Ridicule
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| "Ridicule" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 3.10 | → |
| Production number: E2316 First aired: 14 December 2001 | ||
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| Written By Judy McCreary Directed By Constantine Makris | ||
The case of a young woman who apparently died during an erotic asphyxiation accident, leads Detectives Benson and Stabler to a male rape victim.
Contents |
Summary 
Edit
Andrew Green finds his ex-wife, Sydney’s body hanging from the ceiling fan in her bedroom. With Dr. Warner away at a conference, the assistant M.E. Justin believes that Sydney died from autoerotic asphyxiation. Andrew tells Olivia and Elliot that he and Sydney divorced two weeks ago after being married for only six months. The detectives look at the visitor log at Sydney’s apartment and discover that Sydney’s friends: Pam Adler (a criminal defense attorney) and Amelia Chase visited Sydney the day she died.
When Olivia and Elliot talk to Pam Adler, Pam says that she and Amelia Chase had a lunch date with Sydney, but Sydney decided not to go because she was depressed about her recent marital problems and wanted to be alone. When Munch and Fin talk to Amelia Chase, Amelia tells them that Sydney was a risk taker and also into kinky sex which including choking herself.
The detectives discover that Sydney and Andrew Green were broke, but thanks to Sydney’s life insurance, Andrew would inherit $50,000, but because of a premarital agreement, he would’ve received nothing in a divorce. When Elliot and Olivia interrogate Andrew, Andrew reveals that he didn’t meet Sydney on vacation, but in rehab for painkiller addiction. They were fighting because Sydney was using again and during her bachelorette party, Sydney and two friends raped a male stripper.
When Olivia and Elliot talk to the stripper from Sydney’s bachelorette party, Peter Smith, Peter denies killing Sydney and his alibi clears. The assistant M.E. officially rules Sydney’s death accidental, but the detectives are investigating Peter’s rape. Elliot doesn’t seem to believe Peter’s story. When Peter tells his story to the detectives, he says that one woman told him when he he threatened to call the cops: “What you know about the law won’t fit in the palm of my hand.”
Olivia and Elliot discover that Pam Adler was one of the women that raped Peter and believes that Amelia Chase was also involved as well. When Peter identifies Pam and Amelia in a line-up, they are arrested. Pam’s attorney, Carolyn Maddox wants the judge to dismiss the charges against Pam because the law is unconstitutional when it comes to women raping men, but the judge turns her down and the trial procedes.
During the trial, Pam Adler approached Peter when it the defense’s turn to cross-examine Peter. The prosecution objects, but the judge says that since Pam is an attorney, she can’t legally block her from running her own defense. When Pam cross-examines Peter, she asks Peter if he filed a civil lawsuit for $5 million against Sydney Green. Peter says that he did, but he didn’t want money, he only wanted the names.
When the prosecution asks Peter why he didn’t mention the civil suit in the first place, Peter says that Elliot has been on his back looking for a reason to drop his case and says if he told about the suit, Elliot would’ve thought that Peter just wanted money. Since the police wouldn’t help Peter, Peter filed the suit against Sydney in order to get the names of the two other women that raped him.
Peter also says that Sydney called Peter’s attorney to set up a meeting before her death. Her husband didn’t know about the civil suit, but Pam Adler had a copy of it while Sydney was alive. Sydney told Pam and Amelia about It, telling them that she was giving into Peter’s demand. Elliot thinks that Pam and Amelia killed Sydney, but Sydney’s death was ruled accidental, but with Dr. Warner back from her conference, the detectives decide to take another look at how Sydney really died.
When Elliot and Olivia visit Sydney’s crime scene with Dr. Warner, Dr. Warner believes that someone who is a practicing autoerotic staged Sydney’s bedroom. The three of them believe that Pam and Amelia went over to Sydney’s apartment after Sydney told them she was giving in to Peter Smith’s demand in order to save her failing marriage. One of them tied a rope around Sydney’s neck and choked her to death. Then, the ropes were tied to the fan to make it look like Sydney had accidentally hung herself. When Olivia examines the ceiling fan, she discovers that there are fingerprints around the fan.
