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"Repression"
SVU, Episode 3.01
Production number: E2310
First aired: 28 September 2001
  th of 502 produced in SVU  
th of 502 released in SVU
  th of 1271 released in all  
Cragen Ramsey Repression
Written By
Marilyn Osborn

Directed By
Henry Bronchtein

Summary[]

The false memories of a girl's childhood molestation by her father lead to a tragedy.

Plot[]

An 18-year-old girl named Megan Ramsey stumbles into the SVU squad room to report a rape. Benson talks to her, and learns that the man whom she is accusing of the rape is her father, Evan Ramsey, the wealthy head of a major pharmaceutical company. Evan's wife Rebecca, Megan's mother, is the daughter of the company's founder, Charles Southerland. Charles has resented Evan's take-over of the business that he had built. Megan has two younger sisters, 15-year-old Jody and 7-year-old Lily.

Megan is a student at Columbia University, but she has been in therapy, and her therapist, a certain Dr. Wharton, from Whole Life Recovery Center, claims to have uncovered repressed memories of abuse from Evan, which makes Megan fear that Lily is being abused.

The Detectives find pornographic material, and Evan’s underwear, under Lily’s bed, and Evan is arrested. But they then discover that the photos, from an underage porn website, were planted, along with the underwear. After some digging, they realize that it was Megan who downloaded the photos and planted the evidence as a way to make sure Evan got put away.

Now Megan's credibility has been compromised, but she still claims to have been abused. The case is dismissed based on insufficient evidence. Though Evan is freed, Rebecca files for divorce from him. But not long after that, Evan Ramsey is killed in his own office.

Charles owns the type of gun that was used in the killing. The detectives question Charles, who is all too happy to show the detectives his gun, until he discovers that it has gone missing. The gun is found in a gutter near Evan’s office, and it proves to have been the gun used in the shooting. But Charles’s prints are not on the bullets that are in it.

The detectives question Rebecca and her daughters. Rebecca was home, and Megan says that she picked up Jody from dance class, and went straight home. Munch pulls Megan’s car phone records, and finds calls to Evan’s office.

While the detectives interview Dr. Wharton, she acknowledges that she has been making extensive usage of sodium amytal on patients, including Megan, as a means to pull out memories. However, Dr. Huang describes sodium amytal as a drug that actually creates memories, which has caused it to fall out of favor, aside from a handful of die-hard advocates; presumably, Dr. Wharton is one of those die-hard advocates. Dr. Huang mentions "false memory syndrome," which he calls "the power of suggestion run amok." This leads the detectives to wonder if there is a chance that Megan was never raped. Her medical reports prove to reveal that she has an intact hymen; Megan Ramsey is a virgin.

The detectives realize that the "repressed memories" that Dr. Wharton helped Megan bring up were false memories, induced by the therapist with her sodium amytal sessions. Still, Megan does have to be confronted with the shooting of Evan, and she is brought to the grand jury. But much to Cabot's surprise, Jody confesses to the killing while she is on the witness stand.

When Jody is questioned, she admits that she had accompanied Megan to go talk to Evan. They went to his office together. Evan had taken Megan and shaken her, and though she told him to stop, he simply screamed at her while she was crying. Megan dropped her purse, and Jody saw the gun and grabbed it. She yelled at Evan to stop and let Megan go, but he refused to listen. Evan reached for the gun, and it went off--Evan Ramsey accidentally shot himself.

Rebecca is absolutely devastated that Evan was accused of an act that he had never done, and Rebecca was all too willing to believe that he had done it. While Jody will not be prosecuted for shooting Evan, the detectives and the surviving Ramsey family members all feel guilty for the parts each of them took in an innocent man being killed.

Everyone agrees that this tragedy is more Dr. Wharton's fault than that of anyone else, and so Cabot subpoenas Megan's medical records, which will be reviewed by Megan's new therapist, who will testify that the sessions with Dr. Wharton led to the false memory. Megan has also recanted her allegations against Evan. Furthermore, the Ramsey family files suit against Dr. Wharton, whose license is suspended, pending investigation into whether her offenses constitute grounds for it to be revoked, and Stabler arrests the overzealous Dr. Wharton on charges of reckless endangerment in the death of Evan Ramsey.

