actually showed up at SVU.
I'm glad that bastard's dead. We were fooling ourselves to think we'd get justice any other way.
Kayla Price
Cassidy's arrest and the resolution of the case were disappointing, though.
First of all, Detective Holiday was entirely unlikeable, and there was no reason whatsoever to bring up race. This case started with a pedophile getting a mistrial and his victims' families not wanting their kids to testify!
I'd love to hear what Holiday had to say about the actual perpetrator being black.
Related: Law & Order: SVU Season 19 Episode 12 Review: The Undiscovered Country
And while she and Stone were both right that Benson didn't belong near Cassidy's case, Benson was right that his Constitutional rights ought to be respected.
Holiday's reaction seemed to imply that she thought she and Benson were in some sort of women's club where rules get ignored because women are often treated inappropriately in male-dominated professions.
She came off as very entitled and annoying, and I'm not sure what the point of her character was other than to be a one-note antagonist.
To make matters worse, the case was wrapped up so quickly it felt coincidental.
In about 30 seconds, it went from everything looking bad for Cassidy to there being a suspect who eagerly confessed. I know that Cassidy had found the fidget spinner piece in his boot, but it still seemed like it came out of nowhere.
And then that was followed up by Cassidy suddenly and randomly being a victim of sexual assault himself!
I guess it was believable. Children, especially male victims, often don't come forward for years. But it seemed like an effort to make him sympathetic by suddenly giving him this backstory.
And what the heck was that nonsense at the end of the hour?
I'm with Benson -- since when is she the love of Cassidy's life?
She'd better stick to her resolution to kick him to the curb. I don't know which I liked less: Cassidy's condescending advice for Benson to go inside because it was cold or the longing look she took out the window after she did.
If we've really traded the warm Barba/Benson relationship for Benson/Cassidy 2.0, I'm going to be sick.
This relationship is almost as bad an idea as the Benson/Tucker pairing from a few years ago. Either give Benson a reasonable love interest or let her be married to her job!
Am I the only one who hates the idea of Benson and Cassidy trying again?
Did this convoluted murder mystery make sense to anyone?
Did you hate "Chasing Demons," love it, or fall somewhere in between?
Weigh in below, and don't forget that if you missed anything, you can always watch Law & Order: SVU online to catch up.
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.
