"Pandora" - SVU 02/07/2003
slmader
over a year. Excellent performance from Christopher Meloni.
Comments?
Lisa (Halifax, NS)
Walt
I was about to add my notes to it. Do want to note a reminder that this episode
will repeat Sunday, February 16 at 11:00 PM ET/PT on USA Network. See below for
more:
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It looks like we got our answer as to why we didn't see Elliott (Christopher
Meloni) in the episode "Rotten" when Olivia and Fin (who were not in this
episode) were going around.
This episode opened with a couple with car trouble starting to walk to find
help when they hear noises coming out of the trunk of a car. A couple was found
in the trunk, with the wife raped. They then went to the couple's house, and
discovered a computer was missing, and then Elliott got a call that the woman
(Meredith McGrath) was dead.
Apparently, Meredith was on her way home from work when this happened, and
when CD-ROMs of hers went through, there was a ton of "kiddie porn" on it,
which she apparently got from someone who could not be traced because he used
an older system. It also was discovered that she chatted on the internet a lot
as a 13 year old girls and sets up meetings with men, and saves those chats.
The detectives (Elliott and Sam Bishop) then figured she was an informant,
possibly for the FBI, and she sent those pictures to US Attorney Claudia
Williams (Pam Grier), who then noted she had been doing it long before she came
to the US Attorney. One of the girls in the "kiddie porn" was apparently
kidnapped, and her reporting it was suspected in her being murdered.
The girl in question (named Mia) was then reported by the 117th Precinct as a
runaway, and they interviewed the mother of the girl, who then said she was
kidnapped, with the mother telling Elliott and another detective that she would
not let her on the internet, and she apparently was using a friend's computer.
The Detectives then interviewed the friend of the missing girl, who then
revealed she "had a boyfriend online", and claimed he would not do anything to
her. Elliott was none too happy with the other detective's tactics of
"terrorizing" the girl into revealing the E-mail. They then went back to the
"techie", who discovered the E-mails in question were sent from Prague that
invited her to live with him, and the man in question was Erich Tassic, who had
been living in Prauge. There was another girl who was missing
The Detectives then went to a copy shop, who did a "passport photo" of the
girl, and it turned out a man working there was lying about never seeing the
girl in question. The Detectives then interrogated the man in the copy shop,
who they arrested and accused him of murdering the informant, with the US
Attorney coming in and questioning the suspect who fraudulently got a passport
for Mia, which she wanted to do. The US Attorney then noted they were searching
his house for evidence, and then the US Attorney comes back noting Elliott was
heading for Prague as they wanted an SVU Detective there when they picked up
the girl who was kidnapped.
We then see Elliott meeting in Prague with Kate Logan, who tells Elliott that
Tassic had been accused in Europe of Child Pornography. They were then informed
by someone in a US Council General's Office there that there was a raid of
Tassic's apartment, and he and Mia were on the run (they apparently had been
alerted by Mia's friend the night before). Kate then explained that Germans
were coming over to be with children like Mia, and there was little incentive
for many to stop it because they made money off the parking tickets. They then
got a tip on Mia, and they went looking for her. They found Mia and Tassic,
with a chase then ensuing. Elliot then caught Mia, with Tassic running away.
Logan was then angry that Elliott chose to save Mia, with Elliott explaining
that he made a choice, and then Elliott explaining to Logan that she was PO'ed
because "it's easier to get the suspect than help the victims." They then
questioned Mia, with Mia not realizing that Tassic had been exploiting her the
entire time they had been together and showing her pictures all over the
internet. They asked for Mia to help them in getting Tassic, with her
explaining he had a workplace where they subsequently found him. They then
found a CD-Rom with more pictures, and Porn that went all over the world.
Logan and Elliott then questioned Tassic in custody, noting they caught him
having sex with Mia several times, with him thinking she was 15 when she was
14. He then claims that Mia came to Tassic by choice, who then asked about
another girl (Amy), and when Elliott didn't get his response, he slugs Tassic.
Logan then reminds Tassic they were not in America, and Elliott then beats up
Tassic, demanding he tell him about the other girl. He then swears those were
on a website.
Back at the US Embassy, they then find out the stuff was a website that was
charged to a credit card, with the company based in New York. Elliott then
returned and Bishop was there to greet him. They then went back to see Claudia,
who traced everything back to a place based in Westchester County that led to
opening a "Pandora's Box", with Elliot joining US Customs on a raid of a
company where the people involved claiming to only sell password. The company
had over 300,000 subscribers, from which their original subscriber that was a
suspect, ("Nick2Shy") was one of them. At that point, Elliott found the "other
girl" who had been exploited since she was five, with as it turned out
"Nick2Shy" actually being that girl's father. Elliott then went up to find the
father while the other detective went to the girl, with Elliott finding the
father asleep, arresting him for exploitation of the child, and also of the
murders of Meredith and Roger McGrath, the couple seen at the start in the
trunk of a car. He then claimed Meredith had betrayed her. He then claimed why
he was justified in doing what he did, with the father claiming that the
Detectives and others were "the minority" and NOT the pedophiles.
In the bar at the end, Sam then asks Elliott why he did the job he did, and it
was the four kids. Like the January 17 Episode, this is another one where
Christopher Meloni may have in my opinion deserved an Emmy Nomination for. It
also looks like we may have had the three best episodes of "SVU" to date in the
last four episodes that have aired (The episodes that originally aired on
January 17 & 24 being the others), including this one.
Walt
E-mail me at: Free...@juno.com
Connemara
"slmader" <slm...@hfx.eastlink.ca> wrote in message
news:Ps_0a.253551$C8.8...@nnrp1.uunet.ca...
