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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Haystack

Season 8, Episode 15, Aired Feb 20, 2007

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8.8

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Stabler finds himself drawn into a case where a young mother has committed suicide after her baby goes missing, and finds that there are two different fathers pursuing Kendall Kozlowski. The case leads to questions for Benson about her own family history.moreless

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Cast & Crew

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GUEST STAR
Ashley Williams

Laura Kozlowski
GUEST STAR
Pablo Schreiber

Daniel Kozlowski
GUEST STAR
Dana Ashbrook

Dann Florek

Capt. Donald Cragen
Christopher Meloni

Det. Elliot Stabler
BD Wong

Dr. George Huang
Tamara Tunie

M.E. Melinda Warner
Diane Neal

A.D.A. Casey Novak
Mariska Hargitay

Det. Olivia Benson

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Fan Episode Reviews (15)

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"It could stop there.... but it's SVU" best announcer bit ever! Love the twist at the end and throughout.

10

"Perfect"

By coolceruleanblu, Mar 29, 2011

I definitely loved the beginning how it started off as a woman being choked but it ended up being for Charades. That was a brilliant teaser. Honestly. It definitely fooled me. And then we find the baby is missing?

Though I must say what was up with Cragen saying no Olivia, you'll be with your cases and not with Elliot? I don't remember that happening ever before. Though, I must say that seeing Cragen with Stabler was pretty awesome. It was just cool to see more of him and to see him more on the job. I bet they needed to give Oliv some more baby time. I'm sure it's hard raising a baby and filming nonstop. Anyone else notice that Warner and Stabler have seemed really buddy buddy recently? I did appreciate how she was mothering him. It was very sweet to see how much they all care for him

One of my most favorite moments ever had to be the bag incident. Come on. Stabler jumping in the river and then shirtless? Best 5 min of my life ever :D Although I kind of knew it was going to be drugs. Who throws a baby into the river? In a bag?

More good moments were with the reporter. I loved when Stabler and Cragen were walking and she was following them and they talked about her as if she wasn't there. I also liked Cragen's comment how "we should have her run our interrogations." And the best part was when Stabler basically insulted her in front of her but to the other reporter saying how her libellous words caused the mother's death.

Yet another great part was Casey and Elliot in the interrogation room and working the biological father. I love how it was his own stupid fault because he showed the sonogram. I can't believe the gall of some people. Suing cops and lawyers for doing their JOBS. He DID kidnap the baby, I mean honestly. You are guilty and they know it. What I didn't like was how Stabler told the reporter that they found the sonogram in the trash. That was bad news. But he did feel bad and go to her home to apologize. I felt sorry for the poor mother. I mean she was innocent and there was just a huge sort of coincidences that made them think she killed her baby. On accident or not.

And of course, the end of the episode is a teaser for next episode! YAY it's going to be an Olivia heavy episode. Very glad about that :)moreless
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Baby is kidnapped, baby is found, stabler and novak take baby from home of abusive biological father, kendell, they get sued by grandmother of kendell, olivia uses her dna to test for any family and finds she now has a brother!moreless

10

"Perfect"

By soundofmusic, Mar 29, 2011

Absolutely amazing episode, although it did drag on in the middle of the episode,the whole plot of the story was good and the underlying message was very 'moving'; it is always good to see what the writers will come up with next. during the scene with reporter, i was actually wondering if that was the lady that also starred in grey's anatomy. i'm guessing that she was and that she did a wonderful job at portraying the overzealous nosy reporter. and finally, i was still pleased with how they delivered the news about liv's sibling and carefully tied in elliot to it as well! i can't wait for the next episode! yay for e/o=)moreless
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This one telegraphed it's punches all the way. I felt like I was watching something from the fangirls on fanfiction.net being televised

1.4

"Abysmal"

By animaltalker1, Mar 29, 2011

Where on earth were Munch and Fin? At one point when Morales was protesting the use of the DNA dragnet all I could think was my God they've given him Munch's lines. And the mother kills baby and hides it has been done to death so we all knew that wasn't it didn't we? Also saw the shirtless scene coming for a mile. I hate to be manipulated and even more I don't like it when I tune in to watch law & Order Special Victims Unit and I get the Stabler show or the Benson show. How about some ensemble work. ANd how about we go back to what the show is suppose to be about, this season has been about everything but Special Victims.moreless
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Seven words: Cheap, lazy, pointless, pathetic, stupid, ridiculous and awful. Absolutely the worst SVU episode I had ever seen.

