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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 10 Episode 4

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 10/21/08

The murder of an astronaut points to a serial rapist, but when the trail turns cold Elliot asks for help from an old friend who further muddies the clues as more bodies pile up.

Fan Episode Reviews (5)

Average, and that's being nice...

8.0

By XMLarry, Mar 07, 2011

The opening sequence and the one that followed were good, but this episode seem to slack off after that. I had the murderer pegged almost from the get go because he just seemed to know too much about the victim. Two suspects and a shooting in the precinct later Eliot finally sees above the respect he has for this guy (he has known him for many years and looked up to him) after the fingerprints prove what I (and probably some of you) suspected all along. On the up side, James Brolin was magnificent in his role; he was very convincing.moreless
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So, when doesn't the big start end up being the guilty party?

3.5

By thorswitch, Mar 07, 2011

If they'd done this exact same story with a no-name actor playing Stabler's hero, it would have been infinitely better. But because his hero was played by James Brolin, it was obvious from the start that he was the killer, and so when Eliot had his epiphany at the end of the episode and reviewed all the ways Brolin had tried to mislead them, there was no surprise to it at all. I'd picked up on every single point along the way (including being able to predict from the moment Brolin too Chris Eliott's character - Thibidoux - aside that Brolin was going to tell him that the skinny kid was the killer and that Thibidoux would attack him and then be killed in the resulting brouhaha.) Last week's episode was amazing, one of the best ever for this series, but this week? There was potential, but their tendency to have the big-name guest-star was like pouring motor oil into an otherwise delicious stew.moreless
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I really liked this eppy. Its another great eppy.

9.5

By Mabelyn1, Mar 04, 2011

I really like this episode. Its not the pest episode ever but it was really intresting, its one of those episodes that make good reruns. Im not into the whole space thing but i still liked the whole concept. I expected it was the guy the moment i saw him. It was just the way he talked after they told him about her death that made me suspecious. The whole episode i knew it was him but i had no clue why he did it, but the moment i saw elliot's face when he but the rocket down, I thought "OMG he killed her because he wanted to go to the moon and she was standing in his way." I think that i have been watching SVU so much that im starting to think like a cop. I really like the end, were the guy looks at the moon and then Olivia come in. I loved it but i think that was the perfect appertunity for a E/O moment.moreless
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Stabler realises his childhood hero isn't all he thought he was??

10

By chloe_explosion, Mar 04, 2011

I love, love *love* the end when Olivia's all "is everything okay?" in that super-sexy blue dress

and he's like "no," This is so exactly what Stabler needs to do, fall apart. I cannot wait to see what happens in the next episode. I kind of want another one of those Elliot visits Olivia's apartment for some emotions!! I can't remember what episode he shows up at her door - Oh the one with her brother?? Oh gosh, but anyway, something like that. This is like Prime E/O time!! I seriously need some personal stuff to happen with them two, it's like why I watch the show.moreless
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Another great episode for Elliot

9.5

By vicky24c, Jan 13, 2009

In this episode of Law and Order: SVU the following happens. The body of a woman is found floating. She has been mutilated and both of her hands have been cut off. The team then see a woman being attacked and head straight there and soon discover that a movie is being made and that the woman in fact is an actress. All 3 of them are pulled in for questioning. We soon learn that there is a serial rapist out there who is driving a cab, the same cab as the one who was seen where the body was dumped. They find some DNA at the dump site and when it is during it matches that of an Orlando, who used to be a cabbie until he went to jail. He got out and the rapes began. So Olivia goes uncover hoping to lure him out. The sting goes well and they manage to arrest him. The last victim ID's him as the man who raped her after hearing his voice. He admits to raping all of the women, but not to the murder. He says he has an alibi for that night, as he was raping another woman. Through retinal scans they identify the woman as a Marga Janson who was an astronaut. They got o the event she was in and Elliott bumps into an old friend. We see El's friend as he as he asks El if there is anything going on between him and Olivia but El says that he's married. El's son Dickie (as Olivia calls him) turns up at the station to meet the man who he is named after. Their prime suspect freaks out and shoots and kills someone at the station. He is then killed. Luckily El manages to rush Dickie out of the way in time. The older Dyke asks Olivia out to a marine benefit. And she agrees. Elliott goes round to see Dyke and believes that he is upset that he has asked Olivia out for dinner. Elliott asks him why he murdered Marga, and at first he denies it. He attacks Elliott and so El has to fight him to save his own life. At the end of the episode we see Elliott as he takes Dyke out of the hotel and into police custody. Just then Olivia turns up for her big date, and sees what has happened.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Christopher Meloni	Det. Elliot Stabler
Mariska Hargitay	Det. Olivia Benson
Richard Belzer	Sgt. John Munch
Ice-T	Det. Odafin 'Fin' Tutuola
Tamara Tunie	Dr. Melinda Warner
BD Wong	Dr. George Huang

