This week’s episode dives into the character’s backstory.

Olivia Benson’s son is about to have a rude awakening on Law & Order: SVU. Captain Benson (Mariska Hargitay) adopted Noah (Ryan Buggle) back in Season 16 after a long, horrifying ordeal that had to do with sex trafficking and child sexual abuse. On this week’s new episode of SVU, directed by Hargitay, Noah starts to ask his mother some questions about his biological parents. Not only has he been doing some Googling, but he’s also been doing some snooping in boxes, and he wants to know what the deal is with his backstory. If only there were specific episodes of a long-running TV show for him to watch…

While Olivia agonizes over how to answer Noah’s questions, we can take a trip back down bad memory lane to remember just how Noah Porter-Benson came into Olivia’s life and how hard she fought to give him a much better life than he started out with.

What happened to Noah on SVU? How was he found?
In the Season 15 episode “Wednesday’s Child,” the SVU team tracked down a missing child to the home of two married child pornographers. While the missing boy was later found on a plane trying to escape the husband, other children were found hiding out with the wife in a hotel room. That included a baby boy, known as Baby Boy Doe (Noah), who was never claimed by any family and was put into foster care.

What happened to Noah’s biological mother?
In the Season 15 finale “Spring Awakening,” a woman named Ellie Porter was brought in after she was part of a robbery of a tourist looking to hire her for sex work. She first refused to testify against her pimp, Tino, who actually committed the robbery, but then it was discovered that she was the mother of Baby Boy Doe, whose multiple foster families had fallen through. She had been told her baby, Noah, had died, and so when she found out he was still alive, she agreed to get clean and testify against Tino.

Unfortunately, the night before she was set to testify, she was found drugged and burnt to a crisp, and Noah was then declared an orphan. A judge asked Olivia if she wanted to be Noah’s foster mother, and she agreed.

What happened to Noah’s biological father?
In the Season 16 episode “Undercover Mother,” a human trafficker named Johnny Drake (Charles Halford) was brought in as part of a case, and it was discovered that he was Noah’s biological father. He was sent to Rikers without knowing about Noah, but in the season finale, when Benson decided to officially list Drake as Noah’s father on the adoption papers, he found out and tried to use the fact against her in court. Drake was then fortunately killed in a gunfight.

How did Olivia end up with Noah?
After Johnny Drake died and his claims to Noah therefore died with him, Olivia was finally able to officially adopt Noah, making his name officially Noah Porter-Benson.

Did Noah ever get taken away from Olivia?
Olivia’s custody of Noah was challenged a few times. In Season 16, his case worker brought up concerns about Olivia being able to handle parenting and her job at the same time, but a judge determined she could continue to foster Noah as long as she made him a priority. In another sad story arc, Olivia was investigated after she bruised her son in an attempt to save him from being hit by a car.

In Season 19, it was revealed that Ellie Porter’s mother Sheila (Brooke Shields) was still alive, and she wanted to be in Noah’s life. She babysat a couple times, but then tried to kidnap him and got herself arrested.

Since then, Noah has lived happily with Olivia and has even met an older half brother. Hopefully the tween can continue to focus on his happy ending after he learns the truth about his past.