Episode 172: Burned
Original Air Date: January 9, 2007
Teleplay by Judith McCreary, directed by Eriq La Salle
Additional Cast:
Blair Underwood (Miles Sennet), Michael Michele (Valerie Sennet), Tiffany Evans (Tessa Sennet), Peter Gerety (Judge Harrison), Maureen Mueller (Social Worker Jenner), Danny Johnson (Phillip Anderson), Connie Teng (Denise Fielding)
Reviewing the Case:
A divorced couple fights over their daughter. The husband, who has anger-management problems, can only see the girl in brief supervised visits and must obey a restraining order. When his wife claims he raped her, SVU detectives try to separate truth from mendacity. Benson and Stabler take sides, threatening their own professional equilibrium. “I’m the longest relationship you’ve ever had with a man,” he says. She later snaps back that his point of view is questionable, coming from someone “with a dying marriage and a history of violence.” And that’s not the most painful sequence in a truly wrenching episode.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Tutuola to Munch: “One divorce was enough for me. I can’t figure out how you did it four times.” After acknowledging she never liked Dani Beck, Kathy Stabler suggests to Benson that “Elliot is what we have in common,” even though she was always worried “he preferred to spend time with you.” Director La Salle had a long-running role on NBC’s
ER
as Dr. Peter Benton (1994-2002).
Relevant Testimony:
“I like it when things get ugly (between the detectives). I had a lot of fun writing Meloni’s dialogue.”—Judith McCreary
Episode 173: Loophole
Original Air Date: February 6, 2007
Teleplay by Jonathan Greene, directed by David Platt
Additional Cast:
Ray Wise (CEO Roger Hanley), James Naughton (Charlie Moss), Peter Riegert (Chauncey Zeirko), Casey Siemazko (EPA Official), Wayne Duvall (Seth Milsted), Karen Olivo (Jennifer Benitez), Marquis Rodriguez (Diego Benitez), Justin McCarthy (Raymond Nesbitt), Bill Goldberg (Cupid), Anne James (Dr. Jane Larom), Peter McRobbie (Judge Walter Bradley)
Reviewing the Case:
When SVU detectives busts the superintendent of a Washington Heights tenement, what initially seems like child pornography is soon revealed as clues in a governmental/ corporate conspiracy. Before long the EPA, Homeland Security, and the Terrorism Task Force are either investigating or stonewalling. M.E. Warner admits, “This time, Munch isn’t crazy.” But it all boils down to Benson’s dogged detective work in this rage-against-the-machine episode.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Benson and SVU techie Morales hide in the stall of a men’s room to hack into a sinister company’s computers.
Relevant Testimony:
“We got a lot of response to this show; in fact, the EPA put up a rebuttal on their website. This is not to rabble-rouse. This is about how does the government of the United States allow human testing of these horrible chemicals on children? . . . . (
SVU
) is a place where you can do a lot more than just write fiction, because most of the time it is true.”—Jonathan Greene
Episode 174: Dependent
Original Air Date: February 13, 2007
Teleplay by Ken Storer, directed by Peter Leto
Additional Cast:
Carey Elwes (Sidney Truex), Emily VanCamp (Charlotte Truex), Robert John Burke (IAB Sgt. Ed Tucker), Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick (Tommy Truex), Albert Jones (ADA Fritz), Justin Klosky (Ryan Bedford), Allison Hirschlag (Jane Williams)
Reviewing the Case:
A small boy says he saw “a monster” knock his father unconscious; his mother is found sodomized and bludgeoned to death in her bed. Their rebellious adolescent daughter Charlotte supposedly was at the home of her nineteen-year-old boyfriend. Various alibis begin to crumble in light of a “pharm party”—when teenagers raid their parents’ medicine cabinets to get high. The story takes a sharp left turn after it appears that Stabler may have killed a suspect.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
“Here comes the rat squad,” Stabler mutters when he spots the IAB’s Ed Tucker, who later enumerates the SVU detective’s many potentially unethical activities: He shot an unarmed suspect during a chase, held a man underwater, beat an ex-partner, impersonated a pedophile. To which Benson replies, “That was all to save lives.” The case convinces Stabler to seek a rapprochement with his wife.
