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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 7 Episode 19

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 4/4/06

A manhunt ensues when Victor Paul Gitano, a recently released sex offender, kidnaps two children after killing the rest of their family. Benson and Stabler pursue Gitano only to find their own relationship challenged as both experience opportunities where they put their personal relationship ahead of their job. After having her throat slashed, Benson requests for a new partner when she hears what Stabler has to say about their relationship and their job.moreless

Fan Episode Reviews (75)

One of the best and most touching episodes of SVU!

10

By LivBenson_, Nov 15, 2011

Benson and Stabler have to admit what they mean to each other because both of them face the possibility of losing the other.First when Stabler hast to decide between helping Olivia who got her throat sliced or the little boy.And then when the pedophile threatens Stabler with a gun and Benson has to decide whether to shoot him or not.

Stabler is all Olivia has and also Elliot admits at the end of the episodethat Olivia and his job is everything he has in this world.

In my opinion Eliott is only so rude to Liv in the middle of the scene because he's scared about losing her as well as he lost his family.moreless
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This has got to be my favorite episode of all time. It featured a terrible crime and showed how it got in between two great partners.

10

By iluvelliot, Nov 15, 2011

LIke I said before this is my favorite episode. To start with a horrible crime and see the characters search for the kidnapper (played masterfully by Lou Diamond Philips). A lot of people say the show is all about Mariska Hargitay and here character. That Stabler is just a stereo-typical male cop. This episode shows that he is not just a typical cop. The children are what's driving him. All of his years there have begun to get to him. He hates any crime dealing with kids. Where you saw some of that at the beginning of the series it soon got lost, but this episode brought it back full-on.

He was awesome at the bus station after the little boy was murdeed. He didn't have to say anything, his eyes said it all for him. The same was true when Philips had him and was going to kill him. You could see he was at peace and was ready for Olivia to shoot the criminal even if it meant he had to die...he was dying to save the child. And his expression, when the snippers took out Philips, Stabler looked honestly shocked that he was still alive. I didn't quite understand why Olivia wanted a new partner, unless she was getting too close to liking Elliot.moreless
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one of my favorite episode of svu!! theres character development for sure!!!

10

By Dragon-fly2088, Nov 15, 2011

At first the episode starts like any episode.

a girl fights with her boyfriend, they break up and then the girl freaks out cause of the parrot from upstairs neighbor scares her.

The girl takes the laundry and the parrot opstaires en then she finds her upstairs neigbours being killed. The det. of svu are called to come in because the son and daughter of the familie are being kidnapped by the killer.

and they start a searge to find them.

we get to see some action!!!

olivia gets her throat slashed and elliot gets a gun pointed to his forehead.

and we got to see some character development (e/o moments) betweeen them

but thats al folks!!moreless
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This has to be one of the best episodes of Law and Order: SVU. It had some major E/O moments and nobody can argue that.

10

By causkitty, Nov 15, 2011

I thought this episode was completely and totally perfect. I loved all the E/O moments. As you can probably tell, I'm an over obsessive shipper. The scene at the terminal was amazing. The expression that Elliot had on his face when he went over to help Olivia had me thinking Oh No! Please don't be dead! She had to tell him to leave her twice, yet he still hesitated. Then, the scene in the ware-house almost killed me with suspense. I thought one of the them was going to shout i love you, but of course Dick Wolf decided to keep us waiting. The scene in the hospital made me cry. I didn't want them to split up!! But their back together now!moreless
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This episode really sucked and the plot was even much worse.

3.4

By zvyozdnayapyl, Feb 27, 2011

I've always been a Law and Order: SVU fan since 1999, and this is BY FAR the worst of the SVU. The killer is ridiculous and annoying, the argument between Benson and Stabler and Olivia asking for a new partner was uncalled for - the dark setting is a very poor IMITATION of The Russian movie Shadow Zone - (Tenevaya zona). And Huang as Stabler's superior? Please Don't make me laugh - I like SVU very much; I watched all episode on this show, but come on we're talking Lou Diamond Phillips here! If this is truly the last Mariska Hargitay episode for season 7, it ended on a very poor note - I'd rather watch such abysmal episodes such as "Demons" or "Starved" than this crap. I've watched it 3 times and feel the same way with every viewing. Victor Gutano is a liar, stalker and nothing but a worthless piece of trash in many more ways than two!!moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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BD Wong	Dr. George Huang
Christopher Meloni	Det. Elliot Stabler
Dann Florek	Capt. Donald Cragen
Ice-T	Det. Odafin Tutuola
Mariska Hargitay	Det. Olivia Benson
Richard Belzer	Det. John Munch