The fingerprints around the fan match Amelia Chase. It’s discovered that Amelia is a practicing autoerotic and wears lots of turtlenecks and scarves to cover up the bruising around her neck. Amelia takes a deal to testify against Pam Adler, but Ms. Maddox twists Amelia’s testimony to Pam’s advantage. In the end, Pam is convicted of third-degree assault, but not the other four charges. When Pam and Ms. Maddox leave the courtroom, Olivia and Elliot arrest Pam for the murder of Sydney Green. Pam angrily proclaims that she will win this case too, but Cabot and Ms. Maddox know that Pam will be convicted and begin discussing a plea bargain.
Cast Edit
Main cast Edit
- Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler
- Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson
- Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch
- Stephanie March as A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot
- Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola
- Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen
Recurring cast Edit
- Dianne Wiest as D.A. Nora Lewin
- Tamara Tunie as M.E. Melinda Warner
- Joanna Merlin as Judge Lena Petrovsky
- Leslie Ayvazian as Judge Susan Valdera
- Ron Leibman as E.A.D.A. Stan Villani
- B.D. Wong as Dr. George Huang
- CCH Pounder as Defense Attorney Carolyn Maddox
Guest cast Edit
- Paige Turco as Pam Adler
- Diane Neal as Amelia Chase
- Pete Starrett as Peter Smith
- Joe Narciso as Assistant Medical Examiner
- Andrew Heckler as Andrew Green
- Brian Corrigan as Assistant District Attorney
- David Adkins as Defense Attorney Barry Fordes
- Patrick Quinn as Milo Walther
- Natalie Light as Beth
- Kimberly Hughes as Amelia's Assistant
- Crista Moore as Mandy Guevere
- Leo Lungaro as Jury Foreman
- John Hartmann as Arraignment Clerk
References Edit
autoerotic asphyxiation; Narcotics Anonymous; Adler, Klein; Adler, Rose; Goldman-Sachs; NYU Drama; People vs. Liberte; People vs. Hightower; Smith vs. Adler
Quotes Edit
- Alexandra Cabot: Rape is not about sex. Rape is about control.
- John Munch: Can you get more specific?
- Amelia Chase: I'm not interested in titillating you, detective.
- Odafin Tutuola: And we're not here to carry your bags. Just speak up and we're gone.
- Amelia Chase: Crunch your numbers again. By time I get out of prison, I'll be old enough for senior citizen's discounts.
- Alexandra Cabot: If I take this to trial, you'll get life.
- Pam Adler: What you know about the law wouldn't fit in the palm of my hand.
- Odafin Tutuola: Her secretary said she should be done by now. These day traders live pretty good ... short hours, spa days. What the hell is she doing in there?
- John Munch: Beauty treatments take time ... mud baths, silica dissapation, exfoliating facial. Time and money ... some women learn early how to waste both.
- Odafin Tutuola: Your ex-wives made you bitter.
- John Munch: Not bitter, just resigned.
- Olivia Benson: So we're saying all men are sex-hounds, and only women can feel violated?
- Elliot Stabler: Female rage is a growth industry.
- and George Huang: The price of equality.
Background information and notes Edit
- Actress Diane Neal makes her first appearance in an episode from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She returned in the fifth season episode "Serendipity" as a regular cast member, playing A.D.A. Casey Novak. In this episode she plays the female rapist, Amelia Chase, who pleads guilty after being prosecuted by A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot, the same A.D.A. that Neal's character replaced in the fifth season.
- The episode title "Ridicule" is a reference to the disbelieve that men have to face when they become rape victims. The episode demonstrates this by Detective Elliot Stabler ridiculing rape victim Peter Smith, and the debate during the trial.
- Actress CCH Pounder appears for the first time as Defense Attorney Carolyn Maddox.
Episode scene cards Edit
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|
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Law Offices of |
Office of the |
Office of District Attorney |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|
|
Trial Part 99 |
Trial Part 99 |
Trial Part 99 |
| Previous episode: "Care" | "Ridicule" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 3 | Next episode: "Monogamy" |
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