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"Alien"
SVU, Episode 7.11
Production number: 07002
First aired: 6 December 2005
  th of 502 produced in SVU  
th of 502 released in SVU
  th of 1271 released in all  
Zoe Dunlop & Emma Boyd
Written By
Jose Molina

Directed By
Constantine Makris

What initially starts as an investigation into the stabbing of a young schoolboy leads to concerns for the welfare of the daughter of a lesbian couple and a custody battle for the little girl.

Plot[]

A car races to a hospital and dumps the body of schoolboy Sean Hamill at the entrance before speeding off. Sean is found to have a severe stab wound and this and other injuries results in him being paralyzed from the waist down. Inquiries lead the detectives to Charlie Monaghan, another boy who has previously gotten into trouble with Sean, but it isn't long before their attention turns to Charlie's half-sister Emma Boyd. It turns out that Sean has been tormenting the little girl for months because she has two lesbian mothers. They both attend a Catholic school where homosexuality is frowned upon. When Sean cut Emma's ponytail off with a pair of scissors, she snapped and stabbed him with another pair. Charlie took Sean to the hospital in the principal's car, without the principal's permission, and took the rap on himself by lying to the police in order to protect Emma. The case against Emma for stabbing Sean is later dropped when evidence taken from the school's social networking site backs up the claims that Sean has been bullying her.

After getting a nice deal for Emma's side, Benson and Stabler are thrown for a loop when Emma's mother, Kate Boyd, dies unexpectedly. Kate's parents accuse her partner, Zoe Dunlop, who has never legally adopted Emma, of sexually molesting their granddaughter, and evidence seems to support their claims. However, after sitting in on Benson's interview of the "victim", Huang disagrees, concluding that the "molestation" described by Emma was a legitimate, medical procedure, which her grandparents had manipulated her into believing was something sinister. It is eventually revealed that the grandparents' attorney, James Decker, was responsible for this, as he secretly desired to prove that it is not healthy for children to be brought up in a gay environment. Upon realizing their mistake, the grandparents agree to testify against Decker in exchange for a lesser prison sentence and apologize to Zoe for hurting her. Zoe, who retains custody of Emma, refuses to forgive and forget and announces that she will be denying them access to Emma. As Zoe was walking off with Emma, the girl turned back and gave Benson a sad look before leaving.

Summary[]

Episode summary

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

Quotes[]

Emma Boyd: Lying's a sin. A vanilla sin, not the mortal kind. But all sins are bad, so you have to never do them no matter what.

Munch: Ask and ye shall receive, unless of course you're Jewish.
Cragen: I'm not.

Vizcarrondo: Found these scissors in the school dumpster.
Tutuola: She means I found them, underneath the tuna casserole. All she did was stand there and point.

Munch: Since when did New York become a red state?

Stabler: Emma would've been much better off if Zoe had just gone along with Kate's lie to the school.
Benson: You think Zoe should stay in the closet just to make a bunch of homophobes happy?
Stabler: You don't send your kids to military school if you're a pacifist. Not without expecting some friction.
Benson: So you agree with the school.
Stabler: I'm just saying it's complicated. Being Catholic means believing in certain things.
Tutuola: But she wanted to make a point. Take the school to court. Win one for the cause.
Munch: Somebody's gotta fight the fight.
Tutuola: But it shouldn't be an eight-year-old. Emma's so messed up, she has to see a shrink twice a week.

Emma Boyd: I didn't do anything.
Benson: Emma, even if it was an accident, you need to tell us. We know that school's been tough lately and kids can be really cruel.
Stabler: Is that what happened with you and Sean? Did he say something mean?
Emma Boyd: He said I was a freak, and I was gonna go to hell.
Stabler: Why?
Emma Boyd: Because I have two moms instead of a mom and a dad.
Zoe Dunlop: Sweetie, we talked about this, didn't we? What did we say?
Emma Boyd: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words may never hurt me.
Benson: Emma, Charlie lied to us. We know that he drove Sean to the hospital. Now, if you don't tell us the truth, he's gonna get in a lot of trouble.
Emma Boyd: I am telling you the truth!
Zoe Dunlop: Detective, Emma didn't hurt Sean, just like she's never hurt any of the other kids who are mean to her at school.

Stabler: [to Father Justin] Still, you knew Sean was tormenting Emma, and you kept quiet to save your own neck.
Father Justin Miller: I like being a priest and I am this close to having the church remove my faculties. I didn't want the school to get any bad press.
Stabler: So spin control's more important than keeping two kids from ruining their lives.

Sean Hamill: Well, I only bother Emma because she's so weird.
Stabler: She is, huh? Why is she weird?
Sean Hamill: Her mom's a lesbian. It's just wrong. The Bible says homosexuality is a sin.
Stabler: I don't remember seeing that in the Bible.
Sean Hamill: Corinthians says gay people are going to hell. That's in the new testament. The old testament is way harsher. It says gays should be put to death.
Stabler: All right. And so that makes it okay for you to cut off Emma's hair. Why'd you do it, Sean?
Sean Hamill: I didn't hurt her. It was just a joke!
Stabler: You went after a little girl with a pair of scissors.
Sean Hamill: All I did was cut her hair. She stabbed me in the back and now I can't walk. It's not fair.

