Florida (Season 8, Episode 19)
Premise: Benson risks her career for her fugitive half brother, learns the truth about the man who fathered them both, and uncovers who really framed Simon.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 8, Episode 19
- Starring
- Det. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Det. Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), Capt. Donald Cragen (Dann Florek), Dr. George Huang (BD Wong), CSU Ryan O’Halloran (Mike Doyle), Capt. Julia Millfield (Kim Delaney)
- Guest stars
- Michael Weston as Simon Marsden, Vincent Spano as FBI Agent Dean Porter, Frankie Faison as Tom Nickerson, Maggie Burke as Sharon Marsden, Kathryn Hays as Jane Willet
- Director
- David Platt
- Writers
- Jonathan Greene
Summary
“Florida” opens with Benson and Stabler goading suspected rapist Michael Thatcher until Cragen pulls Benson out to meet FBI Agent Dean Porter, her case agent from her undercover assignment. Simon Marsden has jumped bail in New Jersey and cashed a $2,000 money order bought near Benson’s apartment, and Benson admits she sent it and agrees to call Porter if Simon makes contact. Porter’s security footage proves a bluff, and Capt. Julia Millfield turns out to have pointed him to her. Benson confronts Millfield, who accuses her of protecting a rapist.
Back with Thatcher, Benson provokes and grabs him until he confesses, and Cragen orders her home. When Simon calls, she meets him at a bookstore with Porter nearby, tells Simon she is done with him, and he runs; moments later a car like his nearly runs her down. Simon’s mother, Sharon Marsden, who has Alzheimer’s, recalls that her husband, Joe, had a daughter and says Simon has a house on Route 94 in Florida; Porter flies to Miami. Simon’s father turns out to be Joseph Hollister, whose death ten years ago was ruled a suicide. His old employer says Joe was treated for depression from 1969, and his food company supplied the Columbia dining hall where Benson’s mother, Serena, worked. Benson hears her mother’s taped police statement and finds two similar rapes of dining-hall workers ending in 1969, then wonders whether her mother lied. Jane Willet, one of those victims, identifies Hollister as her attacker.
Cragen tells Benson that Porter will not charge her because she kept her word, and sends her on leave. Benson tells Millfield that Simon is her brother and shares Sharon’s lead. O’Halloran finds that the hairs from Donna Leonte’s underwear fell out naturally and were probably planted, and Benson learns Millfield’s sister, Carrie, has died of a heroin overdose. Realizing that Route 94 to Florida is a road sign in the Catskills near Simon’s old school, Benson finds Simon at his father’s house holding Millfield, who has been shot. She goes in unarmed while Stabler, Porter and state police negotiator Tom Nickerson wait outside.
Spoiler, the ending: Confronted with her rental car, identical to Simon’s, Millfield admits she was the driver at the bookstore and wanted Simon to look dangerous. When Simon describes Carrie panicking as he kissed her, Benson suggests Carrie had been molested, and Millfield admits Carrie once said their father got into bed with her. Millfield confesses that she meant to shoot Simon, that the gun went off when he grabbed it, and that she pushed Donna to pick him out. Simon surrenders, Millfield is expected to live, and Simon is not charged. Benson and Simon apologize to each other.
Why it stands out
- Vincent Spano returns as FBI Agent Dean Porter, Benson’s case agent from her undercover assignment earlier in the season.
- The money Benson wires to Simon comes back to haunt her in the season finale, “Screwed,” when it is raised in court.
- Frankie Faison plays the hostage negotiator, and Maggie Burke plays Simon’s mother.