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"Wrath"
SVU, Episode 3.02
Production number: E2314
First aired: 5 October 2001
  th of 502 produced in SVU  
th of 502 released in SVU
  th of 1271 released in all  
Benson Wrath
Written By
Judith McCreary

Directed By
Jean de Segonzac

Plot[]

Someone is killing people related to Benson's old cases. As the unit tries to find the killer, Benson struggles with the guilt that people are getting killed because of a vendetta against her. The detectives are led to Eric Plummer. Benson had Eric put in prison for a rape and attempted murder that he did not commit. Eric spent seven years locked up, and he was brutalized in prison -- beaten, raped, and tortured.

Eric's name was cleared by DNA testing that was not available at the time when Eric was put on trial, and Eric's wife Valerie divorced him while he was in prison. Upon learning of his innocence, Valerie felt angry that Eric was put away for something that he did not do. Eric's resulting bitterness and rage have turned deadly, and he won't stop until he makes Benson pay in spades for her tragic mistake, which ruined his life. The situation makes Benson question her abilities as a detective. In a confrontation, Benson is forced to fatally shoot Eric.

Benson is devastated by the case, knowing that what she did to Eric, what she put him through, turned him into a killer.

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

  • Carmella Barrantes (victim, previously rape victim)
  • Peter Cordell (victim, father of rape and murder victim)
  • Tina Cordell (rape and murder victim of Klaussen)
  • Clayton Derricks (victim, previously abuse victim)
  • Starling Car Service
  • Aivilo Promotions

Quotes[]

Benson: These are our three victims. Our first victim was Peter Cordell. I met Peter in 1993 when his daughter, Tina Cordell, was raped and murdered. I kept him updated on the case. I drove him to court every day, and I held his hand when our perp, Victor Klaussen, was acquitted.
Munch: What went wrong with the case?
Benson: A series of lab mix-ups contaminated the evidence.
Stabler: Pioneer days of DNA. There was nothing you could do about it.
Cragen: What's the background on the Hispanic female?
Benson: Victim number two is Carmella Barrantes. She was raped and beaten three years ago by a gangbanger who's now serving eight to twelve in Sing Sing.
Stabler: I guess we can cross him off our suspect list.
Tutuola: Why? This might be a revenge killing by the gangbanger's crew.
Stabler: But there's no gang affiliation between the other two victims.
Cragen: Are we sure about that? What about the ten year old?
Tutuola: Gangs are recruiting younger and younger these days.
Benson: Victim number three is Clayton Derricks, who was physically abused by his father, Bruce Derricks. When Clayton was placed in a group home, he was sodomized by an older boy and then he was placed in foster care, and I cannot tell you what it took to get this boy to trust me.
Munch: Missing persons report was filed yesterday by the foster mother.
Stabler: Do we know cause of death?
Munch: Preliminary tox reports just came in. All three victims were pumped full of sedatives and potassium chloride. M.E. says death was painless.
Tutuola: Like that makes a difference.
Cragen: Interview the families. Let's find a connection other than Benson.

Benson: Hey, Victor, how you doing?
Victor Klaussen: I'm working.
Benson: Well, you need to account for your movements for the last couple of days.
Victor Klaussen: I don't have to talk to you. A jury found me not guilty, remember?
Stabler: Okay. We'll talk to his wife. I'm sure she'll tell us what we need to know.
Victor Klaussen: Why can't you just leave me alone?
Benson: Like you left Tina Cordell alone? You raped her, then you strangled her.
Victor Klaussen: You know, you can't harass me. Not you, and not her old man.
Benson: Her old man's dead, Victor.
Victor Klaussen: Good. I can get on with my life now. Why don't you?
Stabler: Well, we'd like to, except he was murdered. That makes you prime suspect number one.
Victor Klaussen: You know, you can't pin that on me. All right? The guy was unhinged. I even had to get a restraining order, but you cops, you never enforced it.
Benson: Well, that's 'cause we figured a murdering rapist like you can handle yourself.
Victor Klaussen: You know, Tina had a smart mouth, too. It got her in a lot of trouble.
Benson: That sounded like a threat.
Stabler: Yeah, it did. Maybe we should arrest him, ruin his day.
Victor Klaussen: Arrest me for what?
Stabler: [grabbing Klaussen and throwing him up against his van] How about obstruction, resisting? It's a long way to the station house. I'll think of a thousand things by the time we get there.
Benson: We'll let you stew in the can for a few days. Maybe even leak that you're a pedophile. I bet after your arraignment, you'll tell us anything we want to know.