I don't know if I would say best ever--but it was excellent. It intrigues
me that three of the past four or five weeks have been dedicated to specific
actors--Melloni had one a couple weeks ago as well (Can't recall the
storyline.) and then Hargitay had the one where she was obsessively chasing
down the bad cops with the drug dealer connection.
It intrigued me that Stabler took advantage of being outside the US
jurisdiction to beat up the perp in the Czech Republic. Had they attempted
to extradite him to the states and try him here for kidnapping and sexual
assault of Mia, there could have been some ramifications to his actions that
might have resulted in the case being thrown out--or any informtaion
obtained due to the "beating" not being admissible--and then the issue of
anything obtained from the fruit of the poisined tree.
I did think the story was well done. However, I do miss the camraderie
among the members of the precinct. I would like to see the others used as
well--and not quite as many single-character centered stories. I like
ensemble shows.
Michelle
--
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In memory of the Columbia 7
Husband, McCool, Anderson,
Clark, Brown, Chawla
and Ramon
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
RWGibson13
>I did think the story was well done. However, I do miss the camraderie
>among the members of the precinct. <
OTOH, we did get a lot of very interesting character interaction between the
characters created especially for this episode, which allowed the writers to
explore some different law enforcement perspectives.
If they were going to do an episode on child porn, this was a very good way to
do it, because child pornography really IS a world-wide problem and getting
wider every day.
RWG (and letting the perp say pretty much that was done to good effect)
While the poets tell how Pancho fell
Lefty's livin' in a cheap hotel
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold
So the story ends we're told
Pancho needs your prayer's, it's true
Save a few for Lefty too
The Late, Great Townes Van Zandt
Eugene Kim
I liked the conceit of having Stabler work with non-regular partners from
outside SVU, but didn't the American detective remind you a little too much
of Falsone from HLOTS?
Heather
> "slmader" <slm...@hfx.eastlink.ca> wrote in message
> news:Ps_0a.253551$C8.8...@nnrp1.uunet.ca...
> > This is the best episode, bar none, that I have seen from this series in
> over a year. Excellent performance from Christopher Meloni.
> >
> > Comments?
> >
> > Lisa (Halifax, NS)
>
> I don't know if I would say best ever--but it was excellent. It intrigues
> me that three of the past four or five weeks have been dedicated to specific
> actors--Melloni had one a couple weeks ago as well (Can't recall the
> storyline.) and then Hargitay had the one where she was obsessively chasing
> down the bad cops with the drug dealer connection.
>
> It intrigued me that Stabler took advantage of being outside the US
> jurisdiction to beat up the perp in the Czech Republic.
Best SVU moment ever! It felt so good to finally see Stabler get a chance to
punch a pedophile in the face. When he picked the guy right up into the air and
then slammed him down on the table I shrieked with joy. The only problem with
the scene is that I can't picture a crook from a non EU or NA country being so
smug with da fuzz. In most countries, just being in those dungeon like cells is
enough to put fear into the heart of a serial killer.
Freethinker
> The only problem with the scene is that I can't picture
> a crook from a non EU or NA country being so smug with
> da fuzz.
I seem to recall the Eurpoean lady cop saying that the suspect was a German
national who had fled to the Czech Republic. If so, he was from the
European Union.
Rbeezer
>A couple was found
>in the trunk, with the wife raped
nos...@anytime.thankyouverymuch
BMWs (60s 70s 80s) and a couple of old Porsches with German license plates
prominently affixed to each. Worse perhaps were the so-called European
actors. The female (ostensibly Czech) officer with a curiously English
accent; the sexual pervert with a feigned German accent so horrible that it
sounded more like a bad French accent than anything even remotely Teutonic.
And the Czech policemen in the street scenes looking oddly like ridciulous
Keystone cops....dreadful. A low budget production, no doubt?
Heather
True, but if I were an ex-pat in the Czech Republic I think I would be far less
comfortable with the idea of incarceration than I would be at home.
William L. Schart
thankyouverymuch wrote:
> The, um, "PRAGUE" set was laughable. The street shots were filled with
> old BMWs (60s 70s 80s) and a couple of old Porsches with German
> license plates prominently affixed to each. Worse perhaps were the so-
> called European actors. The female (ostensibly Czech) officer with a
> curiously English accent; the sexual pervert with a feigned German
> accent so horrible that it sounded more like a bad French accent than
> anything even remotely Teutonic. And the Czech policemen in the street
> scenes looking oddly like ridciulous Keystone cops....dreadful. A low
> budget production, no doubt?
>
>
>
been filmed, if not in Prague, at least in some European city. The
architecture is distinctly European. And I have seen somewhere, perhaps
here, the explanation for Meloni's minimal part in an earlier ep was
that he was overseas filming these parts. I guess Hargitai (sp?) got
short shift on this one to even things up.
Of course, they could have filmed minimal amount of scenes on the other
side of the pond, and done a lot locally. And the actors didn't have to
be local.
William
Freethinker
> True, but if I were an ex-pat in the Czech Republic
> I think I would be far less comfortable with the idea
> of incarceration than I would be at home.
Good point.
I am reminded of the film Midnight Express, which portrayed the experiences
of an American in a Turkish prison. Pretty gruesome, and I probably saw an
edited version.
Not sure whether Turkey is in the EU these days, but the example supports
your general point.
Another penal system I'd particularly like to avoid is Singapore's. And
Saudi Arabia's.
Brandon K.
Well it would probably take a lot of money to go to another country,
probably more money than the producers could afford especially for a
couple of scenes. And I don't link either of the characters were
Czechs.
Mary1973
" The female (ostensibly Czech) officer with a curiously English
> > accent;
Many Europeans learn "British" and speak English with a British accent.