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

Quotes[]

[Megan's sisters arrive for questioning]
Cragen: Captain Donald Cragen: Okay, separate rooms. See if either one confirms Megan's story. Meanwhile, I'll see if I can wear down Mom with my charm.

Benson: [about Megan Ramsey] And if she is telling the truth, that means he got away with it all over again.
Stabler: Not quite. That was the captain. Evan Ramsey was murdered.

[the F techs and detectives discover the photo-date discrepancy]
Rebecca Tamsey: I'm computer illiterate. I can't even turn the damn thing on.
Stabler: What about your children?
Rebecca Ramsay: You can't be serious. Did it ever occur to you that the- the- the- the date might have been set wrong?
Benson: We'll check that out, but in the meantime we need to cover all of our bases.

Charles Southerland: If you're asking me if I'm glad he's dead, the answer is yes. If you're asking me if I killed him, the answer is no, although I would like to buy the fellow who did it a drink.

[after Megan is questioned about her father's death]
Rebecca Ramsey: Is there a point to these questions?
Benson: Your daughter planted evidence to incriminate him.
Rebecca Ramsey: And he raped her until she was 14. Maybe that evens things out.
Stabler: What about you?
Rebecca Ramsey: What about me?
Stabler: He molested your daughters. His death gives you a permanent order of protection.
Rebecca Ramsey: He should burn in hell for what he did to my daughters, but I didn't kill him.

[about sodium amytal]
Dr. Huang: Well, technically it's called false memory syndrome, but I call it the power of suggestion run amuck.

Rebecca Ramsey: How do I make sense of this? My husband is dead, killed by my own child's hand and my willingness to believe he was a monster. How awful it must have been for my husband to know that the people he loved most had turned on him.
Cragen: We all share that burden, Mrs. Ramsey.
Cabot: Jodie will not be prosecuted.
Rebecca Ramsey: Not by the courts, only by her own conscience. But what about that woman who treated my daughter with lies? How many more families will she destroy? Megan went to her seeking help.

Wharton: :[to the detectives] Megan is a very sick woman.
Benson: That you made even sicker with your sodium amytal sessions.

Benson: [to Dr. Wharton when she is arrested] All around, I'd say this is a day that you'll never forget.


Background information and notes[]

World Trade Center

The two towers in the Special Victims Unit opening credits

  • This is the first episode to air after the September 11 attacks, which saw the complete destruction of the World Trade Center, which had been shown in the opening credits the first two seasons. As a result of the attacks, NBC ordered that the opening credits be changed for the season so that the World Trade Center would not be shown. This episode was originally scheduled to air on September 21, 2001, but it was postponed for a week while the credits were redesigned as well as to allow time for more possible news coverage about the attacks.
    • Also, the opening was changed just for this episode from the normal SVU intro along with the twelth season premiere of Law & Order and the first season premiere of Law & Order: Criminal Intent in honor of the victims of the attack, both deceased and injured. Steven Zirnkilton recited it as follows: "On September 11th, 2001, New York City was ruthlessly and criminally attacked. While no tribute can heal the pain of that day, the producers of Law & Order dedicate this season to the victims and their families and to the firefighters and police officers who remind us everyday with their lives and courage what it truly means to be an American." The narration is replaced with the usual "In the criminal justice system..." opening for syndication, DVD release and streaming services.
  • Goof: When looking at the photo found under a bed, the date shows October 8, 2001, but the detectives says, "Look at the date: February 13th."

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3 4 5

Whole Life Recovery Center
92 West 78th Street
Tuesday, February 13

Arraignment
Part 44
Thursday, February 15

Police Crime Lab
1 Centre Street
Thursday, February 15

Motion Hearing
Part 65
Tuesday, February 20

Grand Jury
Room 12
Friday, February 23

Previous episode:
"Scourge"
"Repression"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Season 3
Next episode:
"Wrath"
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