Law & Order: Special Victims Unit – Let Me Bring Pardon

By starrymag | March 27, 2025

By: Kaylyn Bell

 

Captain Benson (Mariska Hargitay) visits her mother’s grave. Benson lets her know that she’s been thinking about her and has been working really hard on forgiveness.

Laura (Jama Williamson), the mother of Ellie Hughes, prays in the hospital chapel when Virginia (Gina Costigan), the mother of Ellie’s ex-boyfriend Chris, enters. Laura thanks Virginia for coming and says that they’re in this together. Virginia visits Ellie, who is still in a coma, to ask her to forgive Chris for attacking her.

Benson enters the precinct where the squad is discussing Carisi’s trial for the deli robbery he interrupted. Bruno (Kevin Kane) says it’s hard to imagine Carisi in the witness box. Benson gets a call from the hospital asking her to come in. Benson asks if the squad remembers Ellie Hughes, the influencer case they had a few months ago, and explains that the hospital informed her there’s been a “complication.”

Benson arrives at the hospital and explains that she knows Ellie but hasn’t seen her in months. The doctor suggests she hear the situation from Ellie’s mom and leads her to Ellie’s room. Laura greets Benson with a hug and Benson asks how she’s doing. Laura says she’s never been happier because she’s going to be a grandmother.

Benson returns to the doctor and says that if Ellie’s pregnant, she’s assuming the father is her ex-boyfriend, Chris. The doctor says she can’t say that for sure because the gestational age of the fetus is between 16 and 18 weeks, so Ellie could have gotten pregnant after being admitted to the trauma unit. Benson tells her they need to get a DNA test because if it’s not Chris’, then Ellie was raped while in a coma.

Benson updates Fin (Ice-T) and Curry (Aimé Donna Kelly) that the father is either the boyfriend who tried to kill her or whoever raped her in the hospital. Curry says they need to get a DNA sample from every man who visited Ellie, and Benson adds they need a fetal DNA test too, but Ellie can’t consent, and her mother won’t. Fin suggests that they could convince Chris to petition the court, but if he is the father, he could sue for custody. Benson instructs Silva (Juliana Aidén Martinez) and Bruno to get a list of Ellie’s visitors while she and Fin visit Greenhaven.

Benson and Fin meet Chris (Graham Patrick Martin) and Virginia to explain the situation. Chris’ lawyer (Greg Roman) says they will petition the court for fetal DNA if Chris can get early parole. Benson says they’ll ask the judge.

After they leave, Fin asks if they’re really going to let him believe they’re going along with the early parole request. Benson says she doesn’t care what he believes as long as it helps get justice for Ellie and her baby. Fin says he sees why this case strikes a nerve with her, and she dismisses him. On their way out, Benson spots Virginia and tells Fin to meet her in the car. Virginia tells Benson that she and Laura are going to co-parent, but Benson cautions her to make sure she’s thought it through. She explains that she will have to pay child support since Laura is unemployed. She questions if it isn’t Chris’ if she’d still be willing to spend that much money on a child that isn’t her blood.

Fin asks how her conversation with Virginia went, and Benson replies, “Never underestimate the power cash has to affect a person’s morality.” She says she thinks Virginia will convince Chris to petition the court.

Silva updates Curry that all of Ellie’s male visitors cooperated and gave DNA samples. Curry tells them to go to the hospital and get a list of all the male workers in the trauma unit.

Benson visits Laura at the hospital to inform her that Chris will be petitioning the court. Laura is surprised Virginia didn’t tell her. Benson tells her that Virginia just wants to make sure it’s actually Chris’ before she commits to co-parenting. Laura says it has to be Chris’ because she never left Ellie’s side. Benson counters that she had to have left briefly at some point and she thinks someone took advantage of Ellie because she was vulnerable. Laura tells her that her family is already pressuring her to terminate the pregnancy because they think the baby is Chris’, so she asks what she thinks they’d say if the child came from rape.

The parties enter family court. Chris’ lawyer (Andrew Dolan) asserts that they want to know the legal responsibilities Chris has, and they merely seek to know paternity. Ellie’s lawyer (Joanna Carpenter) opposes the request because the petitioner is currently serving a sentence for the attempted murder of Ellie. Chris’ lawyer offers that they’re willing to implement any safeguards to protect her. The judge (Olga Merediz) rules that the child’s best interests take precedence and grants the petition to check paternity.

Silva and Bruno arrive at the hospital and speak to the trauma unit administrator, Sheila (Monique Paulwell). They explain the situation and ask for a list of every male employee that worked there during the time Ellie was under their care.

Later back at the station, Silva updates the squad that the list has 115 men. Curry adds that none of them have a record of sexual assault. Benson enters and informs them that the baby is not a paternal match to Chris and therefore is a product of rape. She runs off to her office. Fin goes to check on her but sees she is holding back tears and gives her space.

Benson meets Laura again to discuss the DNA results. Laura asks if Chris knows because he won’t stop calling her. Benson tells her not to worry about Chris; their concern needs to be for Ellie.

