This one had potential; in fact, it had my full attention until the closing credits, which came, in my opinion, about five minutes too early. NOTE: I CHECKED THE SPOILER WARNING. HERE THEY COME. The baby seems to have been kidnapped by some wannabe mother, as happens often. It turns out that it is the biological mother who has kidnapped her baby. Then we find that the adoptive parents had used the services of a surrogate mother, or at least they thought they had. The surrogate mother turns out to be a scam. The abducted child (which SVU found very quickly) has neither the DNA of the so-called surrogate mom or the supposed sperm donor father. We will find out soon that it is a prominent judge on the fast track to the Supreme Court (played by Scott Bakula -- with class) who is the actual father, that the birth mother was his mistress since his own wife is dying, and he or his father (not sure which) contrived this whole thing using a personal injury lawyer to set up the phony paperwork, a lawyer who has since died, ironically, of medical malpractice (and I wondered if that was actually an accident).
The child's adoptive parents, who had no idea of the setup, watch in horror as the judge gives their child of 3-1/2 years to foster care. The toddler cries for mom as she is taken away, and the parents are devastated. Then, the birth mom is killed by, we find out later, the daughter of the philandering judge.
We weren't sure who killed her, and the judge's wife, who is already dying of a tumor, confesses to the crime, even though we all know she was physically incapable of doing it. She begs Olivia to keep it quiet so her daughter is not sent to prison, and Olivia decides to clam up. She tells Cragen that mom did it, while Amaro silently stares at both. And then the credits...
Two things. First, this is totally out of character for Benson. Sympathy or no, she plays by the book, and would not just let a murderer walk away.
Secondly, we have no idea who got the toddler. I was hoping there would at least be a passing reference, maybe Benson herself telling the grieving adoptive parents that they may have a chance at getting their child back, now that mom is dead, dad is washed up, the lawyer is dead, and the whole thing was a crock. But nothing...
The child's adoptive parents, who had no idea of the setup, watch in horror as the judge gives their child of 3-1/2 years to foster care. The toddler cries for mom as she is taken away, and the parents are devastated. Then, the birth mom is killed by, we find out later, the daughter of the philandering judge.
We weren't sure who killed her, and the judge's wife, who is already dying of a tumor, confesses to the crime, even though we all know she was physically incapable of doing it. She begs Olivia to keep it quiet so her daughter is not sent to prison, and Olivia decides to clam up. She tells Cragen that mom did it, while Amaro silently stares at both. And then the credits...
Two things. First, this is totally out of character for Benson. Sympathy or no, she plays by the book, and would not just let a murderer walk away.
Secondly, we have no idea who got the toddler. I was hoping there would at least be a passing reference, maybe Benson herself telling the grieving adoptive parents that they may have a chance at getting their child back, now that mom is dead, dad is washed up, the lawyer is dead, and the whole thing was a crock. But nothing...
