Noteworthy Discoveries:
Alexander is the wife of the episode’s director, a familiar
L&O
talent, and served as chair of the National Endowment for the Arts under President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. She received an Emmy nomination for her joint role here and on the Mother Ship. The 27
th
Precinct case seems to continue from
L&O
season four’s “Mayhem,” in which the detectives searched for a “Mr. Peepers,” arrested the wrong man—and never caught the right one.
Relevant Testimony:
“Jane Alexander objected to (her matriarch character’s) proximity to the Kennedys. I really had to go to the mat (with her) on this episode.”—Robert Palm
Episode 16: The Third Guy
First aired: February 25, 2000
Teleplay by Dawn DeNoon and Lisa Marie Petersen, directed by Jud Taylor
Additional Cast:
J.K. Simmons (Dr. Emil Skoda), Denis O’Hare (Jimmy Walp), Lance Reddick (Dr. Taylor), Katherine Borowitz (ADA Fahey), Eugene Byrd (Carlos Medina), Vincent Guastaferro (Stan Bosick), William C. Mitchell (Judge), David Adkins (P.D. Trax), Diego Lopez (Emmanuel), Francine Beers (Francis Reiner), P.J. Brown (Corelli), Teddy Coluca (Landlord), Michelle Hurst (Gloria Milton), Charlie Fersko (P.D. David Venko), Natalia Ortiz (Sonia Medina), Stu “Large” Riley (Johnny Schmidt), John Rafael Peralta (Hiphop), Rick Gonzalez (Alfonso Cardenas)
Reviewing the Case:
Two teen toughs are targeted for tying up an elderly woman, sexually assaulting and then robbing her, but DNA found on the senior citizen—who dies of a heart attack—doesn’t match the kids (who do ’fess up to the robbery). One of them points to a deliveryman in the apartment, and he in turn points to his partner Jimmy, who actually entered the place first. But Jimmy is borderline developmentally disabled. With the help of Dr. Skoda, the SVU detectives have to discern the gray areas between what a man does and what he is responsible for.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Cragen doesn’t seem to care for the entire psychiatric profession.
Episode 17: Misleader
First aired: March 31, 2000
Teleplay by Nick Kendrick, story by Nick Harding and Kendrick, directed by Richard Dobbs
Additional Cast:
Robert Foxworth (Dr. Ben Hadley), Anne Twomey (Sharon Hadley), Norbert Leo Butz (John Fenwick), John Benjamin Hickey (ADA), Bo Foxworth (Ben Hadley Jr.), Richard Thompson (Brad Weber), Jim Weston (Dr. Weeman’s Lawyer), Michael James Gannon (Bartender), Kelly Deadmon (Lana Hoffman), Christopher D. Wells (Ben Weeman’s Lawyer), Matthew Lawler (Povill’s Lawyer), Kirby Ward (Brad Weber’s Lawyer), Rich Hebert (Burglary Detective)
Reviewing the Case:
A post-coital Sylvia Hadley is found strangled in her hotel room, and a serial hotel thief is hauled in. But the thief has just been trying to hack hotel security to make a point. Detectives look at the financial analyst who works for the Hadleys, but when DNA clears him they go even closer: Hadley’s father-in-law. It takes Ken Briscoe to break this case, thanks to a lot of videotape viewing.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
According to a detective with the burglary task force, among the rest of the NYPD, special victims cops are seen as almost as perverse as the people ones they arrest.
Episode 18: Chat Room
Original air date: April 14, 2000
Teleplay by Roger Garrett, directed by Richard Dobbs
Additional Cast:
Paz de la Huerta (Karen Raye), Reed Birney (Harry Waters), Jenna Stern (ADA Kathleen Eastman), Siobhan Fallon (Melissa Raye), Rita Gardner (Doris Harrington), Ellen Muth (Elaine Harrington), Mark Zeisler (McClintock), Angela Bullock (Hammond), Wally Dunn (Michael Marolo), Ray Fitzgerald (FBI Agent Schreck), Mark Matkevich (Keith), John C. Havens (Johnstone), Ben Shenkman (Kenneth Brill)
Reviewing the Case:
A teen’s false claim that she was raped leads detectives to her computer, where they find emails that point to a pedophile named “The Yachtsman.” Benson and Stabler haul him in, but the charges may not stick, so they hold their own
To Catch a Predator
trap. An end card announcing that “at any given time, there are 3.4 million anonymous chat room users on the Internet” make this dated episode more
Afterschool Special
than “trenchant look at a trend all parents should be warned about.”
