Born Psychopath (Season 14, Episode 19)
Premise: A little girl’s injuries lead SVU to her ten-year-old brother, whose lack of empathy alarms the detectives and Dr. Huang as his parents try to protect him.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 14, Episode 19
- Starring
- Det. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Det. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Det. Nick Amaro (Danny Pino), Det. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), Capt. Donald Cragen (Dann Florek), Dr. George Huang (BD Wong)
- Guest stars
- Hope Davis as Viola Mesner, Ethan Cutkosky as Henry Mesner, Alex Manette as Tom Mesner, Larisa Polonsky as Irina Janovic, Emily Dorsch as Hannah Schwartz
- Director
- Alex Chapple
- Writers
- Story: John P. Roche; Written by: Julie Martin & Warren Leight
Summary
“Born Psychopath” starts when a preschool nurse finds bruises on five-year-old Ruby Mesner, who has a cracked rib and says “the Monster” pushed her. Her parents, Viola and Tom, are busy Upper West Side professionals, and Ruby has made four ER visits in a year. Nanny Irina Janovic, in the country illegally, says Ruby fell on the stairs while she was in the laundry room, and Ruby’s ten-year-old brother, Henry, tells detectives he saw Irina push her. Irina says “the Monster” is what Ruby calls Henry. Ruby then says Henry jumped out and shoved her, and Henry calmly explains it was an experiment to see whether she would roll all the way down, adding that he hates her. His school counselor, Hannah Schwartz, has tried one medication after another because the parents will not have him formally tested.
The prosecutor will not charge a ten-year-old, and the Mesners refuse a psychiatric evaluation, promising to lock up the sharp objects and never leave Henry alone with Ruby. That night Henry gets a knife from its locked drawer during a bedtime tantrum and Viola is hurt; she admits she cannot reach him and sometimes hates him. Dr. George Huang, visiting from the FBI in Oklahoma, interviews Henry and finds his callous, unemotional traits far beyond the normal range. He recommends a residential program in Vermont, and the parents agree. Amaro, meanwhile, spends time with Gil, who still knows him as “Uncle Nick” because Cynthia is not ready for the boy to learn the truth.
Spoiler, the ending: Told about the program, Henry ties Ruby to her bed, locks his mother in the laundry room and sets a fire, then phones Benson; the doorman puts it out. Detectives find him in a neighbor’s apartment, where he has drowned the family dog, shut the neighbor’s son in a closet and taken an antique Colt from a safe. Amaro gets a five-year-old, Sam, out of the room, then offers to trade guns; Henry shoots him in the chest, and Amaro’s vest stops the bullet as he takes the gun. Cynthia brings Gil to see him afterward. Henry says he wanted to see whether Ruby would melt. He will be charged as a juvenile delinquent and is likely to be held in a secure treatment facility until he is 18, and his parents tell him he cannot come home.
Why it stands out
- BD Wong returns as Dr. George Huang, his second appearance since leaving the series in season 12; Huang now works for the FBI in Oklahoma.
- Hope Davis plays Viola Mesner, the mother struggling to control her violent son.
- Amaro’s storyline with Cynthia and Gil continues from “Undercover Blue.”