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"Abomination"
SVU, Episode 5.08
Production number: E4410
First aired: 11 November 2003
  th of 502 produced in SVU  
th of 502 released in SVU
  th of 1271 released in all  
Ian Tate Novak Abomination
Written By
Tara Butters & Michele Fazekas

Directed By
Alex Zakrzewski

Plot[]

When a young gay male who was a poster-boy for a sexual re-education group is found brutally murdered, the SVU squad suspect an outspoken minster who was responsible for sending hundreds of hate mail and death threats to the victim. The case takes another twist when they focus their attention on a professor who believes that same-sex relationships are wrong and then it is discovered that his son, who is also gay (but deep in the closet) turns out to be a suspect in the murder. The son, Ian, is revealed to be the partner of the murdered man and that his father did it. He'd hidden his orientation from his father, but he'd had a girlfriend in high school who was aware of his secret and her mother had told his father. Ian is horrified and wishes he was dead as his father is arrested. At the end of the episode, Novak apologizes for forcing him to accept that he is gay and reveal it, but Ian isn't sorry and is relieved that the secret was out.

Summary[]

Episode summary

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

Quotes[]

Crossing Guard: I hope a cab doesn't splatter you all over mid-town, you little brats.

Officer Marvin Bryson: Must have shown him a real good time before she did the deed.
Stabler: Marvin, right now's a real good opportunity to learn. An erection is often a side effect of asphyxiation.
Officer Bryson: [chuckling]] Oh yeah? 'Cause I was gonna say the guy was scared stiff.

Cragen: What did missing persons say?
Munch: Nobody's missed him yet.

Tutuola: Killed in an apartment with white walls and a crappy laundry facility. I think I live there.

Stabler: I don't know, maybe some people choose to be gay and others choose to be straight.
Benson: Oh, so you chose to be heterosexual?
Stabler: Me? Noooo.

Stabler: [reading a gay victim's hate mail] "'All queers will burn in the eternal fire of hell,' so sayeth the Lord." Somehow I don't think that's a direct quote.

Stabler: [reading his file] Reverend Mitchell Shaw... you really get around. Protesting in Vermont, at the Supreme Court... cheering at the funeral of a six-year-old who died of AIDS.
Benson: Maybe you should switch to a career in publicity.
Rev. Mitchell Shaw: The Lord asked me to do his work.
Stabler: Did he ask you to ignore all that, uh... "Love thy neighbor" stuff?
Shaw: "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, "both of them have committed an abomination. "They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them." Leviticus.
Stabler: The Bible also says I can sell my daughters into slavery and be put to death if I work on a Sundays. 12 years of Catholic school. Anyone can memorize words, Reverend. Doesn't make 'em righteous.
Shaw: The city is full of sodomites, and you waste your time protecting them... and yet you wonder why so many of your NYPD brothers were struck down on September 11th. Do you not see the Lord's judgment upon you?
[Elliot shoves away the table and gets right in Shaw's face]
Stabler: I see a scared, shriveled-up piece of trash who uses God to justify his bigotry.

Stabler: Go back in there and strangle the son-of-a-bitch.
Munch: I love the guy; I want to invite him to the Christmas party.

Cragen: What did you get from the people at Reed's funeral?
Tutuola: Not much - after the fight broke out, a bunch of people left before we got their names.
Munch: [brandishing a camera] Yeah, but... we got their pictures.
Cragen: Where the hell is that from?
Munch: One of Reverend Shaw's church members, he must've left it behind.
Novak: [smiling] I didn't hear that.
Cragen: Get it back to him, John.
Munch: I'll be happy to, I'll even develop his film for free.

Munch: If an overbearing mother and a distant father cause homosexuality, how come I'm not gay?
Tutuola: Maybe you're in denial.
Munch: That'd explain a lot.

Munch: [about Ian Tate] No wonder he tried to hide it. "You're not gay, son, you're just crazy."

Dr. Roger Tate: [as he's being arrested] This is...
Stabler: What? Sick? Unnatural? So is murder.

Novak: They took the plea.
Ian Tate: It's so weird, you know. I've been sitting here watching people go by, thinking 'does he know? Does she?' James was always talking about how happy he was he was gay, he said guys are more fun.
Novak: [laughs] Yeah, I agree with James.
Ian Tate: Everything's different now, you know. No matter what I do, nothing will be like it was before.
Novak: Ian, I had my job to do, and I made you deal with something you weren't ready for. I'm sorry.
Ian Tate: Yeah. I'm not.

Background information and notes[]

  • The episode title is drawn from Leviticus 18:22, which says, "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; it is an abomination."
  • Goof: The woman escorting the school children at the beginning of the episode begins to lead her charges across the street despite the fact that the "Don't Walk" signal is clearly displayed over her shoulder.

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3 4

Hugo's Bar
297 Bleecker Street
Friday, October 3

ReGenesis Headquarters
190 Ninth Avenue
Saturday, October 4

Hudson University
East Quad
Wednesday, October 8

Apartment of
Ian Tate
235 West 101st Street
Wednesday, October 8

6 5 7 8

Office of
District Attorney
Arthur Branch
Thursday, October 9

Rikers Island
Interview Room
Friday, October 10

Trial Part 38
Tuesday, October 14

D.A. Conference Room
Wednesday, October 15

Previous episode:
"Choice"
"Abomination"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Season 5
Next episode:
"Control"
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