Episode 90: Perfect
Original Air Date
:
May 9, 2003
Teleplay by Jonathan Greene and Robert F. Campbell, directed by Rick Wallace
Additional Cast:
Robert John Burke (IAB Sgt. Ed Tucker), Barbara Barrie (Paula Haggerty), Laura Harring (Joan Quentin), Gale Harold (Dr. Garrett Lang), Kimberly J. Brown (Jessica Morse), Adriane Lenox (Mrs. Tassler), Chuck Cooper (Tassler), Brian Reddy (Ross St. Clair), Karen Ludwig (Marcie Kinderski), Anna Kathryn Holbrook (Karen Morse), Russ Anderson (Roger Morse), Benim Foster (Det. Jim Jordan)
Reviewing the Case:
Cults are a lot of fun—not for the people suckered into them, of course, but such secretive organizations always provide great
SVU
fodder. Dr. Garrett Lang heads a group with messianic mumbo-jumbo about eternal life and perpetual youth. The detectives wonder if the death-by-dehydration of a runaway teenage girl can somehow be attributed to these true believers. A passel of other adolescents acting like Stepford Wives confirm that suspicion.
Episode 91: Soulless
Original Air Date: May 16, 2003
Teleplay by Dawn DeNoon and Lisa Marie Petersen, directed by Chad Lowe
Additional Cast:
Logan Marshall-Green (Mitch Wilkens), Ann Dowd (Sally Wilkens), Kieran Campion (Seth Wolfford III), Danny Hoch (Morris Brandenberg), Matthew Bennett (Stark), Brette Taylor (Mrs. Dutton), Mark Jacoby (Phillip Dutton), Siobhan Fallon (Linda Leggatt), Daniel Letterle (Andrew Kenworthy), Ashley Burritt (Vienna Sterling), Ashton Holmes (Davis Harrington), Amber McDonald (Jenna Sterling), Eisa Davis (Vera Galeano), Peyton List (Chloe Dutton), Mary Beth O’Connor (Andrea Forbes), Denise Wilbanks (Dora Stark), Nicholas Hagelin (Bernie Thorkle)
Reviewing the Case:
The guiltiest person in an array of guilty parties is sure to send chills up any viewer’s spine. Nobody even peripherally involved with a teen who has been gang-raped, then drowned in a toilet bowl comes away innocent. The girl’s friends and family are all despicable. But nabbing the worst of the worst proves to be elusive. Four young men under scrutiny keep blaming each other.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
The notion of an irredeemable sociopath rears its ugly head, a situation that thwarts the detectives.
Relevant Testimony:
“Stabler believes everybody has a conscience. Benson—who thinks there’s something dirty, ugly, and bad inside her, as a child of rape—doesn’t. Mariska was nervous about saying those lines because she does have that belief. I told her, ‘I’m sure you do but Olivia Benson does not.’”—Neal Baer, executive producer
SEASON FIVE
September 2003-May 2004
Regular Cast:
Christopher Meloni (Det. Elliot Stabler), Mariska Hargitay (Det. Olivia Benson), Richard Belzer (Det. John Munch), Ice-T (Det. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola), Dann Florek (Capt. Donald Cragen), Tamara Tunie (M.E. Melinda Warner); B.D. Wong (Dr. George Huang), Diane Neal (ADA Casey Novak)
Regular Recurring Cast:
Fred Dalton Thompson (DA Arthur Branch); Stephanie March (ADA Alexandra Cabot); Marlo Thomas (Ret. Judge Mary Conway Clark); Peter Hermann (Trevor Langan); Audrie Neenan (Judge Lois Preston); Daniel Sunjata (CSU Tech Burt Trevor); Mike Doyle (Forensics Tech Ryan O’Halloran); Tom O’Rourke (Judge Mark Seligman); Joanna Merlin (Judge Lena Petrovsky), Caren Browning (CSU Capt. Judith Siper)
SEASON FIVE OVERVIEW:
Opening with a fresh group shot in the squad room (Tutuola, Munch, Benson, Cragen, Stabler, Huang, and Cabot all gathered soberly around desks), the fifth season of
SVU
settles quickly into a comfortable, dependable framework in which episodes become more complex and ambitious, sometimes to their detriment. Certain episodes crackle, ensuring that the show more than warrants its emerging label as the best of the ever-expanding Law & Order franchise. Personal-life noise remains on low hum—Benson gets her own HIV scare this year—but when it comes to writing out Stephanie March’s Alexandra Cabot,
SVU
takes a unique, if melodramatic turn that leaves room for her to come back (which she does in upcoming seasons, and on the brief flight of 2006’s
Conviction
on NBC). But perhaps most importantly, this year marks the first in a series of lead-actress Emmy nominations for Mariska Hargitay, whose Benson is plagued with self-doubt and not a little loathing during a twenty-five-episode season. Thanks to Hargitay and two guest stars (Marlee Matlin and Mare Winningham, who also receive Emmy nominations), the show is being taken seriously at precisely the time it most warrants attention.
