Law & Order SVU – “LOL” Video

Here’s a short video from NBC titled “Law & Order LOL” featuring humorous moments from the SVU team. (The video may not be viewable outside the US.)







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NBC Announces Fall Premiere Dates For New Season

NBC Press Release
June 21, 2013

NBC ANNOUNCES FALL PREMIERE DATES FOR NEW SEASON

‘The Voice,’ With the Original Coaches, Premieres Sept. 23 Followed By ‘The Blacklist’; One Hour of ‘The Michael J. Fox’ Show Debuts Sept. 26 Following an Hourlong Episode of ‘Parks and Recreation’



UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — June 21, 2013 — NBC has announced premiere dates for its fall schedule, which include the launch of two highly-anticipated new shows: “The Blacklist” on Sept. 23 and the series debut of “The Michael J. Fox Show” with back-to-back episodes on Sept. 26.

“The Blacklist,” starring James Spader as an international criminal who works with a rookie FBI agent in order to bring down some of the world’s most wanted, begins Monday, Sept. 23 at 10 p.m., immediately following the fifth-season two-hour premiere of “The Voice” at 8 p.m. that will reunite the four original coaches: Christina Aguilera, CeeLo Green, Adam Levine, and Blake Shelton. (All times are ET.)

“Chicago Fire” will begin its second season at 10 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24 following the Tuesday edition of “The Voice.”

On Wednesday, Sept. 25, the sophomore season of “Revolution” will begin the night in its new time period at 8 o’clock, followed by the season premiere of the 15th season of “Law & Order: SVU” at 9 p.m. in which Det. Benson (Mariska Hargitay) will be fighting for her life against a madman.

Highly-acclaimed comedy “Parks and Recreation” will launch its sixth season with an hourlong episode at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 26 that takes the show to London. That will be followed by back-to-back episodes for the debut of “The Michael J. Fox Show,” starring the iconic actor as a father and husband returning to work as a news reporter in New York after a brief leave of absence to get his Parkinson’s under control.

“Parenthood,” which is beginning its fifth season this year, moves into the 10 p.m. time period on Sept 26 (immediately following “The Michael J. Fox Show”) with special guest star Ray Romano.
“Dateline NBC” will premiere with a two-hour episode Friday, Sept. 27 at 9 p.m.

The new Blair Underwood-starring action drama “Ironside” will begin its run at 10 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2.

New first-year comedies “Welcome to the Family” (8:30 p.m.) — about the clash between two families forced to deal with the surprise pregnancy and marriage of their teenage kids — and “Sean Saves the World” (9 p.m.) — bringing Sean Hayes back to NBC as a single dad balancing his teenage daughter, opinionated mother and overbearing boss — both launch Thursday, Oct. 3

The debut for the third season of “Grimm” will begin at 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25. That will be immediately followed by the series launch of “Dracula,” starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the iconic character returning to Victorian England to seek revenge on those who doomed him to immortal hell. Appropriately, both shows will launch within a week of Halloween.

The night will be led off at 8 p.m. with “Dateline NBC,” as the newsmagazine will shift to its regular timeslot.

And finally, “The Biggest Loser” will start its newest cycle with an hourlong telecast at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8.

# # #

Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Mariska Hargitay Will Be Back For SVU Season 15

Great news! Mariska Hargitay announced via Twitter that she will be back for season 15 of Law & Order SVU. Here’s the tweet:

Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order SVU “Her Negotiation” Recap & Review

Law & Order SVU “Her Negotiation” ended season 14 by leaving viewers hanging, wondering exactly what was in store for Detective Olivia Benson. The day started innocently enough, with all the members of SVU squad enjoying a relaxing day off in various ways. But Detective Amanda Rollins quickly ends their fun by pulling in the whole team to handle a flasher in the park, as she has a feeling there is more to the story. She was right.  They uncover one of the most “especially heinous” sexual predators in their recent history, and, as the episode ends, this same man is in Benson’s apartment holding a gun to her head. It’s a fine episode and makes a great end to the season, leaving fans guessing whether their beloved Olivia Benson will survive the ordeal – and whether Mariska Hargitay will return for season 15 to finish the story arc. My money is on Benson/Hargitay  making a return and if so,  I suspect that things will not be quite the same for Benson, or for those close to her.

