Denial (Season 3, Episode 21)
Premise: A rape victim’s grisly keepsake leads detectives to a toddler’s remains hidden in a closet for 14 years, and to a mother and grandmother each hiding a child’s death.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 3, Episode 21
- Starring
- Det. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Det. Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), Det. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Capt. Donald Cragen (Dann Florek), ADA Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March), ME Dr. Melinda Warner (Tamara Tunie), Judge Lena Petrovsky (Joanna Merlin), Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly (Judith Light)
- Guest stars
- Martha Plimpton as Claire Rinato, Mary Steenburgen as Grace Rinato, Estelle Parsons as Rose Rinato, Michael Knowles as Arthur Felton, Sam Guncler as Gary Barbour
- Director
- Steve Shill
- Writers
- Judy McCreary
Summary
“Denial” begins at a house party, where guests interrupt a man raping a drugged woman on a bed, and law student Malcolm sees him flee out a window. The victim, 29-year-old heroin user Claire Rinato, has a severed, mummified child’s finger in a bag in her purse; she claims she found it. Fin traces the man who gave her drugs that night to car broker Arthur Felton, and Malcolm identifies him in a lineup.
Warner says the finger came from a toddler dead for years and was torn from the hand, and DNA ties the child to Claire. Claire then says it belonged to her half-sister, Lisa, whom she cared for from the age of 13; she says she came home to find Lisa dead, blames their mother, Grace, and says the body is in a trunk in Grace’s closet. Grace says her only other child was a son who died long ago and stalls a search; detectives watching her arrest her as she dumps the remains. Warner and a forensic anthropologist conclude that the two-and-a-half-year-old was stomped to death. Grace now says Claire killed Lisa in a jealous rage while babysitting, and that she hid the body to protect her.
Cabot charges only Grace. At arraignment, Judge Lena Petrovsky sets $300,000 bail, demands that Claire be charged as well, and holds Cabot in contempt when she protests. Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly refuses to back a grievance and files charges against Claire herself, citing school and juvenile records of violent outbursts. Claire skips a hearing on a motion to try her as a juvenile, and Fin finds her overdosed in a midtown hotel and gets her help in time. She tells him Grace threatened her into silence, and that she told her grandmother, Rose, who was recovering from a stroke.
The detectives turn to Grace’s first child, Anthony, a colicky baby whose death at two months was ruled crib death. His exhumation shows nothing, so Rose agrees to confront Grace at Rikers with the detectives, Cabot and Grace’s lawyer present. Rose accuses Grace of smothering Anthony to stop his crying; Grace blames Rose for refusing to help with him and says it was Rose’s idea to put him back in the crib and delay calling a doctor.
Spoiler, the ending: Rose says she took Claire away from Grace years ago because she feared Grace would kill again. Cabot promises to drop the charges against Claire and seek the maximum against Grace, and Rose is arrested for obstruction of justice in Anthony’s death, saying the handcuffs are appropriate. Fin then gives Claire a referral to a rehab program run by a friend, and she accepts.
Why it stands out
- Martha Plimpton received a 2002 Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for playing Claire Rinato.
- Two Academy Award winners play Claire’s mother and grandmother: Mary Steenburgen (Melvin and Howard) as Grace and Estelle Parsons (Bonnie and Clyde) as Rose.