LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT Post-Mortem: Octavio Pisano on Velasco's Big Decision and Proving His Loyalty to Benson - Give Me My Remote : Give Me My Remote

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LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT Post-Mortem: Octavio Pisano on Velasco’s Big Decision and Proving His Loyalty to Benson

April 27, 2023 by  

Law and Order SVU Bend the Law spoilers

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT — “Bend the Law” Episode 24019 — Pictured: (l-r) Jasmine Batchelor as Officer Tonie Churlish, Octavio Pisano as Det. Joe Velasco — (Photo by: Ralph Bavaro/NBC)

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Thursday, April 27 episode of LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, “Bend the Law.”]

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT’s Velasco (Octavio Pisano) came face-to-face with Chilly (Joseph Castillo-Midyett)—the man who he went through cartel training with (and killed people to save Velasco’s life) when they were kids—on the Thursday, April 27 episode, “Bend the Law.”

Though Velasco was initially reluctant, he and Churlish (Jasmine Batchelor) traveled to Maine, where they found Chilly—now known as Anthony Suarez, and a teacher with a family. But with his orders from Benson (Mariska Hargitay) to find him very clear, Velasco had a drink with his old friend…and recorded their conversation.

When Velasco returned to New York, he handed over the recording to Benson and acknowledged Chilly copped to a couple more hits that were unsolved.

“How do you feel?” Benson asked.

“Like I did the right thing,” Velasco answered. “Still feel pretty bad.”

“Now,” Benson replied. “But you unburdened yourself, Velasco. And eventually, that’s going to feel really good.”

Olivia said she’d listen to the tape and figure out who to share it with next. But, she reassured Velasco, they were good.



In the aftermath, Pisano acknowledges Velasco doesn’t actually feel unburdened. “I think it adds to it,” he tells Give Me My Remote. “I don’t think he’s as clear about it as Benson is. I think he’s holding on to what he sees Benson see in him, even though he doesn’t feel it yet. So when she says, ‘I hope you feel unburdened, and you can move on now,’ he wants to believe that. He’s holding on to what she says. He doesn’t feel like it. He’s still very conflicted.”

“That’s why he asked, ‘What’s going to happen with the tape?’…because it wasn’t as clear to him, even though he understood what he needed to do when he met with Chilly,” Pisano continues. “It wasn’t clear where Chilly stands now. And it’s this balance: He’s a father now, he has a family, and this happened 20 years ago. But at the same time, he still feels the same way. He still justifies what they did. So I don’t think things are clear in [Velasco’s] head.”

After fighting with Churlish for illegally recording him, Velasco pulled the same move on Chilly. “I mean, it’s not like he’s recording another police officer—he knows what this guy did,” Pisano explains. “He knows where he comes from. And I think Velasco knows that if he’s still the same guy, he shouldn’t be out there. He shouldn’t be doing these things. And where Velasco is now, he’s actually stepped on the other side of the law. Now what he’s been asked for is to go back into his old world and bring them over for justice.”

But if there’s any fallout for Chilly based on the evidence Velasco gathered, “it’s still to come,” Pisano says. “Perhaps in another season.”


Law and Order SVU Bend the Law spoilers

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT — “King of the Moon” Episode 24015 — Pictured: (l-r) Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson, Octavio Pisano as Det. Joe Velasco — (Photo by: Will Hart/NBC)

More immediately, Velasco is at least relieved to be square with Olivia again after a bumpy few months. “That’s essentially what he wanted the most, and that’s why he did everything,” Pisano says. “And I think that when she gives them that nod, he takes it. And that’s the one thing that he’s holding on to, even though he’s still conflicted with everything—at least he’s settled with this. He’s not walking on eggshells. He proved his loyalty.”

Also proving to be on easier grounds after their road trip together: Velasco and Churlish. Velasco even gave Churlish a little merit badge, after she mentioned earlier in the hour she was a former Girl Scout.

“I think there’s a mutual respect,” Pisano says of the duo’s newfound quasi-partnership. “I think they both realize they come from very different backgrounds and very different worlds. But they’re both after the same thing, which is justice and protecting victims. They just go about it in different ways. But I think they’ve become cordial enough to see each other, respect each other, even if it’s from a distance.”

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, Thursdays, 9/8c, NBC

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