The creep of the week – played convincingly by Pablo Schreiber – managed to avoid prosecution for previous crimes based on a litany of errors. It was a drama filled episode and the intensity level was high. At times, though, it was hard to believe that one man could benefit from so many mistakes by law enforcement. Sometimes I wonder how real police, detectives, and lawyers feel when they see a fictional story such as this; do they encounter such repeated incompetence in real life?

There were a few situations that were just a little too convenient. Example 1: Rollins just happening to be in the park when a sexual predator runs by, and those girls yelling (what seemed like) to Rollins to stop him. Example 2: Fin and Rollins apparently not having to stake out the store for too long before Lewis arrives. Example 3: Cragen telling Benson to take two days off and if she comes to work during that time he will arrest her. If fans didn’t already know that somewhere in this episode Benson would be put in danger in her own home, this made it very clear that no one would be alarmed if she dropped off the face of the SVU earth for a few days. The only wild card is Cassidy. Does Benson’s bad mood toward the end of the episode signal there is trouble in paradise and would Cassidy also not be dropping in on her for a few days as well? One can only hope he will stop by and save the day. (Even better, let's have Stabler make a surprise visit. OK, I know I shouldn't have suggested that.)

While we’re on the subject of Benson at her apartment, I also took issue with Benson’s handling of hearing an odd noise. Instead of just calling out “Hello?” why didn’t she call out “Bri” thinking it was Cassidy? When there was no response to her hello, why didn’t she pull out her gun before she made a move? (I assume she always has her gun with her.) Benson’s detective senses seemed off here.

I was also perplexed at the references to Alice, the 60 year old woman, as being “elegant” and “cultured.” Those descriptive terms seemed…awkward. Does that make her any more credible as a witness or any more of a victim?

Raúl Esparza’s ADA Rafael Barba is probably the most colorful ADA in SVU history, not because of his snappy wardrobe, but for his lively, energetic exchanges with the SVU team and with his opponents in court. (Speaking of wardrobe, please give the wardrobe staff a round of applause for selecting such a spiffy yachting outfit.) Barba did have, in my opinion, the line of the episode when he said “Look, this case was a dog from the start…it just got fleas.”  That line was even more amusing to me when considering Rollins started the apprehension of the perp by sending her own dog off to catch him. By the way, in the category of “life is not fair,” I take exception that a dog gets to have a role on SVU before I do – and a speaking role at that (wink).  The dog gets a 5 biscuit out of 5 acting rating.  (In fact, everyone in this episode did a wonderful job - treats for everyone!)

If I had a crystal ball, I would say that I see a drug dependency problem for Rollins down the road. I know she took what seemed like only one pain pill while on the stakeout but we all know how taking pain meds usually goes for TV characters.

This episode should give  fans plenty to talk about before season 15 begins. I know there are some fans out there who are simply rabid with worry about Benson/Mariska returning for another season, and I feel I should remind everyone that this is just a TV show and fans should keep this in perspective. I recall years ago when Star Trek’s William Shatner told fans to “get a life,” and while I won’t tell SVU fans to do exactly that, I feel I should reinforce that there are many more important things in life than television. The stars of SVU and the producers of the show will make the best decisions possible based on their own needs. It doesn’t pay to fret endlessly over what will happen down the road. Just like the characters in the beginning of “Her Negotiation,”  one has to keep one's life and priorities in balance,  and have some fun sometimes. So everyone take a chill pill and enjoy the SVU summer reruns!

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:
Dean Winters – Brian Cassidy
Tamara Tunie – Dr. Melinda Warner
Raúl Esparza - ADA Rafael Barba
Pablo Schreiber – William Lewis
Lauren Ambrose – Counselor Vanessa Mayer
Judith Ivey – Alice Parker
Andrea Navedo – Cynthia Mancheno
Michael Mastro – Judge Serani
Robin de Jesus – Jose Silva
Ami Brabson – Judge Karen Blake
Lucy Martin – Bitsy Rabler
Tyler Bunch – Bert Swanson
Logan Rose Nelms - Astrid
Katja Gerz – Tilde
Syphen Gradbury – Judge McNamera
Alison Fernandez – Zara Amaro
Jaden Matthew Rodriguez – Gil Macheno
Harry Chambarry – Doctor
Angel Rosa – Uni
Frannie The Dog – The Dog


Alice Parker is in Central Park taking pictures. Benson is at home and asks “Bri” (Cassidy) if he wants to go to an exhibit at the Plein Air Painters at the Whitney, and suggests they head uptown and grab some brunch. He asks if she is talking to him, and Benson replies she will take that as a no, saying it’s another Sunday watching rollerbladers in the park and she thought they might change it up, and as he kisses her, he says they will – next Sunday.

