| "Dear Ben" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 20.12 | → |
| Production number: 20012 First aired: 17 January 2019 | ||
 | ||
| Written By Julie Martin & Matt Klypka Directed By Jean de Segonzac | ||
Summary
A serial rapist strikes again after two decades of silence and the Special Victims Unit is determined to uncover the elusive criminal and bring justice to his many victims. Stone discovers that his father worked on the case before it went cold.
Plot
Stone and Benson talk with him noting that he is feeling how his father felt with this case. Carisi comes in and revealed that he had no luck running the DNA through the system so he thought out of the box and ran it through a genealogy search on the Internet where he got a hit stating that the Infinity rapist has family in the city: a female relative. Hearing this, Benson and Stone tell him to roll with this.
Carisi and Fin find the female relative Amy Gardner and she says she has an uncle Edgar Noone who is around the same age as the rapist but she denies her uncle would ever do anything like that describing him as a sweet man. Fin goes to track the suspect while Carisi makes sure Amy does not try anything to notify her Uncle.
Noone was found by the detectives and Stone who arrest him. When Noone recognizes Stone as the son of Benjamin, the latter grows tense. After notification of arrest, Carisi tells Amy of this and she says she’s going to get her uncle a lawyer. At the precinct, Carisi revealed that he processed a DNA sample obtained from a stamp used by Noone in one of his letters and matched it. The squad also note that Noone worked as a cable installer in the past which most likely gave him access to the houses of the victims he raped.
In court, Noone is represented by Roger Kressler had the evidence deemed unable to hold up in court, leading to Noone's quick release. As he leaves out the room, Noone taunts Stone on not being as good as his father was.
Carisi meets with Amy at the precinct and she reveals that she could not believe that her uncle would do such a thing but after a while of thinking that she finally put it together. She reveals in her childhood that her uncle Edgar had come to stay with the family for a while and some nights he would have screaming episodes, as she reveals that he and her mother had abusive parents and believes that her grandfather raped her grandmother and forced Edgar and his sister to listen to it.
Carisi relays this to Stone, the latter is shocked his father was tortured by a man that was tortured by his own father. Stone is confident that they have Edgar right where they want him now.
Edgar is arrested for having several unpaid parking tickets. Stone and Benson go into the interrogation room and show Edgar the letters Benjamin Stone received from Infinity. Edgar is surprised that Benjamin kept the letters all this time, while Peter states his father was obsessed with Infinity. However Peter states that the Infinity rapist had no idea that his father did not play golf he also reveals that his father only cared about the victims and wanted to stop the rapist. Edgar is driven to implicate himself by Peter and Lieutenant Benson, both of whom make Noone realize Benjamin never really cared about him. Edgar reveals that he would watch Ben work every night from his office even stalking him to the parking lot, stating that all Ben cared about was him. Because of this confession Edgar is arrested while Benson tells Peter his father would be proud.
Cast
Main cast
- Mariska Hargitay as Lieutenant Olivia Benson
- Kelli Giddish as Detective Amanda Rollins
- Ice-T as Sergeant Odafin Tutuola
- Peter Scanavino as Detective Dominick Carisi, Jr.
- Philip Winchester as A.D.A. Peter Stone
Recurring cast
- Ryan Buggle as Noah Porter-Benson
- Ned Eisenberg as Attorney Roger Kressler
- Michael Mastro as Judge D. Serani
- Steve Rosen as Attorney Michael Guthrie
- Barbara Miluski as Judge Lisa Peck
- Sarah Ellen Stephens as Officer Selena Gaines
- Lauren Noble as Carmen
- Dewey Wynn as CSU Tech
Guest cast
- John Raymond Barker as Karl Patton
- Jude Ciccolella as Edgar Noone
- Eden Malyn as April Baker
- Rebecca Creskoff as Claire Newbury
- Jake O'Connor as Gavin Baker
- Elizabeth Stahlmann as Amy Gardner
- Carol Ann Bell as Mae Patton
- Steven Marcus as Mike Vernon
- Sinem Nejla Gulturk as Teresa Graf
- Mark DeMayo as George
References
- Benjamin Stone
- Pamela Stone
- Johnny Drake
- Zodiac Killer
- Son of Sam
- The Golden State Killer- Carisi mentions the Golden State killer, comparing what the police did in that case to what he did in this episode
- Katz v. United States - case mentioned by Kressler
Quotes
quotes
Background Information and Notes
- The Infinity Rapist had not struck since January 2, 1994. Coincidentally, later in 1994, Benjamin Stone, the attorney Infinity had been so obsessed with, leaves the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. (L&O: "Old Friends")
- A deleted scene has Rollins and Carisi discussing the case over video conference and her mentioning what it's like living with Dr. Al Pollack. Amy then comes to the precinct and asks Carisi if she could buy him a coffee.[1]
- Another episode that deals with an imposter taking over the identity of a long time infamous serial rapist is the episode "Scavenger".
- Another episode in the Law & Order franchise that centers on a serial killer found by familial DNA match is the Law & Order: LA episode "Ballona Creek".
- This marks the final appearance of Roger Kressler, due to the death of his actor.
Episode scene cards
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Office of |
Patton Residence |
Apartment of |
Arterial Curiosity Shop |
| 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|
|
Apartment of |
Home of |
Motions Court |
Footnotes
| Previous episode: "Plastic" |
"Dear Ben" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 20 |
Next episode: "A Story of More Woe" |
