Mask - Recap

Two kids are using binoculars to spy on the building across the way.
They see a woman who is handcuffed to the bed, with duct tape over her
mouth. They soon realize she's being raped. Another woman arrives home,
and they fear what will happen to her. She tries to run, and the younger
boy runs to call 911 as the perpetrator is stomping on the second woman.

Liv tells Elliot that the apartment belongs to Ann Jackson, who lives
there with Dr. Debbie Shields. Debbie is the blond, she's the one who
was being raped when Ann got home. Fin brings the two spy boys over.
They show the detectives the pictures they took. They got a picture of
the perp, but he looks like a total freak of nature.

Olivia wants a rape kit now, but Debbie sets her straight. Ann has a
massive brain bleed that could kill her, they need to operate
immediately. She's going to scrub in. Debbie has been raped, so for
Olivia that's what is more important than anything right now: the
evidence. Olivia asks if the rape could be personal, and Debbie tells
her that some people object to her work at the Tri-State Reproductive
Institute, which does in-vitro fertilization.

As Fin and Elliot question the head of the institute, she tells them
Debbie was threatened because of the cutting edge work she does with
gene manipulation. After her research was published, Debbie received a
threatening letter, which the administrator shares with the detectives.
"God hates Frankenbabies. People like you should be stomped out like
bugs." When they confront the man who wrote the letter, he stands by
what he said. He adds "When God makes you pregnant, stay pregnant. When
God makes you barren, stay barren." Elliot adds "When God gives you a
uterus, maybe we'll listen to your sermon." They go on to question him
about his whereabouts the prior evening, and he has an alibi.

Dr. Huang says that the rapist is literally turning himself into a
monster. He thinks the mask may have ritual or ceremonial importance.
Elliot shows the photo to Debbie, who ID's it and wonders why he
attacked them. An older gentleman arrives, Ann's father. He assumes
Debbie is Ann's surgeon but she sets him straight. He is happy to make
her acquaintance, though not under these circumstances. He tells the
detectives that his family circumstances are none of their affair.
Suffice it to say, he is in an "arm's length" relationship with his
daughter. He tells Debbie that if there has to be a medical decision -
God forbid, but it is hers to make. Ann is out of surgery and taken to ICU.

Debbie tells the detectives that the perpetrator came up behind her in
the hall and choked her til she passed out. When she came to, she was
bound and gagged. He told her he'd cure her of "Falmouth." She didn't
know what that meant, but the look on Ann's father's face indicates that
he knows. Elliot picks up on it.

Dr. Jackson excuses himself to get some water, and Elliot follows. Fin
runs into him with news. Back in 2006, a perp wearing that same mask
raped four women in one week in Richmond, VA. Dr. Jackson overhears and
joins the conversation. Elliot asks him about his reaction to what the
rapist said to Debbie. To him, it means he raped the wrong woman - and
he can't say any more than that. He's a psychiatrist. There could be a
privilege violation if this conversation continues. He specializes in
treating sex addicts.

ADA Hardwick did some digging. The Jackson family used to vacation at
Falmouth. The inference that Ann was the rapist's target is clear.
Elliot is angry. He lists a few things that are addictions. Rape is not
on the list. Jackson counters that sexual compulsion is as hard to fight
as gambling. Elliot shows him pictures of his daughter, post-attack, and
asks how he thinks Ann will feel when she finds that her father is
protecting her attacker. Based on the captain's assertion that some of
his patients do get better, if they can trust him, Elliot announces that
at least now they know where to look.

Dr. Huang shows Stabler a book written by Cap called “Eros Run Amok”,
and tells him that before his work in this field, Jackson was a patient
himself. Hie introduces himself to Cap and tells him that thanks to his
endeavors, sex addiction will get recognized as an actual disease. He
asks to speak with Jackson about Ann.

