A Story of More Woe (Season 20, Episode 13)
Premise: A teenager confesses to killing her father to protect her younger sister from abuse, but the story points SVU toward the helpful neighbor who has taken the girls in.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 20, Episode 13
- Starring
- Lt. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Sgt. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Det. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), Det. Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino), ADA Peter Stone (Philip Winchester)
- Guest stars
- Zoe Colletti as Britney Moore, Talitha Bateman as Laura Moore, Alex Kramer as Greg Callahan, George Newbern as Dr. Al Pollack, Arielle Yoder as Susan Bard
- Director
- Ray McKinnon
- Writers
- Julie Martin & Céline C. Robinson
Summary
“A Story of More Woe” opens with a 911 call from a girl who says a masked intruder tried to force her and her sister into sex and is now attacking their father. Douglas Moore is found stabbed in the neck, and Benson and Carisi meet his daughters, Britney, almost 16, and Laura, 13, who are with neighbor Greg Callahan and his girlfriend, Susan. Their mother killed herself two years earlier. Laura says the man came in through the fire escape window, grabbed a kitchen knife and molested her until their father came home, and her rape kit shows genital trauma. Rollins, close to giving birth, is still working.
The medical examiner finds no defensive wounds, a shallow cut and a very high blood alcohol level: Doug was likely passed out. The window latch also could not have been opened through the broken pane. Pressed, Britney admits she stabbed her father to stop him raping Laura, and Laura says the abuse happened on Thursday afternoons while Britney was at band practice, adding that she tried to tell Greg. The DA’s office will not charge Britney as an adult, but Fin learns that Doug led a work meeting every Thursday afternoon without fail. Rollins thinks she is in labor; at the hospital, with Carisi beside her, Dr. Al Pollack proposes. It is a false alarm, and she later tells him she cannot marry him because she does not love him.
A deed of guardianship naming Greg the girls’ guardian surfaces, a family court judge grants him provisional custody, and his lawyer, Avi Meyer, refuses to let police question them. A misspelling of Britney’s middle name exposes the deed as a forgery, and the lawyer who drew it up identifies a much younger man as the Doug who signed it. Arrested, Greg claims Doug had talked of suicide and he wanted to keep the girls out of foster care. Susan reveals that Greg reads Romeo and Juliet with Laura, and Laura, showing a ring, says Greg has proposed and they will marry when she turns 18. Told that her sister lied, Britney realizes Greg, not their father, was abusing Laura.
Spoiler, the ending: With undercover officers nearby, Britney meets Greg, who admits buying Laura the ring; when Britney suggests Laura is pregnant, he hints the baby could be his, and Britney screams that she killed her father for him and stabs him before detectives move in. Greg pleads guilty and gets 25 years for rape of a minor and conspiracy to commit murder, and a family court judge gives both sisters probation and counseling. Rollins gives birth to a daughter, Billie, early but healthy, and the squad meets her with Jesse.
Why it stands out
- Rollins gives birth to her second daughter, Billie, and turns down a marriage proposal from the baby’s father, Dr. Al Pollack (George Newbern).
- Zoe Margaret Colletti plays Britney Moore, and Alex Kramer plays the neighbor, Greg Callahan.