| “ | You don't say no to me! | „ |
| ~ Martin while raping Mona Stewart |
Martin Parish is the secondary antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Bubble Wrap". He is a wealthy rapist who has an incestuous relationship with his domineering mother, Connie.
He was portrayed by Joseph Cross.
Overview[]
Martin is the son of real estate magnates Peter and Connie Parish. When Martin was a child, Peter ran off with the family's maid, leaving him to be raised by his mother. Connie was extremely possessive and overprotective of her son, demanding his undivided attention to the point that he had no life outside of her. When he was 12, their relationship became sexual, and the incest continued well into his adulthood.
Martin resented his mother's smothering behavior, and their relationship was so dysfunctional that they saw a therapist together. Nevertheless, he lacked the courage to step out of her shadow and lead his own life, and the sexual abuse he suffered at her hands made him incapable of having a sexual relationship with any other woman. He tried to have a relationship with one of his mother's employees, Mona Stewart, but he could not bring himself to be physical with her beyond cuddling. They did share a common appetite for cocaine, however, and often snorted lines together.
In "Bubble Wrap"[]
After a contentious therapy session with Connie, Martin accompanies her to look at one of their new buildings and stands by helplessly as she goes upstairs to have sex with the contractor. Mona takes pity on him and invites him to her apartment for dinner and a movie. Afterwards, he angrily refuses to attend their standing weekly dinner date.
Martin brings cocaine to his date with Mona and snorts a few lines with her. He then tries to seduce her, but flies into a rage when she says no and attacks her, raping her and biting her breasts so hard that he leaves red marks and bruises. Afraid she will go to the police, he runs to his mother, begging Connie for help.
Mona reports the rape to the NYPD's Special Victims Unit and identifies Martin as her assailant. SVU Captain Olivia Benson and Sergeant Fin Tutuola question Martin, who claims that he and Mona only cuddled. Connie quickly takes charge, telling Martin to stop talking and accusing Mona of trying to extort money from her. Soon afterward, Mona drops her complaint against Martin; while she will not say whether Connie paid her off, she does tell Detective Grace Muncy and Officer Tonie Churlish that Connie has the power to make sure she never works again.
Determined to prove Martin's guilt with or without Mona's testimony, Benson persuades Assistant District Attorney Dominick Carisi Jr. to get a warrant for his arrest. When Benson and Tutuola show up at Martin's apartment to arrest him, they find him in bed with Connie. They arrest and interrogate Martin, who denies his guilt and, thanks to his mother's influence, is released on his own recognizance.
The next day, Mona is found dead of asphyxiation, her lungs blackened with an unknown chemical irritant. Tutuola and Muncy question Martin about her murder and tell him that whoever poisoned her likely also poisoned his inhaler. An X-ray of Martin's lungs reveals the same kind of damage that Mona suffered, and Benson and Tutuola find out that the cocaine he uses is tainted; they also learn that he buys it from a private detective who works for Connie. Carisi gets a warrant to search Connie's house, where Muncy and Churlish find a bucket of industrial abrasive that looks just like cocaine and deduce that Connie used it to kill Mona and keep Martin dependent on her.
The SVU team arrests Connie for murder, and Benson accuses her of killing Mona to get Martin out of trouble and eliminate a rival for his affection. Martin refuses to believe that his mother poisoned him, and so fears being alone that he refuses to say a word against her in court.
Benson and Tutuola track Peter down and invite him to their precinct to talk with Martin. Peter arrives with his second wife, Bianca, and their infant daughter, and he tells Benson and Carisi that Connie had tried to kill him by poisoning his smoothies with the same abrasive chemicals she used on Mona and Patrick; he also reveals that he knew about the incest between Connie and their son but he was unable to save his son.
Martin brushes his mother and embraces his father while taking the time to bond with his new half-sister. Martin takes responsibility for raping Mona, but he swears that he did not kill her. Martin banishes Connie from his life and leaves her to be arrested for murder, and then goes to prison for rape. It is also implied his father will continue to visit him.
External links[]
- Martin Parish on the Law & Order Wiki
