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"Pure"
SVU, Episode 6.18
Production number: E5220
First aired (US): 8 March 2005
First aired (UK): 8 August 2005
First aired (CAN): 8 March 2005
First aired (AUS): 7 July 2005
  th of 502 produced in SVU  
th of 502 released in SVU
  th of 1271 released in all  
Sebastian Ballentine
Written By
Dawn DeNoon

Directed By
Aaron Lipstadt

Plot[]

After 18-year-old Kaley Sellers is kidnapped and raped, a self-styled psychic named Sebastian Ballentine comes forward claiming to have information about the kidnapping. Stabler refuses to believe that Ballentine is a real psychic, and moreover, he is convinced that the hints that Ballentine is dropping about the case indicate he is somehow involved. After Kaley's body is found in a spot that Ballentine specifically described, Stabler suspects him of having been the kidnapper, even though he was at the police station when she was killed. Benson and Stabler discover that Kaley planned to sell her virginity on the Internet in exchange for college tuition funding.

After Sister Peg is kidnapped and Kaley's clothes are left on her bed, Benson starts to believe that when Ballentine met Sister Peg at the police station, she revealed she was a nun, signaling to Ballentine that she, like Kaley, is a virgin. Stabler and Tutuola break into Ballentine's apartment but are unable to find her, while Ballentine and his wife Carlene are arrested. Casey manages to get a search warrant for their van and apartment covering Stabler's and Tutuola's break-in. During the search, they learn that the apartment is rented under the name Henry Palaver.

Canadian police send them information revealing that Palaver is a virgin rapist and is possibly Ballentine's partner, until they see Palaver's picture: Palaver and Ballentine are the same person, and the AFIS database does not match with Canadian fingerprints, thus, there was no connection between Ballentine and Kaley's abduction found earlier. Benson gets Carlene to confess, and she reveals that there were many other victims, mostly hitchhikers in Canada. She also confesses to the murder of Kaley in order to protect her husband.

Palaver, witnessing this, confesses to Stabler and reveals that his wife was not a virgin when he married her in prison, so he raped virgins to feed on his sexual compulsion. Benson questions Carlene about Sister Peg's location, believing that she was the kidnapper under Palaver's orders. Carlene gives them the location of a shipping container, inside which Sister Peg is injured but still alive. Peg reveals that Carlene used her baby son Henry, Jr. as bait to come up behind her and subdue her.

When Stabler discovers that an eight and a half month pregnant woman was butchered via caesarean section, he realizes that she, not Carlene, is the child's biological mother, and that her murder was committed at approximately the time the Palavers fled Canada. Carlene confesses to the murder, and to having an affair while Henry was in prison. Carlene also reveals she never had sex with Henry, possibly because he found out about the affair. Carlene hoped that if she brought a baby into the family, he would stop raping women, which was unsuccessful.

Henry, Jr. is eventually returned to his biological father while the Palavers are awaiting to be charged for their crimes. After Henry nearly strangles Carlene to death, he taunts Stabler using the voice he used to leave a sexually graphic message on Kaley's mother's answering machine, reciting the same words. Stabler reveals that while Canada wants Henry extradited, Stabler will attempt to prevent that. Palaver believes him, saying he "thinks that he grew on [Stabler]".

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

Quotes[]

Benson: [to Langan] We should be holding this press conference, not you.
Trevor Langan: This isn't about who gets the most air time.
Mrs. Sellers: Do you have any news?
Benson: I'm sorry.
Trevor Langan: There is really no other option than to appeal to the public for help.
Benson: I agree with you, but we need to control which information gets released.
Trevor Langan: And you just told Mrs. Sellers that you don't have, and given the 48-hour statistic...
Mrs. Sellers: Well, what's that?
Benson: It's a stat that he's confusing on the abduction of much younger children.
Mrs. Sellers: You think he's gonna kill her.
Benson: We don't know that, Mrs. Sellers.
Mrs. Sellers: He's had her for at least 16 hours and you people haven't done anything.