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Stabler and the wife seem to finally realize that those junk emails they’re getting might be going to . . . the children! So he reacts by reading Maureen’s messages and putting a block on the computer, which she easily subverts.
Episode 19: Contact
Original air date: April 28, 2000
Teleplay by Wendy West and Robert Palm, directed by Michael Zinberg
Additional Cast:
Audra McDonald (Audrey Jackson), Nicole Sullivan (Jen Caulder), Sal Viscuso (Sal Avelino), Bruce Bohne (Bruce Abbott), Tom McCarthy (Nick Ganzner), Bruce Birns (Bruce’s Lawyer), Kamal Marayati (Ahmal), Rosalyn Coleman (Flower Vendor), Michael Broughton (Mr. Dewell), Leonora Gershman (Sidra Lonstein), Tracey Toomey (Sporty Spice), Dina Pearlman (Lisa Scopes), Michelle Parylak (Meek Pink), Tricia Paoluccio (Sal’s Lawyer), John Littlefield (CPA Schreiber), Peter Appel (Det. Greenberg), Christine Todd Whitman (Detective)
Reviewing the Case:
Women are being attacked in broad daylight on the subway, and when the cases attract some publicity, citizens arrest one sad sack, who is sent through the wringer by the detectives. But he’s not their guy, so when another attack occurs a clue points Jefferies and Munch to the actual rapist’s work. A problematic lineup ID is tossed by the judge, and the police need a new, untainted victim. They discover a young, pregnant woman who seems just a little too sanguine. What is she hiding?
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Benson makes kissy-face with a
New York Post
reporter named Nick looking for a scoop on the rape case, and gets in trouble once he reads her files on the sly. Then-New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman makes a brief appearance in the squad room as a background detective.
Relevant Testimony:
“The cast includes a few old buddies of mine. Sal Viscuso (playing Sal Avelino) hadn’t worked since
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
in 1974. But the episode was not ripped from any headlines; it was definitely fiction.”—Robert Palm
Episode 20: Remorse
Original air date: May 5, 2000
Teleplay by Michael R. Perry, directed by Alexander Cassini
Additional Cast:
Jennifer Esposito (Sarah Logan), Josh Pais (Robert Sorensen), Christopher Evan Welch (William Lexner), Patrick Fitzgerald (Tommy McConaugh), Richard Petrocelli (Buck), Christa Scott-Reed (Producer), Sandra Daley (Rosa Farris), Jason Field (Mark Krieger), Juan Carlos Hernandez (Prison Source), Kristen Lee Kelly (Krieger’s Date)
Reviewing the Case:
When TV reporter Sarah Logan’s own rape case goes cold, she takes to the airwaves to talk about it, and a viewer turns in her boyfriend. Munch becomes friendly with Logan and preps her for trial (like episode 10, “Closure,” this story features detailed courtroom procedural). But she is blown up by a homemade bomb; the suspect tries to elude arrest and is killed in the same manner. Police examine Logan’s fan mail and find one letter that leads them to a bitter stalker. It’s up to Munch to persuade him to spill his guts when forensics aren’t enough.
Episode 21: Nocturne
Original air date: May 12, 2000
Teleplay by Wendy West, directed by Jean de Segonzac
Additional Cast:
Jerry O’Donnell (Off. Tulia), Wilson Jermaine Heredia (Evan), Kent Broadhurst (Larry Holt), John Benjamin Hickey (ADA), Marc John Jefferies (Jonathan), Tibor Feldman (Oslow), Joseph Edward (Jonathan’s Father), Gregory Esposito (Ricky), Brian Guzman (Taylor Campbell), Bruce Birns (P.D. Lawyer), Barbara Tirrell (Judge Rothman), Nancy Ticotin (Evan’s Mother), Alex Draper (Larry Holt, Jr.), Carole Shelley (Judge Pamela Mizener).
Reviewing the Case:
The discovery of a piano teacher who offered services to low-income students that had nothing to do with tickling the ivories and videotaped his exploits with them for years is pretty bad. But it gets worse: Only one victim agrees to testify, and he’s a twenty-one-year-old auditioning for Juilliard. Stabler takes the young man under his wing to help him cope, but then the tapes reveal that their new star witness is aping his teacher in more ways than one. This leaves prosecutors in a tragic quandary: Once you know where the abuser’s abuse comes from, is he a victim or a perpetrator?
