First thing's first, you need to recall that this is in fact the second part of a supremely long episode which I have done as two episodes because I figured it would be easier for everyone. And the two episodes have two different titles, so that helps too. Everyone remember that? Good. The next thing you need to know is that I probably didn't split the two episodes exactly down the middle, so the last part of last episode may have been the first part of this one. Never mind! On with the show.
Does that thing eat people?
In a crowded place full of people, a terrifying monster is waving at children and asking if they want a picture. A little boy walking along spots him, yells, "It's Momo!" (like Elmo?) and runs over to give the giant purple monster a hug. I'm still terrified, but the boy seems really happy to see 'Momo'. Momo asks what the boy's name is and he hesitates, but then a man grabs him and tells him not to run away. Momo asks if that is the boy's father, and if he wants to take a picture. The father is gruff and unresponsive, and when Momo doesn't get out of his way he shoves him. A brief tussle ensues and a policeman spots it and heads over. The father lets go of his son's hand and disappears. As the policeman talks with Momo, the boy starts calling out for his 'Pa'. The policeman goes to talk to him, but the boy tries to run. The policeman grabs his arm and says that they will find his father, then asks the boy what his name is. The boy doesn't seem to know.
Back in the squadroom, Olivia (Mariska Hargitay) is playing with her hair and having flashbacks to how she hacked it off and also a moment with Lewis. She notices Amaro (Danny Pino) watching her and asks if he doesn't like her new haircut. He says that it will grow, and I agree with him. Long hair is awesome, okay? Olivia asks him where his wedding ring is, and he gives a sketchy reply which implies that he's divorced or separated or something. Hasn't he been separated for a while anyway? Cragen (Dann Florek) comes out of his office and says that they have a lost kid in Times Square - another Momo incident. Rollins (Kelli Giddish) wants to know what's up with the Momo guys - implying someone in that costume has been involved with something before. I dunno, but anyone who wants to dress up in that thing clearly has no dignity - and it's a small step from losing dignity to losing morals. Okay, no, that was mean. Maybe I'm just terrified of people in giant costumes. Whatever. Olivia wants to go and talk to the boy, but Cragen is uncertain. Eventually he lets her and Amaro go.
In Times Square, Olivia is talking to the policeman who found the boy. He says that the kid won't reveal his name or where he lives, and that he seems developmentally stunted and a bit odd. Olivia wonders if he's autistic but the policeman has a nephew on the spectrum and he doesn't think that's the problem. Amaro is talking to 'Momo', who says that the boy's father was scary and the boy was weird. Olivia goes to speak to the kid, and manages to make him say that his name is Buddy. Back at the squadroom, Cragen, Amaro, Rollins and Fin (Ice-T) are wondering about why Buddy's dad vanished like that. Buddy is underweight but he's physically unharmed.
Who is this mysterious child?
The name Buddy always reminds me of calves. Did I meet a calf named Buddy at some point in my half-remembered youth? I don't know, but that's what I associate the name with. Anyway, Buddy the kid is drawing pictures with Olivia. He's drawn Ma. He lives with Ma in House. He's also drawn Auntie, and Sissy, who plays with him the most. Buddy refers to everything with capitals, like it's the only one there is - House etc. It reminds me of a book I read once called Room (it's by Emma Donoghue, if you're interested). Buddy says that Pa isn't always at House, but when he is they have to be quiet and then they get ice-cream or they can go out. Olivia asks him about how he got to Times Square, and he says that he had to walk a very long way and go on a train. Sissy taught him a trick for long walks - to count the cracks in the pavement - and Buddy says he counts lots of things. He counted the train stops.
Amaro and Olivia take Buddy in a car, to see if he can guide them to House. He sees Train, and then says that Dog 1 and Dog 2 live outside House and they bark, which he doesn't like. He guides them through pavement cracks down the street and then points out a building which he says is House. Rollins, Fin and Amaro knock on the door (the barking dogs are german shepherds) but there is no reply. A helpful neighbour asks if they're looking for Tony. He says that Tony is the son of the homeowner, Angie. Amaro breaks the door down and they head in and look around. The house seems to be empty, but then Amaro finds a locked door, which he also breaks and heads down to the basement. It's full of cages, set up with beds, buckets, toilet paper and water. One of them holds a stuffed Momo toy. Rollins spots a woman lying in one of the cages and they break the lock to get in and call an ambulance for her.
Back outside, Barba has arrived, and draws the parallel that everyone was already thinking of by mentioning Ariel Castro. Fin talks to the neighbour, and he says that Tony seemed normal. He said that Buddy was his girlfriend's nephew. In a squad car, Olivia is showing Buddy a picture of the woman they found in the cage. He says that's Auntie, and he wants to see Sissy. Olivia has another flashback to her time with Lewis when someone knocks on the window. It's Barba. Olivia sees that the press are there and she's angry about it, so she yells at Barba for no reason. Poor dude.
Nice to see you too.