Silva and Bruno take DNA samples from the men in the hospital. As Bruno watches the line, one doctor leaves before getting swabbed. Sheila tells him it’s the Chief of Neurosurgery, Dr. Haimes (Mike Shapiro). Bruno catches up with Haimes who hostilely tells him he has to get to surgery and to meet him in his office after if he needs the sample so badly.

Fin and Curry visit Chris at Greenhaven and inform him he’s not the father. Chris expresses he’s angry that he wasn’t there to protect her. They ask if he hears how that sounds, considering he’s the one that put her in the coma in the first place. Chris says he doesn’t care if the child is his or not; he wants to be in its life. Fin tells him that is not happening. Chris asks why not if Laura forgave him, and Curry says that even if she did, they didn’t. Fin tells him to stop calling Laura. After they leave, Curry asks how Benson is doing; she tells him he knows Benson is a product of rape since she investigated her while working at IAB. He says Benson is still working through things, but those things are what make her built for this job.

Fin informs Benson that of the 115 employees, none of them were a paternal match. Curry points out that it must be someone around enough to notice when Laura left the room. Bruno says they did miss someone who would know the floor well, Ellie’s neurosurgeon. Benson says she met him when they worked Ellie’s case before and immediately leaves to speak with him.

Benson gets a sample from Haimes. He apologizes for giving her detectives a hard time and explains there was an incoming trauma he had to rush to. She says she looked at his visitation records, and despite his busy schedule, he found the time to visit Ellie over twelve times after recommending to take her off life support. He tells her he’s not guilty of rape and admits that the reason he visited so much was because she got in his head when they met the first time; he was checking if Ellie could communicate by squeezing his hand. He says that all the times he visited, she never squeezed his hand, but it did get him thinking about the human soul. He says he even asked the youth pastor that had been spending time with Laura about it. Benson asks what the pastor was doing there, and Haimes says it seemed he was trying to convert Laura, and it worked.

Benson asks Laura about the youth pastor. She says his name is Caleb Hartwell (Garrett Coffey) and he helped her reconnect with her faith. Benson asks if he was ever alone with Ellie. Laura defends Caleb as a good man but, after thinking about it, recalls one time he was alone with Ellie during the hero’s walk.

As Benson arrives back at the precinct, Fin tells her they found Caleb on footage entering Ellie’s room alone and closing the blinds. Bruno says, according to his website, Caleb lives a life of “service and compassion” and has no complaints from the hospital. Benson directs Bruno and Silva to ask him for a DNA sample.

Bruno and Silva arrive at Caleb’s house, and he invites them in. He says he prayed with Laura a lot but was never alone with Ellie. They show him the footage that contradicts his claim, and suddenly he remembers being alone with her. He says he was called to Ellie’s room in a quiet moment and prayed with Ellie. Bruno asks who called him and he replies, “the lord.” When Silva asks for a DNA sample, he says he has to help his wife (Madeline Anîfé) and prepare for a sermon, so he has no time and quickly rushes them out. Silva asks Bruno what they can do next since Caleb’s never going to volunteer a sample. Bruno says they need to find probable cause to arrest and get a judge to sign off on a DNA swab.

Curry shows Laura the footage of Caleb entering Ellie’s room, and she starts crying. Benson assures her they will get him. Curry asks Laura if she gave him permission to enter Ellie’s room, to which she replies, “Absolutely not.” Curry says that’s enough for criminal trespass.

Caleb delivers his sermon when Silva and Bruno show up to arrest him. He flees the building and tries to run but is cut off by Fin and Curry waiting for him on the street.

Benson and Curry speak to Caleb and his lawyer (Kevin T. Collins) in interrogation. He says what happened in the room is between him, Ellie, and God. Bruno asks if he’s claiming God called him to rape a comatose woman. Benson adds that it doesn’t matter if he believes Ellie’s soul is still there, she could not consent. Caleb says this is all God’s will and asks how putting life into the world is worse than removing one, like Chris tried to do. He says that he asked Ellie if she wanted a baby, and she squeezed his hand. His lawyer asserts there’s no way to disprove his client’s statement. Benson is confident the jury will have no problem disproving it. Before leaving Benson tells Caleb she hopes he believes in God half as much as he pretends to because then he would know there’s a place for people like him then promises that he’ll spend the rest of his life in a cell until he gets there.

Fin enters Benson’s office with the lab results; Caleb’s DNA is a paternal match. He tells her that Carisi is arraigning him today, and he doesn’t think there will be any trouble getting an indictment. Benson tells him she’ll update Laura and Ellie. Fin asks if she really thinks Ellie is in there. Benson says she doesn’t know, but if she is, she deserves the truth.

Benson sits by Ellie’s bed and holds her hand. She tells her that she understands the burden her child will carry because she carries it too. She continues that what she does know for certain is that her mother loves her unconditionally, and Ellie’s hand moves.

Benson leaves flowers at her mother’s grave.