Episode 175: Outsider
Original Air Date: January 16, 2007
Teleplay by Paul Grellong, directed by Arthur W. Forney
Additional Cast:
Kal Penn (Henry Chanoor), Navid Negahban (Dr. Rankesh Chanoor), Tiffany Pao (Ming Hao), Ernest Waddell (Ken Randall), Sakina Jaffrey (Geeta Chanoor), Pooja Kumar (Debi Chanoor), Kelli Giddish (Yin Chang-Chun Hao), Mark La Mura (Tom Bawson), Carmen Goodine (Edie Rimpo), Sharon Wilkins (Nurse Manager)
Reviewing the Case:
Det. Chester Lake ambles in from the Brooklyn SVU to help solve a series of cross-borough murders and rapes, and temporarily pairs with Tutuola. He’s an American Indian but the trail leads to an Indian-American doctor notorious for sexual harassment in the workplace. His family is soon embroiled in the investigation, with lifelong father-son tensions taking center stage.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Kal Penn has gained notoriety in two popular stoner movies,
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
(2004) and
Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay
(2008), as well as a recurring role on the Fox series
House
. In 2009 he left show business altogether to become an advisor to President Barack Obama. Tutuola’s college-kid son Ken initially figures in the case. Lake flirts with Novak and she doesn’t seem to mind. The men in his family, going back three generations, were ironworkers who built New York City. Tutuola is initially testy with him.
Relevant Testimony:
“(The Tutuola-Lake clash) is territorial, borough-based antagonism, Manhattan versus Brooklyn. You protect your turf. They come from different sides of the bridge. So that’s enough (reason for) fire-works right there.”—Paul Grellong
“Cops don’t like to share their information with other cops. They’re proprietary. So we had two-tier tension: cop to cop and a culture clash in the family.”—Arthur Forney
Episode 176: Haystack
Original Air Date: February 20, 2007
Teleplay by Amanda Green, directed Peter Leto
Additional Cast:
Marian Seldes (Peggy Kendall), Judith Light (Judge Elizabeth Donnelly), Ashley Williams (Laura Kozlowski), Pablo Schreiber (Dan Kozlowski), Dana Ashbrook (Paddy Kendall), Kali Rocha (Cindy Marino), David Thornton (Lionel Granger), Kathleen Chalfant (Judge Cutress), Jack O’Connell (George Kendall), Ali Reza (Dr. Rohit Mehta), Linda Powell (Lauren White), Stephen Guarino (Garrett), Santo Fazio (Bernardo)
Reviewing the Case:
When a baby is abducted, his father and mother take turns as suspects. Both have a history of using illegal substances, though hers seems no worse than marijuana. His drug of choice is cocaine and gambling debts have forced him to deal. But even after an unethical tabloid-television reporter—a “poor man’s Geraldo,” as Stabler calls her—devastates the estranged couple, an entirely different scenario threatens the kidnapped child’s well-being.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
A suspect sues Stabler and Novak for violation of civil rights. Former SVU Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly steps out of her judge’s robes to defend them, citing his eighteen years on the force with a 97 percent case-closure rate and her six years as a prosecutor with a 71 percent conviction rate. Benson, employing a DNA kinship analysis test that M.E. Warner (who refers to her own child) has talked about, learns that she has a brother.