Back at the squadroom, Olivia has some information about the woman they found. She's 24, her name's Rhonda and she's been missing since 2002. Olivia says 'um' a lot so that we know she's not back to normal yet, but she seems to be coping. Rollins is talking to Rhonda, but she's finding it very hard. The woman was living in a group home when she went missing - the home didn't report her missing for two years. Meanwhile, Fin is interrogating Tony, the son of Angie. Only Tony says he doesn't live there and never has - he doesn't speak to his mother anymore, because he's gay and she was angry when he came out. Rollins shows the man's picture to Rhonda, and she says that's not Pa. So Pa isn't Tony, he's just pretending to be Tony. Rhonda also tells Rollins - in a roundabout, unclear sort of way - that Pa used to have sex with all three women, and he left Rhonda behind intentionally. She also reveals that one of the other women - Sissy - came to live with them around Thanksgiving.
Squadroom again. From the information Rhonda gave them, they now suspect one of the other women - Sissy - is actually a girl called Kayla who went missing nine years ago. They showed an age progression picture to Buddy and he IDed her. They talk for a while, but the end result is that basically they're no closer to finding the guy. Rollins and Amaro do go to tell Kayla's parents that she's alive, though. In Cragen's office, he's telling Olivia that they found a body in the backyard of the house - they think it might be Angie. Olivia has a flashback and then starts theorising about how the man murdered Angie, although they have no proof yet. Cragen is worried about Olivia but she shakes off his concerns, and then Fin comes in and says that they've found Kayla - she got caught shoplifting, which they think she did deliberately, and the people with her ran off.
In the hospital, Kayla and her parents are thrilled to see each other again. Barba takes her parents away to do something so that Rollins and Olivia can question her. She wants to see Buddy - it turns out he's actually her son, but he doesn't know it. Kayla tells the story of how she was abducted and oh look, it's almost identical to the story Jaycee Lee Dugard told about her abduction. This show isn't subtle about its copycat crimes, is it? From what Kayla says, they deduce that Ma seemed to be in cahoots with Pa - but Rollins and I think that she has Stockholm Syndrome. That said, she still did bad stuff. Oh, and speaking of Ma (how'd you like that segue) she's been found sitting in MacDonald's.
I don't think she's all there...
Amaro talks to Ma briefly, but she refuses to leave because she thinks Pa will come back. They end up taking her to interrogation in handcuffs. Olivia and Rollins have a brief argument over where she's a victim or a suspect - she's quite clearly both. Cragen says so too, and then abruptly the argument stops and Olivia and Rollins team up to make Cragen let them interrogate her instead of Amaro and Fin. Ahaha! I think that is the most chummy I've seen them together since Rollins arrived, and I totally approve. The boys all have their buddy cop things going on, so the girls should be friends as well.
The interrogation starts off well, but then Olivia starts to go a little bit crazy (who didn't see that coming?) and yells at Ma until Ma completely shuts down and starts rocking and crying. Thankfully, Cragen pulls Olivia out and explains to her that she's acting really weird, it's screwing up the case and she needs to go home. Predictably, she's not impressed. Cragen says it was too soon for her to come back to work, and she leaves in a huff. She goes to the hospital, where she gets stuck in a lift having a flashback. Once she makes it out, she goes to see Buddy, who is with Rhonda and Kayla and meeting his grandparents. It looks like it's going well, but Kayla's struggling with depression and finds life on the outside harder than she thought it would be. Still reminding me of that book. Kayla doesn't seem to harbour any ill feelings towards Ma, and is happy to let her see Buddy if that's what she wants.
In the carpark, Olivia runs into Amaro and tells him she knows how to get through to Ma. They go into Cragen's office, where the others have hit a dead end in interrogation, and Olivia convinces Cragen that she knows how to do this. In interrogation, Olivia gives Ma a picture that Buddy drew for her. She says that Kayla is happy to let Ma be part of Buddy's life - and that all Ma needs to do is talk to them. Ma still won't tell them Pa's name. She wants to tell them her name, but she can't say it, so Olivia suggests that she write it down. Jaycee Lee Dugard again - but this one is more plausible as a coincidental similarity. Ma's real name is April, and she went missing eighteen years ago. There were several suspects in the case - a couple are dead but one, Michael Williams, is still alive. They check at April's old school (where Michael used to work) and find that the principal has his number. Amaro, Fin and Rollins go to his house.
Hello. Any kidnapping scumbags home?
Michael's wife answers the door - and she says he's in the back playing with their two young sons, which makes him a Class A douchebag. Amaro arrests him. At the precinct, we cut from Amaro interrogating Michael to Rollins interviewing his wife. Michael tries to say that nothing he did was wrong, and that the girls came onto him (except Kayla, who was 'special') and he fed and clothed them. His wife believes that he's perfectly innocent of everything. The team discusses what to do - obviously Michael will be charged, and Barba thinks he's going away for a long time. No one wants to charge Ma - even Olivia has changed her tune about that. In another mention to Ariel Castro, Amaro wonders if Michael will kill himself in prison and Fin says that it doesn't matter, because who will care?
Olivia is in a car with Kayla and Buddy as they are driven to their new home. She gives Kayla a long speech about how survivors of thinks like this have a very strong will, and they don't just survive, they can thrive. As the episode ends, Olivia goes back to see her psychiatrist and she says she's doing better. So, that wraps us up for this week! It was a short recap, so I guess I must have chopped unevenly in-between the two episodes. Oops. Next week, same time? Cool. See you then.