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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James Brolin	Col. Richard Finley	Guest Star
Danny Mastrogiorgio	Orlando McTeer	Guest Star
Annika Boras	Leslie Schuster	Guest Star
Jeffrey Scaperrotta	Dickie Stabler	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (2)
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- As the suspect is arrested, he looks up at a full moon. However, an earlier title card revealed that this occurred on "Tuesday, October 21". The full moon in October 2008 occurred on Tuesday and Wednesday the 14th and 15th, so by the 21st there would have only been a third quarter moon.
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- In this episode Olivia says that she's been partners with Elliot for ten years, but in the last episode she said they've been partners for eleven years.
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QUOTES (7)
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- (Dick is eyeing Olivia)
  Dick Finley: So ?
  Elliot Stabler: Dick, I'm married.
  Dick Finley: Never stopped me.
  Elliot Stabler: You've got the four divorces to prove it.
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- (Dick has invited Olivia to dinner.)
  Olivia Benson: I would love to go. Shall I call Elliot, and see if he can join us?
  Dick Finley: Oh, I think you and me can handle this.
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- John Munch: Not so fast, Colonel, (holds up a picture of Dick Finley) autograph for a fan?
  Dick Finley: You got it, John.
  John Munch: Thank you, appreciate it. (Fin looks at Munch) In case I'm wrong.
  Fin Tutuola: I think it just started snowing in hell.
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- Dick Finley: Okay, okay, I'm sorry about Olivia, you know, I-I should have checked with you before asking her out to dinner. I mean if you're not gonna make a move.
  Elliot Stabler: Dinner with Olivia is off.
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- Donald Cragen: Where'd this guy beam down from?
  Elliot Stabler: Planet methamphetamine. Along with Marga's credit card.
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- (Discussing Marga Jansen's death.)
  Elliot Stabler: From outer space to our morgue. It's about as hard a landing as you can get.
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- (Examining the floater.)
  Dr. Melinda Warner: Hands amputated mid-ulna.
  Olivia Benson: The killer doesn't want us to ID her. He's angry and he's smart.
  Elliot Stabler: That's a bad combination.
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NOTES (3)
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- International Episode Titles:Czech Republic: "Na mesic" (On the Moon)
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- Original International Air Dates:
  Czech Republic November 16, 2010 on TV Nova
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- Special billing was given to James Brolin (Special Guest Star), Betty Buckley (with), and Chris Elliott (and Special Guest Appearance by) for this episode.
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ALLUSIONS (4)
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- Dick Finley: A kid as handsome as this gotta be named "Dick".
  
  Probably an in-joke tribute to Law &Order franchise creator and executive producer, Dick Wolf.
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- Anton Thibodaux: That's Gus Grissom, he went up in flames.
  
  Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom was the second American in space and the commander of the first manned Gemini flight. Grissom was killed, along with fellow astronauts Ed White and Roger Chaffee, after a fire broke out in the Apollo 1 spacecraft during a launchpad test on January 27, 1967. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left an Apollo 1 mission patch on the lunar surface during Apollo 11.
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- Elliot Stabler: Let's take a run at "Rocket Man".
  
  "Rocket Man" is a track from the 1972 Elton John album Honky Chateau about an astronaut on a Mars mission who is lonely without his family.
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- Dick Finley: having a beer with Pete Conrad
  
  Charles "Pete" Conrad (1930-1999) flew on Gemini 5, Gemini 11, Apollo 12, and the first manned Skylab flight. He was the third man to walk on the Moon. He was well-known for his sense of humor and his personal motto was, "If you can't be good, be colorful."
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