Jackson fills Huang and Stabler in on his sex bingeing. He'd be gone for
days, weeks at a time. Drinking went hand-in-hand with the binging, so
parts of his memory are missing. He does know that his wife believed his
promises to change until she could no longer do so, then she drove up to
the George Washington Bridge and jumped. Elliot figures claiming he had
a disease would let him off the hook for being a lousy husband, but Dr.
Jackson corrects him. He was beyond 'lousy'. He was morally reprehensible.

Huang adds that like other 12 step programs, part of Jackson's repair
work was to make amends. Elliot says it must not have worked with Ann,
since they've been estranged for how long now? Twenty years. They used
to be close, like peas in a pod. George contributes that in the book,
the estrangement is dated to the summer his daughter turned 16. He tells
her that she was starting to discover her sexuality, that she was gay.
He and her mother knew, they were fine with that. Elliot pushes. Why did
she stop speaking to him, then? Jackson doesn't think this is helping
the investigation. It feels more like Elliot is just prodding into his
most painful memories. So if they will excuse him, he'd rather be at her
bedside.

George and Elliot follow him, and Elliot tells him about the mask the
perpetrator was wearing. The god who represents spiritual redemption
through sex. He said he wanted to cure Ann of Falmouth. Cure her of
what? Both men follow Jackson in the elevator and confront him. Did he
rape his daughter, that summer she turned 16? Did he rape her in
Falmouth. He yells that he can't remember, then whispers he thinks he
did. He breaks down.

Ann comes to, and Liv immediately begins asking what Falmouth means to
her. Ann has a seizure and the doctors go to work. Elliot takes a call
and tells Huang that Ann took a turn for the worse. He gives Fin the
name Debbie gave Olivia, of Ann's childhood friend. Linda.

Elliot questions George about his feelings regarding sexual addiction
and rape. George says the case is growing. More victims nationwide have
been found who were raped by a man wearing the 'god of love' mask. Every
city he operates from has a sex addiction rehab center. They think he
may be going to the meetings, finding the women who were raped, and
'saving them' by raping them again. So why did he pulverize Ann? Because
he's a narcissist. They're prone to fits of violent rage if things don't
go according to their plan.

The rapist strikes again. Holly is a stripper, but Elliot assures her
that her chosen line of work doesn't give anybody the right to lay an
unkind hand on her. She said in college, a professor told her if she
didn't put out, he'd flunk her. The rapist told her she's "An A+". She
stabbed his forearm with a switchblade. That's as far as she could
reach, since she was bound. She wishes she'd slashed his throat. Her
actions give them DNA to work with, as his blood is on her knife.

Cragen fills Elliot in. Ann has been placed into a medically-induced
coma. Cap, her father, is there. He says he's not leaving her bedside.
Elliot says he wants to be kept off the grid for awhile.

A gentleman starts a sexual addicts meeting by announcing Dr. Jackson
won't be able to attend, due to a family emergency. Elliot attends
undercover, claiming to be a sex addict. Elliot breaks the 'modesty
rule' by rolling up his sleeves. He finds it seriously ironic that they
are giving him grief about that, when one of the members is talking
about loving to screw 16 year-old girls.

Ann's father is tucking her in, saying he always tells his patients to
never give up, no matter how life treats you. Liv notes that the surgeon
said Ann's chances are good. She tells him there's been another victim.
He's being used to find other victims, just like he was used to find
Ann. He admits that he assaulted Ann. He blocked out the memory for 20
years, but he remembers now. And now that he can remember, he can't
apologize, not while she's in this condition. He asks Liv is she can say
some people aren't worth saving, and she says yes, actually; she can.

Elliot signs the chore board, and is assigned a "big sib", Courtney. She
was assigned to him because he's just her type, or was. Before she got
clean. She asks him if he's a cop, and he says no. He's an accountant.
Everybody heads for bed. Elliot is told he can't wear a beater to bed.
The guy who gets him appropriate gear is a cutter, and Stabler thinks he
may have his perp, but the cut on his arm is almost healed. He just
wears the bandage as a reminder.

