Where You’ve Seen Kate Burton Before Her Villainous Role on Law & Order: SVU
NBC’s Law & Order Thursdays have been delivering non-stop twists and turns, and Season 27 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit just received a grand slam guest appearance from none other than Grey’s Anatomy star Kate Burton.
From teary-eyed witnesses to two-faced perpetrators, you never know what powerhouse star you might recognize next, and viewers were treated to a visit from primetime titan Kate Burton during SVU‘s January 29 episode. While many may know her as Dr. Ellis Grey, Burton turned the tables and played a nefarious doctor on SVU, whom Benson eventually unveiled as corrupt. Burton arrives on SVU with not only several other iconic characters behind her, but some previous experience on the Law & Order set.
Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) was working overtime to disprove Dr. Bethany Allen’s formidable testimony on SVU‘s January 29 episode “Hubris,” and Burton delivered a rattling performance.
Why you recognize SVU guest star Kate Burton
Veteran actress Kate Burton has carved out a prolific career across television, film, and the stage, boasting four decades and counting of captivating performances. On television, Burton is widely recognized for her recurring roles as Dr. Ellis Grey on Grey’s Anatomy and the formidable Vice President Sally Langston on Scandal, earning multiple Emmy nominations for her work in those series. She has also stolen the show in series like Monty, Inventing Anna, The Dropout, Rescue Me, Bosch: Legacy, and Echo 3, among dozens of other guest-starring roles.
On the big screen, Burton’s credits span genres and decades: from cult classic Big Trouble in Little China to dramatic features like 127 Hours, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Unfaithful, and Breaking.
This isn’t the first time Burton has faced off against Olivia Benson and her fearless squad, either. She also guest-starred in a 2011 episode of SVU (“Bully”) as Annette Cole, the abusive CEO of Luscious Grape Distributors, and a prime murder suspect after her co-founder was killed.
Kate Burton guest-starred as Dr. Bethany Allen on Law & Order: SVU Season 27
In SVU’s “Hubris,” Burton played Dr. Bethany Allen, the head of the child abuse and neglect department at Bronx Hospital. Dr. Allen eventually lands on Benson’s radar after the SVU Captain met Riley Williams, a young girl who had been placed into foster care, only to be forced into prostitution by her foster father.
Benson soon learned that Riley wanted to return to her biological dad, whom she felt was torn away from her wrongfully. After speaking with Riley’s father, Nate Williams (Sean Patrick Thomas), Benson learned Riley was thrown into foster care after a sports injury that the family courts had declared signs of abuse. This, paired with a past visit to the hospital when she was a baby, led Nate to lose his daughter. But with Riley so adamant about returning home, and Nate in such heartbreak over their separation, Benson gave the case another look.
After the Williams case was brought back to family court, Benson’s squad crossed paths with Dr. Bethany Allen, who had testified in support of Riley’s removal from her home due to what she claimed had been a “nightstick” fracture, often seen in abuse victims, a concern only perpetuated by Nate’s previous stalling on taking Riley to the doctor as a baby.
Allen reiterated this testimony, doubting Riley’s sport-related excuse and claiming that children often lied to protect their parents. But it was her job to protect those kids from further abuse. Allen’s testimony was a grand slam in securing doubt about Nate’s care, leading Benson to confront her on the report directly. Allen soon got defensive, even after learning Riley had been forced into prostitution after her displacement, she remained adamant in her position on the matter.
After brushing Benson off entirely, the SVU Captain only became more emboldened, suspecting Allen of profiling Black single parents, ripping apart families during her prolific career. While touching base with Sonny Carisi (Peter Scanavino) and his new assistant, Cindy “CJ” Jones (Norma Kuhling), about the situation, C.J. remembered a child abuse case she had called Dr. Allen to testify in, where a mother received 12 months in prison after the doctor testified to abusive head trauma.
C.J. gave the case another look, revealing that other doctors felt there was a gray area and were shocked by the indictment. However, the mother pleaded guilty in fear of a worse sentence in front of a jury. Benson had a doctor friend look at C.J.’s latest case to comb through for errors, and sure enough, Benson’s hunch was correct.
Allen had ordered a test for a congenital clotting disorder, which could have caused the baby’s brain bleed. However, after the baby tested positive for this disorder, Allen omitted this test from her ruling of child abuse for some reason.
The SVU secured justice against Dr. Bethany Allen
This was enough damning evidence to drag Allen to court and question her on the two known child abuse cases Benson suspected were botched due to racist biases. Carisi interrogated Allen with panache, and Allen quipped back with poised professionalism. However, once Carisi asked about testing for blood clotting disorders, which he knew she had, Allen denied ever doing so.
“And you’re aware, of course, that you’re under oath here today?” Carisi asked dubiously as Allen nodded dutifully.
Unaware that Benson’s doctor friend had already verified that Allen ordered the test for the blood clotting disorder, Carisi had everything he needed to charge Allen for perjury. This had been no silly mistake; Allen hid the test from everyone across the board. After threatening Allen with these perjury charges during a recess, the doctor revealed her racist rhetoric, still somehow feeling vindicated in rescuing children.
Carisi explained that he wasn’t interested in prison time, but she had two options. Dr. Allen could go forward with a perjury trial, losing her medical license during a trial she’d inevitably lose. Or she could surrender her medical license with no complaint, but also with no conviction or felony record, and move on with her life.
The cowardly and corrupt Dr. Allen ultimately decided to revoke her medical license to avoid imprisonment, putting an end to her insidious God complex. Meanwhile, Benson was able to reunite not one but two broken families, delivering long-overdue justice once and for all.