| "Nocturne" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 1.21 | → |
| Production number: E0922 First aired (US): 12 May 2000 First aired (CAN): 12 May 2000 First aired (AUS): 24 July 2000 | ||
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| Written By Wendy West Directed By Jean de Segonzac | ||
The detectives investigate a case in which a victim turns into an abuser.
Plot[]
A piano teacher, Lawrence Holt, gives free lessons to children, and video tapes himself molesting them. They find Evan, a previous victim of Lawrence and want him to testify. Lawrence is found guilty and sentenced to 115 years in prison. He will be eligible for parole in 38 years, but being 60 likely won't live that long. However, Evan has become a molester himself and while the police are willing to give him a break, the father of the victim threatens to go to the press and Evan accepts his punishment, afraid of being like his abuser.
Summary[]
Detectives Stabler and Benson answer to a call by a copy shop owner. The man shows them some photos of a kid in shorts, depicted in lascive poses, and with a whisky bottle, and says that the photos were left at his shop by a man shortly before. They presume they have to deal with a child abuser. In that very moment, Lawrence Holt, the client, enters the shop. Stabler and Benson arrest him. Although Cragen notes some inaccuracies in Stabler and Benson's conduct (the photos cannot be considered concrete proofs of child abuse), he urges Stabler and Benson to check Holt's place, as the lawyer insists to have access to it.
The two go to Holt's place, and find out that he owns a whole building in a poor neighborhood; Benson also notices that Holt lives right in front of an elementary school. They meet the kid depicted in the photos, who was going to Holt's place to take piano lessons.
Jonathan, the kid, is interviewed. He says that Holt is a good teacher, but also admits to have found several photos of naked kids in his books. The SVU obtain a mandate and enters Holt's apartment: they find a VHS in the TV, containing Holt abusing a child, and tens of other tapes.
The next day, Judge Kevin Beck opens the trial in the courtroom; Holt is accused of encouraging minors to assume alcohol, sexual intercourses with minors, and of having encouraged minors to obscene exhibitions. A.D.A. Mark Hickey adds that according to the last counting of the videotapes, the police has found nearly 160 different VHS. The total sum is 47 allegations of sexual crimes against minors. Despite Oslow's (Holst's defendant) arguments, Hon. Beck confirms Holt's arrest.
While watching the tapes, Stabler notes that one particular student of Holt appears on tapes spanning over thirteen years, proving that Holt has abused him for over a decade. Cragen urges the SVU to find him, so that Holt can be incriminated for child abuse. The squad comes back at Holst's neighborhood, to talk to people and find the kid. They understand that people knew of Holt's abuses, but chose to do nothing, partly because of their disbelief in police, and partly because the neighborhood is poor and they have other problems to deal with. Also, it turns out that Holt is a good teacher and talent scout, and that he has discovered several piano talents. Following piano music coming from Holt's place, they find Evan, the kid they were looking for, playing Holt's piano.
Evan is competing for a Juilliard scholarship, and praises Holt's role in his training as a pianist in the interview, but denies having had sex yet, which technically excludes Holt's incrimination for child abuse. This is problematic, because the possession and encouragement to child pornography would not be enough. Against Stabler's opinion, Cpt. Cragen and A.D.A. Hickey show the tapes to Evan, who was unaware of having been filmed. Evan is shocked by the tapes.
At Evan's place, Stabler and Benson meet Evan's single mother, a heavy smoker who shows little interest in Evan's talent. The audition at the Juilliard didn't go well, but he agrees to identificate some of Holt's students: Cesar, who's now serving time in prison for shooting a man he was robbing; Ricky, who's now a drug addict; and Tony, who's never been heard of again. There is also a legal problem: the SVU cannot use Holt's abuses on Evan, if not for what happened between Evan's 16th and 17th year. The law on expiration of child abuse had changed in 1996, and is not retroactive. This means that everything happened to Evan before the boy's 16th birthday, isn't admitted as proof, because it had happened more than five years before (Evan is now 21); and everything happened after Evan's 17th birthday, is consensual. They try to talk to Holt's former students, but Ricky, the drug addict (now homeless), refuses to speak because he doesn't want to betray his old mentor (even if Ricky does not play anymore); Rey Guzimano, another former student of Holt, who's now a world class soloist, refuses to testify, just like Larry Holt, Jr. (Holt's son). At the station, Munch regrets having joined the SVU and remembers his days in the homicide squad in Baltimore, telling Craven that, at least, dead bodies wouldn't hunt his dreams.
