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"Shattered"
SVU, Episode 11.24
Production number: 11024
First aired (US): 19 May 2010
First aired (UK): 20 August 2010
First aired (CAN): 21 May 2010
First aired (AUS): 5 August 2010
  {{{nNthProducedInSeries}}}th of 502 produced in SVU  
{{{nNthReleasedInSeries}}}th of 502 released in SVU
  {{{nNthReleasedInAll}}}th of 1271 released in all  
Sophie Shattered
Written By
Amanda Green & Daniel Truly

Directed By
Peter Leto

Plot[]

When an eight-year-old boy named Nicholas Olsen is kidnapped off a city street, Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler are called to investigate. They soon find that his biological father, Paul, is the legal custodial parent and should be with him. The boy's mother Sophie Gerard has a history of overstepping her bounds in violation of court orders. At one point she attempts to hire a freelance child recovery specialist who declined to help after finding out Sophie was not his legal guardian. The police are in hot pursuit of the kidnapper, but this leads to a car accident causing the deaths of both Nicholas and the kidnapper. Upon hearing the news, Sophie has a psychotic break, and Paul is angry then numb. All evidence points to Sophie as the one who hired the now-deceased kidnapper, and in order to snap her back to reality, Marlowe, Benson, and another officer take her to the morgue. Upon seeing Nicholas' corpse and the arrival of Paul, who then accuses Sophie for Nicholas's death, Sophie loses it completely, steals an officer's gun, and takes everyone hostage.

Trying to shoot Paul, Sophie misses and severely wounds Warner by accident. Eventually, Sophie allows both Benson and Warner to go so that Warner can get medical treatment. Despite letting Benson and Warner go, Sophie continues to threaten both Marlowe and Paul, delusively believing her son to be alive while Stabler tries to sneak in through a vent. Sophie finally accepts Nicholas is dead, but it doesn't stop her as she has lost everything. Marlowe tries to talk her down, revealing that a year before she had very aggressive cancer and had a double masectomy, losing everything she cared about as a result. Marlowe then reveals that for a long time she couldn't even get out of bed in the morning, but eventually forced herself to go back to work and has learned to move on while working with the SVU team. Sophie seems to be moved by this, but Stabler gets a text and the sound sets her off again, much to Marlowe's dismay. The text was from Cragen, revealing that Paul actually set Sophie up by obtaining a credit card in her name to pay the kidnapper.

Realizing this, Stabler gets out of the vent into an adjourning area, joins the group to reveal to everyone the truth, but it causes Sophie to turn her gun on Paul. Realizing that there's no way out, Paul confesses to having done so, saying he was trying to keep Nicholas from her. He apologizes to Sophie, stating that he never intended for Nicholas to die. Refusing to take Paul's apology, Sophie prepares to kill him, but Marlowe picks up the boy's corpse, telling Sophie that her son needs her. Convinced by Marlowe, Sophie finally drops the gun and Stabler pushes Paul out of the room to be held by the other officers. Sophie cradles Nicholas' corpse, singing a lullaby, as the others watch on.

Summary[]

Episode summary

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

  • Jericho, New York
  • Suffolk County Police Department

Quotes[]

Paul Olsen: "she didn't believe in marriage"
Olivia: "Why, because she's French?"

Background information and notes[]

Goofs[]

  • The plane ticket shows that it is booked for Nicholas Olsen, but his French passport is shown as Nicholas Gerard.
  • Jericho, New York is in Nassau County, New York, not Suffolk County, New York.
  • The Suffolk County Police Cars in this episode were white and painted with mustard and purple stripes. In real life, Suffolk County Police cars are white with blue stripes and red pinstripes.
  • 53 Jericho turnpike is in Mineola, NY, not Jericho

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3 4

Whitethorne Academy
Office of
Principal Carol Huston
69 West 91st Street
Tuesday, May 18

Apartment of
Sophie Gerard
140 West 90th Street
Tuesday, May 18

278 Bay Street
Brooklyn, New York
Wednesday, May 19

Goodnight Motel
53 Jericho Turnpike
Jericho, New York
Wednesday, May 19

Previous episode:
"Wannabe"
"Shattered"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Season 11
Next episode:
"Locum"
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