Night
From The Law & Order Wiki
| "Night" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 6.20 | → |
| Production number: E5224 First aired: 3 May 2005 | ||
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| Teleplay By Amanda Green Story By Amanda Green & Chris Levinson Directed By Juan José Campanella & Arthur W. Forney | ||
A bizarre rape-murder case draws the Special Victims Unit into a web of third-world refugees who claim to have been victimized by a wealthy eccentric. As the detectives get closer to solving the case, one of their own is brutally attacked.
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[edit] Plot
The rape-homicide of a woman leads detectives to a link of illegal immigrants who have each been raped but are too afraid of getting deported to report it. Olivia Benson is able to pull the story from a Bosnian Muslim woman who is very fearful of telling her story, not only because she is at risk of being deported, but because Muslim women must be virgins before marriage. Thus, Olivia must keep the rape a secret from the woman's brother.
The witness gives Benson money that the perp left on her and after some testing the detectives discover three fingerprints on the bill: one belonging to a bank teller, one belonging to the victim, and one belonging to a local lawyer. The detectives, along with some help from ADA Novak, make a visit to the lawyer and soon discover he is covering up for one of his clients. Following some more clues, they come up with a prime suspect: a man that follows a strict, daily schedule and is paranoid about little things, such as what time he has to eat dinner. The suspect is brought in for questioning, but is immediately released thanks to his lawyer and mother. However, as he leaves the station he complains about a cold. He picks up a tissue out of his pocket and blows into it. As he is about to set it back into his pocket his mother scolds him and tells him to throw it away, which he does. Stabler later picks up the tissue and takes it to the crime lab. Warner says it will take time to run all the tests, but she believes there is make up on the tissue, perhaps that of the original victim's.
The detectives turn to the witness to pick the perp out of a line up, but when they arrive at her home they find she was arrested due to her illegal status. The detectives hunt her down and Novak arranges for her to have legal status until she testifies in court, afterwhich she promises to fight for a green card for her. The witness picks a perp out of a line up, and it just happens to be the detectives' prime suspect.
Novak returns to her office along with Benson during the night to work out the details on the case. A phone call comes to Novak's office saying that someone sent her flowers. Novak tells the caller to send them up, however she fears they are from the perp's lawyer, who flirted with her earlier. Benson offers to go get some coffee and leaves. Suddenly, a man dressed in black enters with flowers and begins to brutally beat Casey. She suffers several blows to the head and a few kicks as well. Her attempts to fight back were all thwarted down. Benson returns to her office to find her knocked out on the floor. She calls an ambulance and rides to the hospital with her, while she tells Elliot to check the security cameras.
Elliot decides to make a stop at the perp's house first. The perp demands he leave, but Elliot refuses. He searches around and throws out a few threats before leaving. After checking the security tapes, Elliot finds the perp wasn't behind it. The attacker happened to be the witness's brother. He is arrested and explains that, under his interpretation of fundamentalist Islam, Novak deserved to die as she revealed that his sister wasn't pure. He also reveals she no longer wishes to testify. Elliot offers to go talk to her, but Cragen demands Casey does. Olivia explains that she is off work and doesn't want to be seen, and Cragen reveals that is why he wants her to go. Casey talks to the witness and she agrees to testify again, however Casey soon finds she is taken off the case. The detectives now have a case against the perp for rape, but not for the rape-homicide shown at the beginning of the show.
Elliot soon finds the mother of the perp has filed a complaint against him and he is no longer allowed around him if he doesn't want the charges to esculate. Warner then calls with good news and Elliot heads over. Warner explains the DNA of the victim is on the tissue in the form of tears. The end of the episode shows Elliot arresting the perp.
[edit] Cast
[edit] Main cast
- Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler
- Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson
- Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch (credit only)
- 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
[edit] Recurring cast
- Tamara Tunie as Dr. Melinda Warner
- Mike Doyle as Forensics Technician Ryan O'Halloran
- Fred Thompson as D.A. Arthur Branch
- David Thornton as Lionel Granger
- Bebe Neuwirth as ADA Tracey Kibre
- Kirk Acevedo as DA Investigator Hector Salazar
[edit] Guest cast
- Alfred Molina as Gabriel Duvall
- Angela Lansbury as Eleanor Duvall
- Bradley Cooper as Jason Whitaker
- Anya Migdal as Nina Zergin
- Stelio Savante as Milan Zergin
- Lou Ferguson as Mr. Beauclaire
- Marlyne N. Afflack as Sarah Miller
- Rita Moreno as Mildred Quintana
- Geoffrey Ewing as Agent Tim Harriman
- Gladys Perez as Yolanda Martinez
- Folake Olowofoyeku as Amina Asante
- Marla Schaffel as Vicky
- Jasmine Lobe as Marla
- Jack MacGruder as Roger
- Alexis Neophytides as Girl
- Grant Monohon as Floyd
- Shane Geraghty as Tucker
- Dennis Pressey as Dog Handler
- Chris Lees as Skateboarder
- Katherine Hoskins Mackey as Detective
- Haerry Kim as Korean Woman
[edit] References
The Box; Sarajevo, Bosnia; Nigeria; Granger, McCullum, & Kerstetter; New Americans Justice Center; Marguerite Beauclaire; Clay Duvall; Tobias Gaynes; Manhattan Bank & Trust; Immigration & Naturalization Service
[edit] Quotes
Quotes
[edit] Background information and notes
- This episode is the first half of a two-part crossover with Law & Order: Trial by Jury. The other half is the TBJ episode "Day"
| Previous episode: "Intoxicated" | "Night" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 6 | Next episode: "Blood" |
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