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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 12 Episode 11

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 1/5/11

Benson and Stabler investigate the beating death of a young boy whose body was abandoned on a carousel. Initially suspecting a school bully, their leads eventually send them to a gambling ring and a shocking twist to the case.

Fan Episode Reviews (2)

A truly sad story and also a timely reminder of the many manifestations of the horrors of domestic violence.

8.5

By Lady_Lancaster, Oct 06, 2011

When a ten-year-old-boy is found dead on a child's carousel, it looks as though he may have been beaten to death. Further investigation reveals that the boy's father had passed away the previous year and that his uncle, a cab driver, is helping his widowed sister and her young son. Unfortunately, the uncle's way of 'helping' is by getting his nephew to take part in a fight club for young boys. When death is ruled as being caused by a broken rib piercing his lung, Benson and Stabler go searching even more deeply for answers.

It turns out that the young boy had been in an organised fight with a thirteen-year-old named Nicky Roberts, whose stepfather, Hank, bet on the outcome, as did many others. The young boy, Ethan, died indirectly as a result of this fight.

Stabler, whom we know as a loving and caring father, is determined to get to the bottom of everything and takes young Nicky under his wing, much to the fury of Nicky's mother and stepfather. After establishing trust, Nicky tells Stabler that Hank is a violent man who beats both himself and his pregnant mother on a regular basis. The abuse has been going on for several years, and young Nicky has the scars and bruises to prove it.

Stabler is determined that Hank Roberts will pay for all that he has been a part of and is therefore furious when the law gives him a mere slap on the wrist and his wife, out of fear, refuses to press charages against him.

Soon after, as things escalate, Hank Roberts is shot dead in the basement of his house. The problem is, even after questioning, it is unclear what exactly happened. At Nicky's trial, his mother takes the stand and shocks all present by announcing that it was she and not her son who shot Hank after he had violated a protection order. The boy and his mother both insist that it was they who pulled the trigger. The DA has no choice but to dismiss all charges as neither will admit to who it actually was who fired the gun.

A very good episode and good to see that the producers of SVU are not afraid to delve deeper into the darkness and horror of how domestic violence can destroy every member of a family. It was nice to see the excellent Olympia Dukakis make a guest appearance as Nicky's lawyer too as she is always a class act.moreless
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This episode wasn't so bad!

7.0

By carnagae1225, Oct 06, 2011

I must say It seems that the writers of law & order: svu are getting back on track. This episode was captivating and dealt with very interesting topic fight clubs. This episode didn't seemed as glamorized and melodramatic as the recent episode. It was the right amount. But I was annoyed that they used Ipads! I don't think NYC detectives use Ipads in the investigations, but hey maybe they do I have never been to New York. But this episode like I sad earlier wasn't so bad. When It was about to end I thought I had predicted what will happen. But Law & Order: SVU got me again!moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Christopher Meloni	Det. Elliot Stabler
Mariska Hargitay	Det. Olivia Benson
Ice-T	Det. Fin Tutuola
Dann Florek	Capt. Donald Cragen
Tamara Tunie	Dr. Melinda Warner

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Olympia Dukakis	Debbie Marsh	Guest Star
Drea de Matteo	Sandra Roberts	Guest Star
James Carpinello	Joseph "Joe" Gilbert	Guest Star
Melissa Sagemiller	ADA Gillian Hardwicke	Recurring Role
Isabel Gillies	Kathy Stabler	Recurring Role
Robert John Burke	Lt. Ed Tucker	Recurring Role

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NOTES (3)
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- This episode was part of a doubleheader and aired at 9:00 pm E/P (8 pm CT).
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- Special billing was given to Drea de Matteo (Special Guest Star) and Olympia Dukakis (Special Guest Appearance by) for this episode.
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- Original International Air Dates:
  Canada January 5, 2011 on CTV
  United Kingdom May 1, 2011 on Universal Channel/Universal Channel HD
  Czech Republic February 12, 2013 on TV Nova
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