Relevant Testimony:
“There’s always been that question for Benson: Why do people do what they do? If it’s genetic, do you carry it?”—Amanda Green
Episode 177: Philadelphia
Original Air Date: February 27, 2007
Teleplay by Patrick Harbinson, directed by Peter Leto
Additional Cast:
Kim Delaney (Capt. Julia Millfield), Mary Stuart Masterson (Dr. Rebecca Hendrix), Michael Weston (Simon Marsden), Roberto Purvis (Bobby Trapido), Greg Alan Williams (Det. Folkner), Rick Otto (Det. Joyce), Jonathan Kells Phillips (Ronnie Cavelle), Arian Moayed (Amal Qinawi), Annie Meisels (Lucy), Michael Carbanaro (Jeff Trapido), Brian Rogalski (Brent)
Reviewing the Case:
An unseen woman questions Stabler about Benson and vice-versa. But the details of these interviews will only be revealed at the end of the episode, which begins a narrative thread that continues through the rest of the season. Meanwhile, the two detectives are detained by a New Jersey cop, Julia Millfield, for interrupting a stakeout at the home of Simon Marsden—Benson’s half-brother, now a suspect in several rapes. She’s torn between believing he’s innocent and her natural SVU instincts.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Kim Delaney appeared on
NYPD Blue
. “I’ve been alone my whole life,” Benson laments after finding out through DNA that she had a brother. Distracted, she allows another suspect to get away during a chase. Cragen chews out Benson and Stabler for their Jersey detour: “Why should I keep you two together? Why should I keep you at all?” It’s a cliffhanger.
Relevant Testimony:
“(We) wanted to explore what it’s like to discover family for a woman who all her life thought she had none.”—Patrick Harbinson
Episode 178: Sin
Original Air Date: March 27, 2007
Teleplay by Patrick Harbinson, directed by George Pattison
Additional Cast:
Tim Daley (Rev. Jeb Curtis), Kathy Baker (Hannah Curtis), John Cullum (Attorney Barry Moredock), Corey Sorenson (Paul Curtis), Manny Perez (DEA agent), Chad Hoeppner (Trent Labette), Amie Tedesco (Lucy Curtis), Karl Kenzler (Father Denis), Sandra Shipley (Rhona Antrim), David Lipman (Judge Arthur Cohen)
Reviewing the Case:
The mutilation death of a male prostitute at first appears to be related to narcotics from Southeast Asia. Instead, the detectives come upon a homegrown source for the crime: a sect of homophobic fundamentalist Christians. A preacher, his wife, and their nine children figure in the whodunit of this episode, in which the cup of schmaltz nearly runneth over.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
A confession that Stabler inspires by reciting his own prayer of repentance in a church is later tossed out of court as coercion.
Episode 179: Responsible
Original Air Date: April 3, 2007
Teleplay by Allison Intieri, directed by Yelena Lanskaya and David Platt
Additional Cast:
Laura Leighton (Lillian Rice), Judith Light (Judge Elizabeth Donnelly), Hunter Parrish (Jordan Owens), Sarah Drew (Becca Rice), Leven Rambin (Regan Michaels), Van Hughes (Luke Young), Rob Mayes (Matt Schroeffel), Neal Matarazzo (Mr. Tomkin), Kelly Rebecca Walsh (Sheila Banks), Joseph Ricci (Kevin Banks), Linda Powell (Lauren White), Denise Lute (Eve Wilson), Lynn Hawley (Rose Tamkin)
Reviewing the Case:
A teenage girl, partying with high-school pals in the apartment of strangers on vacation, drinks herself to death. The kids flee rather than call for help or face the consequences. A seductive single mom and her seemingly straitlaced daughter are involved in this episode about the importance being accountable for our decisions.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Expect a poignant epiphany after the years of angst about family matters that Stabler has endured. His daughter Kathleen teaches him the intricacies of Internet postings favored by her age group. He later acts privately on his remorse for having used police connections to erase her DUI charge in 2005 (“Blood,” season six).
Relevant Testimony:
“I had to take over because the other (director) had some problems. So for me it was cramming. I didn’t know the locations and didn’t really know the script. That was a different way of working. Usually, I make meticulous notes. But the whole thing was actually fun, as it turned out.”—David Platt
Episode 180: Florida
Original Air Date: May 1, 2007
Teleplay by Jonathan Greene, directed by David Platt
Additional Cast:
Kim Delaney (Capt. Julia Millfield), Vincent Spano (FBI Agent Dean Porter), Michael Weston (Simon Marsden), Frankie Faison (FBI Agent Tom Nickerson), Josh Casaubon (Michael Thatcher), Kathryn Hays (Jane Willet), Alex Wipf (Dr. Pressman), Catrina Ganey (Nurse Parmenter), Chance Kelly (State Trooper Lawley), John Rue (Desk Sgt. Ludlow)