All photos by NBC
Law & Order SVU “Child’s Welfare” featured two cases, one of which hit close too home for Olivia Benson. The SVU team was involved in a case of an abandoned baby, which evolved into a more complex case of kidnapping and imprisonment of young girls. Benson, however, was highly distracted by her half brother, a loose cannon who appears after a long absence only to suck her into his web of personal drama which is mostly of his own making. This storyline was very predictable and as a standalone, it would not have held much interest for me. But, it worked well combined with the creepy case of a husband and wife who abduct girls and imprison them so they can give birth to girls, while abandoning any boy babies. Benson had her mind on her brother, and in the true spirit of teamwork, the detectives were quick to cover for her. Cragen, however, cautioned her about Simon. I was thrilled when Benson eventually told Simon to grow up.
Andre Braugher is perfect in his role; he makes Bayard Ellis appear very confident and authoritative inside the courtroom and out. (Every time I see Braugher on SVU I find myself wishing that someone would bring the Law & Order mothership back and somehow find a way to work Ellis into working in the DA’s office.) Benson, however, needs to be careful that she does not wear out her welcome with Ellis by sucking him into her family drama – and likewise she should be careful about getting EADA David Haden involved.
It seems that every week there must be a dumb mistake that the police make, and in this episode, it was giving one of the kidnapping suspects the phone so she can call her husband to the basement. It was an open invitation for her to warn him. At least it did give viewers a nice chase scene, forcing Amaro to work his legs by running up a fire escape. In fact, I found this entire episode visually very interesting, with plenty of varying location shots and nice splashes of color.
Here is the recap:
Cast:
Mariska Hargitay – Detective Olivia Benson
Ice-T – Detective Odafin “Fin” Tutuola
Richard Belzer – Sergeant John Munch
Dann Florek – Captain Don Cragen
Kelli Giddish - Detective Amanda Rollins
Danny Pino - Detective Nick Amaro
Guest stars:
Andre Braugher - Bayard Ellis
Michael Weston - Simon Marsden
Kevin Kane - Greg Wilcox
Nicole Beharie - Tracy
Veanne Cox – social worker
Priscilla Lopez – Judge, family court
Halley Wegryn Gross - Laurie
Peter Van Wagner – Judge Himes
Tabitha Holbert - ADA Rose Caliay
Ami Brabson – Judge Blake
Julie Lauren – Jenna Fleming
Glenn Kalison – Will Fleming
In a dark industrial looking basement, a woman screams as she gives birth. Another woman reassures her that she can do it while a man paces in the room.
Elsewhere, Simon Marsden and his fiancée Tracy are with a woman from Children’s Services who asks their son Ty what happened to his head. He says his dad was making him fly, Simon adding that they were playing airplane and he fell. The social worker says she needs to hear it from his boy. Simon apologizes, and Ty says he dropped him. Tracy says her home is safe, and they are good parents. The social worker says she has all she needs for now, and Tracy questions that she is coming back. The social worker says she is giving her report o the administration at Children’s Services and they will be in touch. Simon asks in touch about what, and the social worker says that someone will contact them within 24 hours.
Back at the first scene, the man is upset that the baby is a boy, and says no. The mother asks him to please not take the boy, but as she continues to plead he takes the baby.
Back at the Marsden household, Mrs. Marsden tells the police not to take them, and Simon adds they can’t do this, no one called them. The social worker shows him an emergency order from the city of New York, and Simon grabs it to read it. As the social worker says the children are being removed for their own safety, Simon claims this is a mistake, but she says he will have a chance to have a hearing but they can request one. The children cry out for their mother, and she and Simon tell the children it will be okay. The door shuts and Mrs. Marsden looks at Simon and shakes her head and says nothing,
Elsewhere. a homeless man, sleeping on the steps of a church, hears a baby crying but thinks it is a cat. A woman sleeping near him sees it is a baby left there in a cardboard box.
