| "Alien" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 7.11 | → |
| Production number: 07002 First aired: 6 December 2005 | ||
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| Written By Jose Molina Directed By Constantine Makris | ||
What initially starts as an investigation into the stabbing of a young schoolboy leads to concerns for the welfare of the daughter of a lesbian couple and a custody battle for the little girl.
Plot
A car races to a hospital and dumps the body of schoolboy Sean Hamill at the entrance before speeding off. Sean is found to have a severe stab wound and this and other injuries results in him being paralyzed from the waist down. Inquiries lead the detectives to Charlie Monaghan, another boy who has previously gotten into trouble with Sean, but it isn't long before their attention turns to Charlie's half-sister Emma Boyd. It turns out that Sean has been tormenting the little girl for months because she has two lesbian mothers. They both attend a Catholic school where homosexuality is frowned upon. When Sean cut Emma's ponytail off with a pair of scissors, she snapped and stabbed him with another pair. Charlie took Sean to the hospital in the principal's car, without the principal's permission, and took the rap on himself by lying to the police in order to protect Emma. The case against Emma for stabbing Sean is later dropped when evidence taken from the school's social networking site backs up the claims that Sean has been bullying her.
After getting a nice deal for Emma's side, Benson and Stabler are thrown for a loop when Emma's mother, Kate Boyd, dies unexpectedly. Kate's parents accuse her partner, Zoe Dunlop, who has never legally adopted Emma, of sexually molesting their granddaughter, and evidence seems to support their claims. However, after sitting in on Benson's interview of of the "victim", Huang disagrees, concluding that the "molestation" described by Emma was a legitimate medical procedure, which her grandparents had manipulated her into believing were something sinister. It's eventually revealed that the grandparents' lawyer was responsible for this as he secretly desired to prove that it is not healthy for kids to be brought up in a gay environment. Upon realizing their mistake, the grandparents agree to testify against their lawyer and apologize to Zoe for hurting her. Zoe, who retains custody of Emma, refuses to forgive and forget and announces that she will be denying them access to Emma.
Summary
Episode summary
Cast
Main cast
- Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler
- Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson
- Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch
- Diane Neal as A.D.A. Casey Novak
- Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola
- B.D. Wong as Dr. George Huang
- Tamara Tunie as Dr. Melinda Warner (credit only)
- Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen
Recurring cast
- Ned Eisenberg as Attorney Roger Kressler
- Paula Garcés as CSU Technician Millie Vizcarrondo
- Patricia Kalember as Judge Karen Taten
- Stephen Henderson as Judge Bernard
- Stephen Gregory as Dr. Kyle Beresford
Guest cast
- Amy Pietz as Zoe Dunlop
- Raquel Castro as Emma Boyd
- Daniel Jenkins as Father Justin Miller
- Stephen Bogardus as Attorney James Decker
- Dorothy Lyman as Principal Parker
- Todd Gearhart as A.D.A. Garrett Gillespie
- Edmund Genest as Oliver Boyd
- Adam LeFevre as Ray Monaghan
- Sasha Neulinger as Charlie Monaghan
- Mary Beth Peil as Deborah Boyd
- Jack Koenig as Edgar Hamill
- Heather Fairfield as Lenore Hamill
- Daniel Manche as Sean Hamill
- Sarah Knapp as Kate Boyd
- Dallas Snoderly as Adam
- Violet O'Neill as Helena
- Sage Doviak as First Grader
- Rob Puterman as Doctor
References
Lupus, Parental Alienation Syndrome; St. Victor's Academy; American Sociological Association; National Association of Social Workers; American Psychological Association
Quotes
- Elliot Stabler: You don't send your kids to military school if you're a pacifist.
- Mr. Hamill [to the detectives after he discovers that Emma Boyd stabbed his son, Sean]: I don't care if he called her a fag-dyke-whore-bitch from Hell. Arrest her.
- Millie Vizcarrondo: Found these scissors in the school dumpster.
- Fin: She means I found them, underneath the tuna casserole. All she did was stand there and point.
- Olivia Benson: You filled Emma's head with lies to keep her away from her mother...
- Deborah Boyd: Her mother is dead...Zoe is ruining my granddaughter's life - it's our moral duty to protect her!
- Elliot Stabler: Try following the Eighth Commandment: "Thou shalt not bear false witness."
Background information and notes
The first part of the episode addresses how after constant bullying, people will eventually snap.
Episode scene cards
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Apartment of |
St. Victor's |
Clinton Hospital |
Home of |
Apartment of |
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Family Court |
Family Court |
Apartment of |
Trial Part 83 |
| Previous episode: "Storm" |
"Alien" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 7 |
Next episode: "Infected" |