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"Home Invasions"
SVU, Episode 13.14
Production number: 13014
First aired (US): 15 February 2012
First aired (UK): 10 June 2012
First aired (CAN): 15 February 2012
First aired (AUS): 10 May 2012
  {{{nNthProducedInSeries}}}th of 502 produced in SVU  
{{{nNthReleasedInSeries}}}th of 502 released in SVU
  {{{nNthReleasedInAll}}}th of 1271 released in all  
Svu1314
Written By
Bryan Goluboff

Directed By
Jim McKay

Plot[]

A gunman storms a family's home, killing the parents and leaving their teenage daughter in critical condition. When a hate crime investigation turns into a dead end, Benson and the SVU detectives struggle to find a motive for such violence. The clues lead to a surprising revelation about Detective Rollins, which threatens her future in the Special Victims Unit.

Summary[]

Joan and Sidney Eckhouse are shot to death in their household. Their teenage daughter, Emmy, is shot in the head, but survives. At first, the crime looks to be related to Joan's job at the New York Gay Right Coalition, but evidence points to the possible involvement of the Eckhouses' former houskeeper, Carmen and her brother, Jimmy (who is an ex-con and found religion).

Jimmy provides an alibi, but later the detectives discover that Emmy told Carmen about being molested by her father. It then becomes clear that Carmen and Jimmy were protecting Emmy. In the end, Emmy confesses that she was part of the plan to kill her parents because Sidney raped her and Joan didn't do anything to stop it. She was supposed to be with her boyfriend, Rob Fisher, that night, but was shot in the head by accident. Eventually, Emmy is arrested.

Meanwhile, Rollins reveals that she has a severe gambling problem which Cragen helps her find a support group to help her.

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

Quotes[]

Cragen: [to Amaro and Rollins] Hey, guys, hold off on your dinner break. We got a shooting in Yorkville. Two fatalities confirmed.
Rollins: And that's SVU because... ?
Cragen: Well, the shooting took place at the home of Joan Eckhouse, chief counsel for the New York Gay Rights Coalition. I'll have Liv and Fin meet you there.

Murphy: [after Olivia and Amaro go over his past charges] These are very good stories, but you know what else is good? Twilight. They say it's just for tweens, but I do love those vampires.

Rollins: Thanks for coming to meet me.
Tutuola: It's all good. What's up?
Rollins: Fin, I have a problem.
Tutuola: That guy Murphy, right?
Rollins: Yeah. Back home, I was in football pools, I bet NCAA tournaments, the derby, big stuff. I liked the action, but it wasn't serious, but since I got to New York, it's out of control.
Tutuola: How deep you in?
Rollins: $20K.
Tutuola: Plus the juice every week?
Rollins: Yeah, I was down 50 at one point.
Tutuola: Did he always know you were a cop?
Rollins: No. I told him I was a bartender. I checked him out. I wanted to know who I was dealing with. I made my pay-off at his bar. I waited and I followed Murphy when he left.
Tutuola: Where'd he go?
Rollins: To a social club in Hell's Kitchen. A bookie joint. And I did some digging around on Murphy's known associates. His boss's name is McCourt. Scary guy. Tonight, Murphy knocked me around. He threatened me. He had that guy Parker with him for backup.
Tutuola: He hit you?
Rollins: Yeah.
Tutuola: Are you okay? [Rollins nods] You sure?
Rollins: Yeah. Anything else you wanna know about your new partner?
Tutuola: Okay, this is the deal. We take these creeps off the street, and let them know exactly who the hell we are. Then you're gonna have to come clean to the captain.

Amaro: [to the doctor about Emmy] Hey, doc, you have a second? I saw you have her on antivirals? Can I ask why? Look, this may be pertinent to our investigation.
Dr. Sloane: The surgery triggered a herpes outbreak. A nurse noticed it when they were changing her catheter.
Benson: Genital herpes?
Dr. Sloane: Simplex two. Not that unusual in a sexually-active 14-year-old. I should get back in there. [leaves]
Amaro: So she was having sex.
Benson: Emmy's boyfriend told us that they took a vow of celibacy.

[Rollins has admitted to being a gambling addict]
Cragen: I've been exactly where you are, I know how this job can weigh on you.
Rollins: What do you mean?
Cragen: I used to drink. And I mean "drink". Soon as I got off duty, I was at the bar pounding. And then I started having a few on the job. You know, just to get through. I thought nobody noticed. Now, my captain could've canned my ass. Should've. But he got me help instead.
Rollins: Wow.
Cragen: You're a good detective, Amanda. I don't want to end your career.
Rollins: I don't want that, either.
Cragen: So I'm gonna get you help. But you screw up again, you're gone.

Benson: Absentee mother, adolescent girl left alone in the house with her father.
Amaro: Who has a drinking problem.
Benson: Says she's a virgin, but somehow contracted genital herpes? Wouldn't be the first time we tested a corpse for STDs.

Amaro: Lab report on Sidney Eckhouse's tissue samples from the autopsy. Father and daughter tested positive for the same strain of herpes.
Cragen: Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

[after it's revealed that Emmy was molested by her father]
Benson: You're 14, Emmy. You shouldn't have to go through this alone. There's people that you can talk to, that will help you.
Emmy Eckhouse: You wanna help me? Make sure Rob never finds out. I don't ever want Rob to know. He'd be disgusted. Please don't tell him. Please.

Rev. Jimmy Vazquez: [to Amaro] Are you a believer?

[about Emmy being involved in her parents' death]
Cragen: We need to find out if she had a hand in this
Benson: Well, even if she did, she's a 14-year-old girl who was the victim of sexual abuse in her own home.
Cragen: And there were other ways she could've handled it. Look, I hope to God she's not involved, but we have to follow through on this.

Emmy Eckhouse: Carmen and Jimmy were trying to save me. I told them Friday night my parents would both be home. I was supposed to be at Rob's house. I told them to write "Queers" on the wall so the police would think it was a hate crime.
Amaro: And, look, your father, I get. But your mother?
Emmy Eckhouse: My father was just pathetic. He couldn't help himself. But my mom? I hated her more than him.
Benson: She knew.
Emmy Eckhouse: She let it happen! Carmen tried to tell her. I tried. Everybody thinks that she's some kind of hero, but she was more worried about saving the world than she was about saving her own daughter.

Background information and Notes[]

  • Captain Donald Cragen says, "Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." This is a reference to the opening line of Lev Tolstoy's 1877 novel Anna Karenina which begins, "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3 4

New York
Gay Rights Coalition
183 Franklin Street
Saturday, January 28

Iglesia Oasis de Fe,
Amor Y Paz
233 East 112th Street
Sunday, January 29

Murf the Surf's Pub
1717 2nd Avenue
Monday, January 30

Fisher Apartment
455 East 84th Street
Tuesday, January 31

Previous episode:
"Father's Shadow"
"Home Invasions"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Season 13
Next episode:
"Hunting Ground"
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