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"Strain"
SVU, Episode 7.05
Production number: 07005
First aired (US): 18 October 2005
First aired (CAN): 18 October 2005
First aired (AUS): 12 June 2006
  th of 502 produced in SVU  
th of 502 released in SVU
  th of 1271 released in all  
Fin Strain
Written By
Robert Nathan

Directed By
Constantine Makris

Summary[]

Two gay men are murdered, and happen to be infected with AIDS. Benson and Tutuola investigate the gay circuit parties to find suspects.

Plot[]

The discovery of the bodies of two young gay men who were both meth addicts as well as victims of a new strain of AIDS that can kill its victims in less than a year leads to an investigation. Tutuola learns that his son, Ken, is gay, and has difficulty accepting it, even though he and Benson end up going to Ken for help with infiltrating an anti-meth group.  

The group's leader, Gabriel, soon becomes their top suspect when the squad realizes that the two men died because they passed the disease on to his brother, who died from AIDS. The two man had been having indiscriminate sex while high on meth, and spreading the killer disease to others who would do the same. Gabriel believed that since the two wouldn't stop themselves that killing them was the only way to control the spread and avenge his brother.  

In the end, to the shock of Tutuola and Novak, Robin's father gives a testimony asking him to be lenient on Gabriel, as while he does not approve of the man killing his son he knows that he did it with the intention of of saving lives from the killer strain. Afterwards Fin shares words with Robin's father and reveals that Gabriel got the minimum for murder which is 15 years. Robin's father regrets how he treated his son and wishes he could have redeem himself before Fin gives comforting words. After he leaves, Tutuola is seen at the end calling a number on a phone, presumably his son's. 

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

Quotes[]

Cragen: Early bird catches the perp.

Benson: [to Cragen undercover] Hey sweetheart... you lonely tonight?... Twelve o'clock, there's a skinny kid, black shirt, blue jeans, hustling a guy in a gray sweater. He could be MKS.

Tutuola: [to Henry] Manhattan Killer squad. They call you killer?
Henry Fanello: No. King Henry.
Tutuola: King of what?
Benson: Garden City, Long island? Henry Fanello, possession seven, grand theft auto, assault. Oh, just turned 18, three weeks ago.
Tutuola: Happy birthday. You're an adult. No more calling daddy, no more juvie time.

[closing summations]
Carolyn Maddox: There are no mysteries here. Two people are dead. Gabriel Thomason has told you that he shot and killed them both, and why he did it. In 1981, 41 gay men were diagnosed with a rare form of cancer no doctors had ever seen before. Now, 40,000,000 people are infected with HIV. 40,000,000! Gay and straight. And we keep hoping that they'll do something about it before it's too late, and no one does. That's why Gabriel Thomason took matters into his own hands. Robin Weller and Lydon Grant infected dozens of men, and could've infected hundreds if their drug and sex binge continued. They were terrorists. Let me put it to you this way. You walk out of here tonight, and on the courthouse steps is Osama bin Laden holding a dirty bomb. Everything you know about this man tells you that he will detonate it and turn Manhattan into a nuclear wasteland. You've got a gun. Would you shoot him to save the city? Desperate times require desperate measures. Gabriel Thomason did what he had to do to save innocent lives. Now, it's your turn. Do what you have to do. Find him not guilty.
Novak: Millions dying of AIDS is an unimaginable tragedy, but does that mean two more deaths, two murders, don't matter? The defense argues that these murders were justifiable, because they prevented future deaths. It might sound rational, but consider this. Tobacco executives, they make cigarettes and hundreds of thousands of people who smoke die of lung cancer. Would it be all right to murder the tobacco CEOs? Do you think that two situations aren't the same? Think again. People who smoke, they know the risks, and they choose to smoke, despite them, just like people who choose to get high and have sex without a condom. So don't blame the victims. Gabriel Thomason broke the law. He killed two men. He knew what he was doing, and he knew it was wrong. You must hold him responsible.

Tutuola: Two to one, he walks.
Benson: I wouldn't take those odds on a double homicides. Safe money, 25 to life.
Tutuola: You didn't see Gabriel on the stand. When he cried, the jury believed him.
Novak: No, they didn't. Guilty. Murder two, both counts.

Background information and notes[]

  • Like several SVU episode titles, "Strain" has a double meaning of both the more deadly strain of HIV dealt with here as well the strain in the father son relationships presented in this episode.
  • Goof: At the first murder scene, the CSI officers are shown photographing the storefront with flash photography. Since it is dark outside, the resulting photographs will consist of a reflection of the light from the flash rather than the crime scene inside the store display.
  • Ken Randall returns after his first appearance in Season 6.
  • Elliot Stabler is not in this episode, likely due to the events of the previous episode, "Ripped".

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3 4

Green Ballroom Club
382 West 13th Street
Monday, September 26

Loft of Lydon Grant
169 Duane Street
Monday, September 26

Narcotics Task Force
Squadroom
Tuesday, September 27

New York City
Health Department
Computer Center
Wednesday, September 28

5 6 7 8

Rainbow Army
Storefront
40 West 16th Street
Thursday, September 29

Technical Assistance
Response Unit
One Police Plaza
Thursday, September 29

Trial Part 46
Tuesday, October 11

Sentencing Hearing
Part 46
Thursday, October 13

Previous episode:
"Ripped"
"Strain"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Season 7
Next episode:
"Raw"
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