| “ | You can just get another little baby. You... you can sign another piece of paper. You can adopt another little boy; a little boy who needs a family. You don't know what this means. You... you can never know. | „ |
| ~ Sheila Porter justifying kidnapping Noah. |
Sheila Porter is the main antagonist of Season 19 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She is the mother of Ellie Porter and the biological grandmother of Olivia Benson's adopted son, Noah Porter. Sheila revealed her true colors in the episodes, "Intent" and "Gone Baby Gone".
She is played by Brooke Shields, who also voiced Julie in The Batman.
Biography[]
Sheila Porter first appeared in the end of the episode, "Contrapasso", doing so at Benson's home and introducing herself as Ellie's mother and Noah's grandmother. This came to Benson's surprise as she believed Ellie's mother to be deceased. In the episode, "Complicated", Sheila engaged in a custody battle with Benson, challenging Benson's parenting skills, but as shown in that episode and in "Unintended Consequences", the two women had worked things out and both of them served as parental figures to Noah, while also forming a friendship in the process.
In the episode, "Intent", Sheila turned heel and began her true game plan, orchestrating Noah's abduction. She colluded with her longtime gardener (and suggested lover) Juan Ortoli in her plan, which included manipulating Juan into believing that Benson was neglecting and abusing Noah—stating that a bruise on his arm was proof (in actuality, the bruise came as a result of Benson saving Noah from an oncoming car). The abduction was committed in the end of the episode, with Sheila acting worried and frantically searching for Noah. The following episode, "Gone Baby Gone", had Sheila working with Benson to find Noah, while hiding her true role behind the abduction.
Sheila's reveal began when Detective Dominick "Sonny" Carisi learned that Sheila had bought a car seat days before the abduction, which confirmed that she was the mastermind, Benson and Fin Tutuola went to Sheila's home, only to discover her gone, and she had taken her photo of Ellie with her. The villainess drove with Noah in her car, and pretended to call Benson when Noah asked for his mother. Carisi and his partner Amanda Rollins caught up with Juan, who stated that their plan was to head to his cabin where they would be together as a family. However, when they arrived at the cabin, it was found to be empty, revealing this as another one of Sheila's lies. Sheila actually took Noah to her late sister's cabin in New Hampshire, which Benson found out about while searching for deeper info on Sheila.
Benson arrived at the cabin looking for Noah, but at that moment, Sheila attacked her from behind with a fireplace poker, and took her gun and pointed it at her. She dismissed Benson's efforts as a parent, saying that blood is the only thing that makes a family and that she would be an unfit mother due to her job and New York's environment. She even callously stated that she could "sign a piece of paper" and adopt another child, and it was at that moment that Noah appeared and saw both women, forcing Sheila to put down her gun. Benson then rushed Noah out of the cabin, leaving Sheila to break down. Sheila was later arrested for Noah's abduction.
Later episodes suggest that she has been put in a mental institution.
Trivia[]
- Mariska Hargitay, who portrays Olivia Benson, has said that Porter is her second favorite SVU villain, after William Lewis.
External links[]
- Sheila Porter on the Law & Order Wiki
