Law & Order: SVU season 19 episode 14 review: Why Cassidy left SVU

Going into Law & Order: SVU season 19 episode 14, who knew that we would see Brian Cassidy humanized as much as he’s been? He isn’t always the easiest recurring character to root for due to his hotheaded nature, but through this episode we learned quite a bit of what we would consider to be valuable information all about him.

After finding himself being cleared in the death of child molester Dr. West, Cassidy made a startling revelation to Peter Stone that he, too, was the victim of sexual abuse as a child when he was in little league. It lasted a couple of months and then his father go revenge over what happened. Nonetheless, this made an indelible mark on Cassidy’s life and, in turn, it is why he couldn’t handle being a part of the Special Victims Unit. Another part of that may just have been that he felt like Olivia was the love of his life and she was never going to feel the same way. That’s another revelation that came through over the course of this episode.

If you loved big, emotional reveals, this episode absolutely delivered those with Cassidy and Dean Winters was fantastic throughout the hour. He got heated at times and broke down at others. It was easy to see why he ran the gamut given that this character made one bad decision after the next that made him look guilty. For one, he decided to pay Dr. West a visit after he was responsible for the mistrial that allowed him to go free on bail. Meanwhile, he also tried to hide out at Olivia’s house to avoid being arrested for a crime that he did not commit. It was interesting, in turn, to say Benson in a position where the rest of the SVU was skeptical of her for a change — she wasn’t viewing Cassidy through rose-colored glasses per se, but she did have a deeper trust in him than just about any other character would have within this situation.

With this episode also exposed was more of the tension between different departments (homicide didn’t love SVU sticking around this case) and also how Peter Stone chooses to navigate his way through police politics. He was especially unwilling to trust Benson at first with Brian but, as time progressed, he started to understand that her past relationship was not impacting her judgment on the case. She’s stronger than to just put on blinders to the facts.

CarterMatt Verdict

SVU season 19 episode 14 was a tour de force for Winters, and probably one of our top 3 performances from Mariska Hargitay this season, as well. We understand Cassidy so much more than we ever did; now, our heart breaks for him in terms of some of the terrible stuff he has endured.

What did you think about Law & Order: SVU season 19 episode 14 overall? Were you surprised to learn more about Cassidy’s past in this context? Share now in the comments!

(Photo: NBC.)