Influence

"Influence"
←	SVU, Episode 7.22	→
Production number: 07020 First aired: 16 May 2006
	{{{nNthProducedInSeries}}}th of 502 produced in SVU
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Written By Ian Biederman Directed By Norberto Barba

Mental-health issues are explored during a case that starts off as a possible rape involving students at a preparatory high school where sexual experimentation is the norm.

Plot

After teenager Jamie Hoskins accuses two of her classmates of rape, it is later proved that it was consensual. After the truth is found out, Jamie attempts suicide as she mows down nine pedestrians with her car, killing one of them. The detectives discover that Jamie is bipolar and off her medication.

Jamie is charged with murder and then later released on her own recognizance after she agrees to stay on her medication. Soon after, rock star Derek Lord (who is known for his negative views on psychology) becomes involved in Jamie's case and Jamie stops taking her medication.

As Jamie insists on listening to Derek Lord's advice not to take medication or take a deal, Novak has no choice but to take her case to trial. During the trial, Jamie stops taking her medication and is forced back on them. When Benson visits her, she is upset but somewhat more open to reason, finally accepting that her parents are the ones that care about her rather than Derek and she reveals what caused him to be sympathetic to her and her to believe in him: he was committed to a psychiatric institution as a child and had electro-convulsive therapy which destroyed a chunk his memories.

Novak brings this up at trial along with the fact that it seemed to have helped him as he stopped trying to kill himself and is now a very successful man. Jamie is found guilty of vehicular manslaughter, but Novak promises to ask to have her sentenced as a juvenile which would result in her being committed to a residential psychiatric facility.

Novak later reveals the source of her strong convictions during the case to Benson: she was once engaged to a man who was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia but refused treatment. Eventually, she couldn't handle it and broke off the engagement. The last time she heard about him, he was homeless, leaving her with guilt that she didn't help him.

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
• Tamara Tunie as Dr. Melinda Warner
• Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen

Recurring cast

• Peter Riegert as Attorney Chauncey Zeirko
• Stephen Gregory as Dr. Kyle Beresford
• Jill Marie Lawrence as Attorney Cleo Conrad
• Tom O'Rourke as Judge Mark Seligman
• Audrie J. Neenan as Judge Lois Preston
• Caren Browning as CSU Captain Judith Siper
• William H. Burns as Officer Robbins

Guest cast

• Brittany Snow as Jamie Hoskins
• Jeff McCarthy as Mr. Hoskins
• Marsha Dietlein as Mrs. Hoskins
• James Murtaugh as Dr. Porterman
• Norman Reedus as Derek Lord
• Ron Scott as Malcolm Shaw
• Chris Lindsay-Abaire as Barbara Collins
• Teddy Cañez as Mr. Ramirez
• John Sutherland as Danny Morrison
• Brandon Gill as Cameron Shaw
• Stella Maeve as Leslie Sweeney
• Zachary Booth as Trevor Olsen
• Jackie Judd as Herself
• Bus Howard as Janitor
• Brianna Shea Russo as Girl
• Jeremy Chu as Boy #1
• Brandon Kelley as Boy #2
• Keisha Alfred as Reporter #1
• Devyn Rush as Katherine
• Thomas Hoyt Godfrey as Foreperson

References

• Nuremburg trials
• Rhode Island

Quotes

Derek Lord: Psychiatry is a corrupt instrument of social control. And no offense, Ms. Novak, but you're a lawyer.

Casey Novak: And you're a rock star. So you'll understand if I don't defer to your expertise on the subject.

Derek Lord: They strap you down to a special table that flips over. So that you don't choke on your own vomit. Then they inject you with a muscle relaxant. Then they tape electrodes to your forehead and then turn up the juice. When your toes starts twitching, that means you're having a major convulsion, which is what they want. It's what they call "healing".

Casey Novak: Why did they do this procedure?

Derek Lord: Because...they said I was psychotic depressive.

Casey Novak: And, in fact, didn't you attempt suicide three weeks prior to your parents committing you?

Derek Lord: It was a mistake.

Casey Novak: You took enough pills to cause permanent brain damage.

Derek Lord: And the cure for that was for them to pass huge amounts of electric current through my brain. ECT fried my memory. Huge chunks of my childhood gone! It was painful, dehumanizing torture. I'll never know how much damage they did to me.

Casey Novak: That sounds like a terrible ordeal. But tell me, after you got out of the hospital, did you ever attempt suicide again?

Derek Lord: No.

Casey Novak: And now you're a rich, successful musician with millions of fans. Isn't it possible that psychiatric didn't ruin your life...it saved it?

Background information and notes

• Derek Lord's rants on psychiatry are based on actor Tom Cruise's rants on Brooke Shields seeking treatment for her postpartum depression.

Episode scene cards

1	2	3
Lanchester Preparatory 318 East 82nd Street Monday, March 13	Technical Assistance Response Unit Tuesday, March 14	Arraignment Part 22 Friday, March 17

4	5	6
Trial Part 53 Tuesday, April 11	Trial Part 53 Tuesday, April 11	Trial Part 53 Thursday, April 13

Previous episode: "Web"

"Influence" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 7

Next episode: "Informed"