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Guest star Wilson Jermaine Heredia won a Tony Award for originating the role of Angel in
Rent
(Off-Broadway /Broadway, 1996−2008) and also appeared in the 2005 film version.
Episode 22: Slaves
Original air date: May 21, 2000
Teleplay by Dawn DeNoon and Lisa Marie Petersen, directed by Ted Kotcheff
Additional Cast:
Andrew McCarthy (Randolph Morrow), Mary Lou Rosato (Constanta Condrescu), Harvey Atkin (Judge Ronald Mannheim), Audra McDonald (Audrey Jackson), Susan Floyd (Mrs. Morrow), Layla Alexander (Ilena), Lance Reddick (Dr. Taylor), Natacha Roi (Lindsay Haver), Albert Makhtsier (Mircha Gabrea), Sharon Washington (Dr. Benedict), Peter Giles (Peter Haver), Mark H. Dold (Reservations Agent), Robert Carroll (Balloon Vendor), Evelyn Furtak (NYU Admissions Director)
Reviewing the Case:
Tipped off by a Romanian vendor, detectives realize there’s a young immigrant woman named Ilena in trouble. They interview her closed-mouthed aunt, who turns up dead hours later, then track Ilena’s arrival in the country to businessman Randolph Morrow. The aunt’s death leads them to Morrow’s veterinarian wife, who crumbles. But he is a tougher nut to crack, telling them Ilena has disappeared. Can Stabler and Benson find her in time—or at all?
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Audra McDonald returns as shrink Audrey, who evaluates all of the SVU detectives. The episode—and season—ends when she tells him one detective should be removed from duty to prevent a meltdown, but we don’t find out who.
Relevant Testimony:
“We were still in a state of flux and trying to find our way at the end of the first season. We felt some changes needed to be made, but we hadn’t really decided on anything or anybody. I liked Michelle Hurd a lot, but we had Chris and Mariska, then we had Richard and Michelle, and I thought it diluted Mariska’s and Chris’ (characters’) relationship if we have a mirror image of it, and that we should really make Mariska the only woman detective in the squad room. We had discussed that, but we hadn’t decided it—Michelle was a lovely woman, and she worked hard.”—Ted Kotcheff
SEASON TWO
October 2000−May 2001
Regular Cast:
Christopher Meloni (Det. Elliot Stabler), Mariska Hargitay (Det. Olivia Benson), Richard Belzer (Det. John Munch), Michelle Hurd (Det. Monique Jefferies), Ice-T (Det. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola), Dann Florek (Capt. Donald Cragen), Stephanie March (ADA Alexandra Cabot), Tamara Tunie (M.E. Melinda Warner), J.K. Simmons (Dr. Emile Skoda), and B.D. Wong (Dr. George Huang)
Recurring Cast:
Erin Broderick (Maureen Stabler), Isabel Gillies (Kathy Stabler), Welly Yang (CSU Tech Georgie), Harvey Atkin (Judge Alan Ridenour), Tom O’Rourke (Judge Mark Seligman), Joanna Merlin (Judge Lena Petrovsky), Tamara Tunie (Medical Examiner Melinda Warner) Lou Carbonneau (CSU Tech), Ed Bogdanowicz (CSU), David Jung (Tech), Kent Cassella (Det. Palmieri)
SEASON TWO OVERVIEW:
For its sophomore incarnation, the show focuses less on the personal lives of Benson and Stabler, while amping up that of Munch. Richard Belzer, in fact, serves as the heroic and/or comic touchstone of several episodes. There are also quite a few new characters to introduce: Tutuola eases out Jefferies; toward the end of the season, Dr. Huang replaces Dr. Skoda as the preeminent shrink; Warner ascends to the M.E. position; and Cabot becomes the ADA, as the series puts more emphasis on prosecutors. As of the second episode, no more four-through-the-door: After the teaser, viewers see a tableau of six in the squad room: Stabler, Benson, Cragen, Cabot, Tutoloa, and Munch. Tensions abound as personnel are reconfigured, but compatible relationships soon evolve. The writers begin to smooth many of the kinks that made the debut season somewhat uneven, finding a better balance of grit, pathos, and humor.
Ratings Recap for Season:
8.5 rating / 16 share / 11,944,000 viewers
EPISODE DESCRIPTIONS
Episode 23: Wrong is Right