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"Blast"
SVU, Episode 7.13
Production number: 07013
First aired: 10 January 2006
  th of 502 produced in SVU  
th of 502 released in SVU
  th of 1271 released in all  
Stabler Warner Blast
Written By
Amanda Green

Directed By
Peter Leto

Summary[]

The team investigates when young Carly Hunter disappears while walking home from school one day. While processing evidence found at the scene, Warner realizes that the little girl has leukemia, and they need to get her home as soon as possible to begin treatment. Despite the ransom drop going wrong, the detectives are able to find the little girl thanks to evidence O'Halloran finds at the scene, but as she tells her story to Stabler and her mother, it soon becomes clear that her kidnapper is someone very close to home. Stabler and Warner end up becoming hostages when the kidnapper approaches Jake Hunter directly.

Plot[]

A young girl is kidnapped on her walk home from school. Detectives immediately begin to interview the parents for any suspects, but it is soon discovered by Melinda Warner that the girl has leukemia and needs to be brought to a hospital for treatment immediately after analyzing a pool of blood in a van from what turned out to be a nosebleed. Warner makes a trip to the girl's family to give them the news, but in the middle of the conversation the phone rings. Sure enough it was the kidnapper calling. The kidnapper explained that no police are to get involved or the girl dies, and that no one is to leave the house, therefore trapping Warner. He asks why Warner is in the house, signifying he is watching the family from afar, and they explain the whole leukemia business. Initially, the kidnapper doesn't believe them until Warner proves herself to be a doctor and how Carly needs to be hospitalized very soon. The kidnapper also demands $300,000 for the girl's safe return, and it is to be brought to him by Warner later that night. The family agrees but not before asking to speak with Carly and this is allowed.

After the conversation, Warner sneaks into the family's bathroom, specifically because it is out of the perp's view as it lacks windows. She calls her colleague, Detective Elliot Stabler, who arrives at the house moments later disguised as a delivery man. The father immediately questions why Warner would call in a policeman when the perp said the girl would die if the police got involved, but Elliot ensured him everything would be alright. Along with Elliot came the computer scientist who began to tap the phones of the house and, with Warner's help, survey the home's rooms to determine which ones are out of the perp's views. Elliot then tries to convince Warner to not go through with the exchange, but Warner insists she knows how to handle herself around men with guns, as she served in the Air Force which payed for her medical school. And so, the exchange is all set up.

So, Warner goes through with the exchange, pulling up to where she was instructed to be at the right time. It is then revealed that Elliot is in the trunk of her car. The masked perp pulls up and demands the money. Warner wants to see the girl, who is then shown in the frontseat of the perp's car. She then demands the girl be given to her before she gets the money. Suddenly, a security guard comes out of a building and tells everyone to get off of private property. The perp shoves the girl down into her seat and begins to drive away. Elliot jumps from the trunk, but is too late.

Quickly following some more clues, the detectives are lead to an empty warehouse, where they find the girl under a blanket, barely breathing due to drugs she was given. They get her to a hospital, where she soon recovers. She is also treated for her leukemia and will be alright. After some questioning of the girl, the detectives soon discover she has an older brother and that the perp's actions are similar to that of her brother's caring actions towards her growing up. The mother insists the brother couldn't have anything to do with the kidnapping, as he was cut off from the family years ago. However, the father soon secretly reveals he has been lending his son money. A few days ago he asked for 300 grand, but the father couldn't spare that much. The detectives begin searching for the brother.

