Law & Order SVU “Welcome To The Pedo Motel” Recap, Review, Discussion

Law & Order SVU “Welcome To The Pedo Motel” was one of those episodes where the outcome of the crime was predictable.  But the story was fast-paced (sometimes complicated with a lot of players) and that kept it engaging, despite the sad circumstances.  This is something to be expected with an episode directed by Jean de Segonzac, one of my favorites.  The story was filled with references to people, including law enforcement, making snap judgments and assuming guilt without having the facts, contributing to the tragedies.  There were also interesting personal “tidbits” peppered throughout the episode.    

First, the tidbits - that's what you really want to hear about, right? 

We’re not long into the episode when Carisi asks Benson about her “friend” Stabler. She explains she talked to him a few times but...and Carisi says Stabler has a rough road.  Benson is worried for him, and Carisi comments he doesn’t know if it’s the healthiest thing for Stabler to be investigating his wife’s murder.  Benson asks if Carisi wants to tell him that.  Clearly Carisi has never watched any crime shows on TV because the husband of the murdered wife ALWAYS has to avenge her death (wink).  Carisi explains that the 8th Floor has been asking him what’s going on with Stabler when Stabler broke into the interrogation room.  Clearly the 8th floor should know Stabler by now.  Of course, Carisi says he has Benson’s back but to make sure she’s watching hers too.   You’ll have to watch the following episode of Law & Order  Organized Crime “Not Your Father’s Organized Crime” to find out how Benson dealt with Stabler on this issue. 

Fin regrets assuming Lonnie was guilty because of where Lonnie lived.  In a way, Fin reacted no differently than the bikers, but at least Fin realized he was wrong to make assumptions.  Sadly, it’s doubtful that those involved in the actual crimes learned that lesson.

Rollins blows off her dad, thinking  he’s drinking again.  Later, she finds he’s had a stroke.

It seems Carisi is seeing someone else, and when he has an opening to break the news to Rollins, he is interrupted when Rollins gets a phone call with the bad news about her father.  Carisi urges  her to go to him. 

Sergeant Hasim Khaldun  returned to assist in the investigation.  He previously appeared in the SVU episodes “Dance, Lies and Videotape” and “I Deserve Some Loving Too”. 

Now, the case:

The “Pedo Motel” is a building well known to house former sex offenders.  (No one wants to have a sex offender living in their neighborhood, but those offenders that  have done their time DO need a place to live after prison, with restrictions as needed.)  One of the residents, named Lonnie, worked at the same pizza place as a young girl, Ceranda, who is later found murdered.   Lonnie doesn’t seem to have an alibi and, on surveillance video, it looks like Lonnie, in his distinctive jacket, was there. Lonnie also denies committing the sex crime for which he originally served time.   Add to the mix a group of bikers,  who are constantly harassing the men living in the “Pedo Motel” who think Lonnie killed Ceranda.   When Lonnie is later found dead from a lynching, mutilation,  and being horribly burned from being set on fire, it seems like somebody got justice the hard way, and the bikers are likely suspects. 

But all is not what it seems.  The bikers point the SVU to an NYPD surveillance camera which shows they weren’t at the crime scene.   The SVU continues to investigate Lonnie’s death and find that another group of bikers were at that scene,   and this leads them to  Eduardo (who had a photo of the dead Lonnie on his phone) who leads them to parolees Louie and Juan of the Dyckman Knights gang, who said they did it to impress Elvis, the head of the original biker gang. (Follow me so far?) This closes Lonnie’s murder. 

They can’t identify the DNA on the brick that killed Ceranda, which means Lonnie (whose DNA is on file) did not murder Ceranda. It looks like he was set up, as the person on the surveillance video wore the same jacket as Lonnie.  They also find that Lonnie’s Metro Card shows he wasn’t near that location, so he  DID have an alibi. Fin bemoans that he assumed Lonnie was guilty because he lived in that “rat trap”  and he made too many assumptions.  He thinks it’s on him, so he decides to break the news to Lonnie’s family.

The SVU looks into the first charge made against Lonnie for the rape of McKenna Jensen, a white girl.  Her racist stepfather, Roy Eastman,  a parole officer, accused Lonnie,  calling the cops on Lonnie once Lonnie turned 18.  This leads them to check all Roy’s parolees’ DNA, which helps them determine that Roy has been getting his parolees to do his bidding under threat of being tagged as violating their parole.   They discover Ceranda’s killer, whose coat purposely matched Lonnie’s to frame him.  He flippantly explains he hit her with the brick because she wouldn’t stop screaming.  This leads them back to parole officer Roy Eastman for the set-up and Benson tells Carisi to  have him picked him up and “Make it hurt”  – 25 to life.  Roy is arrested.  Roy wanted Lonnie dead as he didn’t want Lonnie involved with his stepdaughter. There was no sexual assault; McKenna and Lonnie were in love and they’d been together at the time of Ceranda’s murder.  Lonnie swore her to secrecy about that meeting, which was Lonnie’s alibi.  Bottom line: Lonnie was innocent on all counts – and people were killed because of hate.