| "Secrets" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 2.12 | → |
| Production number: E1421 First aired: 2 February 2001 | ||
 | ||
| Teleplay By Robert F. Campbell & Jonathan Greene Story By Wendy West Directed By Arthur W. Forney | ||
The rape and murder of a teacher isn't what it seems, when her sexual history comes to light.
Summary[]
When dedicated schoolteacher Marnie Owens is found brutally murdered, it's first discovered that she lived a fairly simple life, but the case takes a twist when the detectives discover Marnie's secret sex life that may have been the reason for her murder.
Plot[]
Due to her in-home work with troubled teenagers, dedicated professor Marnie Owens is found brutally raped and murdered. The team tracks Ethan Chance, the last one she saw on that day. He in turn produces the startling revelation that she was sexually addicted, information which is corroborated by the victim's brother and psychiatrist. One of her ex-lovers reveals the location of a secret underground sex club. After the team arrests the club's patron, they discover that one of the customers, Philip Montrose, had an unusual relationship with Marnie and is recognized by Ethan as being at the crime scene. He confesses but claims the death was accidental. Although the team does not believe him, Montrose is convicted of manslaughter charges, a deal that disgusts both Benson and Stabler.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler
- Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson
- Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch
- Stephanie March as A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot
- Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola
- Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen
Recurring cast[]
- Tamara Tunie as M.E. Melinda Warner
- Joanna Merlin as Judge Lena Petrovsky
- Frank Deal as Defense Attorney Don Newvine
- Lou Carbonneau as C.S.U. Technician Harry Martin
- Deirdre Lovejoy as Officer Hernandez
Guest cast[]
- Suzzanne Douglass as Principal
- Dean Nolen as Philip Montrose
- Neko Parham as Ethan Chance
- Mark Pinter as Jordan Owens
- Saidah Arrika Ekulona as Mrs. Chance
- Tom Bloom as Dr. Bennett Alston
- Jeff McCarthy as Defense Attorney Matthews
- Daniel McDonald as Dr. Byron Marks
- Cynthia Vance as Hostess
- Harry S. Murphy as Brian Denker
- Omar Sharif Scroggins as Marcus Cole
- Robert Patrick Brink as Host
- Chevi Colton as Mrs. Cutler
- Lawrence Nathanson as Jimmy the Super
- Frduah Boateng as Kevin
- Clark Jackson as Safety Officer
- Sophina Brown as Mrs. Williams
- Francis Callahan as Sex Club Patron #1 (uncredited)
- Gordon G.G. Gebert as Sex Club Patron #2 (uncredited)
- Geri Rizzo as Sex Club Patron #3 (uncredited)
References[]
- Marnie Owens (murder victim)
- Ethan Hawke
- Dante's Inferno
Quotes[]
- Tutuola: Make me run on my bad knee.
- Marcus Cole: [about Ms. Owens] She wasn't gonna graduate me.
- Stabler: News flash: you gotta show up to class to graduate.
- [about Marnie Owens' computer]
- Hernandez: I mirrored her hard drive. The history in this thing reads like some bad porno flick.
- Jordan Owens: My mother died of cancer the year after I was born. Dear old Dad, when he wasn't at work was too drunk to care about anything else.
- Tutuola: He ever abuse Marnie?
- Jordan Owens: He never touched her, but he just couldn't keep his eyes off her chest and he just couldn't keep his mouth shut about how beautiful it was.
- Dr. Bennett Alston: It's called covert incest. You're a little girl. Dad watches you take baths, tells you dirty jokes. Mentions how great the sex was last night with some woman.
- Munch: Twisted way to teach the birds and bees.
- Dr. Alston: Then you hit puberty. Daddy dearest admires your shape, leaves porn magazines in your room, buys you sexy lingerie. Maybe takes you as his date to a business dinner or a cocktail party.
- Munch: And when little girl is all grown up, the only way she knows how to relate to men is through sex.
- Dr. Alston: You don't understand, Detective. These people don't enjoy sex. They're numb. They're gripped by some force they can't control.
