Law & Order: SVU season 26 episode 16, "Let Me Bring Pardon," starts off with Olivia (Mariska Hargitay) visiting her mom’s grave. It’s been a while since she stopped by, but Olivia thinks about her mom frequently, especially in therapy as she works on forgiveness. Little does the police captain know that SVU’s next case will bring up more memories about her mother.
After receiving a call about a comatose victim named Ellie Hughes (Jen Parker Davis), Olivia arrives at the hospital to learn that Ellie is surprisingly pregnant. From there, questions swirl about the paternity of the baby and how Ellie came to be with child. As SVU works to get to the bottom of things, everyone is shocked to learn the truth.
Here’s what happened in Law & Order: SVU season 26 episode 16.
Is Ellie's ex the father of her baby?
Virginia Becker (Gina Costigan) arrives in the hospital chapel after being summoned by Laura Hughes (Jama Williamson). Virginia is shocked to learn that Laura forgives her. The two women later go to Ellie’s bedside and play a video of her and her then-boyfriend Chris Becker (Graham Patrick Martin) from when they traveled across the country. Virginia tells Ellie she’s thankful Laura forgave her son Chris and is hopeful Ellie will be able to forgive him too.
In the squad room, the team talks about the upcoming case surrounding Carisi’s (Peter Scanavino) hostage situation when Olivia receives a call from a doctor at the hospital about Ellie, a victim she’s familiar with as she helped apprehend Chris following his attack. After arriving at the hospital, Olivia speaks to Laura, who reveals Ellie is pregnant. While Laura is thrilled by the miracle baby, Olivia is stunned, especially when she learns the fetus is between 16 and 18 weeks old.
Olivia goes to Fin (Ice-T) and Curry (Aimé Donna Kelly) with the news. Because Ellie is in a coma, it’s hard to pinpoint the date of conception. The baby either belongs to Chris, the man who tried to kill her, or to a man who sexually assaulted her while she was in a coma in the trauma unit of the hospital. They need to do a fetal DNA test, but Larua won’t consent to it.
Fin recommends visiting Chris in prison and having him petition the court to determine if the child is his. Olivia isn’t happy about it, but she goes with him to visit Chris. Additionally, the captain has Bruno (Kevin Kane) and Silva (Juliana Aidén Martinez) get a list of the men who visited Ellie in the trauma unit.
Olivia and Fin meet with Chris, Virginia and Chris’ attorney in lockup. Chris agrees to petition the court for fetal DNA if they get the judge to reconsider his sentencing. Chris wants early parole. Olivia pretends to appease him.
Unfortunately, when Olivia tells Laura about Chris’ petition, Laura becomes offended that Olivia thinks there was ever an occasion when she wasn’t by her daughter’s side that could have allowed for someone to possibly assault her daughter. Laura notes her family already urged her to terminate the pregnancy because they believe the baby belongs to Chris, and she suspects they’ll have an even more visceral reaction if the baby’s father is a rapist.
At the petition hearing, the judge grants Chris’ petition citing it’s in the best interest of the child. As it turns out, the DNA test proves that Chris isn’t the father.
Was Ellie’s attacker someone at the hospital?
Not having any DNA hits from the list of male visitors who stopped by Ellie’s room, Bruno and Silva talk to a hospital administrator and ask for a list of all the male employees who worked there during the month Ellie was in the trauma unit. The list amounts to 150 people, and Olivia wants them all tested. As the two officers oversee the tall task, Olivia has the tall task of her own — breaking the news to Laura that her daughter was in fact sexually assaulted.
At the hospital, Bruno and Silva conduct DNA swabs with a long line of hospital workers. The chief of neurosurgery, Dr. Isaac Haimes (Mike Shapiro), steps out of line and Bruno follows him. When confronted, the doctor tells Bruno he doesn’t have time for this and has to go to surgery. He suggests Bruno come find him in a few hours.
In the squad room, Bruno and Silva suspect the neurosurgeon has something to hide. Hearing that, Olivia decides to go get a DNA sample from the surgeon herself.
After getting the sample, Olivia tells Dr. Haimes she looked at hospital records and noticed he stopped by Ellie’s room a lot, even after he suggested she be taken off of life support. He counters he did so because of Olivia, as she got into his head and he wanted to see if Ellie could grip his hand. He also started thinking about the human soul and even asked the youth pastor about Ellie. Dr. Haimes mentions the pastor spent a lot of time with Laura trying to convert her, which ultimately worked. With the information, Olivia has a new suspect in mind.
Is Pastor Caleb Hartwell the father?
Laura has nothing but good things to say about Pastor Caleb Hartwell (Garrett Coffey), but Olivia questions if he was ever alone with Ellie. Laura replies there was one occasion when she spent a few hours with parents who were pulling their daughter off life support. While gone, Caleb was with the girl of the parents, which was down the hall from Ellie’s room. Olivia’s squad later shows her hospital security footage of Caleb leaving the other patient’s room and going into Ellie’s, then closing the blinds.
Bruno and Silva visit Caleb at his home and attempt to get a DNA sample. The officers show him the security footage, to which he says he felt called by the Lord to go into her room and they just prayed together. Caleb says he has a sermon to prepare for now, but claims they can come back later.
Curry and Olivia confront Laura with the footage. she says she didn’t give him permission to go into Ellie’s room alone. That’s enough to get an arrest warrant for trespassing, and SVU arrests him at his church in front of the congregation.
In the interrogation room, Caleb says what happened in the hospital room that day is all God’s will. He claims he held Ellie’s hand and asked her to squeeze once if she wanted a baby, and she did. Olivia eventually storms out. Fin later tells Olivia that Caleb’s a paternal match for Ellie’s fetus.
The episode ends with Olivia talking to a comatose Ellie, stating she understands the burden her child will carry in the world because she carries it too. Unbeknownst to Olivia, Ellie’s finger moves.
New episodes of Law and Order: SVU air on Thursdays on NBC and become available the next day on Peacock
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