Elliot and Melinda soon visit the father's bank for a medical update and further questioning. However, their meeting is soon broken up when a masked man enters the bank with a gun demanding money. Elliot and Melinda duck for cover along with the rest of the civilians in the bank. It is obvious the perp is Daniel Hunter (the brother of the girl) and so the father stands up to try to talk some sense into him. Meanwhile, Melinda uses her cell phone to call Cragen who soon arrives with the Emergency Service Unit. Melinda then asks Elliot to give her his spare gun for insurance, which he does, then Daniel takes Elliot by the collar and drags him outside where he sees the police he drags Elliot back inside. The father seems to be getting to his son, when suddenly a security guard tried to take him out, and he pulls the trigger on his gun that accidentally shoots his father while shooting the guard. Elliot now fully steps in to try to talk some sense into the boy. Melinda goes to check on the father. Soon enough, Elliot convinces the boy to let all the hostages go besides him. The civilians evacuate, and Melinda attempts to help the father limp out, but he soon collapses and she can't drag his weight. Elliot tells her to go, but she refuses to leave her patient. The father soon starts coughing up blood, and Melinda explains his lung collapsed. The boy demands his father be tended to, and Melinda asks for some household items: a sharp item and a tube of some sort. She gets what she needs and performs emergency surgery on the father, making him stable for the time being. The son begins to apologize to his father, who grants his forgiveness. Melinda then stresses the need for a hospital, and Daniel stresses he is willing to do anything to save his father.

Daniel ponders what to do in front of the door in the bank. He knows if he runs out he will be shot down and his death would be instant. Daniel tells his father to apologize to his mother and Carly for him as he prepares to commit suicide by cops. He starts shooting the glass window, so the ESU team will view him as armed and dangerous.

He begins to exit when suddenly Melinda draws her gun and shoots him in the leg. He falls to the ground, and the father questions why she shot him. Elliot explains how she saved his life as she prevented his suicide-by-cop. Daniel is arrested with no further trouble and the father is taken to the ER. Elliot starts to talk to Melinda, who simply says she needs to go pick her daughter up from school before walking away.

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

Quotes[]

Stabler: No offense, but med school doesn't exactly prepare you for something like this.
Warner: The Air Force did. They paid for medical school. I did two tours at Ramstein during Desert Storm. I know how to handle myself around men with guns.

ESU Lt.: We got gunfire, we may have casualties. There's no time to talk this guy down.
Cragen: I'm in command here, we do it my way. Daniel Hunter is a scared kid.
ESU Lt.: Yeah, with a Mac-10, high on coke, and holding a dozen hostages.

Background information and notes[]

  • When the girls were distracted on the way out of school by what they referred to as "a puppy," it was actually an adult Smooth Fox Terrier.
  • When Warner redials the cell phone, he asks her "What's up, Doc?". This is a reference to the catchphrase of Looney Tunes character Bugs Bunny, which he uses it when greeting people.
  • In the context of this episode, "Blast" is a medical term for an underdeveloped cell in the body.
  • The original title of this episode was "Captive."
  • Mariska Hargitay saw very little airtime during this episode and, when she did, she was holding a giant folder in front of her, utilizing the frequent ploy for disguising an actress' pregnancy when it is not written into the storyline.
  • Warner reveals she did time the Air Force that paid for her to go to medical school in exchange for her doing two tours at Ramstein during Desert Storm, although she pronounces the AF Base in Germany as "Rahm'-steen" instead of the correct "Ram'-stine."
  • Dr. Warner has at least one school-aged daughter.
  • It is revealed that Morales has a 6-year-old child.
  • The car that Dr. Warner drives to the pier has New York license plates and what looks like a New Jersey registration sticker.
  • Goof: When Dr. Warner puts the plastic tube in, to relieve the pressure on Mr. Hunter's lung, she inserts it in the wrong place.
  • A picture of Dr. Warner treating the man shot during the bank robbery ends up in a college textbook.
  • While it's true that many printers do place their Machine Identification Code in microscopic dots on the printed page, there's no way that they could have helped solve this case because the dots are too small to be picked up and transmitted by the sending fax machine.

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3 4 5

Apartment of
Joel Mayder
513 West 48th Street
Friday, January 6

Apartment of
Jake and Pamela Hunter
94 Riverside Drive
Saturday, January 7

Technical Assistance
Response Unit
One Police Plaza
Saturday, January 7

Mercy General Hospital
365 West 32nd Street
Monday, January 9

Manhattan Liberty Bank
2022 Broadway
Monday, January 9

Previous episode:
"Infected"
"Blast"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Season 7
Next episode:
"Taboo"
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