Meanwhile, a man is in the kitchen of a halfway house and he taunts another man, Jose, who works there, first causing Jose to almost scald his hands on hot water, and Jose complains the water is too hot, asking if it doesn’t bother him. Then, the man says that is not hot, and turns up the heat on the burners and places his fingertips on the cooking surface, saying this is hot, and that it is mind over matter as his fingers burn. He laughs and pulls his fingers away, asking Jose to smell his fingertips and the burned flesh. When Jose complains that the other guy is leaving because they have to finish kitchen cleanup, he pulls Jose over to the hot cooking surface and slams Jose’s hand down on it, Jose screaming as his hand burns. The guy tells Jose that he can’t leave, unless he has a problem with that. He takes Jose’ hand off the hot surface and then leaves.

Elsewhere, Fin meets up with Cragen to take Munch’s place at a ball game, saying Munch’s date went a little over last night.

Amaro is in the park playing catch with his daughter Zara and son Gil, and Gil’s mother Cynthia. He hits a ball too far for Zara to catch and two young woman walk by, one of them catching it and throwing it to Zara, who is thrilled she “catched” the ball. When Amaro corrects her to “caught”, Cynthia encourages Amaro to let her be.

Rollins is also in the park playing with her dog. As a man – the same creepy guy in the halfway house - runs out of the trees, the same two women that walked past Zara run out, one of them yelling to stop that man. She tells her dog to go get him as she calls out that she is police. The dog chases after him and rounds a corner. Rollins catches up and finds the man sitting on some steps, petting the dog as the dog licks his face. Rollins shows her badge and tells her dog to come. He asks if there is a problem.

At SVU, Rollins has a uni take the man to holding as she brings the 2 women into the interview room and puts another woman – the woman taking pictures in the park – in Cragen’s office. The man claims it is a misunderstanding. The girls, Astrid and Tilde, ask about how long they may have to be there, but the older woman, Miss Parker, encourages the girls to tell the police what happened so the man can be prosecuted. The uni tells Rollins they may have a problem.

The man is in the holding cell and shows Rollins his burned fingertips, and she asks if he burned off his fingerprints. He insists it was an accident, he did it on a hot griddle. He also has no ID on him, he left it at the halfway house. She asks that he has nobody who can verify who he says he is, and he explains that he rides alone. She looks at him suspiciously and as she walks off, he asks how about if they call this disorderly conduct and everybody goes home. She looks back at him and then walks off.

Later, Benson and Amaro arrive at the precinct and Benson asks if Rollins does know it’s the weekend. Amaro asks if she tied Cassidy to a no parking sign, saying he could come in. Benson explains she thinks he is happy, she left him at a sports bar watching the Mets game with Matt Harvey working on a perfect game. Cragen and Fin get out of a cab and Fin comments to Benson and Amaro that Rollins called them in too, adding the Rollins is out of control. Amaro reminds Fin that Rollins is his partner and Cragen sarcastically says it is OK, they were just 6 innings into a perfect game. Benson says it is 8, and Cragen replies “even better.”

In the squad room, Rollins explains she called them in because the perp – William Lewis, IF that is his real name – has no ID, is unemployed, and says he works in a halfway house in Brooklyn. Benson asks that he has a record, and Rollins says he should but she can’t find anything because he just burned off his fingerprints. When Amaro questions that he burned off his prints and then just went into the park to flash, Rollins thinks he was just getting started. Rollins thinks he would have assaulted the girls had her dog, who is now laying on the squad room floor, cornered him. Cragen asks who that is in his office, and Rollins explains it is Alice Parker, who caught Lewis on camera and she says she has seen him there before. When Rollins wants them to start questioning them right now and she wants to take the perp, Cragen tells her to slow down. She says he has a feeling about this guy, and Cragen replies that he gets that. He tells Benson and Amaro to do it to get fresh eyes, and instructs Rollins and Fin to talk to the girls. Cragen says he will take Alice as she is in his office.

Cragen speaks with Alice who explains she’s watched Lewis before and he is as much a predator as any animal in the park and she knew something like this would happen. She heard the girls scream and he had his privates out. She heard the girls scream and she took a picture before he took off. She shows Cragen the photo. She also heard what he said and when she is not comfortable in telling Cragen he gives her a pen and paper and asks her to write it down.

