Responsible Episode Recap

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Synopsis

After a young girl is found dead in the apartment of a vacationing couple with no children, Stabler and Benson soon learn that there have been a number of high school students having floating parties, going from house to house and getting drunk. Unfortunately, charging any of the teens with murder proves problematic, but the detectives get a break when they learn that one of the teen's mothers had been providing the alcohol as well as sleeping with one of the students.

Full Recap

When a couple who have been on vacation return home, they find a dead girl in their room. When it appeared the girl may have been sexually assaulted, SVU is brought in. Warner tells Stabler that the girl was not assaulted and that the girl did because she was drinking and vomitted and died from suffocating on her on vomit. Stabler and Benson interview the couple who tell them that they don't have any liquor because the husband is a recovering alcoholic. They then ask if anyone has a key to their residence. They say that prior to leaving on their vacation they hired a dog walker to come in a couple of times a week to take care of their dog. But they discover that their was not taken cared of. Stabler and Benson go to the walker who tells them that because she has so many clients she passes some of them to high school students and the one she passed the couple to was a girl named Becca Rice. When they go to speak to her, at first she says she doesn't know who the girl is. But when mother comes home, who tells her to tell them what she knows. She says that she gave the key to the place to a girl at her school Regan Michaels. Also there is another student from her school Jordan Owens, whom she tutors who reveals that he was at the party but doesn't know the girl. He then shows them the website that tells people of the party. They see on the website the dead girl and learn her name is Melanie Tamkin. They go to her parents who tell them that she is not a drinker. Later the detectives go speak to Regan and two other students, Mark and Luke who were the hosts of the party. They say that Melanie came and tried to drink but passed out. They tried to wake her up but couldn't. When they tell Novak, she wants to hold them responsible for Melanie's death and find out how they got the liquor. When they are arraigned, Judge Donnelly decides to let them go on their own recognizance but orders them not to drink. Mr. Tamkin who was there gets upset and Stabler takes him and begs Elliot for his help. Later Stabler is having a meal with his daughter when he discovers that she is still drinking. He then asks for her to find Regan and the others when they announce they are having another party. Eventually he goes to see Becca who tells them where they are. They arrest them, Regan, Luke, Matt, and Jordan. Stabler and Novak storm into Donnelly's chambers upon learning that she let them go again. It's after Elliot lets out on Donnelly that she retorts with his interceding for his daughter when she was arrested for a DUI. That's when he gets a call and tells Donnelly that she has to see something and that is the four of them on a blog being drunk and insulting Donnelly who orders them picked up. Looking for Jordan they go Becca's thinking he was there but she tells him that he is not scheduled for tutoring today. They go in and find him in bed with her mother. Becca freaks out. They take them in. Both try to justify the whole thing. It is then that Regan, Matt, and Luke are brought in. After speaking to Becca's mom Benson tries to talk to her but runs out. After their arraignment, Becca confronts Jordan who tells her that her mother made the move not him which she doesn't believe. After she and her mother leave, Stabler talks to Jordan who finally admits it was Becca's mother who provided them with the liquor. Later Stabler gets a call saying that Jordan was in an accident. When he arrives he finds that Regan was with him. They discover that he was drunk but Regan wasn't. They try to talk to Becca but refuses, she blames them for Jordan's death. She tells that he was with her before he died. They suspect that when he was with her he was drinking but can't get her to admit. At the memorial service for Regan and Jordan, after hearing some lame eulogies, Stabler stands up and tells everyone that Jordan was drunk and noone knew or did anything. After they leave, Luke comes out and tells them Stabler is right. That's when he tells them that Becca is also a drunk. Stabler shows up at Becca's with a social worker. He gives her a breathalyzer test and discovers that she has a high blood alcohol count. The Social Worker takes Becca away while Stabler arrests her mother. Her mom along with her lawyer go to Donnelly to try and get the charges dropped. But Novak states that Becca is an alcoholic and her mother allowed her to be one. Donnelly instructs Novak to get corroboration from Becca or she is throwing it out. Stabler visits Becca at rehab who admits to being sober for the first time in months. He asks her how she started drinking. She says that she wanted to escape from her problems and says that's what her mother did. And that when her mother caught her, she didn't freak out, she joined her. He asks her if her mother was the one who the alcohol for the party and she says yes. He then asks on the night Jordan died when he was with her did he drink, she says yes. She testifies in court but her mother's lawyer badgers her on cross examination that she breaks down. They go to see Novak to gloat that her case is getting weaker but she tells that he must be proud going after a teenager. Becca's mother refuses to accept resposibility for her alcoholism. Later Novak had Warner describe how Becca's drinking has affected her health. After hearing this Becca's mother stands up and admits to everything, even providing the alcohol for the party wherein Melanie died. Later Stabler is eating with his daughter again. It is then that he brings up her DUI arrest and feels that she should own up to it so he takes her license and burns it.