| "Dolls" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 4.07 | → |
| Production number: E3114 First aired (US): 8 November 2002 First aired (AUS): 23 January 2003 | ||
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| Written By Amanda Green Directed By Darnell Martin | ||
Detectives Benson and Stabler begin hunting for a serial pedophile after a five-year-old girl's decomposed body is found in the trash.
Summary[]
When the decomposing body of a 5-year-old girl is found in a dumpster, Benson and Stabler's investigation leads them to the painful reality that they're searching for a serial abductor as they race to save the life of his latest victim, Nina Tremain. As Nina's mother Violet frantically awaits news of Nina's whereabouts, she must reconcile with the fact that her own recent bout with addiction might've played a part in Nina's fate -- it turns out that the abductor, Terry Jessup, who was severely abused as a child, takes kids that he believes have unfit mothers, in the belief that he's protecting them from those mothers.
Plot[]
The body of an unidentified 5-year-old girl is found in a dumpster. Mummified and disfigured, identification is extremely difficult. Through anthropological forensics, they create a "picture" of their Cherish Doe, and pull synthetic fibers from her hand.
By sifting through garbage and using high-tech computer wizardry, they're able to determine where the body was dumped. There's a nail salon nearby -- the garbage indicated lots of cotton balls and nail polish.
The detectives conduct a "vigil" for Cherish and see a distraught woman, Violet Tremain, clutching a photo of her missing daughter Nina. They are concerned she could be Cherish Doe. Nina's fingerprints do not match the victims, but the detectives do find a match -- Susie Marshall.
Susie was living with her grandmother, Eleanor Marshall, because her mother Ronnie is a drug addict. A male child services worker supposedly snatched Susie and Nina, who both resemble each other.
The only link between the two girls is a community center where Violet and Ronnie attended Narcotics Anonymous meetings, and where Thelma Price, Nina's temporary foster mother, played Bingo. When Benson and Fin go to investigate, they discover a man named Terry Jessup, who was severely abused as a child, and he has an obsession with dolls, and has been found to pay extra attention to kids with very tough home lives. As Violet frantically awaits news of Nina's whereabouts, she must reconcile the fact that her recent bout with addiction, which is something she has in common with Ronnie, may have played a part in Nina's fate.
The detectives are able to track down Terry through a toy store, since the fibers in Susie's hand were from an extremely rare doll sold only in only three locations in the city. When they pick him up, he is in his warehouse surrounded by dolls. Completely disassociated, he freaks out when the cops enter his property.
They bring Terry to the precinct and he finally admits, in the presence of the detectives and Huang, that he took the girls from bad mothers, thinking he was protecting them, but he still refuses to disclose Nina's whereabouts. With time running out, as a last resort, Violet goes in to talk to Terry, to prove that she's a good mother, and he reveals Nina's hiding place in a second warehouse. Fin finds Nina, and returns her to Violet.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler
- Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson
- Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch
- Stephanie March as A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot
- Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola
- B.D. Wong as Dr. George Huang
- Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen
Recurring cast[]
- Daniel Sunjata as C.S.U. Technician Burt Trevor
- Joel de la Fuente as T.A.R.U. Technician Ruben Morales
- Tamara Tunie as M.E. Melinda Warner
- Jordan Gelber as C.S.U. Technician David Layton
Guest cast[]
- Ileen Getz as Mrs. Preston
- David Harbour as Terry Jessup
- Susan Misner as Ronnie Marshall
- Barbara Andres as Community Center Director
- Cynthia Mace as Eleanor Marshall
- Geoffrey Owens as Dr. Constantine
- Gloria Reuben as Violet Tremain
- Conan McCarty as Mike Flecker
- Frank Medrano as Jake
- Capathia Jenkins as Thelma Price
- Michael Alexis Palmer as Peter Jackson
- Ron Lee Jones as Reverend Allastair
- Thaddeus Daniels as Super
- Dominic Colón as Dave
- Sharron Bower as Newscaster
- Rony Clanton as Pat
- Jeffery V. Thompson as Joe
- Teala Dunn as Nina Tremain
- Austin Jones as Junkie #1
References[]
- Susie Marshall (victim)
- "Cherish Doe"
- Morningside Baptist Church
- Administration for Children's Services
- Hotel Alexander
- Jamaica
- Alcoholics Anonymous
- St. Virgil's Church
- Helping Hand Women's Shelter
- Eighth Avenue Community Center
- Flecker's Toy Shop
Quotes[]
- [after the body of a deceased, unknown young girl is discovered]
- Dr. Constantine: Meet Cherish Doe.
- Stabler: What, Jane Doe's not good enough?
- Dr. Constantine: It's too impersonal. A cute little girl with braids deserves something better, don't you think?
- Munch: Why do we always get the trash detail?
- Tutuola: 'Cause we're the right men for the job. [finds something in the trash] Plus we've got the will and we got the skill.
- Tutuola: Violet's telling the truth.
- Munch: Junkies lie all the time. Your words.
- Tutuola: You didn't talk to her.
- Munch: Then let her see the body.
- Tutuola: The child had no face. No mother can handle that.
- Munch: Sounds like you're lacking a little objectivity.