[about Emma]
Edgar Hamill: Did that girl stab Sean?
Stabler: Yeah.
Edgar Hamill: Then I don't care if he called her a fag dyke whore bitch from hell. Arrest her!

Benson: [to Emma] We know what Sean really did to you.
Zoe Dunlop: What did he do? Emma, what happened? You've been lying to Mommy, Zoe?
Emma Boyd: [in tears] Yes, I'm sorry. I didn't... I didn't mean to hurt Sean. It's just, he kept yelling, saying, "You're a dyke! You're a dyke!" And I told him I'm not. And he said, "prove it." And then he went to kiss me, so I pushed him away. And then he grabbed me and cut off my hair. And said, "Yes, you're a dyke and now you look like one." I was so mad. I was so ugly. I grabbed the scissors, and I hurt him in the back with them. He fell down and hit his head.

Novak: How'd it go?
Benson: Great. I love putting eight-year-olds in lockup overnight.

Judge H. Bernard: Miss Dunlop, you claimed you had no custodial rights over Emma when she was arrested, but now you want to invoke them. You can't have it both ways!

Benson: Here's your proof that Sean's a bully. "I wanna teach you a game after school. It might hurt, but it'll cure you from being a queer." Does that sound like a sweet kid? And that's not the worst of 'em. You know that I have to share this with the Defense. The minute that I do, Sean's credibility goes right out the window and so does yours.
Garrett Gillespie: Your Honor, The People request a half hour recess.

James Decker: Detectives, sorry to catch you so late. You need to remove Emma from Zoe Dunlop's custody.
Cragen: Mr. Decker, custody matters belong in family court. Unless there's been a crime, it's out of our hands.
James Decker: Zoe Dunlop has been sexually abusing Emma ever since Kate got sick.
Stabler: We're gonna have to hear that from Emma.
James Decker: You will. She's at the hospital with her mother right now. You can't let her go home with Zoe.
Benson: We've never heard any allegations before. It's a pretty big coincidence that this comes out just after Zoe gets custody.
James Decker: Emma showed this to her grandparents. [shows the detectives photographs] Why does a grown woman take pictures of herself in bed with a naked 8-year-old girl?

Stabler: [to Zoe about the photographs of Emma] You got an 8-year-old lying naked in the bed.
Zoe Dunlop: Emma has always been shy. Kate and I wanted her to have a positive body image, so I took these to show her how beautiful she is.
Stabler: Well, giving her self-esteem is one thing, but you got her vamped for the camera like she's a Playboy mode
Zoe Dunlop: If you think these are sexy, you're the one with the problem. She looks like an angel.

Zoe Dunlop: You think because I'm gay, I'm molesting my own daughter? If I were straight, would this even be an issue?
Stabler: This is not about who you are. It's about what that girl said you did to her.

Dr. Huang: Emma, do you think that it's wrong that your mommies sleep in the same bed together?
Emma Boyd: God says it's against nature. Women are supposed to be with men, otherwise they go to hell.
Benson: Is that what you learned in school?
Emma Boyd: My grandmom told me. She said Mommy Zoe was gonna go to hell for what she did.

Benson: You filled Emma's head with lies to keep her away from her mother...
Deborah Boyd: Her mother is dead...Zoe is ruining my granddaughter's life - it's our moral duty to protect her!
Stabler: Try following the Eighth Commandment: "Thou shalt not bear false witness."

Novak: Your Honor, Mr. Decker clearly coached his clients into manipulating an abuse allegation out of Emma. That's not just outrageous, it's criminal.
James Decker: I offered advice on how to talk to an abused child. That's all.
Novak: Mr. and Mrs. Boyd never would have accused Zoe of molesting Emma had it not been for Mr. Decker.
Judge Karen Taten: That's enough! Counsel, approach.
James Decker: Your Honor, Miss Novak has no absolutely basis for these allegations.
Novak: And Mr. Decker has a history of representing straight clients fighting custody battles with their gay exes.
James Decker: So I get slandered for choosing who I want to represent?
Novak: You fed your clients anti-gay material before custody was even an issue because you were gearing up for a fight. That means you conspired to keep Emma away from Zoe which means you committed a hate crime.
James Decker: That's ridiculous! Not to mention you can't prove any of it.
Judge Taten: Mr. Decker, at the very least, this is a serious breach of ethical conduct.
James Decker: Your Honor...
Judge Taten: I have no choice but to remove you as counsel and declare a mistrial.

Background information and notes[]

  • The title is derived from the word "alienation", which is used in the episode's context to mean isolation and seclusion away from desired or healthy environmental exposure and daily living. It can be used both for social dynamics and for psychology.

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3 4 5

Apartment of
Deb & Oliver Boyd
270 West 79th Street
Monday, October 17

St. Victor's
Catholic School
371 Ninth Avenue
Tuesday, October 18

Clinton Hospital
603 West 57th Street
Tuesday, October 18

Home of
Father Justin Miller
330 Ninth Avenue
Wednesday, October 19

Apartment of
Kate Boyd & Zoe Dunlop
553 West 29th Street
Wednesday, October 19

6 7 8 9

Family Court
Part 12
Friday, October 21

Family Court
Part 12
Monday, October 24

Apartment of
Kate Boyd & Zoe Dunlop
553 West 29th Street
Monday, October 24

Trial Part 83
Tuesday, November 22

Previous episode:
"Storm"
"Alien"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Season 7
Next episode:
"Infected"
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