| "Fault" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 7.19 | → |
| Production number: 07018 First aired: 4 April 2006 | ||
 | ||
| Written By Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters Directed By Paul McCrane | ||
Plot[]
A manhunt ensues when Victor Paul Gitano, a recently released sex offender, kidnaps two children after killing the rest of their family. Benson and Stabler pursue Gitano to a train station only to find their own relationship challenged. Olivia arrives to see Gitano holding the boy hostage with a knife but the gravity of the situation causes her to panic. Exploiting this, Gitano slashes Olivia's throat and runs away before she can react. Instead of pursuing his target, Elliot rushes to Olivia's aid only to find out that the injury isn't serious. This delay costs the child his life as Elliot finds out when he climbs the stairs and sees him lying in a puddle of blood.
Benson and Stabler are distraught with grief as they track Gitano to an abandoned warehouse using information from one of Munch's conspiracy theories. It ends in a hostage situation with Stabler as the hostage and Benson refusing to jeopardize his life by pulling the trigger. Ultimately a police sharpshooter kills Gitano while he's distracted and the little girl is found before her captor had time to cause her any physical harm. Elliot and Olivia confess to each other that they put their personal relationship ahead of their jobs. Benson requests a new partner when she hears what Stabler has to say about her being the only thing he has left.
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 (credit only)
- Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola
- B.D. Wong as Dr. George Huang
- Tamara Tunie as M.E. Melinda Warner
- Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen
Recurring cast[]
- Mike Doyle as C.S.U. Detective Ryan O'Halloran
- Joel de la Fuente as T.A.R.U. Technician Ruben Morales
- Donnetta Lavinia Grays as Officer Ramirez
- Joselin Reyes as Paramedic Martinez
Guest cast[]
- Lou Diamond Phillips as Victor Paul Gitano
- Rebecca Wisocky as Dr. Paula Greenfield
- Jeff Biehl as Jake
- Felecia M. Bell as Mrs. Oliver
- Matt Landers as Glen Portney
- Craig McEldowney as Calvin Portney
- Kevin R. Free as Western Union Agent
- Ray Garvey as Clerk
- David Coburn as Eddie Loomis
- Klea Blackhurst as Woman
- Whitney White as Patty
- Armistead Johnson as Tommy
- Robert Levine as Mr. Schwartz
- Jimmy Gushje as New Jersey State Trooper
- Wass Stevens as ESU #1
- Tristen Douglass as Rebecca Clifford
- Steven Hinkle as Ryan Clifford
- Jane Fergus as Newscaster
- Norman Schleiffer as Pedestrian (uncredited)
References[]
- Simon Clifford
- Lyla Clifford
- Amy Clifford
- Dr. Phil
Quotes[]
- Mrs. Oliver: [handing sketch to Olivia] The police said that I probably scared him off and he wouldn't try again. But I drew this just in case.
[responding to Olivia's look of surprise]
I'm the art teacher.
- Benson: [to Cragen back at precinct]: We should hire this woman. That's the best sketch I've ever seen.
- Dr. Paula Greenfield: Men like Gitano were the reason I left the prisons.
- Dr. George Huang: These kinds of sex offenders have the worst kind of pathology, because they make you believe that you can help them.
- Dr. Paula Greenfield: You can't help a sociopath. This whole debate about whether or not sex offenders can be cured... Can I cure you of needing oxygen?
- Huang: I used to treat sex offenders early in my career. But after awhile, it just wasn't enough to get a guy to admit his fantasies about his two-month-old daughter. So why do you think I try to catch them now?
- Benson: Is there something you want to say to me? Because if you do, then let's hear it.
- Stabler: Why didn't you shoot Gitano?
- Benson: He was using the child as a shield.
- Stabler: How could you let him get so close to you?
- Benson: There were innocent civilians around. I couldn't get a shot.
- Stabler: Well, you got close, and Ryan's dead.
- Benson: So this is my fault?
- Stabler: I can't do this anymore. I can't be looking over my shoulder making sure you're okay!
- Benson: You son-of-a-bitch, you know that's not true!
- Stabler: I need to know you can do your job and not wait for me to come to the rescue!
- Warner: When you find this monster, give him a special kick in the nuts for me, will you?
- Dr. Huang: You had to choose between saving the little boy or saving Olivia.
- Stabler: Yeah, but she didn't need me.
- Dr. Huang: You didn't know that.
[long pause] - Stabler: I wish I didn't...
- Dr. Huang: Didn't what? [pause] Didn't care so much? Elliot, that's what makes you a good partner.
- Stabler: She made me turn away.
- Dr. Huang: How? How did she make you do anything?
[long pause] - Stabler: She didn't. It was my choice. Nobody else was responsible for it but me. [pause] Thanks. [leaves the room]
- Stabler: If that sniper hadn't beaten you to it... I know you would have taken the shot, Olivia.
- Benson: No, I wouldn't have. Did you really expect me to? Did you really expect me to cause your death, Elliot? What about your kids?
- Stabler: I don't know. I just couldn't get that boy out of my head.
[both of them are silent for a moment] - Benson: What about me?
- Stabler: [to Olivia] You and this job are about the only things I've got anymore. I don't want to wreck that.
- Cragen: Olivia, what's up?
- Benson: I want a new partner.
- [about Elliot]
- Warner: Sometimes all that brooding intensity is just annoying.
Background information and notes[]
- The events of this episode, and the decision Elliot and Olivia make at the end, were written to let Mariska Hargitay out of the show for a period of time while she was on maternity leave.
- Goof: The title card for Sing Sing Prison locates it in "Ossing, New York." It should read "Ossining, New York."
- Tutuola advised Stabler that he was going to go up top to look for the children and Gitano, but there is no indication that Tutuola was involved in trying to stop Gitano or stop him from escaping, even though he should have been right there.
- On the computer screen, the rapist's name was Vincent Carl Gitano while the mug shot had the name Victor Paul Gitano.
- Stabler mentions that Benson and the job are all he has right now, alluding to his separation from his wife and kids which was revealed in the episode "Doubt".
- This episode was based on a "ripped from the headlines" case where Joseph Edward Duncan murdered Brenda Groene, her fiancé Mark McKenzie, her 13 year old son Slade Groene, and kidnapped her 9 year old son Dylan Groene and 8 year old daughter Shasta Groene. Duncan also later murdered Dylan. Shasta was recovered safely. Duncan, like Gitano, was a convicted sex offender.
Episode scene cards[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Sing Sing Prison |
Outdoor Adventures |
Office of |
J & R Industrial Site |
| Previous episode: "Venom" |
"Fault" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 7 |
Next episode: "Fat" |