Line #11 Recap/LawAndOrderS13E24Smoke


1	Directed by Creator/ConstantineMakris
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3	Written by Creator/DickWolf & Creator/MichaelSChernuchin
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5	In the hotel suite of movie star/comedian Monty Bender, a fire breaks out; in trying to save his adopted infant son from the smoke, he accidentally drops him out of a window. The baby dies, and now Briscoe and Green are investigating the incident. In talking to Monty's staff, the detectives realize their accounts of what happened are suspiciously similar, suggesting they were coached. Then a former associate who confronted Monty in his suite shortly before the fire admits that he had helped Monty find kids to meet and invite to his mansion -- and that Monty might be a pedophile. This dovetails with the increasingly suspicious circumstances of the infant's death, so he is arrested.
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7	Further investigation leads the detectives to take a close look at an out-of-court settlement Monty made with a screenwriter and his family over claims their older son made years ago that he had been molested by the star. The family accepted the money and dropped the charges for the sake of their younger son, who's chronically ill; the involved parties now claim the accusations were untrue in the first place. But suspecting that the accuser (now a young adult) ''was'' telling the truth and that the parents made him suffer for the sake of his brother, they are arrested as well.
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9	In court, the accuser asserts that he lied back then, but [=McCoy=] ultimately draws the truth from him when he produces a check Monty made out to his parents that was dated ''before'' the fateful visit to the mansion. Monty offered them money if he were allowed to do what he wanted to the boy, and they agreed. The parents are sent to jail, and when Southerlyn reflects on the {{Irony}} that the younger son will now be without them after all they did for his sake, [=McCoy=] says simply, "He's better off."
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11	!!!This episode contains examples of:
12	* AbusiveParents: Who let one child be abused for the sake of another (and likely their own greed as well).
13	* BadHumorTruck: Serious example -- Monty's assistant drove him around in an ice cream truck to visit playgrounds to find kids for him to befriend.
14	* BlandNameProduct: A "Yah" search engine appears at one point.
15	* BuyThemOff: Monty was willing to pay the medical bills of the Mireleses’ younger son Davey in exchange for doing what he pleased with their older son Sammy. He also pays off his staff to lie for him and repeat a rehearsed cover story that Monty accidentally dropped his son out of the window while trying to get him away from the smoke.
16	* CallingTheOldManOut: Sammy Mireles is naturally horrified and disgusted when he learns the truth of what his parents did and reads them the riot act for it.
17	-->'''Sammy:''' You ''sold'' me?!\
18	'''Lucy Mireles:''' It wasn't like that!\
19	'''Sammy:''' Well, what was it like?!\
20	'''Lucy Mireles:''' It was only ''one time'', Sammy. We did it for Davey!\
21	'''Sammy:''' What about ''me?!'' I was 11 years old! You ''knew'' what he was gonna do to me?!\
22	'''John Mireles:''' ''You'' weren't gonna die!\
23	'''Sammy:''' What do you call ''this?!''
24	* DeathOfAChild:
25	** The episode starts with a fire, and a dead baby, supposedly having fallen out a window because of the fire.
26	** Sammy's parents averted this trope with his little brother by giving him to a pedophile who paid for the little brother's medical treatment.
27	* DepravedBisexual: Monty's not gay, according to his assistant, but he ''has'' abused at least one young boy.
28	* DoubleMeaningTitle: Ostensibly Monty was trying to save his son from the smoke filling the apartment. But as they say, "Where there's smoke, there's fire" -- investigating the suspicious death of his infant leads to the detectives learning that he might be a pedophile. From there, the story of the settlement with the family of one of his child friends suggests he really does have a lot to hide.
29	* ExactWords: When questioned by [=McCoy=], Monty says he loves children and never does anything their parents don't consent to. This is absolutely true - because Sammy's parents permitted Monty to abuse him.
30	* FateWorseThanDeath: Monty's victim explicitly says this is what his parents condemned him to.
31	* {{Greed}}: Sammy's parents try to justify they did it for Sammy's brother, Davey. While it is true that Sammy's brother was dying due to poor heart condition. It's pretty clear they did it for the money since they are more successful than they were & are really selfish parents who would sell their first son to a pedophile.
32	* HalfwayPlotSwitch: The episode starts with [[DeathOfAChild a dead baby]] and a fire, the later part is about Monty's actions to Sammy.
