| "Manipulated" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 7.15 | → |
| Production number: 07015 First aired: 7 February 2006 | ||
 | ||
| Written By Jose Molina Directed By Matt Earl Beesley | ||
When the body of a young woman is found murdered in her apartment, Detectives Benson and Stabler discover she's a successful attorney... and a stripper.
Plot
After the body of Vicky Riggs is found, Benson and Stabler delve into her private life and finally learn that in addition to being a respected lawyer, she was also a stripper. A surveillance photo leads them to Linus McKellen, her boss's husband, who was also having an affair with her. There isn't enough evidence to prove he murdered Vicky, but when Vicky's co-worker at the club, Josie Post, is also found murdered, DNA proves that McKellen's semen was found in her body, despite his disabled wife, Tessa's conviction that he would never murder anyone.
Suspicion turns on Tessa herself once the detectives interview the only man who seems capable of having committed the murders. Tessa is revealed to have been faking her illnesses and after she uses an insulin overdose to induce a seizure, she is ordered into a mental health facility instead of a trial.
Benson and Stabler talk to Linus and learn that he hasn't spoken to her neurologists in years so she may actually have gotten better and be cured of her paralysis which is proven when Linus shoves her into a pool and she swims to safety and then starts to walk. Linus leaves Tessa and presumably, this new evidence is enough to change the judge's mind to have Tessa stand trial for her crimes.
Summary
Episode summary
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 M.E. Melinda Warner
- Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen
Recurring cast
- Ned Eisenberg as Defense Attorney Roger Kressler
- Joel de la Fuente as T.A.R.U. Technician Ruben Morales
- Mike Doyle as C.S.U. Technician Ryan O'Halloran
- Joanna Merlin as Judge Lena Petrovsky
- Betty Buckley as Defense Attorney Walsh
Guest cast
- Rebecca De Mornay as Tessa McKellen
- Brian Slaten as Alan Anthony Winchell
- Kevin Carrigan as Jeffrey Sobchak
- Holt McCallany as Walter Inman
- Chris Potter as Linus McKellen
- Faina Vitebsky as Josie Post
- Matthew Maher as Tim
- Mark Love as Wally Rimaldi
- Matthew Lee Erlbach as Guy in Black
- Angela Gaylor as Pretty Woman
- Justin Swain as Camera Guy
- T.J. Meyers as Uniform Officer #1
- Will McLaughlin as Uniform Officer #2
- Henry Afro-Bradley as Davy
References
Afghanistan; Cheney, Dick; CSU; Iraq; Mercy General Hospital; Mount Pleasant; Munchausen syndrome; New Jersey; Rikers Island; Silverhammer; TARU; Tietjen & Otten Architecture; Lethal Weapon; 3 William 56; Vicky Riggs.
Quotes
- Linus McKellen pushes Tessa McKellen in her wheelchair into the pool. Linus, Olivia, and Elliot wait to see if anything happens. Tessa begins to swim and move her legs (supposed to be paralyzed from a car accident three years back).
"Look it's a miracle, she can swim." (Tessa swims to the edge of the pool and starts to climb out.)
"And she can walk too."
- - Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler
"Now where'd you get Linus's semen? Did you two have a little, "don't-ask-don't-tell" thing going on. Walter? Why'd ya do it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, but if you get any closer, I'll jam my knee into your balls so hard you'll have to spit 'em out."
- - Elliot Stabler and Walter Inman
"I believe Linus. I don't think he slept with Josie."
"Well, a man's DNA doesn't just pop up inside a woman without his participation."
- - Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler
"My client is sick, Your Honor, but she cannot stop. Whenever she's under stress, she will make herself ill."
"Well, then, gee, why don't we let her off before she injects herself with HIV?"
- - Attorney Walsh and Casey Novak
"It's one thing to play sick to get attention, another to inject yourself with streptococcus bacteria. She could have died."
"Patients with Munchausen's often do. I had a patient who catherized herself to pump egg whites into her kidneys and cause renal failure. She was about to be put on the transplant list when we caught her."
- - Casey Novak and George Huang
"Vicky didn't love Alan. She wasn't going to marry him."
"She tell you that between lap dances?"
"No. After work."
- - Tim and Odafin Tutuola
"I miss the day when revenge just meant shooting someone."
"And I miss the days when I never had to say I ran more DNA tests on that semen."
- - John Munch and Melinda Warner
""I catch killers for a living but even I wasn't prepared for the horror of Rosemary’s Bridesmaid." I gotta say this?"
{C}"I've seen it. Believe me, nothing could prepare you for that piece of schlock. "
- - Donald Cragen and John Munch
{C}"What do PMCs do?"
{C}"Profit from the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan."
{C}"Please, don't get him started on Dick Cheney again."
- - Olivia Benson, John Munch and Odafin Tutuola
{C}"We're always looking for a few good men." (looks at Olivia) "And women."
- - Jeffrey Sobchak
{C}"Hey, Tim. I hear you got a great wiener."
- - Odafin Tutuola
"Who's going to take care of me?"
{C}"The warden will. You'll never be alone in prison."
- - Tessa McKellen and Olivia Benson
"All right, let's try that again. Walter Inman, you are under arrest for the murder of Vicky Riggs and Josie Post, and for assaulting one of New York's finest, finest!"
- -John Munch
Background information and notes
- The episode title "Manipulated" is a reference to the manipulation Tessa McKellen used on her husband Linus McKellen. She tried to make him pay for his infidelity with Vicky Riggs.
Episode scene cards
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Law Offices of |
Tietjen & Otten |
McKellen Residence |
Chambers of |
Apartment of |
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Mercy General Hospital |
Silverhammer |
Rikers Island |
Competency Hearing |
| Previous episode: "Taboo" |
"Manipulated" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 7 |
Next episode: "Gone" |