'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 14, Episode 16: 'Funny Valentine' Recap

‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’, season 14, episode 16, ‘Funny Valentine’

A young Micha Green sings on a family video and we flash to present day as Micha works on recording her new song, collaborating with Caleb Bryant. They celebrate a successful recording afterwards with some passionate kissing. Her manager tells them to save it for the video. Then he mentions she has a great body and should show it off more, so Caleb slips Micha’s shirt over her shoulder. Whatever sells, she says. Then she thanks a man named Brass, for getting her where she is now.

Later on, Caleb gets touchy-feely with some girl and Micha catches them. She jokingly refers to the girl as a beef cookie, and Caleb goes on the offensive. He shoves her and knocks her to the floor, asking her if she finds that funny. He pulls her up by her hair, and shoves her face in his crotch. She stands up, hitting his chin with her head, which cases him to call her a whore and punch her in the face.

Later, Detectives Amaro and Benson photograph Micha’s bruises and disfigured face and swab her for DNA. They ask her who did it to her, and she says Caleb did, but he didn’t mean to.

Elsewhere in town, Caleb and his “meat cookie” get out of their limo to much applause and paparazzi.

Amaro talks to Brass, who says he knows it was Caleb’s doing. He says that Micha is like a daughter to him, and he discovered her when she was 9. He tries to say that Caleb and Micha’s relationship is complicated, but Amaro says that it’s not.

Benson questions Micha, who recounts what happened to her. She says that there were a few people watching, and that the beating went on for a while. She says that once Caleb goes off, it tends to last a while.

In a club, Amaro and Tutuola arrest Caleb after seeing his bruised knuckles. As they put the cuffs on him, he informs them they are making a huge mistake. Caleb tells his groupies to ‘call his Jew’.

In the precinct, Caleb’s lawyer, Counselor Ben Cohn, arrives and tells them that taking Caleb’s clothes is harassment. Cohn asks to talk to Capitan Cragen, but they inform him that he’s not there, and that Sergeant Munch is filling in for him.

In his holding cell, Amaro oversees his tech taking the pictures of Caleb’s fists. Caleb bluntly asks if she’s rather be taking pictures of something else of his, and Amaro tells him nobody is interested.

In his office, Cohn tells Munch that they’re making a mistake because Caleb is a big celebrity, well loved…, and black. He says that they should save themselves the embarrassment and let him go.

Cohn storms out. Rollins points out that the arrest has gone viral already, even appearing on Perez Hilton’s site. They claim his ‘gangsta cred’ has been ‘boosted’ by the arrest. Amaro says it’s too bad there were no paparazzi at the recording studio. They do know there were at least three witnesses, though, and Rollins says they need to get to them before Caleb’s people do.

Tutuola talks to one of the witnesses who refuses to answer anything. She does say that Micha shouldn’t have ‘dissed’ Caleb, though.

Amaro questions Caleb’s “beef cookie”, who says she must have been in the bathroom and didn’t see anything. She implies that she’s waiting to be Caleb’s next girl, but she won’t say anything else to Amaro, knowing when to keep her mouth open, and when to keep it shut.

Rollins talks to the sound engineer, Mr. Ferarri, who says he saw Caleb punch her, and maybe choke her. She asks how long she was choked, and he says really quick. So she asks if it was too quick for him to bother to help her, and he stops talking to her.

Benson and ADA Barba pay Micha a visit in her hotel room. She watches the video, and is mad that Benson had him arrested. Benson introduces Barba, and Micha asks if she’ll have to testify publicly. If Caleb doesn’t plead guilty, then yes, she will. She seems very hesitant, but Benson says they’ll be with her every step of the way. She suggests going to Brass for support, but she doesn’t want to be told “I told you so”, and can do this on her own. Benson points out that Caleb is out there partying and acting like nothing ever happened, while she looks like she was hit by a bus. This upsets her, and she vows he won’t get away with it.

In arraignment, Caleb’s bail is set at $500,000 and Barba also requests a restraining order for Micha against Caleb. The judge grants it, and he’s not to be within 1,000 yards of her.

Cohn has a press conference and plays the racist card, saying the NYPD are perpetuating a stereotype against hip-hop artists, linking them to gangster thugs.

In Barba’s office, Micha’s agent storms into the office, demanding to know how Micha’s crime scene photos were released, as they have gone viral. Benson is surprised that the agent sounds more upset about the photo than the actual beating. Micha says that she won’t go to trial for this, because there’s too much happening in her life right now.

The news hits that Micha is withdrawing her complaint, hoping to repair the relationship in private.

In a restaurant, Benson asks Barba if they can still go ahead in the trial without Micha’s testimony, but he says it’s almost impossible. Amaro says that their only witness, Mr. Ferarri, has booked a gig out of the country. Benson urges Barba to figure something out.

Barba talks to Cohn, offering to make a deal. He says that Micha’s doctors will testify on her behalf, but Cohn says that Caleb’s witnesses will testify that Micha was irrational, and she won’t be there to rebut anything. Barba tells Caleb he should issue an apology, then… But if he tells the world that he was defending himself against her, no one would buy it. Instead, he should admit to the crime, and ‘repent’.

