| "Identity" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 6.12 | → |
| Production number: E5215 First aired: 18 January 2005 | ||
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| Written By Lisa Marie Petersen & Dawn DeNoon Directed By Rick Wallace | ||
Summary
Episode summary
Plot
The murder of a debauched gangbanger leads the detectives to a pair of twins, one of whom is not all that she appears to be. The squad eventually learns that the girl twin, Lindsay, was born a boy but a botched circumcision led to her parents making her a girl at the recommendation of the sex therapist the twins are currently seeing. Due to the fact they're identical twins, but one was made physically female and was raised and treated as one, Doctor Preston Blair considers them to be the perfect way to prove that it's nurture and not nature that determines gender identity. The main problem with Dr. Blair is that instead of treating them as his patients, Logan and Lindsay are more like his test subjects and he doesn't seem to care what his research does to their emotional well being.
Doctor Hendrix reveals the truth to Lindsay when Lindsay desperately pleads to know how DNA proved it could've only been Logan that did it as ADA Novak is taking her statement of what happened. Knowing something has always been wrong, Lindsay's world collapses and seeing his experiment completely ruined, Dr. Blair threatens to have the medical review board revoke Dr. Hendrix's license. While packing up her office in Bellevue, Hendrix informs Stabler and Benson that Lindsay has made the decision to change back to his original genetic gender. When they get the call to return to the station, Logan reveals to Benson and Stabler that their therapist has been molesting them for years; showing them pornographic images and even forcing them to enact sex with each other.
Blair is arrested for disseminating pornography to minors and makes bail three days later (thanks to Novak having a file clerk friend of hers "lose" the paperwork for a few days), but is murdered by one of the twins. However, the right amount of days have passed for all the estrogen to pass through Lindsay's (now answering only to Luke) system so it's impossible to differentiate between Logan's and Lindsay's DNA. The only way to tell which one did it would be to get one to turn on the other, but the detectives know that that's never going to happen.
Cast
Main cast
- Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler
- Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson
- Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch
- Diane Neal as A.D.A. Casey Novak
- Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola
- B.D. Wong as Dr. George Huang (credit only)
- Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen
Recurring cast
- Mary Stuart Masterson as Dr. Rebecca Hendrix
- Tamara Tunie as M.E. Melinda Warner
- Charlayne Woodard as Sister Peg
- Donnetta Lavinia Grays as Officer Ramirez
Guest cast
- Peter Firth as Dr. Preston Blair
- Reiley McClendon as Logan & Lindsay Stanton
- Hillary Bailey Smith as Amelia Stanton
- John Bolger as Mr. Stanton
- Denise Ramirez as Claudia Hernandez
- Michael Ray Escamilla as Hector Ramirez
- Ron Scott as Jerry Delvecchio
- Ana Maria Andricain as Housekeeper
- Regan Thompson as Katie
- Alessandra Ramos as Carmen
- Cheryse Nichol Pickens as Tiny
- Marilyn Dobrin as Betty
- William Paulson as Agent McCloskey
- Tami Mansfield as Nanny #1
- Amy Kim Waschke as Nanny #2
- Sandra Caldwell as Nanny #3
- Robert Patrick Brink as Herb
- Vince Cupone as Melvin
- Kent Cassella as Uniform Officer #2
- Armando Acevedo as Jorge
References
Stone Cold Assassins; Luis Vega; Hanover Day School; St. Anne's Homeless Shelter; Born 2 Be Bad; July 14th, 1990
Quotes
- Betty: We ain't no 'bangers.
- Olivia Benson: Sweetie, you've got "S.C.A." stenciled on your fingernails.
- Elliot Stabler: Doc, I saw the 'art' in your office, and even I was uncomfortable with how many phalluses were on display
- Dr. Preston Blair: That's because you're a bourgeios American, completely uptight about sex. It's what screws up your children and turns them into sex offenders.
- Elliot Stabler: ....You lost me at 'bourgeois.'
- Olivia Benson: (while arresting Hector Ramirez) You're a real tough guy, huh? Killing a deaf girl while she's asleep!
- Hector Ramirez: She wasn't asleep! She was awake and begging! (Stabler knocks his head against a street light)
- Olivia Benson: Careful with his teeth. We need them to make a cast.
- Carmen: Let's go meet Rico, whoever the hell he is.
- Casey Novak: The wheels of justice move slowly. Especially when a file clerk friend of mine misplaces the paperwork.
- Olivia Benson: Nice.
Background information and notes
- Goof: When Dr. Warner shows the detectives a karyotype, the "Y" chromosome should be much smaller than the "X" chromosome. It is in fact an "X" chromosome with one of the legs blacked out.
- This episode is loosely based on the real-life case of David Reimer .
- This episode explores the concepts of gender identity, transgender, and the potential long-term psychological, personal and social effects of circumcision.
Episode scene cards
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|
|
Netty's Fruit Market |
Saint Anne's |
Hanover Day School |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|
|
Stanton Residence |
521 East 79th Street |
Office of |
| Previous episode: "Contagious" |
"Identity" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 6 |
Next episode: "Quarry" |