Abduction
Directed By: Ken Fink
Written By: Anya Epstein and Julie Martin
Sean Marshall, a four-year-old boy, gets abducted from a playground, and the entire Homicide unit is on the case (with Falsone as lead detective).
This episode contains examples of:
- Continuity Nod: As much as Kellerman has slipped, he's still a Friend to All Children, as he handles the girl who turns out to be a witness very gently.
- Expy: Jeff Andrews (Robert John Burke), host of This Week's Wanted, is a stand-in for John Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted, down to the fact both Andrews and Walsh became involved with their respective shows after their own children were kidnapped (in the case of Andrews, he never found his child, while Walsh's child was murdered).
- Fame Through Infamy: A man who telephones the Marshalls claiming to have kidnapped Sean and demanding a ransom finally confesses, after the police raid his house, that he did it because he wanted to be on TV.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: When Bayliss and Pembleton interview Sean's pre-school teacher, she insists she keeps watch over all her kids. Just then, Bayliss points out three kids who are making a commotion, and she has to go to quiet them down.
- It's Personal: When Falsone gets upset about Andrews being involved with the case, Stivers points out Andrews' own daughter was kidnapped several years before and never found. Falsone changes his attitude towards him.
- Not Wanting Kids Is Weird: Ballard is a little weirded out by the fact Stivers has no desire to have kids. Stivers explains if she got involved with someone who had kids, that would be one thing, but she doesn't feel the need to give birth.
- Papa Wolf: Falsone insists on having his ex-wife bring their son to her sister's so he doesn't get snatched up, at least until Sean is safely returned.
- Red Herring: Amy Marshall's (Elizabeth Marvel) ex-husband is briefly suspected when he's not at his business trip, as does a pedophile who lives close to the Marshalls, but it turns out neither of them did it.
- Shout-Out: Andrews suggests the police use a hypnotist to try and talk to a little girl at the playground who may have seen who kidnapped Sean. Falsone is skeptical, but Giardello says, "At this stage of the game, I'd accept help from that woman on Profiler."
- The Triple: Ballard tells Stivers she wants marriage, motherhood, and a way to make sure her hair doesn't stick up in the rain.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Sandy Reynolds (Amelia Campbell), the woman who kidnapped Sean, claimed she did so because she saw his parents fighting all the time, and thought she could give Sean more love than his parents did.
