| "Missing Pieces" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 13.05 | → |
| Production number: 13005 First aired: 19 October 2011 | ||
| File:AllieTim MissingPieces.jpg | ||
| Written By Julie Martin & Warren Leight Directed By Peter Leto | ||
As the SVU Detectives race to find a missing baby on Halloween, they begin to doubt the story of the distraught parents.
Summary
A young woman visiting from Buffalo claims that her car was stolen outside a Manhattan convenience store with her baby still buckled in the backseat. Benson and Amaro get as much information as they can from the anxious mother and her boyfriend at the police station, while Fin and Rollins track their path from Buffalo for clues. When the parents' stories don't add up, the detectives must uncover what really happened to the missing baby, and the truth surprises everyone.
Plot
On Halloween night, Ali Martell's baby, Nate is missing after her car is stolen with the baby in it. The squad interrogates Ali and her boyfriend, Tim Holland, about what happened. Tim's short temper and Ali's timid behavior begin to make the detectives suspicious.
Ali's car is found abandoned and it is later discovered that a cooler they had contains fecal matter and soy formula in it, which makes the detectives believe that Ali and Tim put Nate in the cooler. Nick tries to get Ali to tell the truth about what really happened to Nate. Ali tells Nick that they stayed at a hotel in Binghamton the night before Nate disappeared.
When Fin and Amanda go to the hotel, they find out that Tim and Ali were arguing and drinking that night. Eventually, Ali draws Nick a map of where she and Tim buried their son. After 39 hours, Nate's body is found buried at Twin Island on Orchard Beach with his blanket and toy next to him.
After the autopsy, Warner tells the detectives that Nate wasn't abused in any way and she is still trying to figure out the cause of death. It is later revealed to be most likely from SIDS (or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Tim and Ali both confess to killing Nate in two different ways, but in the end, Nick tells Ali that Nate died of SIDS. Ali and Tim aren't charged and they are able to see each other again.
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
- Nancy Ticotin as Cesaria Amaro
- James Chen as C.S.U. Technician Adrian Sung
- Charlie Tahan as Calvin Arliss
- Diane Neal as A.D.A. Casey Novak
- Tamara Tunie as M.E. Melinda Warner
- Alison Fernandez as Zara Amaro
Guest Cast
- Lisa Joyce as Ali Martell
- Dennis Flanagan as Tim Holland
- Jarlath Conroy as Park Peddler
- Raymond McAnally as Dennis Jablonski
- Meredith Holzman as Moira Martell
- Peggy J. Scott as Mrs. Drucker
- Sanjiv Jhaveri as Imad Khouri
- Christopher Halladay as Aaron Grandry
- Rich Pecci as Arnold Savatsky
- Ed Jewett as Man in Clown Suit
- Juan Carlos Infante as Efraim Hernandez
- Cheryl Wills as Newscaster
- Jarlath Conroy as Mr. Coogan
References
Episode references
Quotes
- Amaro: That's my daughter. Everything's a negotiation.
- Olivia: Gee, I wonder where she gets that from.
- Dr. Warner (about Nate): The way he was buried, he was loved.
- Ali Martell: I just want to go back and make it not happen.
Background information and notes
- In an interesting inversion of the "ripped from the headlines" format used by the Law & Order franchise, the disappearance of Sky Metalwala, a case extremely similar to the one depicted in the episode, happened two weeks after this episode's airing. There have been allegations that the prime suspect in the case, Metalwala's mother Julia Biryukova, directly copied the episode's plot while orchestrating her son's disappearance; the episode had indeed aired the night before, and Biryukova's husband claimed Law & Order was his wife's favorite show.
Episode scene cards
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|
|
Special Victims Unit |
The Stuffed Monkey |
Home of |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|
|
Tompkins Square Park |
Binghamton Motor Lodge |
Twin Island |
| Previous episode: "Double Strands" |
"Missing Pieces" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 13 |
Next episode: "True Believers" |