- Tutuola: It's like somebody who drinks too much, snorts cocaine. Bets the house on the ponies.
- Dr. Alston: And those addictions are considered disorders, but when you have to have sex three times a day, you're considered a pervert. Sex addicts carry so much shame, they're always looking for redemption.
- Munch: Back in Baltimore, I come into the office one day. Everybody's staring at me like my fly's open. I say, "What's up?" They send me across the street to a gallery. One of my ex-girlfriends is showing her work. Centerpiece is a wall-sized print of yours truly from his free-love days au naturel.
- Tutuola: Serves you right for posing nude in the first place.
- Munch: [to Fin] You must have some innermost secret.
- Tutuola: I'm a Republican.
- Munch: Her name is Marnie Owens, though I suspect you people exchange fluids more often than names.
- Benson: Anybody who recognizes her raise the hand not holding up your clothes
- Benson: What'd you order?
- Philip Montrose: Oh, she ordered for us -- sex, with four other guys.
- Munch: We're talking about victimless crime.
- Tutuola: Unless you're Marnie Owens.
- Munch: Marnie Owens' problem wasn't that she had group sex. It was that she couldn't stop herself.
- Tutuola: We got 14 others here from Dante's. What's their excuse?
- Munch: You mean the fireman, the accountant, the director of human resources? All consenting adults, behind closed doors, nobody gets hurt? They don't need an excuse.
- Tutuola: That's easy for you to say, Mr. Letting-It-All-Hang-Out-At-Some-Art-Gallery.
- Cragen: All right, last time I checked, this was the Special Victims Unit, not the Sex Police.
- Tutuola: Check this out.
- Munch: Family photos?
- Tutuola: More like a stalker's scrapbook.
- [about Marnie Owens]
- Cabot: You followed her to school, you followed her home. You were jealous, angry, weren't you?
- Philip Montrose: I wasn't.
- Cabot: Because she was having sex with other men.
- Philip Montrose: You think I was jealous of that slut? You have to care about someone to be jealous. She was a whore.
- Cabot: Stick to the facts relevant to the case, Mr. Montrose.
- Philip Montrose: Those are the facts. She'd spread her legs for anybody, anywhere, any time. As many as she could. She'd pick up guys off the streets and bring them home. She liked it rough. She was asking for this to happen. God only knows who Marnie picked up on her way home from my place because she needed another fix.
- Cabot: She needed a fix? You stalked a woman in Connecticut, then you stalked Marnie Owens. Now she's dead. What about your fix, Mr. Montrose?
- Cragen: The law isn't always about justice.
- Cabot: Who let you in on our dirty little secret?
- Cragen: All the Marnie's who came before.
- Cragen: Don't beat yourself up. From where I'm sitting, you did everything right. And I'd be the first to tell you if you didn't.
- Cabot: They didn't go for Murder Two. It's Manslaughter One.
- Stabler: Grand Jury couldn't get past her sex life.
- Benson: The son of a bitch is gonna get away with murder.
- Cabot: No, they listened. They think Montrose is guilty, a jury will, too.
- Stabler: Not life.
- Cabot: Fifteen to twenty-five to sit around and think about what he's done? I'll take that.
Background information and notes[]
- This is actor Frank Deal's first appearance as Defense Attorney Don Newvine. He previously played an Assistant District Attorney, assigned to the Special Victims Unit.
- When Stabler and Benson arrive at Montrose's apartment to arrest him, a boom mic is visible in a mirror.
- Munch mentions the time a nude photo of him was featured at an ex-girlfriend's art exhibit in Baltimore. This happened in the Homicide: Life on the Street episode "Law And Disorder", which featured a crossover appearance from then Law & Order Detective Mike Logan.
- Comedian John Mulaney jokes about Fin's comment on addiction from this episode for his comedy special, New in Town.
Episode scene cards[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Douglas MacArthur |
Bellevue Hospital |
St. James Church |
Computer Crimes Unit |
Office of |
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Flings |
Douglas MacArthur |
Rikers Island |
Chambers of |
| Previous episode: "Abuse" |
"Secrets" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 2 |
Next episode: "Victims" |