Careless (2 Mar. 2004)

After a young boy dies during a church vigil, Tutuola and Munch investigate the boy's foster parents and social worker for neglect.

Director:

Steve Shill

Writers:

Dick Wolf (creator), Patrick Harbinson

Stars:

Christopher Meloni, Mariska Hargitay, Richard Belzer

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Meloni	...	Detective Elliot Stabler
Mariska Hargitay	...	Detective Olivia Benson
Richard Belzer	...	Detective John Munch
Diane Neal	...	A.D.A. Casey Novak
Ice-T	...	Detective Odafin 'Fin' Tutuola
BD Wong	...	Dr. George Huang
Dann Florek	...	Captain Donald Cragen
Julie Hagerty	...	Mariel Plummer
Cress Williams	...	Sam Dufoy
Keith Randolph Smith	...	Father Hendry
Michole Briana White	...	Tamara Semple
Lillias White	...	Xavier
José Zúñiga	...	CSU Tech (as Jose Zuniga)
Mike Doyle	...	Forensics Tech Ryan O'Halloran
Marcia Jean Kurtz	...	Psychiatric Hospital Doctor Coetzee

Storyline

After a young boy dies during a church vigil, Tutuola and Munch investigate the boy's foster parents and social worker for neglect.

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Plot Keywords:

detective john munch

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 March 2004 (USA)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wolf Films, Universal Network Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

42 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Fin and Munch were talking to M.E. Warner, Fin walks near a dead body, Jamie, and the body's foot moves right when the camera pans over.

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Quotes

Elliot Stabler: What about that autistic kid in Milwaukee last year? Parishioners held him down, they were laying on top of him to cure him.
Olivia Benson: That could explain the ring mark.
[walks around behind Cragen and wraps her arms around him to demonstrate]
Olivia Benson: Someone holds Jamie, he struggles, they hold him tighter.
Capt. Donald Cragen: [a little breathless] Until he can't breathe.
[Olivia removes her arms and walks around in front of him]
Capt. Donald Cragen: Thank you, I enjoyed that.

User Reviews

Another slam dunk for Ice T's character...

Only four episodes earlier, we see Ice T's character Det. Tutuola get emotionally involved in a case of child abuse and vicious indifference to young, vulnerable children... and this episode cements his character's affinity for, and sensitivity in dealing with the plight of young black children in New York city.

It's frequently the case that the two lead detectives, Stabler and Benson are shown getting emotionally involved in rape cases or family abuse cases, but the writers are doing more to develop further social and emotional backgrounds for the other characters.

After 4 seasons in the show, we still know too little about Det. Tutuola's background save his being a native New Yorker growing up in "the 'hood". Getting off the streets to join the NYPD and transferring from Narcotics to give the show a more streetwise, tough cop to balance the family oriented Stabler, the cynical yet distant Munch and the sensitive female Benson - but these recent episodes are leading up to a development for his character which has some explosive potential....

Storywise the episode is less horrific than others, but as a vehicle for spotlighting Ice T's acting skills and developing his character's emotional mindset, this is a definite clincher.