Hey Little Voices! Recently I sat down for a movie night, I was going to watch one of the series that I have already watched a billion times again. That’s when my dad interrupted me and asked me to search for this particular series on Netflix. It was “SVU: Law And Order”. Of course, I was hesitant and didn’t want to watch it at first but after my dad told me it’s about mysteries, I HAD to watch it. Let me give you a quick overview of the precinct before moving onto one of the most interesting and thought-provoking episodes, I have watched so far.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is a crime drama television series aired on NBC that premiered on September 20, 1999. Created and produced by Dick Wolf, the series premiered on NBC on September 20, 1999, as the first spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama, Law & Order.
The Special Victims Unit is located in the 16th Precinct of the New York City Police Department and focuses on victims of sexual crimes, such as rape, pedophilia, and domestic abuse, as well as cases involving children, the handicapped and elderly victims of non-sexual crimes who require specialist handling from the unit. Its stories also touch on the political and societal issues associated with gender identity, sexual preferences, and equality rights. MOVING ONTO THE STORY…
A day at the park turns traumatic for six-year-old Patty Branson when someone tries to kidnap her. The person tried to pull her across a fence by her hair. She escapes, and the would-be kidnapper flees with only a handful of her hair. Main detectives Elliot Stabler (El) and Olivia Benson (Liv) (the chemistry partners of this series) are called to the scene. They told that the perp (SVU version of pervert) was on a bicycle, Elliot wonders how he had expected to carry off with Patty.
Olivia talks with Patty, who describes the perp as a "big boy" (that is, not a man or a young boy). Patty had encountered him once before, outside the neighborhood supermarket where her parents’ shop. The supermarket manager tells Odafin Tutuola (Fin) and John Munch (Munch) (sometimes field agents, sometimes back-end agents) that the previous week, a man and a teenage boy were in a dark blue van parked near the store, obstructing the delivery entrance. He noted the van's Arizona license plate number. A check on that number reveals that the van was also seen recently near Patty's school.
Elliot and Olivia talk to the school security officer who reported the van, which had been parked in the teachers' zone. As they leave the school, they see the van parked nearby and call for backup. Shortly before dismissal, a boy emerges from the van and mingles with the parents waiting for their children. Cragen and Fin confront the van's driver, and arrest him after he unsuccessfully tries to pass himself off as a cop. Elliot, Olivia and Munch arrest the boy.
The man is Peter Carson. The boy is Kenneth Pratt, who is actually 23 years old but looks younger. Both men are private investigators, licensed in New York and Arizona. Carson is known for rescuing kidnapped children and returning them to their custodial parents. Patty picks Pratt out of a line-up.
Initially both Carson and Pratt refuse to discuss their ongoing investigation, which they insist is based on accurate information. Cragen tells Pratt that New York state is ready to revoke Pratt's PI license, which will lead to Arizona's doing the same. Faced with possibly losing his livelihood, Pratt reveals that he and Carson were hired to return Patty to her real mother. Carson insists that Patty is his client's daughter, who vanished four years ago.
Elliot and Olivia visit Carson's client, Manhattan resident Michelle Osborne. She readily invites them into her home and shows them photos of her daughter, Anna. One is of Anna at age two, when she disappeared. The other is an age-progressed photo showing what Anna would look like today. The second photo looks startlingly like Patty Branson. Michelle tells the detectives that Anna disappeared from a rest stop when Anna and Michelle's husband, Steve, were driving to his parents' home in New Jersey. Steve Osborne is dead, killed in a car crash.
Elliot and Olivia arrest Michelle for conspiracy to commit kidnapping. The arraignment judge grants Casey's ( ADA or Assistant District Attorney) request for an order of protection forbidding Michelle to come within 100 feet of Patty, her parents, their home, or Patty's school. A background check reveals that Michelle is clean. Birth records indicate that Anna and Patty were born two weeks apart in different cities 100 miles apart, so they weren't switched at birth. However, Huang can't find Anna in the Missing Children's Center database. An FBI database reveals why: Anna is dead.
SVU is informed of a disturbance at the Bransons' house. Michelle has violated the order of protection, repeatedly rang the Bransons' doorbell and said she "has proof." Olivia tells Michelle that they know the truth: Anna was killed in the same car crash as Steve Osborne. Michelle argues that the police never found Anna's remains. Olivia replies that the car had been hit by a gasoline tanker; there had been nothing left to find. Michelle vehemently insists that Anna is alive. During Olivia's exchange with Michelle, Elliot finds Peter Carson in a parked car around the corner. Carson has the lab report of a DNA test on Patty's hair. The report indicates that Patty is Michelle's daughter.
