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"Hate"
SVU, Episode 5.13
Production number: E4416
First aired: 13 January 2004
  th of 502 produced in SVU  
th of 502 released in SVU
  th of 1271 released in all  
Huang Cragen Hate
Written By
Robert Nathan

Directed By
David Platt

Plot[]

An Arab woman, Mira Elbisi is found murdered after being raped and set on fire. At first it is assumed that Mira's husband and mother-in-law were responsible for her murder, but when a second victim, an Arab man, Tariq Assad is found murdered in the same matter as Mira, the detectives find their suspect, Sean Webster, who shows a major hatred towards Arab people. After Sean kills a Muslim man while in prison, his attorney, Oliver Gates claims that Sean isn't responsible for the murders because he was born with a "genetic predisposition towards hatred and violence."

However, it is turned out that the reason why Sean hated Arabs is because his father left him and his mother for an Arab woman, leaving Sean's mother to teach him to hate Arabs out of spite. Despite this, Sean is unrepentant in his crimes and declares he would kill Seth and his new family.

Cragen later informs the detectives that Sean was later killed in prison by several of the inmates who were friends with the Muslim prisoner that Sean killed earlier.

Summary[]

Episode summary

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

Quotes[]

Munch: We found the guy who sold her the magazines.
Tutuola: Doesn't remember what she looked like, what she said or if she was with anyone. And considering what he was snorting, it's a miracle he remembers his name.
Cragen: Whatever this is, let's be careful not to say Muslim men like to burn their wives.
Munch: No. If they want to burn people, they fly an airplane full of gasoline into an office building.
Dr. Huang: Excuse me, but they were extremists.
Munch: Sorry. But my next door neighbor's Iranian. At airports, even he's scared when he sees Middle Eastern passports. I mean, let's get real. People know it's wrong, but they think it anyway.

Cragen: Casey.
Novak: Who talked to a reporter about this burned woman?
Cragen: And it's nice to see you, too.

Tutuola: You can call me anything you want, Sean: coon, traitor, raghead, towelhead. I got some words for you: Killer, psycho.
Sean Webster: Hey. I'm no psycho.
Tutuola: You burned two innocent people to death.
Sean Webster: They weren't innocent! They had to die or they would kill us all.
Tutuola: Well, who was Mira Elbisi gonna kill? She was working for peace.
Sean Webster: I didn't want to kill her!
Tutuola: You tore up that innocent woman with that pipe, then you burned her alive. You're sick.
Sean Webster: She said that she was a good American and that raghead said that he was our friend. They're all liars! We had to stop them or they're gonna kill us all!

[after interrogating Sean Webster]
Benson: You okay?
Tutuola: I'll take words anytime over being raped with a pipe.
Benson: You've got thicker skin than me.
Tutuola: Couple of hundred years, races will be so mixed up it won't matter. No one will know what color anyone is. He got to you?
Benson: A little. He thought he'd rattle me by calling me an Arab, but the truth is, I don't know anything about my father. Race and color are the least of my questions.

Oliver Gates: The confession's inadmissible.
Cragen: He was Mirandized. He never asked for a lawyer.
Novak: You can stop grandstanding, Oliver. This isn't a press conference.

[about Oliver Gates]
Novak: I've seen that smile. Usually before he demolishes the prosecution's case.

[after it's revealed that Sean Webster murdered a Muslim prisoner while in jail]
Cragen: Your lawyer's gonna be pissed, Sean. You just convicted yourself.
Sean Webster: One less Arab, one less terrorist.
Oliver Gates: Seal your lips, Sean. Not another word. Actually, my client just proved my theory correct.
Novak: What? Another murder gets him off?
Oliver Gates: No, it gets him sent to a mental hospital for the treatment he so desperately needs.
Novak: An insanity defense? You've got no grounds.
Oliver Gates: Sure, I do. His genes. The motion will be filed tomorrow. Sean Webster is biologically and genetically predisposed to hatred and violence. He had no control over his actions.
Novak: It'll never fly.
Cragen: You put a man's genes on trial, nobody'll ever be responsible for anything.

Dr. Huang: [to Dr. Sopher] You start treating people you think will be criminals, you turn psychiatry into social control.

Sean Webster: [to his father] I hate your stinking guts! If I had a gun right now, I'd shoot you in the head! And then I'd go back and I'd set your wife and your bastard kids on fire!


Background information and notes[]

  • Elliot states that he went to a Catholic school called Sisters of Mercy. While the Sisters of Mercy do run and are affiliated with various schools and colleges throughout the U.S. and around the world, there is no Catholic school by that name in New York.
  • Elliot tells Sean Webster that he has three brothers and two sisters, making six children in his family.
  • Elliot claims one of his best friends died in World Trade Center, but he was possibly lying to build rapport with a suspect.
  • This episode was dedicated to the memory of Kevin C. McGill.
  • The detectives points out that if Gates' defense for Sean Webster worked, it would be "The Ultimate Defense". Meaning no criminal would be held responsible for anything.

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3 4

Elbisi Residence
904 Henry Street
Brooklyn Heights
Tuesday, December 2

Interfaith Council
337 Grand Street
Tuesday, December 2

Apartment of
James Assad
124 East 88th Street
Wednesday, December 3

Technical Assistance
Response Unit
One Police Plaza
Wednesday, December 3

5 6 7

Webster Residence
358 West 29th Street
Thursday, December 4

Trial Part 74
Thursday, January 8

Rikers Island
Interview Room
Friday, January 9

Previous episode:
"Brotherhood"
"Hate"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Season 5
Next episode:
"Ritual"
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