(S08E15) Even though the disclaimer at the beginning of this episode said "The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event", we all know who L&O writers are taking a shot at here. It's Nancy "Everyone is Always Guilty" Grace of CNN. A few months back, she verbally attacked a mother on air and suggested the mother was the reason her child was missing. The mother committed suicide the next day.In this episode, the baby disappeared from his crib as the mother (Laura) and boyfriend were playing charades with their friends. The mother immediately blamed her ex-husband, a gambler and alcoholic... and apparently a drug dealer. Stabler chases the ex-husband to the (Hudson?) river where the guy tosses a bag into the water. Stabler goes after it, assuming the baby is inside. But there's cocaine in it and the guy doesn't have a clue where his baby is.
Sidenote: Why were all the people at the drug house wearing underwear and bras? I'm not up on drug distribution.
Now, the mother was extremely suspicious. Every time Stabler suggested a different lead- i.e., does anybody have a reason to take Kendall? or have you been followed lately? she had an answer.
The "poor man's Geraldo", Cindy Marino, is the Nancy Grace of this story. She gets pushy with the detectives and threatens to make them look bad, so Stabler gives her a nibble about finding Laura's sonogram in the garbage. Next thing we know, Marino is badgeting Laura on television and blaming her for killing and "hating" her baby. Just like the real-life situation with Nancy Grace, the mother commits suicide.
The rest of the episode steers away from the Nancy Grace moment. I think the writers just wanted to stick it to her but then they went on with the story. It turned out that the mother did not kill her son. No one did. The biological father is the one who took the boy at the behest of his very scary-looking mother, who really wanted a grandchild. The rest of this episode played out in the courtroom, where we got sidelined when the father of the child sued Novak and Stabler. Fortunately, it all crumbled when the stupid guy brought up a sonogram and Stabler proved he stole it from the house when he stole the baby.
I was interested in this episode during the first half but began to lose interest when it got into the courtroom. Maybe that's why we haven't seen a lot of the courtroom this season. The investigation and chase after suspects is just more exciting than fancy lawyerin'.
Next week: Olivia has a brother! And, he's a rapist just like her father. This woman has some serious issues.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-21-2007 @ 3:25PM
Tt said...
Drug dealers are really paranoid. They think everyone is out to take their money and their drugs. By having everyone be naked that can't happen very easily.
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2-21-2007 @ 3:22PM
Joe Coss said...
They wear undergarments only so that there is no clothing to conceal and steal drugs under.
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2-21-2007 @ 3:31PM
BigTed said...
The second half of this story was based on the idea that the child would immediately be taken from his legal father and given to a stranger who turned out to be his biological father, without even the benefit of a family-court hearing. That would never, ever happen, for a dozen different reasons.... Is the "Law" half of this show still paying attention?
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2-21-2007 @ 3:41PM
JennieO said...
This show is going downhill fast. So many plot holes due to sloppy writing. And where's the 'ensemble'? Lateley, it's either the "Elliot" or "Olivia" show. Munch and Fin deserve better.
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2-21-2007 @ 3:52PM
Bill said...
When was the last time Munch or Fin were even on the show?
http://popculturejunk.blogspot.com
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2-21-2007 @ 4:04PM
BC said...
One highlight was that the Cindy Marino character seemed to be played by the same actress that plays the annoyingly chipper resident Dr. Sydney Heron on "Grey's Anatomy." If so, she's got quite a range, from scary frigid to upbeat pollyanna.
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2-21-2007 @ 5:47PM
Kona said...
In last night's L&O: SVU, we find out that Olivia... has a brother! And in last night's L&O: CI, we find out that Bobby... has a brother! As anyone who has spent the better part of the last 30 years watching episodic TV knows, adding siblings out of nowhere after a series has been on the air for many seasons is The Big Producer In The Sky's way of letting us know that a show is getting fitted for its shark jumping boots.
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2-21-2007 @ 8:05PM
BC said...
We already knew that Bobby had a brother who exhibited their mother's mental illness to an even greater degree than Bobby does; I think this is the first time he's been seen, though. And we knew Olivia's father was unknown, so the possibility of her having half-siblings shouldn't be a shock, although her reaction seems out of character. Because of preemptions and holiday scheduling, the coincidence on the two shows is probably just that.
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2-21-2007 @ 10:42PM
Cyndi said...
The second half of this episode was about whether or not it is an invasion of privacy to search the national criminal DNA database to look for persons who share four common alleles not for an exact match in this case siblings or uncles. This is an important issue and I'm glad to see SVU tackle it.
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2-21-2007 @ 10:54PM
Tracey said...
Can someone shed some light on this episode for me? I was in and out of the beginning half of the episode, and unfortunately, missed the second half. I personally love the characters on the show and watch mostly for those teeny tiny snippets of their personal lives that we get from time to time (ie the end of 'Burned' with Liv and El on the steps outside his apartment - what a terrific scene). Was anything mentioned about Elliot's little side trip back home last week? Is he back with Kathy, living at home? Or did she tell him to go fly a kite because they are divorced?
Changing the topic slightly, how did we find out that Olivia has a brother? Thanks for any answers - I'm trying to find some reviews and recaps on the web, but it's just not the same as seeing the ep.
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2-23-2007 @ 9:43AM
Tt said...
The woman that played the reporter, who is also on Grey's is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She was Onya's friend Halfrek. I'm sorriy if I butchered the spellings of their characters names.
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