This entire episode spins out of a decision by Benson I think no one in her position would ever make. After finding out that the biological father of her adoptive son Noah is a murderous psychopath sex trafficking pimp her squad just arrested, she chooses to disclose this fact on his birth certificate.
DA Barba tries to talk her out of this, believing quite correctly it will lead to nowhere good, but she thinks it might be filed in court and never noticed by the psychopath or his lawyer.
Cut to the next scene, where it has been noticed by the psychopath and his lawyer.
Things spin out of control after this and the lawyer uses Benson's conflict of interest to give his evil client a decent chance of acquittal -- and a chance to assert his parental rights and damage Noah's life for years. Only a last-minute courtroom shootout saves the day.
This episode writes out the character of Nick Amaro, which is a shame since Danny Pino is a welcome presence on any cop show.
At the end, it was weird to hear Benson talking about Stabler after all these years and compare him so unfavorably to Amaro. I know she and Stabler were close, but I fail to see how he stood in the way of her establishing her own family.
DA Barba tries to talk her out of this, believing quite correctly it will lead to nowhere good, but she thinks it might be filed in court and never noticed by the psychopath or his lawyer.
Cut to the next scene, where it has been noticed by the psychopath and his lawyer.
Things spin out of control after this and the lawyer uses Benson's conflict of interest to give his evil client a decent chance of acquittal -- and a chance to assert his parental rights and damage Noah's life for years. Only a last-minute courtroom shootout saves the day.
This episode writes out the character of Nick Amaro, which is a shame since Danny Pino is a welcome presence on any cop show.
At the end, it was weird to hear Benson talking about Stabler after all these years and compare him so unfavorably to Amaro. I know she and Stabler were close, but I fail to see how he stood in the way of her establishing her own family.