| "Fault" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 7.19 | → |
| Production number: 07018 First aired: 4 April 2006 | ||
 | ||
| Written By Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters Directed By Paul McCrane | ||
Summary[]
A manhunt ensues when Victor Paul Gitano, a recently released sex offender who is known as a sadist, kidnaps two children, Rebecca and Ryan Clifford, after killing their mother, and their stepfather, and raping and killing their older sister. Benson and Stabler pursue Gitano, only to find their partnership challenged as they both experience opportunities where they put their personal friendship ahead of their job.
Plot[]
A manhunt ensues when Victor Paul Gitano, a recently released sex offender who is known as a sadist, kidnaps two children, Rebecca and Ryan Clifford, after killing their mother, and their stepfather, and raping and killing their older sister.
Gitano was arrested in 1987 after raping and torturing a 12-year-old boy for eight hours -- Gitano burned him with cigarettes, cut him with a knife, and sodomized him. The boy was so terrified by Gitano's cruelty that he became agoraphobic, unable to go outside, out of fear of being abused again. Gitano served 18 years in prison.
Dr. George Huang meets with Gitano's correctional therapist, Dr. Paula Greenfield, who provides hours of tape indicating Gitano's pattern of unapologetic lying and violent sexual abuse. Gitano had claimed to have raped dozens and boys and girls during his teenage years. Paula deemed him too manipulative and narcissistic to ever really change. She also noted that Gitano was a pathological liar and told many conflicting stories about his life. He made no effort to stop his behavior and expressed desires to continue abusing victims. Despite Greenfield's reports, Gitano did not fit the criteria for civil commitment, and he was released after finishing his sentence. Soon afterward, he was arrested for molesting a 9-year-old girl, but he managed to jump bail and travel to New York, where he kidnapped Rebecca and Ryan.
Benson and Stabler pursue Gitano, only to find their partnership challenged as they both experience opportunities where they put their personal friendship ahead of their job. Going on a tip from a bank employee who encountered Gitano and the kids, the SVU sets up a sting operation in a busy bus terminal. Recognizing the police presence, Gitano flips out and leaves a cut on Benson's neck before fleeing into the crowd.
Stabler spots Ryan alone and scared just a few feet away, but instead of pursuing Gitano, Stabler races to Benson's aid. That delay in pursuing Gitano costs Ryan his life, as Gitano fatally stabs Ryan. Stabler climbs the stairs, and finds Ryan's body in a puddle of blood. Benson and Stabler are distraught with grief. Gitano flees with Rebecca, and Benson's injuries turn out to be minor, leaving Stabler second-guessing his instincts and his relationship with Benson. Angry more at himself than anything, Stabler lashes out at Benson, but Cragen's threat of suspension steers them both straight.
The SVU picks up Gitano's trail with the help of a cell phone GPS detector, and, using information from one of Munch's conspiracy theories, they track Gitano to an abandoned military installation in New Jersey. After the detectives arrive, Gitano comes from out of nowhere to hold Stabler hostage with a shotgun. Benson attempts to convince Gitano to let Stabler go; Gitano refuses, claiming that he killed Rebecca, while Stabler, traumatized by his failure to save Ryan, yells at Benson to shoot Gitano. Gitano recognizes Benson and Stabler from the bus station, and he taunts them about Ryan's murder.
Defying Stabler's orders to shoot, as she doesn't want to jeopardize his life by pulling the trigger, Benson tries to pry out info about Rebecca. As Stabler and Benson realize that Gitano, a pathological liar, will never tell them where Rebecca actually is, he overhears additional officers entering the base, panics, and threatens Stabler and Benson's lives to get them to back off. Then, in an act of desperation, he tries to bargain with Rebecca's life, now claiming that she's still alive. Benson signals to a police sharpshooter, who fires a shot that kills Gitano, saving Stabler's life. The shot elicits a faint cry from Rebecca, which the SVU follows, and they find Rebecca alive in a nearby crate. At the hospital, Rebecca is told that her father will be coming to pick her up.
Stabler and Benson's close ties to each other are clearly hurting their effectiveness as partners. Benson and Stabler confess to each other that they both put their personal relationship ahead of their jobs. Benson requests for a new partner when she hears what Stabler has to say about her being the only thing he has left, since his wife left him and took the kids some time ago.
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
- Jim Gushue 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" |