Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Season 4 Episode 14

Mercy

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Episode Summary

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Mercy
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When the body of a baby girl is found inside a cooler, the detectives need to investigate just who she is, and how she got there. They soon learn that the little girl had a genetic disorder known as Tay-Sachs disease, and that her name is Sarah Brown, and she is the only daughter of Andrea and Daniel Brown. When Andrea admits to having killed her daughter, Alex has to put aside her own feelings of sympathy to prosecute Andrea Brown for the murder of her daughter.moreless
FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (8)

SUBMIT REVIEW

  • The body of a baby is found in the river in a cooler. The SVU detectives investigate and discover that it was a mercy killing...

    8.7
    By abanana, Jun 22, 2011
    I thought this episode was very well done. A munch episode... I love it. I had never heard about this disease until i watched this episode and i really felt bad for the baby and the parents involved. one complaint... I think the doctor should have gotten a worser sentence because he assisted in the murder. This episode was diffrent in how the detectives were investgating the wrong things for like half the episode. I find that makes it more realistic because in real life the detectives can't just figure things out rigth away and it takes them a whil to put all the cluse togethermoreless

  • mercy or mean

    9.3
    By esquisofrenic, Jun 22, 2011
    Great episode it biguns went a body of baby is found in side of a cooler the team beganto to investigate abaut it the discover that the baby named sahra had a rare genetical desease andhis paren are not have it the thico ver that it was a produc of a lover that have tha wife with one man inth work...omg it was to bad now the question is that if she kil her bay for mercy of just to hid his lie for his husdband a battle ot the aswere of get bad and cabat in his way not want to punish her but she was arrested but is was soo sad how she try to hid the true.other things viva PANAMA nad LATINOAMERICAmoreless

  • Law and Order Special Victims Unit!

    9.0
    By ourkissgoodbye, Jun 22, 2011
    Detectives Benson and Stabler are called to the scene when a baby is found dead in a cooler. At first they suspect a young mother who tried to dispose of her newborn because she though she had no other options. But once M.E. Warner takes a look at the baby, they find that she isn't a newborn. They being the investigation by checking out possible college students from Hudson University, which is located near the suspected drop point of the cooler. After that search turns up nothing, they find that the baby was actually wanted and that her parents tried to save her from a painful life she was facing due to a disease called Tay-Sachs.



    Episodes that involve the murder of babies and infants always strike a cord with me. I don't understand how people could hurt someone so small and so innocent. A baby doesn't ask to be brought into the world, and a lot of times when a baby is born, it isn't wanted. I wish that more people would see that adoption is the best option for them and give their unwanted baby to someone who will care for it and give it the love that it needs.moreless

  • Not very good.

    9.0
    By AvatarBlue, Jun 22, 2011
    This episode cried out for so much more. Maybe Im getting fickle in watching episodes where mothers kill their children for apparently good reasons. However, it always seems that the justice system can turn these reasons to suit their own ideas of what happened. Ok, so its necessary that the victim be heard and that the justice system has an advocate (public prosecuter) to do so.



    However, hasnt this been done already?! And in the L&O franchise! The episode made well enough, but there is nothing to get excited about, nothing that you wont regret missing!



    Definitely dont worry about seeing it!moreless

  • Mercy or mean?

    8.1
    By Vanture, Jun 22, 2011
    When Benson and Stabler are called onto an investigation about a baby who happened to be found in a cooler floating in the Hudson River. They found out that the parents of the baby discovered Tay-Sachs disease, which is a diseases of the eyes, which can kill. A DNA test confirms the dead infant was Sarah Brown. Andrea says she acted alone in killing her daughter, and is charged with murder. Platner is charged with supplying the murder weapon, the antidepressant. The doctor staunchly defends his actions. After watching countless other children die terrible deaths, in Sarah's case at least he was able to do something before she suffered. It ends the woman was having an Affair, with her co-worker who happened to have a brother who died from the same disease... This episode was one of the most saddest I have ever seen. It hurt me, because of the fact that someone who actually do something so mean, like this to just a baby.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

Dann Florek

Dann Florek

Capt. Donald Cragen
Richard Belzer

Richard Belzer

Det. John Munch
Mariska Hargitay

Mariska Hargitay

Det. Olivia Benson
BD Wong

BD Wong

Dr. George Huang
Christopher Meloni

Christopher Meloni

Det. Elliot Stabler
Ice-T

Ice-T

Det. Odafin 'Fin' Tutuola
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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

Judd Hirsch

Judd Hirsch

Dr. Judah Platner

Guest Star

Larry Bryggman

Larry Bryggman

Attorney Rowan

Guest Star

Gregg Edelman

Gregg Edelman

Daniel Brown

Guest Star

Viola Davis

Viola Davis

Donna Emmett

Recurring Role

Judith Light

Judith Light

SVU Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly

Recurring Role

Sheila Tousey

Sheila Tousey

Judge Danielle Larson

Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • TRIVIA (2)

    • Goof: When they are first interviewed, the Browns state that they are sitting Shiva, which is the traditional Jewish mourning period. During this time it is customary for all the mirrors in the house to be covered, but when Benson checks out the bathroom, the cabinet mirror has no covering.

    • Melinda Warner is married.

  • QUOTES (4)

    • John Munch: Excuse me if I'm alarmed by the totally disregard for human rights in this country.
      Fin Tutuola: If you got a problem with it, why don't you get your bony ass outta here.

    • Elizabeth Donnelly: Someone killed a child it's our duty to speak for the victim.
      Alex Cabot: So now we're the pregnancy police? We're violating a woman's rights for what amounts to a Hail Mary.
      Elizabeth Donnelly: This isn't about abortion rights, Alex. We are talking about a one month old infant.
      Alex Cabot: Okay, so what if that does work? What are we supposed to do, question every single woman who bought an EPT kit at the drugstore?

    • Alex Cabot: The defense is going to argue that Andrea did this out of love.
      John Munch: It doesn't matter what intentions this road is paved with, Alex, it only leads to one place.

    • Alex Cabot: I thought you were pro-euthanasia?
      John Munch: Yeah, for legal, consenting adults. It starts with killing sick children. Why not blind children? Why not deaf children?

  • NOTES (1)

    • At the beginning of the episode a reference is made to an Iowa case involving Planned Parenthood. It is wrongly stated that the Iowa prosecutor presented a legal argument that because pregnancy tests were administered by staff at Planned Parenthood, and not doctors, the patient/doctor privilege did not apply. It is true that the prosecutor made this statement to the media, but he never used it in any documents or arguments in court.

  • ALLUSIONS (0)

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Season 4 Episodes

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Ep 25
Soulless
Ep 24
Perfect
Ep 23
Grief
Ep 22
Futility
Ep 21
Fallacy
Ep 20
Dominance
Ep 19
Appearances
Ep 18
Desperate
Ep 17
Privilege
Ep 16
Tortured
Ep 15
Pandora
Ep 14
Mercy
Ep 13
Rotten
Ep 12
Risk
Ep 11
Damaged
Ep 10
Resilience
Ep 9
Juvenile
Ep 8
Waste
Ep 7
Dolls
Ep 6
Angels
Ep 5
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Ep 4
Lust
Ep 3
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Ep 2
Deception
Ep 1
Chameleon

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