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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 1 Episode 2

A Single Life

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8.8

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 9/27/99

When the body of Gretchen Quinn is found wearing only a red slip after having gone through an upper-story window, Benson and Stabler soon find out that 'Gretchen Quinn' has never existed. While trying to piece together her life, the detectives are led to Gretchen's psychiatrist and a well-known television newscaster, both of whom were sleeping with her, and through an overdue library book finally trace Gretchen back to a young woman who changed her name and identity after graduating high school to get away from her sexually abusive father. Cragen and Benson find it easy to identify with the young woman, as they both have ghosts of their own from which they must escape. Detectives manage to contact the victim's sister, who experienced the same trauma growing up.moreless

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (12)

this was a good ep

9.0

By cube2k8, Jul 13, 2010

in this ep of the show law and order they were called to the scene after a women was found barly coverd and they found her on car. and they found out that she had been thrown it looked like. and so they did some investgating but could not come up with anything so far and they found out that she had a shrink and that he was treating her and with help from him they found out her real name and that she had a sister. the sister came to pick up the body but thing was she did not stay long and they found out later that he shrink and the tv anocorman were sleeping with her. and that she was mosleted by her father. and with the help of the sister they found that she killed her own selfmoreless
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Another great episode.

10

By farscapefanuk, Aug 11, 2007

In this episode a women is found dead. It appears that she was either thrown or jumped from here appartment window. The team originally think it is murder. But after closer inspection we find out that she was abused all through her childhood by her father. And she could never get over it so she jumped.But the team learn that she was a real slut in the local area because she was so messed up from what happened to her. Overall i think this is another great episode. The first two episodes of this show are really fantastic. I am really starting to like this show already. I cannot wait for the next episode.moreless
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some lady gets thrown out the window and they dont know if it was murder or suicide.

9.0

By elliv920, Apr 12, 2007

i really like this episode, i really like episodes from the 1st season because they laugh more and talk now elliot and olivia bearly talk and its very akward. this episode shows olivia's pain towards her father but... on the upside i think elliot was checking olivia out hahaha :P
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Sad truths.

9.0

By laurenmichal, Feb 19, 2007

A girl commits suicide, although the detective do not find that out til the end. She jumps out of a window. She was molested by her father and did not know how to handle the abuse so she took her life so she wouldn't have to deal with it. Her sister is confronted with her past when the detectives go and find her. The father is arrested. I really thought this episode was extremely sad. Someone never got their secret out and ended up killing themselves when all they had to do was talk to someone about it, but they had no one.moreless
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Law and Order Special Victims Unit!

9.0

By ourkissgoodbye, Jan 28, 2007

"A Single Life" is exactly the story line that I would have expected from a show like Law and Order Special Victims Unit. A woman falls to her death after throwing herself through a window, and the case ends up in the hands of Detectives Benson and Stabler. It was hard to see how abuse can affect a person for their entire life. The victim was sexually abused as a child, and the pain followed her throughout her life. I really liked how they started to show how easy it is for Olivia to connect with the victims to help them out. She was able to convince the victims sister to confront her father about the abuse that they both suffered as children.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Christopher Meloni	Det. Elliot Stabler
Mariska Hargitay	Det. Olivia Benson
Richard Belzer	Det. John Munch
Dann Florek	Capt. Donald Cragen

