Law & Order SVU “Friending Emily” was one of those episode where I struggled to stay interested. (I am ashamed to say that I actually nodded off a few times while watching.) I have never been a fan of episodes that focus too much on the personal drama of the lead characters and I believe that contributed to my general feeling of boredom. The fact that the case seemed very predictable and the writing banal, even brief appearances from Raúl Esparza couldn’t save this one.
The opening also seemed too long; these long openings often add nothing to the story and/or suck the mystery out of the case. It was obvious Wendy and Peter were involved in Emily’s disappearance. Why did we need to see Wendy meet up with the girls in the hotel lobby? If it were me, I would have cut that all out, and instead, when Rollins leaves with her sister, have the detectives get the call about the missing girls. Wendy and Peter would have been a complete mystery and the process of tracking them down could have been more interesting.
I also was scratching my head at why, once they realized that they could not track Peter’s web site, that they didn’t get the Feds or some other expert group involved immediately? I could understand Rollins running point on the matter but it seemed like they were expecting her to actually track down the site. I can’t believe that the New York City SVU team and TARU would be reliant on one jaded detective who works alone in a small office AND a hacker in prison to help track the web site. I would have to believe that a real SVU and TARU team would have real experts on call to help them in cases such as these.
The story of Rollin’s sister also seemed to go down a familiar path – the troubled sibling whose problems create turmoil for the lead character. There was nothing new to see here. I would have been more interested had they done 2 separate stories – one on Emily’s case, and another on Rollin’s sister, and gave the story with Rollin’s sister more depth. Putting these stories together only seemed to dilute both of them. The only good thing going for Rollins and her sister is that the actors seem like real sisters. It’s a shame that they weren’t able to work in an SVU case for Rollins that involved her sister; I think I would have been able to better tolerate the familial story line.
At least one thing is for sure, those that couldn’t watch the episode due to the recent power outages didn’t miss much.
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:
Raúl Esparza - ADA Rafael Barba
Lindsay Pulsipher – Kim Rollins
Chris Coy - Peter
Izzie Steele - Wendy/Jane
Neal Matarazzo – Mr. Culphers
Kathy McCafferty – Mrs. Culphers
Catherine Missal - Emily
Taylor Spreitler - Taylor Culphers
Jay Devore - Merc
Katie Chonacas – Misty Day
Katie Rogal – Katrine Kearns
Suzanne H. Smart - Mrs. Fleiss
David Raymond Wagner - Bob Contino
Kathryn Markey – Ellen Kalreiss
Brandon Tyler Harris - Chaz
Theiss Weckesser – Jeff
Michaela McPherson - Ashley Kalreiss
Joel Brady – Uni
Tyree Michael Simpson - Desk Sergeant
At SVU, Rollins’ phone is buzzing and as she checks to see who is calling, she is alarmed when she sees a blonde woman walk in, also on the phone. She races to meet her before anyone else can get to her. She tells the woman that this is her job and she can’t just show up here. The woman says it’s nice to see her too, and the woman replies she had nowhere else to go. Rollins says she does – her apartment – and tells her to wait here. Rollins comes back to her desk and Fin asks if everything is OK. Rollins explains she needs an hour. Benson asks if something happened to her and Rollins says she is fine, it is her sister, it’s family and it’s complicated.
Elsewhere, a few girls from Mulberry High School going on a class trip are waiting in the hotel lobby and one - Emily - gets off the phone with her mother. Another – Taylor - is bored. Yet another girl – who says she is Wendy - approaches Taylor and tempts her with an e-vite to a frat party, and Taylor types in her email address on the woman’s phone. Taylor’s sister Emily is concerned that Taylor will go alone and Wendy gives the OK for Emily to tag along.
Later, at the frat party, Emily is offered a shot and she passes, along with the help of another man - Peter. She tells him she is 14. Peter tells her not to trust Chaz, he is a spotter looking for drunk girls and setting them up. Peter says he is like everyone’s big brother and asks if his sister invited her. Emily says she invited Taylor.