Meanwhile, Benson and Amaro are in interrogation with Lewis who thinks the old lady has a problem with him but has no idea why. He says he runs along the pond and is always running past her, wondering if he ran into one of her photos. Amaro asks if he ran through the photo with his fly open, and reminds Lewis there are kids in the park. Lewis thinks this is a misunderstanding. He was out running, and he got chafed so he stopped to make an adjustment. Amaro asks if he’s tried powder, adding that the girls says he approached them, exposed himself, and made sexually suggestive comments. Lewis asks if they even speak English, adding they are young and from Finland and thinks this is bad timing, suggesting he apologize to them and they all go home. Benson asks if he always goes running in jeans and work boots, and Lewis says he is between jobs and he does not have a lot of money to spend on running gear. He tells Benson he does not think he deserves this kind of attitude, and she smirks and gets up and turns away.

Rollins and Fin are observing and Cragen walks in. Rollins explains the halfway house, Brooklyn Beginnings, is a shady operation, They faxed her his New York State ID, and Fin says he has been there 3 months and they said he come from an in-patient addiction facility on Long Island. Cragen asks where he was before that.

Back in interrogation, Benson comments that Lewis is staying in a halfway house, and he says he is trying to turn things around, having a problem with pills after a work accident. His record was clean and the judge said if he did rehab and went to the halfway house the charges would be expunged. Lewis says he feels awful about what the girls think happened, but Benson is skeptical, saying Lewis is just worried it will screw up his parole. Lewis says this is his point, why would he risk his recovery just to spook some tourists and his mother raised him to respect women. Amaro asks about his fingers, and Lewis says they hurt from KP duty and it was a hot stove. Benson comments that with his fingers burned like that, they are having a rough time checking his prints, so she asks if he minds telling them where he is from. He states he is from all over – Texas, Florida, Delaware – a military family, but he has been in New York for the last couple years. Amaro asks if before the halfway house he lived alone or with roommates. Lewis says it was with a girlfriend, but they did not part on the best terms. Benson questions how exactly did they part, and he replies that he’s not getting a real sense of benefit of the doubt here. He asks if he is entitled to an attorney if he asks for one, and Amaro looks at Benson who clicks her pen and then, with a thin smile, drops her hand to the table.

Benson and Amaro exit the room where Cragen, Rollins, and Fin are still watching from the hall. Benson comments the guy is a piece of work, and Amaro tells Rollins it was a good call. ADA Barba walks in, wearing some snappy boating attire, and he asks Rollins where is the fire. Benson asks is Barba was on his yacht, and he says not on HIS yacht. Cragen explains the situation about Lewis. Barba smirks, asking if they called him in for a class B misdemeanor because she wanted to use up all her favors in one fell swoop.

Law & Order SVU “Her Negotiation” Sneak Peeks – Season Finale

Here are sneak peeks from the season 14 finale of Law & Order SVU, “Her Negotiation” which will air on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 9PM ET on NBC. The previews feature Mariska Hargitay, Danny Pino, Kelli Giddish, and guest stars Raúl Esparza,  Lauren Ambrose, and Pablo Schreiber.


My recap and review of Law & Order SVU "Her Negotiation" can be found at this link.


Please note: These preview clips have a limited life and may be removed at any time, so catch them while you can!












Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order SVU “Her Negotiation” Promo – Season Finale

Here is the promo for the season 14 finale of Law & Order SVU, “Her Negotiation” which will air on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 9PM ET on NBC.

My recap and review of Law & Order SVU "Her Negotiation" can be found at this link.






Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order SVU “Her Negotiation” Cast Interviews & Behind The Scenes Videos (Season 14 Finale)

Here are cast interviews and a behind the scenes video for the season 14 finale of Law & Order SVU, “Her Negotiation” which will air on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 9PM ET on NBC. The cast interviews feature Dann Florek, Danny Pino, Kelli Giddish (with her dog), and guest stars Raúl Esparza and Pablo Schreiber. (Mariska Hargitay appears in the behind the scenes video.)   Enjoy!


My recap and review of Law & Order SVU "Her Negotiation" can be found at this link.





















Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order SVU “Brief Interlude” Recap & Review

This episode was clearly mis-titled. It should have been called "Law & Order SVU: Struck Comatose."  It wasn’t only Ariel Randolph who was rendered comatose in “Brief Interlude.” I suspect most viewers dropped into a coma-like stupor after watching the banal plot and tepid acting. If I didn’t know better, I’d say this episode was written by a computer script generator. There were too many times that the characters stated the obvious, the writing seemingly dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. One case in point was the scene where the CSU guy goes though an explanation of the tides and the route the boat took, and then Benson asks him, “Who dumped her in the rowboat?” I can’t imaging Benson really asking such a dumb question (which did not seem rhetorical). Most of Cragen's dialog has been reduced to stating the obvious and talking to the detectives as if they don't know how to do the basics in an investigation. And, when Benson found she was connecting to Ariel’s kids via the web chat, why did she introduce herself to the kids as a detective? It seemed odd – especially for someone who deals with special victims - that she would do so and risk alarming the children. I would have said I was a friend of their mother’s and that I needed to speak with their dad.

In real life, crimes can happen to people by people that are total strangers. The problem with this episode is that viewers had to traipse through a whole host of people who interacted with Ariel in some way before her death but who ultimately had nothing to do with it. It was a tedious process and a chore to watch. I had a bad feeling during the intro where a few minutes were spent in the club and some of the suspects were introduced to viewers. It’s a style of open that I have never liked for SVU; I prefer a mystery and felt the episode would have been far more interesting and suspenseful if it opened with the detectives in the park and allow viewers to learn along with detectives how this woman interacted with others before her death.

For Ariel, it wasn’t simply her giving the wrong man a half of a sandwich. She made several wrong decisions and as a result, she ended up dead, but not at the hands of acquaintances. She met up with the wrong people, took drugs, left the club alone, got into a car with a man that she didn’t know as well as she thought, and then decided to go off by herself. Were viewers supposed to come away with a message like “don’t go to New York alone” or “Don’t interact with strangers?” Usually I come away with something after watching SVU but in this case, I came up with nothing – except a lost hour.

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:
Tamara Tunie - Dr. Melinda Warner
Richard Thomas – Nat Randolph
Kerry Butler – Ariel Randolph
Russell Saylor – Charley Landry
Nick Mills – Phil Desapio
Max Baker – Colin Bennett
Bridget Barkan – Hooker
Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick – Wayne Randolph
Rhys Coiro – Santiago
Danielle Lieberman - Maureen Walsh
Christopher Sears – Todd Harper
Waymon Arnette – Jasper Barron
Ranjit Chowdhry – Hotel Manager
Julian Rozzell – Jerry
Tracy Westmoreland - Slick
Jesse Coleman – Grant Randolph



Ariel Randolph parties at a music club, and, in the ladies room, accepts a drug from another woman who kisses her on the cheek. Back on the floor, she kisses one of the band members and dances with him and another woman who kisses her on the neck. She gets uncomfortable and walks out of the club, alone.

The next day, a woman with a stroller out on a jog sees two men standing over an unconscious woman laying in a rowboat on the stream. One of them tells her it is not a good day as the other goes through the unconscious woman’s things. They run off and the jogger calls the police.

Later, as the unconscious woman is being loaded into an ambulance, Benson arrives on the scene who tells her it is a female Jane Doe who is non-responsive but alive. There was blunt force trauma, bite marks, and bruises on her thighs and scrapes on her knees. There is no phone or wallet or jewelry and a jogger found her in a rowboat. Benson asks if people row on Gracie Mansion. There are no boat rentals. Benson says they have no way of knowing who she was or where she floated in from.

Later, Cragen, also on the scene, speaks with Benson and Amaro who recaps what they know. Amaro explains there were two male teens, one black and one white, hovering over her body and they ran as she approached. Meanwhile, Rollins and Fin speak with the jogger. Benson, Amaro, and Cragen continue to assess the scene. Fin and Rollins press the jogger for details and find out that she was there to buy Adderall from one of the boys, Jasper, who has a scrip for the drug. She says she has to go as she has a baby yoga class, but Fin tells her not today.

Meanwhile, Cragen comments there is no way to ID the woman and Amaro thinks with the way she was dressed she could be a working girl. Benson tells him he needs to get out more, everyone dresses like that now. Cragen tells Benson to go to the hospital in case the woman regains consciousness and Amaro says he will check the databases and missing persons. Cragen says he will tell One PP that the investigation I proceeding but they have to answer just a few questions: who, what, when, where, and why.