- Tutuola: Why? 'Cause I'm not handling things your way?
- Munch: The department doesn't have a budget for Violet's hotel room. You're paying for it, aren't you?
- Tutuola: So what?
- Munch: Well, I guess she is kind of cute.
- Tutuola: Look, somebody knows who took Nina after Mrs. Hawkins died. We've gotta canvass her neighborhood. Let's go.
- Munch: I still think you ought to let her view the body.
- Tutuola: Are you coming or what?
- Munch: How do you even know she has a kid? Maybe she's using Cherish Doe for a handout.
- Tutuola: I pulled the birth certificate myself, so back off.
- Stabler: [walks up to Fin and Munch] Lover's quarrel?
- Tutuola: Gonna be a domestic dispute if Munch don't get out of my face.
- Tutuola: [to Mrs. Preston] You see the resemblance to Nina Tremain? This little girl was raped, murdered and tossed in a dumpster. Don't get in my way, lady.
- [to Mrs. Preston about Nina Tremain]
- Benson: Can you explain why your records say that you visited her last Tuesday and Thelma Price says you didn't?
- Mrs. Preston: That woman's a liar.
- Tutuola: You're the liar, lady!
- Mrs. Preston: Hey, I want my union rep.
- Benson: Yeah? Well, why don't you tell your union rep that Nina Tremain is missing and that you haven't seen her in six weeks. You were responsible for this child's safety and you didn't even bother to check on her.
- Mrs. Preston: This is not my fault.
- Tutuola: Whose fault is it?
- Mrs. Preston: Do you know what my job is like? How big of a caseload I have? There's no way I can see every child.
- Tutuola: If you're looking for sympathy, you're barking up the wrong tree.
- Cragen: A perfect stranger shows up at your door, says he's a social worker and you just turn over your kid without a second thought?
- [about Violet going undercover in her AA meeting to find Ronnie Marshall]
- Cabot: Whatever you're thinking, don't.
- Tutuola: Violet's our only way in.
- Cabot: Violet would be acting as an agent of the police. Any evidence she obtains could be excluded in court.
- Tutuola: We're not looking for evidence, Counselor. We're looking for a lead. Nina Tremain might still be alive.
- Cabot: We're talking about violating the confidentiality of a drug treatment program.
- Cragen: Alex, I tell people in A.A. things I wouldn't want my best friend to know. Now I'd be the first to agree with you, but I don't see how making an appeal could hurt.
- Cabot: I would prefer to get the information through legal channels. I'll get a subpoena.
- Cragen: For what? N.A. doesn't keep membership lists or records.
- Tutuola: You want to tell that woman you care more about the law than the life of her child? She's living a parent's worst nightmare. You think I really had to run a number on her?
- Cabot: All right, but the only way we do this is the right way.
- Ronnie Marshall: What is your problem?
- Tutuola: Your daughter's dead and there's not one cell in your junkie body that gives a damn.
- Ronnie Marshall: That man who took my daughter was right. I'm not fit to be a mom. Susie deserved more than me. Now she's gone and there's nothing that I can do that's gonna change that.
- Tutuola: You could help us save this other little girl. Make it right for Susie.
- Dr. Huang: Dolls are idealized representations of men and women. They're pure, perfect and sexless. Terry Jessup is like a child who uses dolls to act out his fantasies.
- Tutuola: [when they're getting nowhere] Why don't you go take a walk and let me and Terry get better acquainted?
- Benson: Your dolls are beautiful. I had lots of dolls, but never ones as nice as yours.
- Terry Jessup: Girls are lucky. They can play with dolls. Boys aren't supposed to.
- Tutuola: I had dolls.
- Jessup: You did? What kind?
- Tutuola: You know, GI Joe, Batman...
- Jessup: Those are action figures.
- Terry Jessup: Little children deserve to be loved. Bad mothers shouldn't bring little children into this world.
- Benson: Putting Violet and Jessup together is a bad idea.
- Tutuola: She was strong enough to go to those NA meetings. We prep her correctly, I know she can handle it.
[to Dr. Huang] Back me up, Doc. - Dr. Huang: Jessup thinks he's saving Nina from an abusive parent. If you challenge his delusion, he might break.
- Benson: And if this doesn't work, the guilt will destroy Violet's life.
- Tutuola: A dead child's gonna destroy her even more. Nina's gonna die if we don't do something.
Background information and notes[]
- This is the only episode (so far) where, as part of an undercover operation, Stabler is seen dressed in a police uniform.
- David Harbour and Susan Misner would both later appear in the episode "Family Values", from CI Season 8, as husband and wife.
- The suspect, a doll collector, is lured to the police by informing him that a collector's doll, a "Virginia Bell" is waiting for him to pick up. Virginia Bell is the name of a stripper of the '50s and early '60s famed for her generous proportions.
Episode scene cards[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|
|
Forensic |
Morningside |
Administration for |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|
|
Hotel Alexander |
Residence of |
Narcotics Anonymous |
| 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|
|
Helping Hearts |
Eighth Avenue |
Flecker's Toy Shop |
| Previous episode: "Angels" |
"Dolls" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 4 |
Next episode: "Waste" |