Sebastian Ballentine: Look, I have worked with many other police departments on missing persons cases. My name is Sebastian Ballentine.
Stabler: The Sebastian Ballentine?
Sebastian Ballentine: Oh, you've heard of me?
Stabler: No.
[turns away to take a phone call]

Stabler: [to Ballentine after he comes over to the Sellers house to do a psychic reading] What's your angle, you little vulture?
Sebastian Ballentine: I was just trying to help.
Stabler: That woman is out of her mind with worry. She doesn't need your help.
Sebastian Ballentine: I keep seeing a serial port and a computer cord. Does that mean anything to you?
Stabler: Maybe he met her over the Internet.
Sebastian Ballentine: Yes, I'm seeing that.
Stabler: No, you're not. Computer Crimes went over Kaley's computer. There are no suspicious e-mails. She never visited a chat room, you pathetic fraud.

Mrs. Sellers: Mr. Ballentine hasn't asked for a cent.
Benson: Mrs. Sellers, I know that you're desperate to get your daughter back, but you need to understand that there are unscrupulous people out there.
Mrs. Sellers: That's not Sebastian.
Benson: Psychics come out of the woodwork in high profile cases for exposure. It gets them business.
Mrs. Sellers: But he had a vision.
Benson: And so did the 600 psychics who called in tips on the Elizabeth Smart case. Not to mention all the callers who had dreams about it. A psychic has never solved a case.

[When Ballentine returns to the SVU squad room]
Stabler: Now, what part of "stay out of this" don't you understand?
Sebastian Ballentine: Look, I just I feel that this is where I'm meant to be.
Stabler: Then you are the world's worst psychic.

[about Ballentine helping out]
Stabler: Look, Captain, Captain. He's completely snowed the mother. I just want him to stop bothering her and us again.
Cragen: This isn't a babysitting service.
Stabler: So we dump him in a room and leave him there until he figures it out.
Cragen: Tip line has received over 300 calls. All our rooms are full.
Stabler: So we stuff him in a urinal.

Sebastian Ballentine: [to Sister Peg] And you're a madam?
Sister Peg: No, I'm a nun. What are you?
Sebastian Ballentine: I'm a psychic.

Kivlahan: That Sebastian guy, I thought he was the real deal.
Stabler: Kivlahan, I'm in no mood for jokes.
Kivlahan: No. He knew my mother's name and that she had passed and that she didn't get along with my wife.
Stabler: If you fell for that guy's load of bull, you're in the wrong line of work, pal.

Stabler: [to Ballentine] You're still here.
Sebastian Ballentine: Of course. I feel like a bad piece of furniture. No matter where they move me, I seem to be in the way.
Stabler: You're saying you've been here all night?
Ballentine: You asked me to wait for you, didn't you?
Stabler: You never left this building?
Ballentine: Does astral projection count?

Sebastian Ballentine: [to Olivia] There's a problem with your husband.
Benson: [trying to trick him] Really? What is it?
Ballentine: You don't have one.

Stabler: He went to Psychic University?
Tutuola: Yeah and transferred from Clown College.

Harlan Beaumont: I deserve an apology, in writing!
John Munch: You'll be receiving one in the mail in six to eight weeks.

Cragen: You're free to go, Mr. Ballentine.
Sebastian Ballentine: Are you sure? Don't really feel like I've convinced Detective Stabler yet. I hate to leave him with unresolved angst.
Cragen: Your wife and baby are waiting.
Sebastian Ballentine: No, they aren't.
Cragen: Well, you finally missed one, Kreskin.

[after Sister Peg goes missing and Ballentine is suspected of abducting her]
Stabler: Why would he go after Sister Peg?
Benson: Kaley was selling her virginity on the Internet. Sister Peg's a nun. In his sick mind, that means she's a virgin.
Stabler: Just like Kaley.

[after Stabler and Fin break down the door of Ballentine's apartment to search for him and Fin calls to get a warrant from Novak]
Novak: Has he lost his mind? You tell them to get out of there now.
Benson: But you can get us a search warrant, right?
Novak: No.
Benson: Fin, let me call you back. [hangs up her phone] Casey, please. This is Sister Peg. He could be assaulting her right now.
Novak: Do not make me the bad guy on this. I'm not the one who just violated someone's constitutional rights.
Benson: This is Sister Peg. She testified for you in the Hector Ramirez case.
Novak: And I would do anything to help her, but no judge in his right mind is gonna sign off on a search warrant without probable cause.
Benson: I was there when he met her. Fireworks went off when he found out that she was nun.
Novak: Liv, he was in your precinct the entire time.
Benson: Which means that he has to be working with a partner. They killed Kaley. The same thing is gonna happen to Sister Peg.
Novak: So you're psychic now, too?

