"Lost Traveler" | ||
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← | SVU, Episode 13.09 | → |
Production number: 13009 First aired (US): 30 November 2011 First aired (UK): 6 May 2012 First aired (CAN): 30 November 2011 First aired (AUS): 15 March 2012 | ||
Written By Julie Martin & David Matthews Directed By Jean de Segonzac |
Summary[]
A Romani child disappears on his way home from school. Benson and Amaro interview the distraught parents, who are distrustful of the police. The initial investigation leads Fin and Rollins to the powerful leader of the Romani community, but he denies any involvement. The family remains hopeful their boy will be found, especially when they discover his cell phone is still active. With the help of their TARU tech and a meddling newspaper reporter, the detectives narrow the perpetrators to a mentally challenged neighbor, throwing the tight-knit Romani community into turmoil.
Plot[]
A Romani boy named Nico Grey, who is always bullied at school just for being Romani, disappears on his way home from school. As the SVU investigates his disappearance, they're met with resistance from the tight-knit Romani community.
Benson and Amaro interview Nico's distraught parents, Tomas and Nadia Grey, who are distrustful of the police. Tomas and Nadia believe that Nico is alive when they notice that someone has been deleting his voicemails.
It turns out that a newspaper reporter named Dennis Griscomb, who works for the Ledger, was the person using his computer to hack Nico's phone. Griscomb offers information that he received from hacking the phone of the Rom-Baro, a powerful representative of the Romani King, but the Rom-Baro denies any involvement.
With the help of TARU tech Leo Gerber, the detectives narrow it down to slightly mentally handicapped neighbor Marc Rajic, who lives across the street from the Grey family. Marc is suspected in Nico's disappearance after the detectives find Nico's lucky rabbit's foot underneath his bed.
Later, Nico's cigarette-burned body is found at a construction site. Suspicion being on Marc throws the Romani community into turmoil, until the detectives realize that Marc is being framed. Now they have to figure out who took Nico, and framed Marc.
It turns out that two of Nico's classmates, Emma Butler and Courtney Lane, were responsible for Nico's death. Marc admits that the girls came into his room, engaged in sexual activity with him, and hid the rabbit's foot.
Emma confesses that she and Courtney were teasing Nico when Courtney killed him to keep him from telling anyone about it. When Olivia asks her why she did it, Courtney says "Why not?" appearing to show no remorse or emotional reaction for any of it.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson
- Danny Pino as Detective Nick Amaro
- Kelli Giddish as Detective Amanda Rollins
- Richard Belzer as Sergeant John Munch
- Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola
- Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen
Recurring cast[]
- Stephanie March as A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot
- Linus Roache as Bureau Chief Michael Cutter
- Gavin Lee as Dennis Griscomb
- Gilbert Gottfried as T.A.R.U. Technician Leo Gerber
- Tamara Tunie as M.E. Melinda Warner
- Ron Rifkin as Attorney Marvin Exley
- Scott William Winters as Detective Robert "Doom" Dumas
Guest cast[]
- Donnie Keshawarz as Tomas Grey
- Alexandra Silber as Nadia Grey
- Michael Barra as Marc Rajic
- Quinn Shephard as Emma Butler
- Lili Reinhart as Courtney Lane
- Mark Margolis as Rom-Baro
- Gary Lindemann as Chris Lane
- Lucas Near-Verbrugghe as Greg Kandel
- Tamir as Ana Rajic
- Cameron Ocasio as Nico Grey
- Wai Ching Ho as Gladys Tang
- George Feaster as Alonso Hearne
- Laura Pruden as Sandra Butler
- Sammuel Soifer as Ryan
- Jayson Gladstone as State Trooper Levon Davis
- Nic Pagano as Little Boy
References[]
Quotes[]
- Cabot: You want a deal? Your client tells us what we want to know, and he does time.
- Michael Cutter: And how much is up to you.
- Marvin Exley: What Ledger would love nothing more than to have a test case involving First Amendment and NYPD. Please, go ahead. Try us.
- Cragen: You three are playing this while there's a missing kid out there?
- Cutter: Yeah, let's cut to the chase, Mr. Exley.
- Marvin Exley: Okay. Griscomb gives you everything he has on the missing boy's phone records, he gets full immunity from prosecution.
- Cutter: No, this is how it works: wiretapping is federal. It's out of our hands. He give us something we can is use, we'll mis-D the felony eavesdropping. Take a minute to think about it. And by a minute, I mean fifty-nine seconds.
- [after Marc Rajic is nearly set on fire by Nadia Grey]
- Robert Dumas: Well, God looks after kids and idiots. Lucky for him, he's both, right?
- Rollins: [to the Rom-Baro] You've got two victims right now: Nico Grey and Marc. Just tell Marc that he can trust us. Help us get justice for both of them.
- Emma Butler: Look, I don't know why you're asking me. Marc did it, didn't he?
- Amaro: He just told my partner you two were in his room. Now do you want me to tell your mother what he says you did to him?
- Emma Butler: No.
- Sandra Butler: Detective, you're frightening my daughter.
- Amaro: Am I? Are you a little scared now, Emma? Being here? How do you think Nico felt? You think he was scared? Was he scared when you put out lit cigarettes on him?
- Sandra Butler: Emma, what is this about?
- Amaro: Open your eyes, Emma! Look at him.
- Emma Butler: He was so scared, he wet his pants.
- Amaro: And what happened then? Did you laugh at him? Or did you burn him again?
- Emma Butler: [in tears] No, it was Courtney. We were just playing around. We pantsed him, but... Courtney, she wouldn't stop. She lit a cigarette, and...
- Amaro: And you didn't say no.
- Emma Butler: I tried to. I told her to quit it, that we should just go. But he was crying, and he said he was going to call his mom, so Courtney grabbed his scarf. And I was yelling, "stop, stop." And she said, "He's just a dumb Gypsy. Who's going to miss him?"
- Courtney Lane: [about Nico's death] It was just a joke. We were just fooling around with him. And he started crying, and making like he was going to tell.
- Amaro: So, you made sure he wouldn't.
- Courtney Lane: I shut him up.
- Benson: And then you went to Marc's.
- Courtney Lane: He snitched? I gave him the only fun he's ever had.
- Chris Lane: Okay, my daughter has a perverse sense of humor, but I think it's time to stop. Now I'm calling my lawyer.
- Courtney Lane: It's a little late, Dad.
- Benson: She's right.
- Courtney Lane: Anything else?
- Benson: Yeah. Why?
- Courtney Lane: [looking coldly] Why not?
Background information and notes[]
- The title of this episode refers to the term "traveler" used to describe certain groups of itinerant people like the Romani featured in this episode.
- Gilbert Gottfried joins the cast as the recurring role of IT Leo Gerber.
- Actresses Lili Reinhart and Wai Ching Ho would later star in the 2019 movie Hustlers together.
- This is the first episode directed by Jean de Segonzac since Season 6.
Episode scene cards[]
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
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Caswell Academy |
Alonso's Bicycles |
Rom-Baro Mansion |
Lane Residence |
Previous episode: "Educated Guess" |
"Lost Traveler" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 13 |
Next episode: "Spiraling Down" |