The Bransons insist that Sarah carried and gave birth to Patty. Warner tests a lock of Anna's hair provided by Michelle. Anna and Patty are different children, but their mitochondrial DNA (which is only inherited from the mother) is identical, meaning that Anna and Patty were sisters. Their birth records indicate that both girls were conceived through in-vitro fertilization. The only explanation for the current situation is that the fertility doctor implanted Michelle Osborne's embryo into Sarah Branson.
Michelle and Sarah had gone to the same doctor, Dr. Stanley Norton. Michelle tearfully apologizes for her behavior, and the Bransons ask that the order of protection be lifted. However, Casey insists on taking Michelle to trial for violating the order. Given that Norton created this mess, Olivia asks Casey to cut Michelle a deal. Casey tells Olivia to talk to Norton. If he verifies Michelle's and the Bransons' stories, she'll consider it.
Dr. Norton denies that his clinic could have made such a glaring error. The only way this incident could have occurred is if Michelle had agreed to donate her unused embryos. He provides a copy of Michelle's signed consent form, which contains checkboxes for multiple items. The box agreeing to donate unused embryos is marked. Michelle verifies her signature, but firmly denies marking that particular box. Norton's office had specifically asked her and Steve about donating embryos, and they had declined because they didn't want someone else giving birth to their child. Michelle hadn't had any extra embryos; Norton had placed all her fertilized eggs back into her.
SVU obtains the original consent form, and the lab determines that the disputed mark is a forgery (due to the use of gel ink which wasn't available until 2 years after the consent form was completed). Casey obtains subpoenas and warrants for all of Norton's patient records and clinic logs. Sarah Branson's records note that none of her eggs had fertilized. Instead of telling the Bransons the truth, Norton had simply given Sarah one of Michelle's embryos.
Patty disappears during a school trip to a local museum. Shown a picture of Michelle, the teacher remembers seeing her near the museum entrance as the children left. Michelle's house is empty, but family photos show that she has a beach house in Queens. Elliot and Olivia go there and arrest Michelle for kidnapping. Patty is physically unharmed, but emotionally very upset: Michelle told her that she's her real mother.
Michelle refuses to accept a plea bargain, or to give up the fight for Patty. Casey realizes that while the law and the evidence is on the Bransons' side, the jury's feelings aren't. She seeks advice from devoted father-of-four Elliot. If Michelle is convicted she'll go to prison, which she doesn't deserve. If Michelle is acquitted, she'll keep fighting the Bransons for Patty in a battle that will never end. Elliot recounts the biblical story of King Solomon, who had to decide which of two women claiming the same child was really the mother. Solomon called for a sword, then ordered that the child be divided in two and half given to each woman. Casey says that unlike Solomon, she can't split the baby. Elliot replies that Solomon didn't have to. This gave Casey the idea to use that technique. During trial Casey spoke harshly with Patty.
At the trial, Patty Branson takes the witness stand. She testifies that Michelle told her she was Patty's "egg mommy." Although Sarah Branson gave birth to Patty, the egg Patty came from was from Michelle. Eventually Casey asks, "You know what Michelle said about being your egg mommy is true, right?" Patty begins to cry and wails, "No. It's not true! Michelle's not my mommy! I don't want to go with Michelle! Please don't take me away!" She asks to leave the witness stand, but Casey says she can't until they're finished. Patty becomes more and more hysterical until Michelle can't stand any more, and cries, "Stop it! Just stop it!" Michelle then apologizes to Patty and says she'll never bother her again. Patty runs off the witness stand to her parents, crying for her mother.
Michelle pleads guilty to custodial interference, and is given a suspended sentence. She decides to move out of state, because it's too painful to be near Patty and not see her. Olivia finishes auditing Norton's fertility clinic records. Michelle had extra embryos, 10 of which had been implanted in other women. In addition to Patty, somewhere out there Michelle has three other children, two daughters and a son.
I loved this episode. The twists and turns shocked me. But the message on the last screen shocked me even more – this episode was based on a true story. Well… stay tuned cause I will be posting more stories about the SVU episodes. You can find them @ my blogging website - Wix – Little Loved Voice