Written By Amanda Green
Directed By Peter Leto
A young mother commits suicide after her baby goes missing and she is accused on live TV of murdering him, and detectives soon discover that that there are two very different fathers pursuing the baby. The case also leads Benson to question her own family history, ending in her discovering the existence of her brother Simon.
Tropes
- Chekhov's Gun: Kinship analysis. Olivia overhears Warner talking about it and has it done; she discovers that she has a brother.
- Domestic Abuse: James "Paddy" Kendall was physically abusive to Laura while they were together, to the point that her husband says that she still mutters in her sleep, begging Paddy not to hurt her.
- Driven to Suicide: Kendall goes missing and his mother Laura hangs herself after overzealous reporter Cindy Marino accuses her of murdering her child during an interview. Stabler promptly chews the reporter out on live TV after the child is found alive.
- Foreshadowing: When the conversation in the police station turns to kinship analysis, Olivia can be seen looking up from her paperwork and listening in. She has Warner run a test on her DNA and discovers that she has a brother.
- Hollywood Law: In New York State, if a woman is married, the husband is the legal father of the woman's child, regardless of biology. Kendall Kozlowski would not have been handed over to James Kendall and his mother simply because he was a DNA match by the Medical Examiner's Office. Dan Kozlowski was the legal father by marriage and was listed as such on the birth certificate. James Kendall would have had to go to court and petitioned for custody of the child and challenged paternity.
- Immoral Journalist: Cindy Marino accuses Laura of murdering her own baby on live television and is totally shameless when Laura commits suicide afterwards, treating it as an admission of guilt, and smugly saying that she did what the cops "[didn't] have the balls" to do. Stabler gets back at her by giving a rival reporter an exclusive on what really happened when the baby turns up alive, making sure to mention Marino's act of libel as he does.
- Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Kendall was the son of Laura's abusive ex, but she hid that from her new husband.
- Moral Myopia: James Kendall's mother chews out the detectives for "tryin' to pin a kidnappin'" on one of her sons. Not only is said son 100% guilty, but the mother actually insisted that he take the child after noticing his ex with a child that resembled him.
- My Beloved Smother: Kendall's father kidnapped the baby to appease his mother.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: While Laura is briefly the prime suspect, Stabler thoughtlessly tosses Cindy Marino a bone by implying that Laura was responsible for her baby's death. Marino follows this idea through by accusing Laura of murder on live TV, leading to her suicide. Stabler, by now aware of Laura's innocence, is rightfully ashamed of his role in this, and is deeply pissed at Marino for it.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: James Kendall ends up screwing himself over by presenting Kendall's sonogram as proof that Laura wanted him to be a part of their son's life; since Laura never gave him one, Elliot realizes that he stole it from her apartment as he was kidnapping the baby.
- Ripped from the Headlines: This episode was based off of the 2006 disappearance of 2-year-old Trenton Duckett, and the suicide of his 22-year-old mother Melinda Duckett, who took her own life the day after being ruthlessly grilled by Nancy Grace in a television interview.
- Title Drop: Warner tells Stabler that he won't find Kendall's father by looking through a haystack of ex-cons named Paddy or Patrick.
- Wham Line: At the end of the episode, Olivia reveals that she finally has a direct lead to her biological father.Stabler: Liv, whose DNA did you run?
Benson: Mine. I have a brother.
