Law & Order: SVU season 18 episode 14 review: Missy Peregrym shines in ‘Net Worth’

Moving into Wednesday night’s new episode of Law & Order: SVU entitled “Net Worth,” the show made it abundantly clear that this was going to be a challenging case for Olivia Benson and her team. It’s often difficult to get the clues necessary in order to resolve a standard rape case — it is far more difficult when the man you’re accusing is a billionaire Wall Street titan with the ability to pay off anyone other than the law.

The victim tonight was Zoe (played fantastically by Missy Peregrym), an investment banker at one of the most prestigious firms in New York City. Said billionaire Eli raped her while at a party, and it became very hard trying to come up with the evidence that it was anything other than consensual. He had a pretty good ace in the form of an email from her office computer and her IP, with it specifically saying that the two had a great time. This put her in an almost-impossible situation to prove that she didn’t send the email. Luckily, this is where Benson and the remainder of the SVU team came into play. They were able to piece together a number of important pieces of information, including the fact that this was not the first time that Eli had done such a thing. (Unfortunately, the previous victim had both a payoff and a non-disclosure agreement, making it very difficult for them to move forward.)

Luckily, there was some data that they could use in order to stop Eli in his tracks — a drug dealer, who saw the two parties together and could testify that very thing. The entire case was together, and it looked as though it was going to be a slam-dunk for Benson and company with all of the evidence that they had … including video proof that one of Eli’s associates used Zoe’s computer in order to write the email in the first place.

There was still an issue — Zoe had been offered a great deal to go to another firm, one that would pay a grand total of $20 million over four years. It was a deal that would easily buoy her career to new heights. It took some serious persuasion (including Benson bringing in a past victim), but eventually she testified. She turned down a huge sum of money in order to doom Eli once and for all.

Overall

This was a heck of a great SVU episode, led by strong performances by Peregrym and Tate Donovan. Anytime that the show gets great guest stars and is paced as perfectly as it was tonight, you know that you’re getting one of the best episodes of the season. “Net Worth” qualifies. Grade: A-.

What is your personal Law & Order: SVU season 18 episode 14 review? Share your thoughts on the episode and the case below.

Photo: NBC