1.0

"Abysmal"

By zvyozdnayapyl, Mar 29, 2011

This has got to be the worst episode of SVU in the entire series. Huge plotholes, lame script, bad acting, lazy writing by a bunch of idiots. The storyline was an absolute joke. I really dislike the jerk who punch the ex-husband in the face, and I really didn't like the part where the young mother committed suicide at all. That was absolutely sad. And where the heck was Munch, Fin and Huang? That is absolute crap!!! This is not SVU: this just some kind of soap opera where young women get dumped and kill themselves. I do not wanna see this episode ever again.
Last week's episode and Loophole were much better than this piece of dogtrash.moreless
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Elliot leads the investigation of a kidnapped baby.

6.0

"Fair"

By keipots, Mar 29, 2011

Everytime I watch a good SVU episode, nothing and no one can deter my attention from the screen. This time, however, I can't help but get distracted. Heck, I wanted to get distracted.

I guess the only way to say it is to say it - it was boring. It actually started off pretty good, with Elliot chasing down a suspect, jumping into the river despite the dangerous currents, and exposing his bare chest (I noticed we've been getting a lot of that lately), but as the story progressed I slowly lost interest. When they found the baby and questioned the biological father, I had an idea of what really happened and almost stopped watching. Good thing Elliot and Casey got served and I glued my eyes back to the screen.

I really like the Elliot/Casey tandem. I love how those two work together on a case, especially when they argue about the legality of things. Seeing them both, particularly Casey, as defendants was a treat. It took me back to when Diane Neal played the role of a female rapist back in the third season, and I saw how different she looked back then. Amelia was defiant and somewhat sinister, Casey was humble, serious, and a little scared. This reminds me why I like Diane Neal.

It's been a while since we saw Liz Donnelly in action. She's one of my favorite judges in SVU, and it's great to see her in court defending Casey and Elliot. ^_^

Munch and Fin were nowhere to be seen and that just sucks.

Now that I've had the chance to really think about this episode, it seems to me that "Haystack" was written as some sort of a prologue for Olivia's big storyline. The episode wasn't about the kidnapping or Elliot and Casey getting sued; it's about the procedure Melinda used to track the baby's father, which opened a huge door for Olivia. The writers went through the trouble of paving the way with an entire episode, I just hope we won't get disappointed.moreless
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (1)
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- Dickie fell and hit his head when he was young, which (at the time) caused Stabler to worry that his son would not make it.
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QUOTES (9)
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- Don Cragen: Ms. Marino must be here for the obligatory grieving-mother footage. Elliot Stabler: Nothing like a parent's worst nightmare for must-see TV.
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- Elliot Stabler (about Dan Kozlowski): He's a gambler? Laura: Compulsive. Like gambling on what time Kendall's going to need his diaper changed.
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- Judge Elizabeth Donnelly: According to the suit, you conspired with Detective Stabler to deprive Patty of his civil and constitutional rights. Casey Novak: No! Judge Elizabeth Donnelly: Pity, this guy sounds like a douche bag.
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- Runner: Elliot? Elliot Stabler: Yeah, can I help you? Runner: You've been served. Elliot Stabler: Can you believe this Casey? Runner: Casey Novak? Casey Novak: Yeah? Runner: Cool! You just saved me a trip downtown!
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- Judge Elizabeth Donnelly: Congratulations on keeping your record clean! I'm sure you'll agree that just means you haven't been caught. Judge: Elizabeth, you know better.
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- Judge Elizabeth Donnelly: Which means, Casey, you shouldn't have been playing cops and robbers with Elliot.
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- Elliot Stabler: You had a kinship analysis done? Olivia Benson: Yeah, it's for a cold case... Elliot Stabler: You're not working on any cold cases right now. What is it? (Benson pauses) Liv, whose DNA did you have tested? Olivia Benson: Mine. I have a brother.
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- (Watching Cindy Marino interview Laura.) Don Cragen: If we did that to Laura, we'd have every victim-rights group in the country picketing the station house.
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- Bernardo: I want a lawyer. Elliot Stabler: You need one. All this blow here, your parole officer hasn't been born yet.
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NOTES (1)
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- Original International Air Dates: Czech Republic April 20, 2010 on TV Nova
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- This episode appears to be ripped from the headlines of the Melinda Duckett case. Duckett committed suicide after a Nancy Grace interview, in which she faced accusations that she knew more than she was reporting about the case of her missing two-year old son.
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