Ratings Recap for Season:
8.3 rating / 14 share / 12,059,000 viewers
EPISODE DESCRIPTIONS
Episode 92: Tragedy
Original air date: September 23, 2003
Teleplay by Amanda Green, directed by David Platt
Additional Cast:
Kellie Martin (Melinda Granville), Gabriel Olds (Daniel Lester), Marisa Ryan (Laura Bergeron), Clarke Thorell (Sam Marlett), Karen Goberman (Annika Bergeron), Shirley Knight (Rose Granville), Tonye Patano (Sally), Adrianne Frost (Marva Taylor), Lou Martini Jr. (Moe), David Conley (Mike O’Brien), Tony Freeman (Dr. Crespo)
Reviewing the Case:
Benson and Stabler race to find a pregnant woman who, for medical reasons, cannot give birth naturally before she goes into labor. At first they suspect a serial carjack-rapist, but quickly turn their suspicions homeward in a nail-biter of a season opener that more than justifies its title.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Stabler notes he once spent summers at Rockaway Beach, presumably as a child.
Episode 93: Manic
Original air date: September 30, 2003
Teleplay by Patrick Harbinson, directed by Guy Norman Bee
Additional Cast:
Mare Winningham (Sandra Blaine), Rory Culkin (Joe Blaine), John Cullum (Barry Moredock), Bill Cwikowski (George Waddell), Daniel Jenkins (Dr. Carl Medwin), Stephen Schnetzer (Dr. Engles), José Ramón Rosario (Hector Recincto), Eric LaRay Harvey (Randy Fowler), Patrick Dizney (Dean Reynolds), Sharon Wilkins (Janice Tashjian), Amy Hargreaves (Jane Wellesley), Daniel Bentley (Derek Fowler), Pilar Witherspoon (Julia Hynton)
Reviewing the Case:
A young boy takes the wrong medicine—with disastrous consequences—in this truly manic episode, which starts off with a school shooting and turns into an indictment of the drug industry’s marketing techniques. It’s almost too much information to absorb, but overall the casting is impeccable and the storyline compelling and fresh.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Mare Winningham receives an Emmy nomination for her role. Rory Culkin, brother of Macauley, earned plaudits in the 2002 movie
Igby Goes Down
.
Episode 94: Mother
Original air date: October 7, 2003
Teleplay by Lisa Marie Petersen and Dawn DeNoon, directed by Ted Kotcheff
Additional Cast:
Jill Marie Lawrence (Cleo Conrad), Jon Abrahams (Robert Logan), Sherri Parker Lee (Christina Logan), Marisol Nichols (Natina Amador), Jimmy Palumbo (Mr. Ralsey), Susanna Thompson (Dr. Greta Heints), P.J. Marshall (Bennie Edgar Ralsey), James Lurie (Kenneth Heints), Emily Loesser (Amy Carr), Patrick Husted (Dr. Sheldon), Michael Pemberton (Jay Pamowski), Barbara Sims (Dr. Natalie Baca), John Scherer (Reed Lynch), Naomi Peters (Keri Price), Neville Archambault (Bruce Horton)
Reviewing the Case:
“Psychiatrist with unorthodox methods” is a character description designed for disaster in an
SVU
episode. In “Mother,” a shrink regresses her rapist clients so they can have a clean parental slate—but then she’s beaten and raped and loses her memory. Between her amnesia regarding the event and a suspect’s history of fugue states, there’s a lot of forgetting going on in this twisted, twisty episode.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Speaking of amnesia, someone forgot that in
SVU
’s “Uncivilized” (season one) Cragen railed against the “situational ethics” of committing a sexual offender to a mental facility indefinitely; here, he suggests a suspect should undergo civil commitment after his sentence.