33	* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Serena naïvely sympathizes with Sammy's parents about their sick child even though they don't have proof that they were lying about the money to keep quiet. She also sympathizes with Davey that he is going to have to grow up without his parents despite knowing what they have done to Sammy, and Jack rightfully tells her he's better off.
34	* LaserGuidedKarma: Sammy's parents gave him away to a famous comedian who was secretly a pedophile, condemning him to years of sexual abuse while his parents profited from the money given by Monty in exchange. Not only does Sammy chew them both out for it, but they're also arrested for their actions.
35	* LeftHanging: The initial matter (whether or not the death of Monty's son was accidental) is never resolved.
36	* [[WomanScorned Man Scorned]]: Averted. The hotel manager suggests that Monty's confrontation with his ex-assistant might have been a breakup, so Briscoe and Green encourage the assistant to get his own back by telling the truth about Monty. It turns out they weren't a couple, but the assistant does admit that Monty may be a pedophile.
37	* MultiPartEpisode: Sort of. The previous episode concluded with Briscoe and Green receiving a call about a jumper. This episode opens with them arriving on the scene and finding out the information was wrong, but the episodes are unconnected otherwise.
38	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The case is inspired by Michael Jackson, but Monty himself seems to be based on Creator/JimCarrey in that he is a famous actor/comedian known for wacky comic roles in movies.
39	* OffingTheOffspring: What the parents did is almost -- if not equally -- as bad as this, and it's possible Monty did this to his son (yes, he was adopted, but still...)
40	* OhCrap: [=McCoy=] is overcome with horror when he realizes the implications that Sammy's parents never picked him up from Monty's mansion, essentially abandoning him to the tender mercies of a celebrity who was secretly a pedophile. The revelation shakes [=McCoy=] enough to request for a recess, which the judge grants.
41	* ParentalBetrayal: Sammy's parents agreed to have him molested by Monty in exchange for a large cash payout so they could afford medical treatment for their younger son's congenital heart defect.
42	* PimpingTheOffspring: Monty Bender made a deal with the Mireles family: in exchange for paying the medical bills for their younger son Davey, Monty can do what he pleases with their older son, Sammy. When Sammy finds out, he lets his parents have it for pimping him out.
43	* RevealingCoverUp: The fire could be this. Briscoe and Green suspect that Monty accidentally smothered his son, then covered up the death by staging the fire and coaching his staff to lie. If that's true, it not only made the child's death look ''more'' suspicious but led to the police finding out about Monty's abuse of Sammy Mireles.
44	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The inciting incident takes off from Music/MichaelJackson dangling his infant son over a Berlin hotel balcony railing in late 2002; the plot then draws upon the out-of-court settlement he made with the family of Jordan Chandler in 1994 after the boy accused him of molesting him. Specific details include the father of the accuser being a screenwriter (Chandler's dad was one on the side) and a police transcript of the boy's accusations appearing on a Smoking Gun-esque website years later. As it happened, by the end of 2003, Jackson was once again accused of molestation; compare and contrast this episode with Series/LawAndOrderSVU's 2004 take on the second round of allegations "[[Recap/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnitS5E19Sick Sick]]".
45	* SadisticChoice: Sammy and Davey's parents were faced with a nasty one. Their younger son had a congenital heart defect that required surgery, and they couldn't afford his treatment. Monty offered them the money they needed...on the condition that he get a night alone with Sammy. The parents chose to sell off Sammy. Needless to say, [[CallingTheOldManOut Sammy wasn't happy about that]].
46	* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: This was clearly Monty's attitude, and the parents and his staff apparently didn't mind.
47	* ShoutOut: The manager of the hotel where Monty lives references Music/{{Eminem}} as a notable past guest.
48	* TheUnfavourite: Sammy's parents were all too willing to condemn him to be molested by a pedophile in exchange for the money needed to both treat their other son's heart condition and [[{{Greed}} give themselves a comfortable life]].
49	* TranquilFury: Any love Sammy had for his parents went up in flames when he discovered that they knowingly sold him to Monty in exchange for money for his sickly brother and possibly themselves. When he describes that his Mother told him to keep his lips shut about the incident and as she is taken away, all Sammy can do is shoot daggers into her soul.

Context Recap / LawAndOrderS13E24Smoke