Tutuola: They being cooperative?
Cragen: No, it's not looking good. Sebastian's too sharp to slip and Carlene is almost too dim to exist.

Novak: Luckily I know a judge with a drinking problem.

Novak: [to Fin] I fixed this, so you fix the door.
Cragen: What door?

[Fin and TARU are going through a "psychic's" computer that Stabler despises and discover that he ran a search on Detective Benson]
Tutuola: You telling me one click and he knows anybody's business, even a cop?
Ben Suarato: If he pays for it. Search before hers, Elliot Stabler.
Tutuola: Oh, he's gonna kill Ballentine.

Carlene Ballentine: I don't understand.
Benson: Well, it's simple math, Carlene. Your 10th wedding anniversary is coming up next month, but your husband has only been out of prison for eight years. You had a jailhouse wedding, so you had to know what he was in for. Didn't that bother you?
Carlene Ballentine: You don't know him. Henry's the smartest, sweetest, most charming man I've ever met.
Benson: He was doing time for sexual assault. How did you two meet?
Carlene Ballentine: Through a pen pal program.
Benson: With inmates?
Carlene Ballentine: Can you imagine anyone more in need of a friend? The poor things are completely cut off from society.
Benson: Yes, that's the point of putting them behind bars.
Carlene Ballentine: You think that will make them better?
Benson: Sweetie, did you think that you could?

Stabler: What is it with this virgin compulsion? Afraid you're not gonna measure up to other men?
Sebastian Ballentine: Oh, no, no, I'm more than adequate in bed. But the expression on a girl's face her first time is... incomparable.
Stabler: These girls weren't having sex, they were being raped.
Ballentine: Their faces were palettes. Shock, confusion, panic, fear and always just a soupçon of pain.
Stabler: Why'd you come here? You know, if you hadn't, you might've gotten away with it.
Ballentine: Well, I had to see what I had set into motion. Your expressions were priceless. This place was like a beehive that I poked with a stick and also I just I like to help.

Sebastian Ballentine: Well, this was fun. Best sex I ever had.
Stabler: You know they're looking to extradite your sorry ass back to Canada, but I'm gonna make damn sure you stay right here.
Sebastian Ballentine: I believe you really mean that. I kinda grew on you, didn't I?

Background information and notes[]

  • Actors Martin Short and B.D. Wong were both in the films Father of the Bride and its sequel Father of the Bride, Part II.
  • When Sebastian's wife says the line to Stabler about wanting to be "a real nuclear family", she mispronounces the word "nuclear" as "nucular".
  • The voice of the crank call at the beginning of the episode is none other than Jackie Earle Haley, known most notably for his roles in Little Children, Watchmen, and A Nightmare On Elm Street.
  • Benson tries to get Novak to help the Sister Peg kidnapping by reminding her that Peg testified against Hector Ramirez, which happened in the episode "Identity".
  • According to this episode, Detective Stabler's address is 72-12 Castleside Street in the Glen Oaks section of Queens, New York.
  • At one point, Benson tells Kaley's mother that "almost everyone has a scar from a childhood accident." This is likely an allusion to the fact that Mariska Hargitay actually has a childhood scar from the car accident that killed her mother.

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3 4 5

Law Offices of
Henshall & Langan
392 Park Avenue
Saturday, February 26

Technical Assistance
Response Unit
One Police Plaza
Saturday, February 26

Loft of
Michael Winnick
443 Broome Street
Saturday, February 26

Apartment of
Harlan Beaumont
163 West 84th Street
Sunday, February 27

Saint Anne's
Homeless Shelter
330 Tenth Avenue
Sunday, February 27

Previous episode:
"Rage"
"Pure"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Season 6
Next episode:
"Intoxicated"
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