SVU S14 E1-E2 “Lost Reputation" & "Above Suspicion."
“Damn! That’s what I get for being a middle age man who buys white satin sheets.”
Captain Don Cragen awakes to find in his bed a dead hooker who's connected to SVU's ongoing probe into rival prostitution rings and the murder of a former governor. Though the squad is ordered not to investigate, Detective Olivia Benson tries to convince DA Paula Foster that Cragen has been set up by either high-class madam Delia Wilson or sleazy pimp Bart Ganzel. The investigation reunites them with former SVU detective Brian Cassidy who's working undercover in Ganzel's organization. Cassidy thinks Delia is behind the frame job, but Detective Nick Amaro suspects Cassidy knows more than he's saying.
When Ganzel finds a bug in his loft, he agrees to work with SVU to take down Delia. When Cassidy is shot by a patrolwoman, Benson learns that Ganzel arranged the whole thing. With his lawyer secretly recording, the pimp admits they were trying to blackmail Cragen. But when he learned the prostitute was sleeping with Cassidy, he slit her throat in a fit of rage. Olivia discovers Foster has been taking bribes from Delia to pay her daughter's medical bills. When the entire prostitution ring collapses, Cragen is cleared of murder and solicitation charges...but the stain on his reputation remains.
We're talking about the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit two-part season opener season 14 episode 1 "Lost Reputation" and episode 2 "Above Suspicion."* Our returning guest is Roberta Blevens from the Life After MLM podcast.
Plot points in these episodes are inspired by rival prostitution rings run by the "Soccer Mom Madam" Anna Gristina and the self-proclaimed "King of All Pimps" Jason Itzler.
*Note: some streaming services offer this two-part episode as one combined episode.