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Dennis Boutsikaris	Dr. Mark Daniels	Guest Star
Laila Robins	Ellen Travis	Guest Star
Paul Hecht	Robert Sidarsky	Guest Star
Dean Winters	Det. Brian Cassidy	Recurring Role
Michelle Hurd	Det. Monique Jeffries	Recurring Role
Isabel Gillies	Kathy Stabler	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (4)
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- Continuity: Det. Jeffries reads from a Rolodex card still in the Rolodex. In the next scene, as Stabler and Benson are collecting items from the victim's apartment, Stabler runs through the cards in the same Rolodex and Benson holds an armful of files that likely contain the clippings from which everyone read in the previous scene.
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- Equipment Showing: During the coroner scene, a boom mike can clearly be seen during the whole scene.
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- This is one of the few episodes that narrows down an actual timeframe for the happenings. Gretchen Quinn was born in the spring of 1967, and is stated by her sister to have been 32 at her death. The show gives September dates for certain events, establishing that this episode takes place the week of September 20, 1999.
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- The address for Dr. Mark Daniels' is given as 911 E 72nd St. This would actually place him in the middle of the East River.
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QUOTES (11)
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- (Elliot turns on the disposal after fixing it}
  Dickie Stabler: (runs in) Mommy, Mommy have you seen the turtle? I left him in the sink.
  (Elliot looks down at the smoothly grinding disposal)
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- (Discussing how the victim was thrown from the window.)
  Olivia Benson: How about plain old testosterone-driven rage?
  Monique Jeffries: Boyfriend?
  John Munch: Or a girl. You could toss a hundred pounds without breaking a sweat.
  Monique Jeffries: Toss you, you skinny-ass geek.
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- Olivia Benson: "Biology of the Amazons" by Gretchen Quinn. "There's a tiny catfish feared more than the piranha. It's called a "
  Donald Cragen: Candiru.
  Elliot Stabler: Say what?
  Donald Cragen: This is beautiful. Tell him.
  Olivia Benson: "It will swim right into a man's penis and lodge itself there by erecting sharp spines." Ow.
  Elliot Stabler: "Erecting sharp spines." That's a fish with a sense of irony. (to Cragen) How'd you know that?
  Donald Cragen: In the jungle they always taught us, "Don't hold your nose. Hold your stones."
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- (Debating whether the victim was raped.)
  Detective Mourad: Plus, she wasn't exactly dressed in her refusal outfit.
  Elliot Stabler: I didn't hear you say that.
  Detective Mourad: You know, I didn't catch your shield. You with the political correctness squad, or what?
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- John Munch: The whole thing's a pyramid scheme.
  Brian Cassidy: What whole thing?
  John Munch: Laptops. We've become a nation of "laptoppers", writing up orders on our laptops. More laptops. Whatever happened to pens?
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- (Talking about Dallas Warner.)
  Elliot Stabler: You want me to bust him in the grill? I mean we're not getting anywhere in there.
  Olivia Benson: It's not we. It's me.
  Elliot Stabler: What's that mean?
  Olivia Benson: That pompous jerk will never condescend to deal with a woman. You go in there.
  Elliot Stabler: We good?
  Olivia Benson: We're good.
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- Elliot Stabler: She musta had fun naming her computer files. This is "penis.quotes". You wanna read it, or should I?
  Olivia Benson: Knock yourself out.
  Elliot Stabler: (opens the folder and quickly closes it) No. That's yours.
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- Olivia Benson: Half of them admitted they couldn't tell their neighbors from the perp.
  Elliot Stabler: Could you?
  Olivia Benson: Could I what?
  Elliot Stabler: Tell your neighbors apart.
  Olivia Benson: Why? 'Cause I live here? What? I'm never home. I'm always with you.
  Elliot Stabler: And people say the suburbs are anonymous.
  Olivia Benson: Oh. Now, Queens is a suburb. Since when?
  Elliot Stabler: Since we got a little space, some trees, grass to mow.
  Olivia Benson: Yeah. I got a regular eight-by-ten of you out there mowing the lawn.
  Elliot Stabler: Well. I do. Sometimes.
  Olivia Benson: Admit it. Kathy does all the housework. 'Cause you're never there.
  Elliot Stabler: Okay. I admit it. Kathy's the man of the house.
  Olivia Benson: Exactly.
  Elliot Stabler: Until Dickie's old enough ... You're lucky. You've got nothing to worry about. Definitely got no lawn to mow.
  Olivia Benson: Yeah. I'm a regular monk.
  Elliot Stabler: Monkette. (staring at her)
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- Olivia Benson: Anybody notify SVU?
  Policeman #2: 'Cause she's not wearing panties, you mean?
  Olivia Benson: Just cover her up!
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- Donald Cragen: My wife was on an Orlando turnaround as a flight attendant, and I was home, scrubbing algae off the tiles around the swimming pool we never used. The one that got me into hot water with Internal Affairs, because "what's a cop doing with an in-ground pool," right? And then the phone rang, the call she always expected always dreaded.
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- Detective Mourad: Looks like maybe they did more than kiss.
  Olivia Benson: Yeah, he read her a little Walt Whitman, they made hot passionate love, then right before he rolled over and fell asleep, he heaved her out the window excuse me through the window.
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NOTES (2)
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- Special billing was given to Angie Harmon (With Special Guest Appearance by) and Michael Nouri (and) in this episode.
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- The outside of the Laurel Athletic Shoes factory supposedly in East Bergen, New Jersey is really the outside of the warehouse where Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is filmed. The warehouse is in North Bergen, but there is no such city as East Bergen in New Jersey.
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ALLUSIONS (2)
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- Donald Cragen: I was home, scrubbing algae off the tiles around the swimming pool that we never used. The one that got me into hot water with Internal Affairs, because "what's a cop doing with an in-ground pool," right?
  
  This is a reference to the Law & Order episode "The Blue Wall" where Donald Cragen comes under suspicion for laundering drug money. Cragen also reveals in this same conversation that Marge died, and it took everything in him not to turn back to the bottle.
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- Elliot Stabler: What's his face, Warner -- the 'Peter Jennings' look-a-like?
  
  Peter Jennings was a well-known media personality. Originally from Canada, Jennings joined ABC in 1964, and over the years, won numerous Emmys.
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