The party continues and Peter still is talking with Emily when Wendy comes by and offers them both a soda. Chaz is making out with Taylor and another guy walks up asking who is the better kisser. Taylor says maybe she should try again, and she begins to make out with the other guy as the two man high five behind her back.
Emily knocks on a door and asks if Taylor is there, and when there is no answer she opens the door and sees two people making out but it Is not Taylor. She sees Wendy asks where is Taylor, and Wendy says she is sure Taylor can take care of herself.
Sometime later, we see a the naked legs of girl who is under the influence get into a car and we hear a man say he will get her home safe. He leads her to the trunk of a car and then closes it.
At SVU, Benson is looking at a cell phone photo with a picture of Taylor and a strange man which says she really “hearts” New York. Amaro and Benson are speaking with the class chaperone who said Taylor texted the message to a friend who texted it to half the kids there. The man in the photo does not go to Mulberry. She explains that Taylor is wild but Emily is not. They went to a frat party at Tompkins Square Benson gets on the phone.
Rollins, in her apartment, gets the information about the missing girls. As she gets ready to leave, Kim is on the couch and Rollins sees a large bruise on her body. Kim says she was tipsy and tripped. She asks if Jeff did that but Kim says Jeff is over. Kim explains she can’t go back to Atlanta and she knows how mom is. Rollins tells Kim to calm down and get a breath. Kim says she needed to get out of there like Rollins did and always admired her for picking up and leaving them behind to start over. Rollins asks if Mom knows she is there – she does – and Rollins asks if Jeff does, and Kim says Jeff does not know they are still in touch and is still mad at Rollins. Rollins gets a call and tells Kim she has to go, there is food in the fridge and the keys are on the table and she will see her later tonight. Kim says she is done with the drama and wants to hang out like sisters. Rollins agrees and tells Kim she is glad she is here, and she loves her. Kim says she loves her too.
At the Tau Omega Fraternity, Rollins meets up with Fin and he informs her the girls are not answering their cells. He says he’d think the older sister would look out for the little one, and the apologizes and asks how is her sister. Rollins calls her Hurricane Kim, and says she said she is taking her meds but says it’s her family. Fin says his brother says his son is not welcome at his house for Thanksgiving. Rollins asks if it’s because he is gay and he thinks it is contagious. Rollins knocks on the front door
Inside, they show one of the guys a video from the party and Rollins said she counted 12 felonies in the first 3 minutes. Fin wants the names of everyone at the party. The guy said it was on Twitter and Tumblr, Hookup and Facebook. Rollins shows him the photo of Taylor and the guy and he says that is his buddy, Merc. Rollins asks where is he – NOW. Fin gets a phone call and it is Cragen telling him that TARU got a hit on Taylor’s phone and it is 100 feet from where they are standing.
Rollins beats on the bedroom door and announces “NYPD” while Fin tells Merc to open up. The door opens and Merc asks what is going on. Rollins asks the girl sitting in bed if she is Taylor, and she says yeah, and that she didn’t do anything. Merc says he has a scrip for everything he finds, and Fin says he doesn’t care, asking how old is he. He says 21. Rollins replies “15 will get you 10, genius.” As Fin readies the cuffs, Merc says she never said she was 15. Fin says she is, and arrests him for statutory rape and stupidity. Rollins explains to Taylor that they are looking for her sister, Emily. Taylor is surprised she is not at the hotel and adds if anything was wrong, she would have sent her something. She checks her messages and tells Rollins that Emily texted her last night. Taylor says “Oh my God.”
Back at SVU, Cragen and the detectives watch a video that Emily took of her own abduction that she sent to Taylor before her cell phone went dead. Amaro informs them her parents are on the way. Rollins adds that someone installed malware on Taylor’s phone which accesses everything on the user’s cell which allows the user to profile his target. Benson reads back all the details, and says the predator uses this information to bond with the target. Rollins says Emily’s information is all over Taylor’s social media. Benson suggests that in case they are using this for kiddie porn they should run this through NCMEC, the facial recognition software has really come along. Cragen says the guy is a pro and to get Emily’s face out there fast.
