And a Trauma in a Pear Tree (Season 24, Episode 9)
Premise: Benson’s Christmas trip to introduce Noah to his half-brother turns into an off-duty hunt for the men filming guests at her motel, as Rollins prepares to leave SVU.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 24, Episode 9
- Starring
- Capt. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Sgt. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Det. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), Det. Joe Velasco (Octavio Pisano), Det. Grace Muncy (Molly Burnett), ADA Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino)
- Guest stars
- Anna Belknap as Ginny McCann, Gregory Abbey as Matt McCann, Tre Ryder as Connor McCann, Robbie Williams as Mason Carter, Adam Petchel as Elias Olsen
- Director
- Norberto Barba
- Writers
- Story: Kathy Dobie & Nolan Dunbar; Written by: David Graziano & Julie Martin
Summary
“And a Trauma in a Pear Tree” takes place in the weeks before Christmas, as Carisi fights defense attorney Mason Carter’s delays in the trial of Elias Olsen, who shot Nisha and Rav Singh and abducted their 15-year-old daughter, Priya. Muncy, who struck the fleeing Olsen in the head with her thrown radio, is anxious about testifying. Carisi then calls the squad to an arraignment courtroom, where a judge marries him and Rollins with their colleagues as witnesses. Meanwhile Noah has used a genetic ancestry site to find a 13-year-old half-brother, Connor, another son of his birth father, Johnny D. After Fin’s background check on Connor’s adoptive parents, Matt and Ginny McCann, comes back clean, Benson drives Noah upstate to meet them, and Noah sleeps over.
In her Woodstock motel room, Benson finds a camera hidden behind the mirror, and Rollins drives up to help. They catch desk clerk Troy watching the feeds; he blames his cousin, Ray Sprague, whose family includes someone in the local district attorney’s office. Benson and Rollins pick Ray up at his favorite bar with a game of pool and bring him back to the motel, where he gives himself away by asking how they know about the camera. The cousins have been selling the footage on an adult website for more than $10,000 a month, and Benson tells the local police to use the video of her if it helps. Over boxed wine, Benson admits she is not over Stabler, and Rollins reveals she is leaving SVU to teach at Fordham. Benson goes out for ice, and Rollins checks out.
At the trial, Nisha identifies Olsen by his voice, since he wore a welder’s mask, and Priya identifies him in court. Carter questions Muncy about her use of force, including her arrest of Lukas Peeters, and she loses her temper, demanding ten minutes alone with Olsen; the judge strikes her outburst. Two colleagues find her drinking alone and tell her to learn from it. The defense rests without calling witnesses.
Spoiler, the ending: The McCanns decide not to hear about Connor’s birth father unless he asks when he is older, and the two families trade Christmas presents. The jury deadlocks and the judge declares a mistrial, so Carisi plans to try Olsen again. Rollins confirms to Carisi that she is taking the job. Back at the squad room, she and Benson make up, promise to stay friends and say goodbye.
Why it stands out
- Kelli Giddish’s last episode as a series regular; she returns as a special guest star in the season’s 22nd episode.
- Noah’s half-brother, Connor, is another child of Johnny D, the criminal introduced in the Season 16 episodes “Undercover Mother” and “Surrendering Noah.”
- The Olsen trial follows the kidnapping case in the season’s fourth episode, “The Steps We Cannot Take.”