Episode 95: Loss
Original air date: October 14, 2003
Teleplay by Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters, directed by Constantine Makris
Additional Cast:
Mitch Pileggi (Jack Hammond), David Thornton (Lionel Granger), Charlayne Woodard (Sister Peg), Josh Hopkins (Tim Donovan), Jacinto Taras Riddick (Rafael Zapata Gaviria), Andre Royo (Felix Santos), Tibor Feldman (George Reilly), Mateo Gomez (Father Castrillon)
Reviewing the Case:
L&O
fans know there’s nothing nastier than a Colombian drug lord, but when an undercover NYPD officer is raped and killed, a crusading Cabot has to learn that lesson firsthand. Anyone who sets a toe in the case ends up targeted by the cartel and there’s a subtle but inevitable progression of disaster. But even when Cabot seems relieved of the case, there may still be a bullet with her name on it.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Stephanie March begins her slow phase out of the series, with an exit and re-entrance that drips with melodrama.
Relevant Testimony:
“Dick Wolf told us, ‘She can’t die.’ He always regretted killing off Jill Hennessy’s character (Claire Kincaid) on the Mother Ship. We knew the Colombian mafia blows up cars, so we called Neal (Baer) and asked, ‘Can we blow up a car?’ He said, ‘Sure.’”—Michele Fazekas
Episode 96: Serendipity
Original air date: October 21, 2003
Teleplay by Dawn DeNoon and Lisa Marie Petersen, directed by Constantine Makris
Additional Cast:
Jack Gilpin (Ron Wolcott), MaryLouise Burke (Marcy Cochran), Martin Donovan (Dr. Archibald Newlands), Alexander Tufel (Peter Nestler), Jolie Peters (Molly Stratton), Nick James Sullivan (Dr. Dean Kern), Paulina Gerzon (Alicia Hahn), Bonnie Rose (Carol Lucero), Olivia Crocicchia (Courtney Jones), Barbara Garrick (Kelly Wolcott)
Reviewing the Case:
A mother and her newborn turn up dead, and at first the one-night-stand baby daddy looks good for the crime . . . until he fails the paternity test. A silver lining from the test: He’s a pedophile! But has he pulled a fast one on the cops—and on eager new ADA Casey Novak, who has a lot to prove?
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Diane Neal steps in as former white collar crime ADA Novak, who earns the cops’ derision when she interferes. Additionally, a new group shot debuts that includes Novak in the opening title sequence.
Relevant Testimony:
“We must have talked (about creating the character of Casey Novak) but I don’t recall that discussion at all. She was going to be a kind of tomboy; she was on the ADA’s softball team. But all that sticks out now was that horrible hairdo they gave (Diane Neal). I thought, ‘Who hated her?’ That hair was a hazing for her.”—Dawn DeNoon
Episode 97: Coerced
Original air date: October 28, 2003
Teleplay by Jonathan Greene, directed by Jean de Segonzac
Additional Cast:
Beverly D’Angelo (Rebecca Balthus), Sheila Tousey (Judge Danielle Larson), James McCaffrey (Peter Forbes), Kate Hodge (Carolyn Forbes), Christina Kirk (Julia Walker), Joseph Siravo (Randall Haber), Nick Wyman (Michael Kelly), Marcus Neville (Ira Rosenman), Leland Orser (Kevin Walker), Adrian Martinez (Emilio Vasquez), Michael C. Fuchs (Eric Manning), Michael Danek (Steve Manning), Dylan Blustone (Adam Forbes), Spencer List (Tate Walker)
Reviewing the Case:
A mentally ill man named Kevin Walker kidnaps a boy, believing he’s his son. But after the child is recovered, Walker babbles about the murder of “Martha,” a clue that Novak insists Stabler chase down. One crime becomes another, revealing a new villain and a whole new nest of victims.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Novak visits the batting cage in her spare time.
Relevant Testimony:
“The question I wanted to talk about in this episode was how far do you go to save a life, because that’s what Stabler basically does—he tries to drive the guy off the deep end so Huang has to medicate him to get the answer about where this kid is. (Executive producer/showrunner) Neal Baer has a medical background, and he’s instilled in all of us this fascination with how the mind works, and the nexus of where the mind and the law cross.”—Jonathan Greene
Episode 98: Choice