Fin and Amaro have Merc in SVU interrogation. They press him about Emily and he admits that she hung back, but he saw her with Peter, he’s older and he does not know his last name. He was a brother was Tau Omega out west and he shows up at parties with supplies – drugs, alcohol – and is with his sister Wendy.
In the interview room, Taylor admits to Benson that she met Wendy in the hotel lobby and she got an e-vite from her. Rollins says this is how they got the malware on. Benson explains what they spyware did. Taylor describes Wendy as in her 20s, nose ring and she had brown hair and was taller than her. She recalls that she had a leather wristband with a round metal thing on it.
In the squad room, Rollins tells Cragen and the other detectives they got a hit from NCMEC, it was a web site called “link free or die” which is a web site for illegal hosts for guns, drugs, porn, etc. It hosts a kiddie porn site called Lolitaville and they see a video of Emily in a bed which is streaming live. Rollins is trying to trace it but says she is hitting brick walls, saying it is coming from nowhere. Emily says she wants to go home, and Benson says he picked the right victim, Emily is a people pleaser and will not fight back. Amaro thinks this will keep her alive. Cragen asks Rollins what is taking so long, and she says she is trying. Benson says at least they know she is alive and she will tell Taylor, and she asks for stills.
Benson shows the photos to Taylor, who is waiting in the interview room, and she identifies the bracelet in the still photo, saying it is like the one Wendy had. Wendy had said he was her brother. She did not see him leave with Emily. Benson says they know he is alive. Taylor asks Benson if they don’t know where she is at how do they know she is still alive, and then Taylor realizes what is happening. She cries and says why did she have to go to that stupid party. Benson consoles her.
Back in the squad room, Rollins complains to Fin and Amaro that she can’t track the video or the web site. TARU also can’t crack it, it’s on the dark net they can view the video but it is completely anonymous and finding Emily is hopeless. Taylor and Emily’s parents arrive and Amaro tells her to turn the video off. Mr. Culphers is upset when he realizes the hopeless comment was about Emily. Amaro apologizes and Mrs. Culphers
becomes upset. Taylor reunites with them and Mr. Culphers blames his wife. They begin to argue and Benson takes Mrs. Culphers aside as Cragen takes Mr. Culphers. Amaro takes Taylor to get something to eat. Fin asks is there is anything that anyone can do about the dark net, not even the Feds, and Rollins says they can ask.
Benson has Mrs. Culphers in the interview room and Cragen has Mr. Culphers in his office, who is complaining that his wife is too soft and should have never let them go. When Cragen asks if there are any issues with his daughters, Culphers asks what he is saying, that this is on him and he has a temper? Cragen says no one is saying that, and asks him to tell him about Emily, she seems like a good girl. Culphers says she is, she is perfect. She always does what she is told, and he doesn’t need a therapy session from Cragen he wants to know what he is doing to find his daughter.
At the Child Pornography Media Room in Federal Plaza, Fin and Rollins arrive and Rollins is shocked at all the photos displayed of missing children. Later, Fin tells the detective working there that he thought he had a hard job. The detective says he told Fin on the phone that the dark net was a black hole. He says there is not much to go on, he searches these videos until his eyes bleed. He says to get some luminal and they can see where the guy he replaced punched his ticket. Rollins reminds him a 14 year old girl is missing and he says he has thousands missing, his girl is close to looking legal and it is hard to prosecute those cases. Fin tells him maybe he should walk away from the job. The guy explains that you knock down one site and another one pops up. Fin sarcastically thanks him for his help, and the detective says it is a long shot but there is a hacker they just nailed who took down some dark net kiddie porn sites. He got arrested for taking down NYC.gov and the Yankees web site. Fin quips he should have gotten a medal for that. The DA was a Yankees fan – the hacker’s name is Joe and he is at Rikers, about to be transferred upstate.
As Fin and Rollins leave the office, Rollins gets a call from Kim, and she tells her to stay there. She hangs up and explains to Fin that it was Kim and she may have to go home for a minute. Fin tells her to do what she has to do.
