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"Hardwired"
SVU, Episode 11.05
Production number: 11005
First aired (US): 21 October 2009
First aired (UK): 13 November 2009
First aired (CAN): 23 October 2009
First aired (AUS): 11 March 2010
  th of 502 produced in SVU  
th of 502 released in SVU
  th of 1271 released in all  
Benson and Haung Hardwired
Written By
Mick Betancourt

Directed By
David Platt

Plot[]

After Eva Banks finds out that her son Cory was sexually abused, Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler come onto the scene and question the victim and his family. The detectives look into leads and believe it was the wrestling coach who has an interesting past and arises anger from Stabler.

When informing his parents, they want Cory to tell the truth but he asserts it was not his coach. From the boy's frightened reaction, when his stepfather Thomas Banks silences the investigation, it is clear to everyone in the room who the real perpetrator is. Benson and Stabler are able to get Cory to tell them about the abuse and where to find nude pictures Thomas took of him. With this evidence, they arrest Thomas who offers up Kevin O'Donnell the head of Our Special Love, a pedophile-rights group and child pornography ring, in exchange for leniency.

SVU monitors a dinner, albeit risky, where Kevin gives Thomas all of the information regarding the members. Eva loses her cool, stabbing Thomas' shoulder with a kitchen knife when SVU bursts in, and ADA Cabot is furious. They arrest the man, Kevin O'Donnell, as well as every other member of the group on multiple child pornography and sexual abuse charges. Detective Stabler also lets the other members know that Kevin was responsible for letting them be found on the computer. Benson tells the scared Kevin that his lawyer will be with him the next day, leaving Kevin at the mercy of his fellow members, who beat him and leave him with a black eye.

ADA Alexandra Cabot tries O'Donnell for his crimes, but he and his lawyer offer the defense that pedophilia is a hard-wired sexual orientation and that adult-child sexual relationships are healthy and normal. The defense calls Eva to the stand since she has a temper that could ruin the case. However, with Benson's encouragement, Eva keeps her composure during her testimony, even when Cory bursts into the courtroom and says that Thomas was hurting him - not "loving" him.

While Eva and her son are cleaning out the apartment, Benson comes in to inform them that O'Donnell was sentenced to over 3,000 years in prison, while Thomas got twenty years for abusing Cory. Eva, finally able to move on with her life, sells her house and moves back to Florida with Cory for a new start.

Summary[]

Episode summary

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

Quotes[]

Cory Banks: Leave my mom alone! [kicks Elliot in the crotch, Elliot doubles over]
Benson: Okay, that's it, everybody's going to the station. [to Elliot] You okay?
Stabler: [nods, then straightens up] Now I know why they call them special victims.

Cragen: [to Dr. Huang] So Cory didn't molest Patrick, he just acted out his own demons because HE was molested.

[After getting accused by Stabler and Benson of giving Cory chlamydia]
Coach Simons/Tony Acardo: I'm clean! I was just at the clinic two weeks ago!
Stabler: Well, the doctor's going to stick a swab in your penis, which you'll probably like, but God help you if it comes back positive.

Stabler: Your son has been sexually abused.
Eva Banks: What? By who?
Benson: His wrestling coach. He did time in a Maryland prison for child sexual abuse.
Eva Banks: Oh my God! Are you sure?
Benson: Well the doctor found evidence of long term sexual abuse, but Cory wouldn't disclose any information to Dr. Huang.

Benson: Is Thomas ever alone with Cory?
Eva Banks: No, because I'm watching Cory 24 hours a day.
Benson: Well, you've got to sleep, don't you?
Eva Banks: [Gets a look of horror] Oh my god...
Benson: What? What is it?
Eva Banks: In the shelter, I had to stay up all night to make sure no one would mess with our stuff or mess with Cory, I became an insomniac. Thomas took me to this doctor who gave me these pills and he said that...
Benson: Nothing wakes you up.

Stabler: Thomas Banks, you are under arrest for sexually abusing your stepson. Where's your laptop?
Thomas Banks: I don't have a laptop.
Banks' Co-worker: In the closet.
Thomas Banks: You little weasel.

Benson: Eva, Eva. You don't have to move.
Eva Santiago: But... Thomas pays the mortgage and he's never given me any of the passwords on any of our accounts--
Benson: So? We'll go to the bank, we'll show them your ID, we'll empty the accounts, we'll start a new one in your name and then we come here and change the locks!
Eva Santiago: Really?
Benson: Yeah!
Eva Santiago: [sighs with relief] Damn girl, you got a little gangster in you, huh?

Cabot: We have a bulletproof case against Banks and you want to cut him a deal?
Stabler: To nail an even bigger bottom feeder, Kevin O'Donnell.
Cabot: And he is...?
Stabler: President of Our Special Love, the latest civil rights group for child molesters.
Huang: They defend a pedophile's right to have sex with children.
Cabot: The same thing NAMBLA tried to do?
Huang: The OSL goes a step further. It claims that pedophilia is a genetically based sexual orientation, like hetero or homosexuality. And that pedophiles are being persecuted like gays in Iraq or Iran. It's, it's despicable!
Benson: I've never seen you this ticked off before.
Huang: Pseudo science like this insults my intelligence as a psychiatrist and my humanity as a gay man.

