Law & Order: Special Victims Unit – Cornered

By: Kaylyn Bell

Carisi (Peter Scanavino) arrives at his regular corner shop to get his morning coffee. As he leaves, he gets a call from Benson (Mariska Hargitay), and he lets her know he’ll be a little late for their meeting but he’s on the way. When he arrives at the courthouse, he runs into Counselor Andrews (Erin Anderson) who informs him that it’s his paralegal’s birthday, so he asks her to tell Benson he’s quickly running to buy flowers.

As Carisi returns to the corner shop, he realizes he’s interrupted a robbery and is met at gunpoint by two men, Boyd (Silas Weir Mitchell) and Deonte (Keith Machekanyanga). He sees Boyd trying to get two girls, Tess (Paige Herschell) and Elizabeth (Tori Khalil), to empty their credit cards at the ATM. Carisi voluntarily surrenders all his valuables and tries to get them to just take it and leave. Deonte finds a safe under a carpet and asks the shop owner, Ali (Turhan Troy Caylak), to open it. Ali tells them that only the owner knows the combination, and he works elsewhere. Boyd tells him to call the owner and get him here.

Benson keeps calling Carisi with no answer, so she walks over to the shop. The men tell Carisi to lock the door just as Benson is about to enter. He flips the closed sign on her and makes eye contact, and she gets his message. Around the corner she calls in the robbery, and officers arrive on scene.

Precinct Commander Fran Volpe (Pilar Uribe) and Lieutenant Mack Ford (Jordan Mahome) meet with Benson, and she informs them of the situation. Benson says they need to set up a line of communication and to try the landline inside first. When they leave to set up, Benson calls Amanda (Kelli Giddish) who’s at work, and informs her of her husband’s situation. Benson assures her that Carisi saved her life earlier, so she’s not leaving until she does the same for him.

Silva (Juliana Aidén Martinez) and Velasco (Octavio Pisano) arrive at the scene, and Benson updates them and instructs them to open a lane on the FDR for Amanda to arrive.

Inside the shop, Carisi tries to get them to answer the phone, but they refuse. Ali runs to answer, but as he grabs the phone Boyd threatens to shoot him. Deonte suggests to Boyd that they put the girls in the walk-in freezer, and Boyd takes away their cell phones and takes them there. While he’s gone, Carisi tries to reason with Deonte, explaining that Boyd is dangerous and that because of accomplice liability, he’ll be responsible for anything he does. Deonte asks why he knows so much about this and discovers that Carisi is an ADA.

Ali answers the phone just as Boyd returns, and he shoots him. Benson informs Amanda over the phone that shots were fired, but they know Carisi’s not injured because the phone is now off the hook, and they can hear Carisi trying to help Ali. Deonte disconnects the phone, and they lose connection to the inside. Volpe and Ford discover that in addition to Carisi and the shop owner, Elizabeth and Tess are inside.

ESU (Jon Martin) updates them that there’s a gap to fit a scope in so they can get eyes in the shop. With this information, Benson directs the other officers to wait to try calling again until they can see the situation inside and identify the robbers.

Boyd tries to get the rest of the hostages into the freezer, but Carisi refuses, explaining that Ali will die if he stops holding pressure on the wound. Boyd doesn’t care and tells him to drag him there.

Inside the freezer, Carisi tries to calm down the girls. Elizabeth tells Carisi that the cops don’t care if they live, and he shares that he knows two of the officers outside very well, and the one thing he knows about those two women is that they’re not going home without them. Tess gets a text message to her watch, and Carisi asks if she can make calls from it.

The officers look at the footage from the scope, but they can’t spot the hostages. Looking at the blueprints, they conclude the hostages must be in the freezer. With limited options, they decide to try calling again, this time to the hostage’s cell phone. Carisi instructs Elizabeth to take his place holding pressure on Ali’s wound while he answers the call from Tess’ watch. He’s able to update Benson and provide the names and descriptions of the robbers. Benson instructs Velasco and Silva to cross-check all recent prison releases based on that information. Carisi hears the men coming back, so he tells Tess to hide the watch.

Boyd announces that after going through Carisi’s phone, they’ve figured out how to get out. Deonte asks for countries they can flee to that aren’t likely to send them back to the US, and Carisi suggests the Solomon Islands. They tell Carisi that he needs to ask the police for an escort to the private airport and that he will be coming on the plane with them, and they’ll release him once they land. Carisi tells them that as a lawyer he’s not as valuable of a hostage as they think he is.

Tess keeps getting texts to her phone, and Boyd finds out that she’s been communicating with the police. He searches her for a device, and he finds her watch. Boyd tells Carisi to answer the police and share his terms while he takes Tess alone to the freezer. Carisi tries to bargain with him, but Boyd strikes him on the head with the gun and tells him to stop talking.

Elizabeth announces that she thinks Ali stopped breathing, so Carisi starts chest compressions, but it’s too late. Carisi tells Deonte that he’s killed him and goes to the side of the store and breaks down on the floor. Elizabeth walks over to console him, and he says he’s sorry he couldn’t help her friend, and she tells him she’s sorry she couldn’t help his. Elizabeth reminds him that they stick together and make it out alive. Carisi asks Deonte what his plan was, and he says they didn’t have one; he had just picked up Boyd from being released, and they needed money. He tells Deonte that because of Boyd, he too will be charged with murder and rape. Deonte says he can’t go back to prison, and Carisi replies that he might get his wish because Boyd seems willing to leave in a body bag. Carisi tells Deonte that if he helps him, he’ll go to bat for him in court.

Velasco and Silva update Benson and Amanda that they’ve identified the men.

Boyd exits the freezer, and Elizabeth and Carisi go check on Tess. The robbers have found out that Carisi’s old boss is an NYPD captain, and they tell him to call her. Carisi relays their demands to Benson, including that they want to exchange him for her. He also updates them that Ali is dead and that Tess has been raped and needs medical attention. Benson says she’ll agree to their terms if they release Tess, and Carisi puts her on speaker. Boyd agrees to release Tess in exchange for her replacing Carisi.

Boyd and Deonte release Tess on the street, and Benson and Amanda rush over and try and console her as she starts screaming. As Silva leads Tess to the ambulance, Benson tells Amanda that she’s going in. Amanda opposes explaining that Carisi didn’t agree to the exchange, but Benson says it’s not his call to make.

Carisi tells Boyd he’s not letting Benson take his place, but Boyd points his gun at him and brings him to the door. When he opens the door, Benson puts her gun down and tries to walk in, but Carisi refuses to move. Catching him off guard, Carisi pushes Boyd back and shuts the door. Boyd gets up and moves to shoot Carisi, but Deonte aims his gun at Boyd before he gets the chance. Carisi confirms that it would be self-defense if Deonte shoots Boyd, so he does. Carisi moves Boyd’s gun away from his body and asks Deonte for his gun too. He tells Deonte to get on his knees and instructs Elizabeth to open the door. SWAT swarms in and arrests Deonte. Benson takes Elizabeth to the ambulance and orders the officers to take Deonte to the precinct. Carisi exits the shop, and Amanda runs over to hug him.

Carisi, Amanda and Benson go for dinner later that evening. Amanda leaves the table when she gets a call from her mom, who’s watching the kids for the evening so Carisi can recover. Benson asks how he’s doing and he says he’s fine. She offers a contact for a therapist, but he politely declines and tells her he’ll be fine. She replies, “I thought you were fine already.”