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Lou Diamond Phillips	Victor Paul Gitano	Guest Star
Rebecca Wisocky	Dr. Paula Greenfield	Guest Star
Jeff Biehl	Jake	Guest Star
Donnetta Lavinia Grays	Officer Ramirez	Recurring Role
Joel de la Fuente	TARU Tech Ruben Morales	Recurring Role
Mike Doyle	Forensics Tech Ryan O'Halloran	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (3)
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- Goof: The title card for Sing Sing Prison locates it in "Ossing, New York" it should read "Ossining, New York"
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- Tutuola advised Stabler that he was going to go up top to look for the children and Gitano, but there is no indication that Tutuola was involved in trying to stop Gitano or stop him from escaping, even though he should have been right there.
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- On the computer screen the rapist name was Vincent Carl Gitano while the mug shot had the name Victor Paul Gitano.
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QUOTES (13)
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- Dr. George Huang: You had to choose between saving the little boy or saving Olivia.
  Elliot Stabler: Yeah, but she didn't need me.
  Dr. George Huang: You didn't know that.
  Elliot Stabler: (long pause)I wish I didn't
  Dr. George Huang: Didn't what? (pause) Didn't care so much? Elliot, that's what makes you a good partner.
  Elliot Stabler: She made me turn away.
  Dr. George Huang: How? How did she make you do anything?
  Elliot Stabler: (long pause> She didn't. It was my choice. Nobody else was responsible for it but me. (pause) Thanks. (leaves the room)
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- (A knock sounds at the door.)
  Don Cragen: Come in! (Benson enters and closes the door)
  Don Cragen: Olivia, what's up?
  Olivia Benson: I want a new partner.
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- Olivia Benson: Is there something you want to say to me? Because if you do, then let's hear it.
  Elliot Stabler: Why didn't you shoot Gitano?
  Olivia Benson: He was using the child as a shield.
  Elliot Stabler: How could you let him get so close to you?
  Olivia Benson: There were innocent civilians around. I couldn't get a shot.
  Elliot Stabler: Well, you got close, and Ryan's dead.
  Olivia Benson: So this is my fault?
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- (Talking about Elliot Stabler)
  Dr. Melinda Warner: Sometimes all that brooding intensity is just annoying.
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- Dr. George Huang: You had to choose between saving the little boy or saving Olivia.
  Elliot Stabler: Yeah, but she didn't need me.
  Dr. George Huang: You didn't know that.
  Elliot Stabler: I wish I didn't ...
  Dr. George Huang: Didn't what? Didn't ... care so much? Elliot, that's what makes you a good partner.
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- Elliot Stabler: I can't do this anymore. I can't be looking over my shoulder making sure you're okay!
  Olivia Benson: You son-of-a-bitch, you know that's not true!
  Elliot Stabler: I need to know you can do your job and not wait for me to come to the rescue!
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- (Elliot is trying to convince Olivia to pull the trigger, both in urgent yet hushed tones.)
  Elliot Stabler: You can do the right thing. I didn't I made that choice with Ryan and it was wrong. It was my fault. Don't do it. Don't make the same mistake.
  Olivia Benson: I would have done the same thing.
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- (Benson and Stabler are sitting on the bench outside a hospital room.)
  Elliot Stabler: You and this job are about the only things I've got anymore. I don't want to wreck that.
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- (Stabler tries to calm the agent, who is nervous about setting up a sting on Gitano.)
  Agent: You know, I've been thinking. This guy's probably going to be really mad.
  Elliot Stabler: Well, not at you. Don't worry about it.
  Agent: Yeah, but he killed people, right? I should probably call my manager.
  Elliot Stabler: Just relax. Do what you normally do, okay?
  Agent: This is what I normally do.
  Elliot Stabler: Do it without looking terrified.
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- Dr. George Huang: I used to treat sex offenders early in my career. But after awhile, it just wasn't enough to get a guy to admit his fantasies about his two-month-old daughter. So why do you think I try to catch them now.
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- Dr. Paula Greenfield: Men like Gitano were the reason I left the prisons.
  Dr. George Huang: These kinds of sex offenders have the worst kind of pathology, because they make you believe that you can help them.
  Dr. Paula Greenfield: You can't help a sociopath. This whole debate about whether or not sex offenders can be cured... Can I cure you of needing oxygen?
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- Elliot Stabler: If that sniper hadn't beaten you to it... I know you would have taken the shot Olivia.
  Olivia Benson: No, I wouldn't have. Did you really expect me to? Did you really expect me to cause your death, Elliot? What about your kids?
  Elliot Stabler: I don't know. I just couldn't get that boy out of my head.
  (Both are silent for a moment.)
  Olivia Benson: What about me?
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- M.E. Melinda Warner: When you find this monster, give him a special kick in the nuts for me, will you?
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NOTES (2)
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- Original International Air Dates:
  Czech Republic May 21, 2009 on TV Nova
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- Lou Diamond Phillips received Special Guest Star billing in this episode.
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ALLUSIONS (2)
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- The victims' parrot is named Baretta, after the 1975 to 1978 show of the same name. Played by controversial actor Robert Blake, quirky undercover detective Tony Baretta lived in a run-down hotel where he kept a white cockatiel named Fred.
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- This episode appears to be ripped from the headlines of the Dylan and Shasta Groene case. In 2005, Joseph Edward Duncan III entered the Groene home and brutally murdered most of this family before kidnapping and torturing these children. Like in this story, the boy was eventually murdered but the girl survived. In 2008, Duncan received the death penalty.
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