I swear that the only people that like clowns are…clowns. But “Send In The Clowns” focused more on family that it did on actual clowns. While I found most of the episode predictable, the fast pace and twist at the end made it a worthwhile watch.
This episode began with seizure-inducing scenes at a circus-themed dance club where 16-year-old Haley – a musical prodigy - parties with a guy in a clown mask and then she disappears. At first it seems her chaperone, James Turner, hasn’t done his job in keeping an eye on her. I immediately think he did the job TOO well; the minute I saw the chaperone, I felt he was behind her disappearance. My suspicions only grew when the detectives quickly nab a suspect - Vincent Drago, who worked for a butcher - early on and the evidence against him was too staged. Of course he denies killing her. After seeing Haley perform on the piano in a news story, Stone decides to arraign Vincent for murder 2 charges and before one could blink, we went from arraignment to Vincent on trial.
The biggest problem with Stone’s case: there is no body. I am fully aware of the compression of time in the SVU universe but in reality the timing of the murder trial is ridiculous. The detectives nabbed Vincent on March 14, Haley was missing 3 days when they searched the garbage dump on March 17, and by March 20, the trial was in progress and they were already on the trail to apprehend James Turner. I know Stone is supposed to be good but I would think he’d need more prep time and/or there would be more arguments from the defense about the “no body” issue. It would have made more sense to have the arraignment and delay Vincent’s trial and instead move on to investigating and finding James Turner. I suspect they wanted to give more screen time for Peter Stone, something to which I would not object!
Despite my gut feeling early on that James was behind Haley’s disappearance, this didn’t mean this episode had no surprises. With Haley’s father’s over-the-top reactions to his daughter’s disappearance, I felt strongly that Haley had left her smothering father Chris of her own free will. This was confirmed when the detectives catch up with James in an Oyster Bay house that belonged to a “colleague” and find Haley and James in bed together and she professes her love for him. The BIG surprise comes when they are all back at SVU when Haley is reunited with her parents, and Haley’s mom Anna is the one who has an over-the-top reaction. She quickly announces that 17 years ago she had sex – only once - with James, and Haley is HIS daughter. James had been sleeping with his own biological daughter and he didn’t know. Later, Benson has to explain to Stone about genetic sexual attraction: it can happen when a father and a daughter don’t grow up in the same household and they meet as adults. In a weird-feeling segue, Stone uses this father-daughter situation to bring up fathers and sons, mentioning that he wishes at times his father was someone else. Benson agrees – for reasons we all know regarding her own father.
Benson worries that this case will put Stone back on the next train to Chicago, but Stone explains that he made a promise to his sister Pamela, who has schizophrenia and lives in Bayview Mental Health Facility in South Salem, New York. He is handling the weekly visits there, now that his father is dead. At the end of the episode, he visits her but she doesn’t seem to know who he is, thinking he is her father. Stone gets the closing scene as he exits the building and appears to sadly reflect on this situation. Maybe because Peter Stone was an established character with Chicago Justice and his father was a member of the Law & Order universe, it seems that Stone is getting a faster, more detailed back story that Rafael Barba ever did. This was something I would have loved to see for Barba but I am glad that they are moving so quickly to give Peter Stone some depth.
Another plus is that Fin finally gets some much needed family attention. He gets a visit from his son Ken and Ken's spouse Alejandro, who bring a birthday cake for Fin decorated with a clown. Alejandro quickly blames Fin’s grandson Jaden for picking the cake.
The Benson/Stone dynamic continues to build, and hopefully soon Stone will realize that he shouldn’t be so quick to take Benson’s lead. I laughed when Stone asked Benson “Are you always this persistent?” to which Benson replies, “Wait ‘til you get to know me.” Later, Benson says to Stone “Well I hope you’re not sorry I talked you into taking this to trial” and he replies “Not yet.” My advice to Stone – run away from her as fast as you can or you WILL be sorry.
Cast:
Mariska Hargitay - Lieutenant Olivia Benson
Ice-T - Detective Odafin “Fin” Tutuola
Kelli Giddish - Detective Amanda Rollins
Peter Scanavino - Detective Dominick “Sonny” Carisi, Jr.
Philip Winchester – ADA Peter Stone
Guest stars:
Will Sasso - Chris Sadler
Erik Jensen - James Turner
Wendy Hoopes - Anna Sadler
Ernest Waddell – Ken Randall
Migs Govea – Alejandro Pavel
Eric Tabach - Vincent Drago
Mallory Bechtel - Haley Sadler
Molly Brown - Jenni Hanson
Helmar Augustus Cooper - Judge Reginald Flowers
Don Stephenson – Alan Hubert
Jillian Louis - Charlotte Cooke,
Ernest Wadell - Ken Randall
Valeri Mudek – Did Turner
Jillina Louis – Charlotte Cooke
Cyndi Melendez – Gina Feliz
Amy Korb – Pamela Stone
Kendra Farm – Dateline Reporter
Michelle Won Park – Reporter # 1
Azia Celestino – Reporter # 2
Michael Dennis Hill – Reporter # 3
T.J. Meyers – Leo Trozze
Gordon Silba – Sal Balzarini
Max Mackenzie – Mike
Tyree Simpson – Sergeant
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