Flaw (L&O)

"Flaw"
←	L&O, Episode 16.02	→
Production number: 16002 First aired: 28 September 2005
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Written By Chris Levinson Directed By Jean de Segonzac

Plot

When a business card belonging to Detective Olivia Benson is found on the body of a homicide victim who's never identified as either the victim or perpetrator of a sex crime, the Special Victims Unit is brought in to help investigate, and it is soon discovered that the killers were a mother-daughter team of con artists who had previously eluded Benson.

Cast

Main cast

• Dennis Farina as Detective Joe Fontana
• Jesse L. Martin as Detective Ed Green
• S. Epatha Merkerson as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren
• Sam Waterston as Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy
• Annie Parisse as A.D.A. Alexandra Borgia
• Fred Dalton Thompson as D.A. Arthur Branch

Recurring cast

• Ben Shenkman as Defense Attorney Nick Margolis
• Leslie Hendrix as M.E. Elizabeth Rodgers
• Ami Brabson as Judge Madeline Drake
• Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson

Guest cast

• Estella Warren as April Troost
• Daniel Eric Gold as David Glass
• Paul Hecht as Lorraine's Ex-Husband
• Lynda Carter as Lorraine Dillon
• Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola
• Chandler Parker as Eduardo Ramirez
• Milena Govich as Geneva
• Ean Sheehy as Arliss Driver
• Margot Steinberg as Radha Graves
• Tia Dionne Hodge as Amy
• Michelle Kittrell as Janet Orloff
• Peter Ganim as Tariq Farhat
• Dane Knell as Jim Bellows
• Eva Kaminsky as Flax
• Chazz Menendez as Agapitto
• Elliot Santiago as Jose
• Chris Fischer as Officer Cassidy
• Melanie Bean as Foreperson
• James Ecklund as Patrick Sullivan (uncredited)
• Jonathon Gentry as Manager (uncredited)
• Sonny Vellozzi as Lawyer (uncredited)

References

• Hotel Beaumont
• Special Victims Unit
• Walnut Ridge Nursing Home
• Glen Falls
• Vykarius

Quotes

Alexandra Borgia: You're on a medication cocktail?

Arliss Driver: Eight pills a day. I shared a needle with a friend. Now he's dead, and my white-cell count is in the basement. My life went from April to crap.

Jack McCoy (to Lorraine Dillon after April's performance on the stand): Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice ... no deal.

April Troost [to Olivia]: I don't know...I can be pretty convincing.

Olivia Benson: I was hoping you'd say that. (Door opens and Lorraine comes in.)

Lorraine Dillon: I told them about how you confessed to me about killing the baby, April.

April Troost: No.

Lorraine Dillon: How you called me up that night so worried and guilty and needing me.

April Troost: What'd you get for telling them?

Lorraine Dillon: 20 years.

Background information and notes

• This episode is the conclusion of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode, "Design", which aired September 27, 2005. In the episode, April Troost and Lorraine Dillon were running a scam involving stolen sperm.
• Milena Govich would later return to the series as Det. Nina Cassady.
• Fontana says 'begs the question', by which he means 'raises the question'. This is an incorrect (if increasingly common) use of the expression. To 'beg the question' refers to a circular argument in logic, specifically, an argument where one of the premises presupposes the accuracy of the conclusion.
• Considering Benson had no history with Patrick Sullivan, they never do a good job of explaining why his last action was calling her.
• Goof: It is very clear that David Glass is not "hanging" by the way the rope is draped down on his neck.

Episode scene cards