[after Eva assaults her husband during an undercover operation]
Cabot: You call this clown show an undercover operation? You promised me there would be no injuries.
Stabler: We've got it under control.
Cabot: Not until you get the wild card out of here. Arrest her.
Cory Santiago: [to Cabot] No, you can't take my mom!
Benson: Alex, do you understand what he has been through tonight? She just endured dinner with her son's rapist and helped us bust a pedophile ring.
Cabot: I cannot whitewash assault with a deadly weapon when it happened on video and in front of three detectives.
Benson: Cory needs his mother tonight. Please do not do this.
Cabot: [to Stabler] Book her.

Stabler: [to Kevin O'Donnell] You son of a bitch. I'm gonna fix you right now, so you can't love any more kids.
Kevin O'Donnell: You can't intimidate me! Someday, you and everyone else are going to have to accept people like me.
Stabler: I'll accept you when you're dead.

[Elliot comes down with a cuffed O'Donnell]
Stabler: Hey all you vermin! You can thank your leader Kevin O'Donnell for keeping such meticulous records. Enjoy Kev.
[O'Donnell has been thrown into a holding cell with all the pedophiles who have been arrested because of information on his laptop]
O'Donnell: You can't leave me in here. I want my lawyer.
Benson: Yeah, she'll meet you in arraignment tomorrow.
[O'Donnell looks around nervously at the angry pedophiles in his cell]

Cabot: According to your testimony, we would have to change the name of our sex crimes division to Special Victimless Unit.

Kevin O'Donnell: If you call me and others a pedophile, it's like calling African Americans the "N" word or homosexuals the "F" word. Minor-adult relationships are normal, safe and healthy.
Cabot: Then why do you think medicine, psychiatry and the law all recognize that children are not mature enough to enter into a sexual relationship with an adult?
Kevin O'Donnell: I really don't know.
Dr. Huang: Because it's rape. That's why.
Judge D. Andrews: Dr. Huang. You know better.

Dr. Huang: This trial is a sham! We've got a pedophile claiming to be a victim, and a victim blowing kisses at her attacker.

Eva Santiago: What if I go in there and make everything worse?
Benson: You can do this. I wouldn't be here if I didn't believe in you.
Eva Santiago: I don't believe in me.
Benson: You're a fighter. Look at everything you've overcome. Don't give up now.

Background information and notes[]

  • ADA Cabot makes her first appearance this season; the last appearance she made was in "Liberties"; as of this episode, she has also been promoted back to the main cast, the first time since "Loss".
  • During the course of this episode, Dr. George Huang is revealed to be gay, making him the second confirmed LGBTQIA main character in the Law & Order franchise. The first was ADA Serena Southerlyn, who came out after being fired by Arthur Branch, as she thought the conservative Branch had fired her because of her sexuality. The third, fourth and fifth are Katriona Tamin, Ayanna Bell and Carmen Riley.
  • This episode is based on the real life organization NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy Love Association), which promotes romantic relationships between men and boys, similarly to Kevin O'Donnell's website Our Special Love.
  • Actor Garret Dillahunt, who played Kevin O'Donnell, is married to former SVU star Michelle Hurd, who played Detective Monique Jeffries. She does not appear in this episode.
  • While filming, Rosie Perez sustained serious injuries to her neck and hip. In 2011, she filed a lawsuit against the producers. The lawsuit was settled out of court, resolving the matter under confidential terms.
  • Many fans, particularly rape and abuse victims, have found comfort in one of the quotes from this episode that Benson said: "You're a fighter. Look at everything you've overcome. Don't give up now." As a result, it has become of the most popular and well known quotes from SVU, with some stating that the quote is the reason that they have continued to keep going when struggling with depression, PTSD, or anxiety.
  • After Eva is arrested for stabbing her husband, Olivia persuades ADA Cabot to give her a Desk Appearance Ticket (DAT) instead of taking her to arraignment court that night. At the time, DATs were given only for violations, misdemeanors, and E-class felonies. Since stabbing someone would be considered "Assault in the Second Degree" - a D-class felony - Eva would not have been eligible for a DAT.
  • After syndication airings in Australia on channel 9Gem, a message appeared on TV to call Lifeline, an Australian mental health and suicide prevention hotline, if the viewer or someone the viewer knows is currently or had been affected by similar events that happened on this episode. The same message also appears after the conclusion of the Law & Order: Organized Crime second season episode "The Christmas Episode".

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3

Mercy General Hospital
365 West 32nd Street
Tuesday, September 8

Banks Residence
362 East 34th Street
Tuesday, September 8

Oslo Global Strategies
256 Pearl Street
Wednesday, September 9

4 5 6

Supreme Court
Trial Part 34
Friday, October 16

Supreme Court
Trial Part 34
Monday, October 19

362 East 34th Street
Wednesday, October 21

Previous episode:
"Hammered"
"Hardwired"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Season 11
Next episode:
"Spooked"
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