Evan is kicked out of the house by his own mother, when he tries to open with her. He calls detective Stabler and agrees to testify; also, Evan externs some doubts about his own sexuality (he thinks to be homosexual, as he's never had a girlfriend). Evan meets A.D.A. Hickey, and tries the trial. After that, Munch questions Stabler about the latter's opinions on Holt's behavior, then shows Stabler a videotape recording Evan abusing Jonathan in Holt's apartment. Stabler, Munch and Cragen interview Evan, who admits the abuse. Stabler and Craven confront on Evan's behavior: Stabler believes that Evan should be convicted for his abuse, no matter what, while Cragen offers a plea.
Evan is under Stabler's custody for the night, until Holt's trial, which is scheduled the next day. Evan testifies, and confirms Holt's abuses. In the sentencing hearing before the Supreme Court, Holt does not show any remorse, nor does anything to explain his actions. Thus, Judge Pamela Mizener inflicts the maximum sentence, 115 years (which implies that Holt will die in prison, as he cannot ask for freedom on parole if not after 38 years and he's already nearly 60 years old). Holt is seen smiling to Evan, as he's taken away by police.
Jonathan's father insists on trying Evan, against Stabler's and Craven's suggestion for probation and therapy. The man refuses any plea and menaces to alert the press. Evan accepts to face the trial, which will likely lead to the maximum sentence (3 years), because he doesn't want to became a new Lawrence Holt.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler
- Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson
- Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch
- Michelle Hurd as Detective Monique Jeffries
- Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen
Recurring cast[]
- Isabel Gillies as Kathy Stabler
- Patricia Cook as Elizabeth Stabler
- Jeffrey Scaperrotta as Dickie Stabler
- Peter Francis James as Judge Kevin Beck
- John Benjamin Hickey as A.D.A. Mark Hickey
Guest cast[]
- Wilson Jermaine Heredia as Evan
- Carole Shelley as Judge Pamela Mizener
- Kent Broadhurst as Lawrence Holt
- Marc John Jefferies as Jonathan
- Alex Draper as Larry Holt, Jr.
- Nancy Ticotin as Evan's Mother
- Tibor Feldman as Defense Attorney Oslow
- Dennis Paladino as Video Store Owner
- Joseph Edward as Jonathan's Father
- Tanya Alexander as Single Mom
- Julian Caiazzo as Evan, age 8
- Greg Esposito as Ricky
- Brian Guzman as Taylor Campbell
- Robert Jason Jackson as Grocer
- Bruce Birns as P.D. Lawyer
- Steven Lee Merkel as Clerk
- Anton Nadler as Evan, age 15
- Jerry D. O'Donnell as Officer Tulia
- Barbara Tirrell as Judge Rothman
- Ray Wineteer as Victim's Neighbor (uncredited)
- Unknown actor as Rey Guzimano
References[]
- Baltimore
- Elton John
- JonBenét Ramsey
- 'Twas The Night Before Christmas
- Judge Joseph Wapner from The People's Court
- The Entertainer
Quotes[]
- Benson: I bet I know what you're thinking.
- Stabler: Bet you don't.
- Benson: Even the best parents can't protect their children.
- Stabler: Gutter at home. Part of it is broken. I need to fix it.
- Benson: Well you can't do everything.
- Stabler: You'd feel everything for them if you could. All the pain.
- Benson: Sometimes I just look at the kids and I think 'Why? Why do it at all?
- Stabler: Because you want to more than anything in the world. 'Cause you want to love them every day.
- Elizabeth Stabler: Yeah, why doesn't Christmas come all the time?
- Elliot Stabler: Because Santa's credit cards are all maxed out. That's why.
- Evan: I don't know what made Holt the way he is. But I do know why I am the way I am. And it stops here. Now.
- Stabler: That's enough Warner.
- Mark Hickey: Isn't math wonderful?
Background information and notes[]
- The featurette on the DVD of the first season indicates that this episode is based on true events. A Brooklyn SVU detective found a piano teacher who offered free lessons to underprivileged children. He videotaped himself molesting his students.
- Munch talks to Craven about his time as a detective in Baltimore, and Craven says that Munch was kicked out from the homicides unit; this refers to the character's role in the show Homicide: Life on the Street.
- The scene of Cragen talking to Munch is used in the season 14 episode "Manhattan Vigil" with the TV picture digitally changed from static to a Jenna Wolfe news report about the disappearance of Hector Rodriguez.
- A nocturne is an original word for a musical composition, particularly classical or orchestral, that refers to or is inspired by the night.
- Goof: When Munch finds the secret camera room next to the practice room the one-way window for the camera is aimed at the right side of the piano. When the squad is viewing the videotape, though, the angle is showing the left side of the piano.
Episode scene cards[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Residence of |
Residence of |
Pauly's Diner |
Starland Hotel |
Supreme Court |
| Previous episode: "Remorse" |
"Nocturne" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 1 |
Next episode: "Slaves" |