In the precinct, Barba says that they have 12 hours to accept the plea bargain of assault, which would land him community service, but no jail time. Caleb goes on a talk show, and has a message of Micha. He apologizes for hurting her, and promises to change for her. He provides a ‘friendship ring’. Caleb tweets a picture from inside Micha’s hotel room, and the team are quick to respond, as the restraining order is still in effect.

The officers storm the hotel room and arrest Caleb. Micha gets upset since she said he could be there. Benson says it’s not up to her.

In arraignment, Cohn says that Caleb thought Micha could rescind the protection order herself. The judge accepts his apology, and gives him a 30 day suspended sentence, and if anything happens again, he’ll land in jail.

Outside the court, Benson and Amaro wonder how they managed to get that judge, as she always sentences lightly. Barba says that the courts can only do so much if the victims aren’t willing to talk.

Caleb approaches the officers and starts to taunt them. He shows them his new tattoo, a portrait of Micha’s face after she got beaten. In doing so, Amaro spots something in his jacket. Thinking it was a gun, he searches Caleb’s jacket and finds weed on him, so they arrest him once again.

In the precinct, Munch tells them that Caleb was released hours after being brought in, and that he filed a complaint. He warns Amaro that the more they go after Caleb, the more Micha will want him. They are surprised that Micha’s so dense about it, but Tutuola says that there’s someone she might listen to.

Tutuola visits Brass. Brass tells him that Caleb’s dad was a pimp, so that’s what Caleb thinks a real man is like. He also says that he’s tried to show Micha some tough love, but she’s stubborn. He says her family only talks to her when they need money, and that her mom’s boyfriend wasn’t afraid to use his fists either. Tutuola tells Brass to keep an eye on her. Brass says he hopes that Micha will get over Caleb.

At a release party for her CD, Micha tells a reporter that she and Caleb are good again, as she’s wearing his promise ring. She says that Caleb couldn’t go to the party, but she wants him there, and that the police can’t tell her who to love.

At the party, Caleb sneaks in through the backdoor, and Brass calls Tutuola, but Caleb overhears them and confronts him about it. Tutuola, Amaro, and Benson head out, sensing danger.

They get to the club, and there are cops waiting outside. There was a call reporting multiple shots fired. They get inside and find many people wounded. They spot Micha on the ground. She’s unconscious, but still alive. Brass, however, is dead.

The EMTs take Micha away, and Benson says to call the moment she comes to. Brass is the only one to die in the fight, though there were half a dozen other injuries. No one was willing to say what happened, and there were several guns on the floor, though none of them registered. Tutuola says it was Caleb, since he heard him on the phone.

In the hospital, Micha blames the police for Brass’ death. She says she didn’t see what happened. Amaro and Benson believe she’s covering for him.

In the precinct, Tutuola and Rollins interrogate Caleb and Cohn. He says he wasn’t there. He was watching TV all night. Tutuola says he heard his voice on the phone, but Cohn says it’s hardly condemning.

The detectives tell Barba that no one came forward as a witness, and most of the people there won’t even admit that they were there, and the surveillance footage was unusable. The gun used to kill Brass was wiped clean and unregistered. They say that Micha knows what happened, but Caleb has a hold on her. They do know that Micha loved Brass, though.

Barba brings Brass’ wife and child to see Micha… She still denies seeing anything.

In his office, Micha asks if Barba brought them there on purpose, and he says no. Benson decides to play the video of Micha singing when she was 9, and recounts the story of how Brass found Micha, and took care of her… and points out that Brass’ son will never have that. Micha asks what she’s supposed to do. She admits Caleb was at the club.

Micha tells them the first time she was attacked; she questioned Caleb about a text he got. He dragged her down some stairs and kept kicking her, breaking two ribs. He apologized, and she forgave him. Last night, she told him he couldn’t be there, but that set him off. Then he saw Brass on the phone, and that made him even angrier, and he pulled a gun and shot him in the chest. She agrees to testify to the grand jury for Brass.

Outside the courtroom the next day, Barba and Benson reminisce about their loves, and how they would have let them massacre their entire families… they were so in love, it didn’t matter.

In trial, Micha testifies, saying that Caleb was never at the party, and that Barba and Benson pressured her into lying.

In the precinct, they find that Caleb had contact with her last night. He used a disposable cellphone to call and talk for an hour. And as soon as the trial ended, Micha hopped a flight to Bermuda. She tweeted a picture of them together. The agents don’t know what to do, and Benson says they have to wait for the inevitable.

In Bermuda, Micha and Caleb make out for a while until Caleb gets a text. Micha asks who it is and Caleb asks if she hasn’t learned to mind her own business. She gets scared and Caleb backs her into a corner.

A news report plays that Micha’s body was discovered in Bermuda and the fans are mourning her loss. The video of her singing as a child is played. The SVU team watches on in disbelief.