| "October Surprise" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 15.06 | → |
| Production number: 15006 First aired (US): 23 October 2013 First aired (UK): 24 November 2013 First aired (CAN): 23 October 2013 First aired (AUS): 7 November 2013 | ||
 | ||
| Teleplay By Peter Blauner Story By Warren Leight & Peter Blauner Directed By Peter Werner | ||
Plot[]
When A.D.A. Barba's childhood friend, Eddie Garcia, is arrested for attempted rape, his connection to mayoral front-runner Alex Muñoz puts the campaign in jeopardy. However, when an undercover investigation uncovers further misconduct by Muñoz himself, Detective Amaro and the SVU team wonder if Barba can put aside personal feelings to prosecute the man he used to idolize.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson
- Danny Pino as Detective Nick Amaro
- Kelli Giddish as Detective Amanda Rollins
- Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola
- Raúl Esparza as A.D.A. Rafael Barba
- Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen (credit only)
Recurring Cast[]
- Josh Pais as Hank Abraham
- Leslie Odom, Jr. as Reverend Curtis Scott
- Jason Cerbone as Attorney Lorenzo Desappio
- Joel Brady as Officer Jimmy Nolan
- Kecia Lewis as Judge Constance Copeland
Guest Cast[]
- Vincent Laresca as State Senator Alex Muñoz
- Kirk Acevedo as Eddie Garcia
- Annaleigh Ashford as Lindsay Anderson
- Karen Olivo as Yelina Muñoz
- Lester Holt as Himself
- Liz Fye as Anna Pretard
- James Riordan as Brett Landau
- Erica Camarano as Female Uni
- Edward Furs as Vlad
- Grace Van Patten as Jodie Lanier
- Ron Kuby as Himself
- Errol Louis as Reporter #1
- Teresa Woods as Reporter #2
- Julio C. Peña as Aide #1
- Scott Eliasoph as Courtroom Gallery (uncredited)
References[]
- Lucia Barba
- Israel
- New York State Gaming Commission
- New York State Senate
- Swiftboating
- University of Michigan
- PleasureWithoutConscience.com
Quotes[]
- Brett Landau: She said she was interested in school issues.
- Tutuola: And you believed her?
- Brett Landau: I guess I was naive.
- Brett Landau: I thought she was at the perfect intersection of hot and crazy.
- Rollins: What went wrong?
- Brett Landau: I underestimated the crazy.
- Rollins: [about Lindsay] So far, four men have filed orders of protection against her for harassment and extortion plus two more O.O.P.S: one from her ex-mother-in-law, and the other's from an ex-shrink who kept getting texts demanding that he come back and "murder her vagina", whatever that means.
- Tutuola: Means she's a freak.
- Benson: Okay, so she lied to us, she's changed her story, she's gone back and forth about pressing charges. Maybe Barba's right. Eddie deserves the benefit of the doubt.
- Amaro: Unless we're asking the wrong questions.
- Tutuola: Here he goes.
- [after Munoz texts a picture of his penis to Rollins]
- Amaro: And this guy wants to be the next mayor of New York.
- Barba: I am not cutting Munoz a break just because he's my friend.
- Amaro: No, I get that. It's not about friendship. It's about you. You're afraid to go after Munoz because while he stayed in the hood, in el barrio and played man of the people, you went off to Harvard and pretended you were one of the gringuitos.
- Barba: I know where I come from.
- Amaro: Yeah, so does Munoz and he's playing you, mi socio, and making you feel like a sellout. Un arrepentido.
- Barba: Thank you so much for the bodega psychoanalysis, detective. Compay? No te equivoque conmigo.
- Amaro: Guys like Barba. Too smart for their own good.
- Rollins: I'm sure he said the same about you.
- Amaro: This clown could be mayor. He opened himself up to blackmail. Right, Eddie had cash. Where'd he get it from, huh? This could be just the tip of the iceberg.
- Rollins: I think we saw more than just the tip.
- Benson: You okay?
- Barba: It's politics. No danger of a traffic jam on the high road.
- Benson: Still, he was your friend.
- Barba: So was Yelina. She thinks this was personal, not professional.
- Benson: You had a job to do. You did it. That's all this was.
- Barba: Was it?
- Reverend Curtis Scott: Mr. Barba, a word.
- Barba: Reverend.
- Reverend Scott: Your office is destroying the reputation of a man who can turn this city around.
- Barba: Reverend, I am not directly involved with this case, but trust me when I say that this was not an easy decision. Alex Munoz is my oldest friend.
- Reverend Scott: Never mind all that. This city's poor have been ignored for the last 20 years. This is a candidate who can actually save our schools, rebuild our neighborhoods and you choose to sacrifice all of that because of a zipper problem?
- Barba: I'm sorry. It's out of my hands now.
Background information and notes[]
- Amaro mentions they are taking on this case after taking down a corrupt precinct, which happened in the episode "Internal Affairs".
- Actor Josh Pais had appeared in another episode with a cheating website, the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "Lonelyville". In that episode, he was the customer of the cheating website.
- This episode and the next, "Dissonant Voices", both have guest stars who were cast members of the original Broadway run of Kinky Boots: Annaleigh Ashford in this episode and Billy Porter in the next.
- The first title credits without Richard Belzer as he left the show/his character retired from SVU.
- This is the first episode Mariska Hargitay is credited as Sergeant Olivia Benson.
- Fin implies how he recognized Anna Pretard from a pornographic film she had starred in. He had mentioned watching porn with his lady in the episode "Smut".
- Alex Muñoz calls Amaro a corrupt NYPD due to his two IAB investigations. The investigation for prostitution was from claims against him by Carissa Gibson from the episode "Rhodium Nights" and the investigation occurs in the episodes "Lost Reputation" and "Above Suspicion".
- Error: When the detectives question the political campaigner about the suspect who fled to Tel Aviv, the Hebrew text on the John F. Kennedy poster on the wall ("Kennedy for President" in Hebrew) is written from the left to right. But the Hebrew language must be written from right to left.
Episode scene cards[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Apartment of |
Lennox-Landau |
Office of |
Apartment of |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
New York Gaming Commission |
Grant High School |
Five Boroughs |
Arraignment Court |
| Previous episode: "Wonderland Story" |
"October Surprise" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 15 |
Next episode: "Dissonant Voices" |