At Bellevue Hospital, while the woman lay in intensive care, Amaro tells Benson that the Jane Doe is not in the system and no one is reported missing. Benson says ME Warner thinks the woman was likely sexually assaulted and is collecting samples now; when a half naked woman washes up in the Mayor’s back yard, everybody jumps. Warner explains the woman’s injuries and that she had Ecstasy in her system. Warner says the woman had stainless steel stitching from a hernia, uncommon in this country. Amaro wonders if her prints are in ICE. Warner says the woman had at least two children and urges she find them fast, this could turn into a homicide.

Back at SVU, Amaro explains to Cragen ICE has no info on prints yet. Benson says there is no info on the boat. Cragen asks what harbor and aviation know and Rollins says if SVU can tell them when,  they can tell them where, and if they know where they can tell them when. When Cragen quips that is not as helpful as he would like, Warner says it would be more helpful if she were dead, and she explains that with rigor they could backtrack the time of death, Benson says she is glad they don’t have that. Cragen reminds them it has been 8 hours and they have nothing, and Rollins says it is almost three and schools are about to let out. When she makes a move to leave, Cragen stops her and asks about her “wing” but she insists she is good to go.

Back in the park, Fin and Rollins conduct a “sting” with Rollins dressing as a mom with a baby carriage who got a referral from a woman at a baby yoga class. She approaches Jasper and his friend and when she gets Jasper to agree to sell her drugs, she shows she is a cop. While Rollins arrests Jasper, the other kid runs off but Fin catches up with him and arrests him.

Back at SVU, Rollins and Fin question Todd who puts it all on Jasper. Meanwhile, Benson and Amaro question Jasper who puts it all on Todd. They detectives go back and forth with the suspects who deny raping the woman. Jasper says she had a hotel card.

Later, at the Times Square Motor Lodge, Benson and Amaro get the manger to open the door and also to give them the pass key for the  room safe. Benson also instructs him to give them the security footage and the record of all calls made to and from that room and her Wi-Fi use. They enter the room at it looks to be ransacked. Benson sees all kinds of new clothing and assumes the woman went on a shopping spree, and Amaro sees no money has been stolen. Amaro finds the woman’s Canadian passport in the safe – her name is Ariel Randolph who entered the country 4 days ago. Benson sees a power cord for a tablet and cell phone charger but no phone. Amaro thinks there is something that someone didn’t want others to see.

In another room in the hotel, Benson looks over the hotel Internet records and sees mp3 files which look like live music. Amaro, looking at surveillance videos, sees someone enter the room who is clearly dressed to mask his identity from the cameras. Benson clicks on a call going to the same video chat number twice a day and it connects to a young boy who wonders who is Benson and asks where is his mom. Another boy enters the picture and Benson asks to speak with their dad.

At SVU, Amaro recaps that Ariel Randolph, 32, from Edmonton, is a music blogger and podcast host. Her husband, Nat Randolph, is 55 and a local celebrity in western Canada and hosts a show called “Canadian Days and Nights.” Benson adds that they have two sons; Wayne, 12, and Grant, 10. The family barely caught their flight and are en route now. Cragen wonders what a married mother of two was doing on her own in New York City. Fin replies that she told her husband she was here to do podcasts on something, and asks Rollins what she called it. Rollins explains it was the Caravanserai World Music Festival. Rollins states she was not lying about that, she had dozens of mp3s of different bands, most of which played during the festival last week. Cragen wonders when the last time the family heard from her, and Benson advises that it was the morning before they found her; they kept in touch and video chatted twice a day. Amaro says she told others that night she was going to pack and edit her podcast and her husband seems to have no idea about her night life. At home, she teaches piano and runs a PTA craft fair. Cragen comments she would not be the first spouse to keep a part of her life secret. Benson wryly comments it doesn’t mean she was asking for it. Fin wonders if she was into something other than fiddles and accordions. Cragen instructs them to find out what or who, and start with whoever ransacked her room. Amaro says the hotel manager says Ariel took out two keys when she checked in and maybe she has a friend. Rollins says she has several calls to several different phone numbers on her cell phone. Cragen tells her to track them down; the family gets there in 6 hours and he would like to give them some answers.

At the residence of Phil Desapio, Benson and Amaro speak with Phil about the phone calls who says he was editing her podcast and he just met her a week ago at a gig. He says she spoke to her recently about the Tomorrowland Festival and Ariel said she would join them. He did not know where she was, and has an alibi for last night. He said Ariel seemed like a groupie in search of a group.