The Book of Esther (Season 19, Episode 20)
Premise: A starved young woman found on a commuter train leads Rollins to a family ruled by an apocalyptic father, and a police siege of their home ends in deaths.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 19, Episode 20
- Starring
- Lt. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Det. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Det. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), Det. Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino)
- Guest stars
- Rebekah Kennedy as Esther Labott, Ray McKinnon as William Labott, Brandy Zarle as Debbie Labott, Shawn Andrew as ESU Captain Sasso, Eric Elizaga as Dr. Stephen Hale
- Ripped from the headlines
- Based on the Turpin case, revealed in January 2018, in which a California couple had starved and imprisoned their thirteen children for years.
- Director
- Jean de Segonzac
- Writers
- Story: Brianna Yellen & Robert Brooks Cohen & Céline C. Robinson & Elizabeth Rinehart; Written by: Richard Sweren & Ryan Causey
Summary
“The Book of Esther” begins when a conductor finds a frightened, bruised young woman locked in a commuter train bathroom at the end of the line. Rollins coaxes her out with candy, getting only the name Esther, and rides with her to the hospital; Esther answers questions with Bible verses. Dr. Stephen Hale finds her severely malnourished, with chafing on her wrists and ankles, and semen in her underwear gives a DNA profile partly matching her own, pointing to a brother or uncle. Station video shows her boarding at Douglaston, Queens, followed by two men in parkas like hers.
After her photo airs, William Labott arrives from Toms River, New Jersey, and says his daughter is 27. He admits paddling her, says his wife caught Esther with her brother, calls her thinness religious fasting and threatens legal action if police hold them. Stone advises that incest is not a crime in New Jersey and Esther is an adult, so Benson lets her leave with her father over Rollins’s protests. Taking personal days, Rollins finds the Labotts’ abandoned New Jersey rental wrecked and filthy, gets their forwarding address in Douglaston and watches bowling-alley video of nine thin children in matching clothes. A neighbor says the children are never on the school bus and march inside all night.
Slipping into the house, Rollins finds a crying child, Rachel, chained to a radiator before Labott orders her out with a shotgun. A standoff follows. Benson and then Rollins call to Labott through a bullhorn, and he sends Esther to the door but insists the family must stay together for the end of days. Over Benson’s objections, ESU Captain Sasso sends officers onto the roof, gunfire breaks out and police storm the house.
Spoiler, the ending: The surviving children are sent to a hospital and then foster care, but Esther and other Labott children are dead. Labott calls himself a strict but good father and blames the police, and his wife, Debbie, blames Rollins for breaking in but admits she stayed out of fear, hoping to protect her babies. When Rollins loses her temper with Labott, Benson pulls her out. Benson then tells her that ballistics show Rollins fired the bullet that killed Esther and that she faces the department’s shooting investigators and IAB, and Rollins breaks down.
Why it stands out
- Ray McKinnon guest stars as William Labott, with Rebekah Kennedy as his daughter Esther.
- In the dialogue, the Labotts are compared to the Turpin family of California.