This is one of the stranger SVU episodes ever done and it shows the limitations that the squad has. Limitations I'm not sure shouldn't be in place.
The squad gets called in on the death of a young boy in a traffic accident that proves to be just that. He's the son of a celebrity couple so it's big news.
But his sister young Hayden Panettiere develops this attachment to Olivia Benson that comes out of nowhere. Mariska Hargitay does not quite know what to make of it, but she suspects abuse.
The trouble is that no matter what law enforcement brings to bear the parents especially mother Christine Andreas counters more than effectively with her connections and clout.
And we're never sure quite what's going on here. Young Panettiere might just simply be ignored by her ever busy and absent parents. That is considered a form of abuse, but not something that the state can get a grasp on. If she were being ignored in the sense of starved or ill kempt with dirty clothes, etc. this might be something they can do about. But what's happening here never seems to rise.
Olivia Benson's maternal instincts are awakened, but she's certainly stymied and the interesting part of the whole story is that it's never clear what is going on. The kid is in need no doubt, but I'm not sure there is anything the state can mandate.
The squad gets called in on the death of a young boy in a traffic accident that proves to be just that. He's the son of a celebrity couple so it's big news.
But his sister young Hayden Panettiere develops this attachment to Olivia Benson that comes out of nowhere. Mariska Hargitay does not quite know what to make of it, but she suspects abuse.
The trouble is that no matter what law enforcement brings to bear the parents especially mother Christine Andreas counters more than effectively with her connections and clout.
And we're never sure quite what's going on here. Young Panettiere might just simply be ignored by her ever busy and absent parents. That is considered a form of abuse, but not something that the state can get a grasp on. If she were being ignored in the sense of starved or ill kempt with dirty clothes, etc. this might be something they can do about. But what's happening here never seems to rise.
Olivia Benson's maternal instincts are awakened, but she's certainly stymied and the interesting part of the whole story is that it's never clear what is going on. The kid is in need no doubt, but I'm not sure there is anything the state can mandate.