Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Loophole

Season 8, Episode 13, Aired 2/6/07

Episode Summary

Stabler ends up, out of commission after a perpetrator high on PCP throws him through a window at the station, so Benson teams up with Munch and Tutuola to investigate a mysterious packet of photos. The photographs lead them to both a suspected child pornographer and a junkie burglar, but after Benson takes ill during the investigation, the team realises that there is more than child pornography at stake as their investigation soon reveals that Seth Millstead wasn't into little boys at all, but had been using the tenants of the apartment building in an experiment for a new pesticide.moreless

8.9

EPISODE RATING: Great

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"Abysmal"

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Cast & Crew

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Tamara Tunie

M.E. Melinda Warner
Richard Belzer

Det. John Munch
Mariska Hargitay

Det. Olivia Benson

Fan Episode Reviews (16)

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The episode starts out with a young black kid coming out the elevator with a yellow envelope and a criminal who is out of control. The criminal knocks the black boy against the wall and eventually throws Stabler out a window.moreless

8.2

"Great"

By suikerspin, Mar 29, 2011 Report Abuse

The others finally get the guy under control but then they find the yellow envelope. Inside the yellow envelope is pictures of a young hispanic boy only in his underwear. Altough there are no naked pictures the detectives believe it's kiddie porn. When they talk to the landlord of the apartment where the boy lives, they believe he is the one who was a freak. They eventually arrest him but when Benson goes to talk with the boy and his mother, they all come down with some kind of medical problem.Benson saves them, the rest of the apartment tenants, and herself. They are taken to the hospital and are found to be poisoned by pesticides. The deeper the detectives go the more they find out. Supposedly a company was testing the affect of the pesticides on children. Benson wants to nail these bad men at any cost and calls on the CSU Tech to find out the exact pesticide used on her and everybody else. When they find out, they arrest the top guy for 12 assaults for the ones that were infected. In exchange for the top guy's cooperation to never test pesticides on people again or else he also has to pay all the medical expenses for all the people he infected for the rest of their life. This episode was informative and incredible!moreless

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1 1
What a stupid pathetic episode and a complete waste of time!!!

1.0

"Abysmal"

By zvyozdnayapyl, Mar 29, 2011 Report Abuse

I love Law and Order: SVU don't get me absolutely wrong, but this episode is flat out garbage. This is seriously the worst episode of SVU, lame script, abysmal acting, lots of plotholes, and I really disliked the beginning of this episode because Stabler gets attacked by the big tough guy who must have been high on drugs. I also hated when Benson the Puerto Rican woman and her son who was molested almost got poisioned by that toxic chimical gas at that appartment.
And I really don't buy that how Benson got treated like a victim with soulless and depression. This episode really sucked ass!!! At least Burned and Outsider were awesome and much better than this crap.moreless

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1 8
Disheartening episode

6.3

"Fair"

By JPPT1974, Mar 29, 2011 Report Abuse

It shows you how people are so sick and that they really use children as pawns. The rapist takes Elliott out of commission so he is out for the rest of the episode about. As it is up to Benson, Munch, and Fin to put this creep away after what he has done to put diseases on children. Really it is a disheartening episode as well as makes you feel sorry for the kids and their families and what they have to go through.moreless

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0 2
Would not be surprised if this is really happening to us

9.0

"Superb"

By XMLarry, Mar 29, 2011 Report Abuse

Definitely kept me guessing. It starts out as a supposed kiddie porn episode but that dissappears with the gassed building and Olivia and 11 others being affected by the tests of this chemical giant. Gee, sounds like (insert name here). They went a bit too far to get the info that ended up cornering the CEO of the company so I can not give it a higher rating but it kept my interest. Kudos to Casey for giving the CEO ten seconds to make up his mind on her offer. Keep your hair long Olivia; some guy will notice eventually (and it will not be Eliot).moreless

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I had expected a lot more out of this episode, but over all it was still good.

7.5

"Good"

By daley2, Mar 29, 2011 Report Abuse

Well, what to say except I had expected this episode to be a lot better then it was. But it was still a good episode (hell of a lot better then Outsider anyway.) I kind of missed Elliot though. He was in the episode for less then ten minutes (although we did get to see him with his shirt off, so I guess I can forgive the writers for giving him no screen time this episode.) Mariska Hargitay was excellent as usual, but her fainting in the building? Completely unbelievable. I mean she just slid down the wall, it can't even legally be called a faint! But that scene in the apartment was very good acting and proves how much Olivia is willing to put as risk to save the victims. What else? Well it was good having Fin and Munch have more then one line. Over all, it let me down a little because there was so much hype about it, then it was a little boring. But it was still a great episode.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- In the scene where Benson is pulling Jennifer Benitez from the kitchen, someone can be seen moving out of camera range in the back bedroom. Edit
Notes
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- International Episode Titles: Czech Republic "Zadní vrátka" (Back Door) Edit
- Original International Air Dates: Czech Republic April 6, 2010 on TV Nova Edit
- Special billing was given to Ray Wise (with) and James Naughton (and) in this episode. Edit
Quotes
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- TARU Tech Morales (when Benson asks him to illegally obtain information): You want me to what?! Olivia Benson: Please don't make me ask you again. Edit
- Olivia Benson: Elliot, I don't even know what made us sick. It's proprietary information. Elliot Stabler: There's ways to find out. Olivia Benson: What does that mean? Elliot Stabler: It means sometimes the only way to beat someone with a dirty fight is to get right down into the gutter with them. Edit
- Elliot Stabler: What do you tell victims? Get help. The problem is, you're not following your own advice right now. Olivia Benson: What do you mean get help? You want me to hire a lawyer? If I sue this chemical company, they'll bury me in paper work for the next ten years. The kid could be dead by then. Edit
Allusions
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- Olivia Benson: And neither was Tuskegee. Or Willowbrook. The Tuskegee Alabama study on syphilis that lasted from 1932-1972. The government wanted to study untreated syphilis in black men so they hospitalized poor black men with the disease and documented its effects but did not offer any medical treatment. They continued to do this even after penicillin became the standard treatment for syphilis in the 1940s. Untreated syphilis is usually fatal and causes problems like heart disease and insanity. Willowbrook State School was a state-supported institution for mentally retarded children. A highly controversial medical study was conducted there from 1963 to 1966 during which many healthy children were intentionally inoculated with Hepatitis and monitored. A public outcry caused the study to be discontinued. The institution was also plagued with deplorable conditions. It closed in 1987. Edit
- O'Halloran: Remember the Tokyo subway attacks back in '95? In 1995, the Tokyo subway system was attacked with Sarin gas during the morning rush hour. Twelve people died and hundreds of others were sickened. The attack was the work of an apocalyptic cult called Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth). The cult leader, Shoko Asahara, was sentenced to death and, as of this episode, was awaiting execution. Edit