| "Townhouse Incident" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 17.11 | → |
| Production number: 17011 First aired (US): 13 January 2016 First aired (UK): 21 February 2016 First aired (CAN): 13 January 2016 First aired (AUS): 21 April 2016 | ||
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| Written By Brianna Yellen Directed By Nick Gomez | ||
Summary[]
Benson is taken hostage when she tries to stop a violent home invasion.
Plot[]
While nanny Lucy Huston goes to the Crivello family's townhouse to pick up their son to take him to school, she is told to go away by Lisa Crivello, who is behaving oddly. Lucy then tells her other boss, Olivia Benson, about this and asks her to swing by. Benson does and things get dangerous fast as Benson discovers that Lisa's family has been taken hostage by Joe Utley and his two cohorts, Ralph Volkov and Ralph's sister Roxie, and Benson is taken hostage along side them.
Meanwhile at the precinct, the squad took notice of Benson's absence before they get a call connected to the burglary and rape, they investigated earlier. Dodds fills in for Benson as leader, as SVU head to the apartment. The residents are Glen and Stacey King who revealed that a burglar had broken in while attempting to rape Stacey. Glen reveals that he came home and caught him in the act, thinking fast he shouted that he was a police officer, with the man being distracted and scrapped on the cheek by Stacey before he ran out to the fire escape to the roof. Tutuola compliments Glen's act, as this scare tactic has effectively trapped the perp. SVU also decides to use the DNA from Stacy’s fingernails to go get a sample connected to the other rate that matches his MO.
At the townhouse, Benson discovers Ralph used to work for Lisa's husband Richard. Ralph was fired from Richard's grocery store chain after failing two drug tests. They believe that Richard has a large sum of cash in the house, and they want it by any means necessary. With Benson also taken hostage, and with the SVU thinking she's at a DNA conference, hope for help seems unlikely. Utley also discovers that Benson is a cop and when her squad texts her to reveal they are pursuing a rapist. When he asks her if she has anyone she cares for, she tells him that she has a kid and he threatens her to comply or she won't see him again.
Meanwhile, SVU finds and arrests the burglar, who was trapped on the roof. The man is Pierson Dawes, who protests his arrest and asks if they really know he is the elusive rapist because of the shooting of Terrence Reynolds. As Detectives Carisi and Fin escort him back to the precinct, they tell him they will have a lot to talk about. The squad send Benson a text to reveal they have a suspect in custody.
Back to Benson, she sits watching the burglars prowl the house before Utley tells her phone that her phone got a notification to reveal SVU has caught their rapist. He decided to "celebrate" for her and subsequently takes the Crivello's daughter Tess away at gunpoint. Benson tried to appeal to Roxie to stop her boyfriend from raping Tess but is refused and the pleading Tess is dragged off to the room.
At the precinct, the detectives try to get Pierson to confess but he immediately asks for an attorney. They remark they knew this would happen but tell him one of his victims was a little girl and he is looking at serious charges with that before he is escorted to the interrogation room while he waits for his attorney.
However, Benson convinces her captors that she needs to respond to incoming texts to not raise concern. When Lucy sends Benson a text, she responds with a code for the SVU, prompting Fin and Carisi to pay the townhouse a visit. Lisa's daughter Tess's demeanor tips them off to the presence of the hostage takers, which initiates a large-scale hostage standoff, and harrowing conclusion as Benson takes action to save the lives of Lisa's family. It ends with Ralph and Roxie getting arrested, and Joe getting fatally shot by an NYPD sniper.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Mariska Hargitay as Lieutenant Olivia Benson
- Kelli Giddish as Detective Amanda Rollins (credit only)
- Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola
- Peter Scanavino as Detective Dominick Carisi, Jr.
- Raúl Esparza as A.D.A. Rafael Barba
Recurring cast[]
- Andy Karl as Sergeant Mike Dodds
- Bronwyn Reed as Lucy Huston
- Robert John Burke as I.A.B. Captain Ed Tucker
- Josh Saviano as Attorney Don Taft
- Jack Nawada-Braunwart as Noah Porter-Benson
- Allyson Morgan as Nurse Shelby Roberts
- Shawn Andrew as ESU Captain Sasso
Guest cast[]
- Joe Reegan as Joe Utley
- Amber Skye Noyes as Roxie Volkov
- James McMenamin as Ralph Volkov
- Wendy Hoopes as Lisa Crivello
- Cole Bernstein as Tess Crivello
- Jack Gore as Luca Crivello
- Kevin Geer as Chief Gabriel
- Anthony Grasso as Richard Crivello
- Hasaan Gilmer as Pierson Dawes
- Qurrat Ann Kadwani as Stacey King
- Tommy Pope as Glen King
- Michael DeBarge as EMS Officer (uncredited)
References[]
- Terrence Reynolds
- Sophie Harris
- William Lewis
Quotes[]
- Lucy Huston: Hey, Detective Carisi.
- Carisi: Hey, Lucy, uh, Liv's not here.
- Lucy: She's not? I'm a little worried. I sent her to the brownstone of another family I sit for. I had a really strange vibe from the mom...
- Carisi: What did Liv say about it?
- Lucy: Well, I haven't been able to talk to her. She sent this weird text.
[Carisi looks at Lucy's phone for a moment and then runs back to the squadroom] - Carisi: Guys, we have a problem here. Liv just texted this to her babysitter.
- Tutuola: [Reading from the phone] Stuck at precinct all day. Pick up William from daycare. He has a play date with Lewis today.
- Barba: William Lewis? That's not good. When did you last hear from her?
- Mike Dodds: I texted her a few hours ago about the push-in rapist. She answered back.
- Barba: But you didn't actually speak to her?
- Dodds: No.
- Barba: And now she's sending us a text about William Lewis?
- Tutuola: That's gotta be a code for 10-13.
- Joe Utley: [to Olivia] Is there anyone at the NYPD who cares if you live or if you die?
- Roxie: Joe does Joe and I do me, so why don't you sit down?
- Benson: You can save yourself.
- Roxie: I've already been saved by Joe.
- [about Olivia]
- Joe Utley: Look at her. She's a cop. Everything she says is a lie. Everything she says is a trap.
- Tucker: [to Joe] As an act of good faith, how about you release the children?
- Joe Utley: How about I don't shoot them right this second? Huh?! There's your act of good faith.
Background information and notes[]
- Jack Nawada-Braunwart takes over the role of Noah Porter-Benson starting with this episode.
- The rapist arrested in the beginning of the episode is the same one police attempted to locate in "Community Policing". Attorney Don Taft makes a remark about the wrongful police shooting from that episode.
- Another episode that features a main character trapped in a hostage situation is the season 26 episode "Cornered".
Episode scene cards[]
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Residence of |
Commerce Bank of |
| Previous episode: "Catfishing Teacher" |
"Townhouse Incident" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 17 |
Next episode: "A Misunderstanding" |