He's filling Cragen in when Courtney finds him. He whips the phone out
of his ear, but she asks him if he's being a naughty boy.

Debbie tells Liv that Cap headed back to his clinic. Sex addicts are a
delicate bunch.

Courtney tells Elliot she knows he was on the phone. He says no, he
knows phones aren't allowed. His vibrates, and she hears it. When she
reaches for it, he stops her and she says those are cop reflexes. She
grabs with the other hand, and gets his phone. The incoming call is from
Olivia, and Courtney asks if that's his girlfriend. She won't give him
his phone back, telling him to come and get it. When he follows her, she
takes her shirt off and gets on her knees in front of him. He tells her
about his daughter, and she calls him a walking douche bag. They hear
that someone is coming and start doing the laundry. It's Clay, he says
he's looking for a shirt.

When they meet back in the meeting, Clay calls shenanigans on laundry.
He thinks Elliot was going to do gangbang girl. When Elliot hears Cap's
voice, he realizes he's in deep serious. He takes the bull by the horn
and introduces himself as a sex addict, saying that Cap has a "'do the
right thing' moral code." Cap keeps Ell's cover.

After the meeting, he asks Elliot for a word, and they exchange angry
words. Elliot says he thinks Clay Gibson is the "God of Love Rapist",
but Cap says he doesn't know if it is. Elliot asks if this is the only
group he mentioned Falmouth to. Elliot says Cap doesn't want redemption
for the rapist, he wants it for himself. The party in question will rape
again. Maybe Cap can let that happen? But Elliot can't.

He touches base with Cragen and Huang. Cragen is afraid that if they are
wrong, then the real perp will realize they are on to him, and slip
town. Cragen wants him to do background on all the patients but he
can't. He doesn't have their last names. Cap does.

Fin and Elliot, with Cap in the room, ask her old friend Linda what
happened on that night 20 years ago. She says she and Ann were
skinny-dipping. Cap came down. Linda looks confused, so Elliot tells her
Cap doesn't remember anything. She fills in the blanks. He was drunk. He
stripped naked. Ann got upset, and went back up to the house. Cap is
surprised. Linda says he came after her, but it was consensual. She was
17, and she didn't regret it. So why did Ann stop talking to him? Linda
was Ann's first love. She and Cap broke her heart that night.

Now that he realizes he's not the complete scum of the earth, Cap is
ready to go find the rapist.

Elliot tells the men he's into forearms. It goes back to his dad pushing
his sleeves up when he's about to give him a beating. Cap picks up the
story, and starts rolling his sleeves up. They are doing a males only
meeting, it helps with father reconfiguration. So they're all gonna roll
up their sleeves, but then hug Elliot so it leads to something good, in
his mind, instead of something bad. Clay refuses to break the modesty
code, but then he does roll up both sleeves, and there's nothing there
but a really bad tattoo.

Cap and Elliot try to figure out what they're missing. Three of the
places the perp struck fall into a computer overlap system that a
certain company services. He personally doesn't use the service, because
Brett Kincaid does a fine job with their computer security. Elliot
requests clarification. Brett, the therapist, does their computers?
Realization dawns for Cap. Brett was in the room when he spoke about Ann.

They go to confront him in the women's session, but he left because he
wasn't feeling well. Elliot asks where Courtney is, and the leader tells
him she never showed. Elliot takes Cap's phone and calls her. She says
she's where he told her to be. He tells her that wasn't him, and she
needs to get out, now. In the time it takes him to send her to
Rockefeller Center, she is attacked. He hears her screams.

The perpetrator gets started but Elliot and Cap arrive to save Courtney.
They unmask him, and it is Brett. As Elliot places him under arrest,
Courtney says she knew he was a cop.

Cap says his clinic is empty, because he let in a cop. Elliot apologizes
because he could see that Cap was actually doing some good. Cap says
he's going to be there when Ann wakes up.

Share this article with your friends