| "A Misunderstanding" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 17.12 | → |
| Production number: 17012 First aired (US): 20 January 2016 First aired (UK): 28 February 2016 First aired (CAN): 20 January 2016 First aired (AUS): 28 April 2016 | ||
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| Written By Céline C. Robinson Directed By Mariska Hargitay | ||
Summary[]
A murky he-said, she-said date rape case ruins the futures of two high school students.
Plot[]
Episode plot
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Mariska Hargitay as Lieutenant Olivia Benson
- Kelli Giddish as Detective Amanda Rollins
- Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola
- Peter Scanavino as Detective Dominick Carisi, Jr.
- Raúl Esparza as A.D.A. Rafael Barba
Recurring Cast[]
- Andy Karl as Sergeant Mike Dodds
- Elizabeth Marvel as Attorney Rita Calhoun
- Delaney Williams as Attorney John Buchanan
- Aida Turturro as Judge Felicia Catano
- Bill Irwin as Dr. Peter Lindstrom
- Sonia Manzano as Judge Gloria Pepitone
- Lauren Noble as Carmen
Guest Cast[]
- Charlie Ray as Abby Stewart
- Sean Grandillo as Chris Roberts
- Pamela J. Gray as Laura Stewart
- Jonathan Walker as Andrew Stewart
- Olivia Birkelund as Ellen Roberts
- John Hickok as Dennis Roberts
- Daniel Covin as Will Moore
- Zak Steiner as Jack Peters
- Cathryn Dylan as Daniella
- Les J.N. Mau as Teacher
- Dan Murphy as Jury Foreperson
References[]
Quotes[]
- Rita Calhoun: I'm representing a 15-year-old freshman at the Dowland School.
- Benson: Fifteen. What's he been accused of?
- Rita Calhoun: No. Her name's Abby Stewart. She's the victim.
- Benson: Working as an advocate? What is this, penance for representing a serial killer?
- Rita Calhoun: You're still holding that against me.
- Benson: Yes.
- Benson: [to Dodds about Chris Roberts] So what's your take on the boy?
- Dodds: He's privileged, but not arrogant. No record, straight A's, waiting on an early decision from Stanford. He seems genuinely surprised by the allegation.
- Benson: Okay, so it sounds like a teenage he said/she said.
- Dodds: It's more like her-parents-say/his-parents-say. Chris's mom, he's her only son, the golden boy.
- Carisi: And the father of a teenage virginal daughter? Like my dad with my sisters. If a guy so much as looked at one of them, it's rape.
- Barba: Oh, so you take money from both sides? Don't ever change.
- Carisi: And Buchanan's here.
- Barba: Well, now it's a party.
- Rita Calhoun: [to Buchanan] I'm here representing the Stewarts.
- John Buchanan: Victim advocacy. That can't pay well.
- Rita Calhoun: It's pro bono. [looking at Buchanan's figure] Not all of us have to worry about our next meal.
- Barba: Getting personal. That's promising.
- Daniella: Everyone knows the darkroom is where you have sex. Once you go down there, you can't change your mind.
- Carisi: Actually, you can, Daniella, at any time.
- [about the Cherry Pickers Club' list]
- Carisi: Oh, counselor, you're not gonna use this list though, are you?
- Barba: It goes to motive.
- Carisi: Yeah, but it also outs a lot of teenagers. I mean, the guys, whatever. Who cares about them?
- Benson: But these girls, they don't want this list going public.
- Dodds: Come on, like they haven't posted darkroom selfies on their Facebook pages already? We're dealing with hormone-flooded teenagers. I know things are grey here, but this is 50 shades of it.
- [Olivia & Dobbs see Chris's appearance]
- Dodds: They made Chris look like Harry Potter.
- Benson: We've seen this before. The nerd defense.
- John Buchanan: If I understood you just now, it's because the assailant is naive or shy that she waited four days to disclose?
- Benson: No, that's not what I said. I said it's not unusual at all for any victim to wait to disclose. Victims often need time to process what happened to them before approaching police.
- John Buchanan: You mean before approaching you. She went to her local precinct first, and they chose not to pursue an investigation.
- Benson: Because local precincts aren't properly trained in sexual assault. That's why the NYPD created the Special Victims Unit in the first place.
- [when Olivia & Calhoun are in the bathroom with Abby]
- Calhoun: We said no makeup. Remember, Abby?
- Abby Stewart: But I'll look like a little girl.
- Calhoun: They're making him look like a saint. You can't look like a sinner.
- Benson: [Mrs. Roberts walks into the bathroom] Mrs. Roberts, would you give us a minute?
- Ellen Roberts: [walks over to the bathroom sink] I'm just washing my hands. Abby, did they tell you that Stanford requested Chris withdraw his application?
- Calhoun: This isn't the time.
- Ellen Roberts: [grabs Abby] Do you understand that you're ruining my son's life?
- Benson: Hey, you need to stop talking.
- Ellen Roberts: A woman cop like you, you always take the girl's side, don't you?
- Benson: That's not what's happening here.
- Ellen Roberts: Yeah, well, I've seen it. The sweet little girl becomes the victim and then the boy is made out to be a brute and do you know why that is? [yells in Abby's face] Because teenage girls are better liars!
- Benson: You know, no matter what the jury decides, you did your job.
- Barba: Did I? It was always a murky case.
- Benson: Exactly the kind that we need to be fighting. The world is changing. We need new rules.
- Barba: Rules of sexual engagement for teenagers?
- Benson: Yes. California just passed affirmative consent.
- Barba: We'll see how that goes.
- Benson: Well, something needs to change. The problem is is that teenage boys even in college don't know what behavior might constitute rape. We need to make the lines clearer.
Background information and Notes[]
- Loosely based on the Owen Labrie case in New Hampshire.
- Based on the The "Senior Salute" rape case in St. Paul.
- Benson is talking to her therapist, Dr. Peter Lindstrom, about her experiences being held hostage along with what happened to the family she was held hostage with, which happened in the previous episode, "Townhouse Incident".
- Attorney John Buchanan mentions the time he and Attorney Rita Calhoun worked together for a client, which happened for Carl Rudnick in the episode "Criminal Pathology".
- Error: When the judge was reading off the charges both for arraignment and the verdict she failed to specify which degree of attempted rape the defendant was being charged with; there is attempted rape in the third degree (a class A misdemeanor), attempted rape in the second degree (a class E felony) or attempted rape in the first degree (a class C felony). Considering the uncertain facts of the case both rape in the third and rape in the first degree could apply.
She also says that he is being charged with sexual misconduct in the first degree, but sexual misconduct only has one degree of severity, being a class A misdemeanor.
Episode scene cards[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|
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Apartment of |
Supreme Court |
Supreme Court |
| Previous episode: "Townhouse Incident" |
"A Misunderstanding" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 17 |
Next episode: "Forty-One Witnesses" |