Dr. Huang: Three victims. Different race. Different gender. Different age. This is about revenge. The real target is Detective Benson.
Benson: It's personal.
Dr. Huang: You've enraged someone so much, they want you twisting.
Cragen: Why the body farm? Why transport three victims ninety miles outside the city?
Dr. Huang: He wanted them found and studied. He dumped them in a research facility that's federally funded.
Benson: Guaranteeing national attention. But how did the suspect find them? How did he get into my files? How did he even know that they're my cases?
Cragen: Tina Cordell case had a lot of national press coverage, right? High school kid raped, strangled with her purse strap by her boyfriend Victor Klaussen.
Stabler: Latching onto a news story doesn't explain the other two victims, though.
Munch: The foster mother said that you supervised meetings between Clayton and his father. Why?
Benson: Because the man is a drunk. I thought if I stuck around that he'd get some help. I know what it's like to live through that.
Stabler: You maintained a personal relationship with Carmella Barrantes.
Benson: Well, she needed help. My day doesn't end when we catch a perp or get a conviction.
Dr. Huang: No one's blaming you, Detective.
Benson: Well, you think that I led him to these people? That... that I have a stalker?
Dr. Huang: If that's how he chose them, he wasn't stalking you. There was no sexual fixation. It was reconnaissance.
Benson: Well, let's look into my files and see who has a grudge.
Dr. Huang: Potassium chloride is an ingredient in a death row cocktail.
Tutuola: Sounds to me like ex-con contempt.
Dr. Huang: Using police restraints to pose the bodies is a significant indicator.
Cragen: Check the computer for recent prison releases. We're looking for an ex-con who has a serious hatred for Olivia. Let's start with the ones who were vocal about it.

Benson: Those checks should go to our lab. I don't want the feds processing our evidence, doling out information whenever they feel like it.
Stabler: Well, their lab is better equipped. It's faster, and if there are any problems, then it's on them.
Benson: Wasn't your name stenciled on that door, so whose ass are you really covering?
Stabler: Okay, the way I see it, the only "us and them" is cops and criminals. We are on the same team.
Benson: Yeah, we are 'tilll the press shows up.

Junior: Oh, I remember Detective Benson. How are you?
Benson: Curious about some of your activities, Junior.
Junior: Sorry, gave up my life of crime long ago. What's your beef?
Benson: Well, you were pretty vocal about getting even when I collared you for carjacking and rape.
Junior: I was hopped up on crack. I don't blame you for anything, Detective. At least not anymore.
Stabler: You used to run these streets. Your crew still run drugs up to Canada?
Junior: All my friends are either dead or in jail, so why the trip down memory lane?
Stabler: Because we're out of time. We need some answers, Junior. Someone's got my partner in their sights.
Junior: They must not be very good since she's still breathing.
Benson: You were never very subtle, were you?

Stabler: Feel like some dinner?
Benson: When was the last time your kids saw your ugly mug?
Stabler: Come on, we'll set an extra plate, come on.
Benson: Yeah, no thanks. I'll see you later, 'kay?

Benson: You worried about something?
Cragen: Your safety.

Dr. Huang: Hey. I was just trying to get in our man's head.
Benson: He hates me, so he kills people that I tried to help.
Dr. Huang: How's that make you feel?
Benson: How would you feel?
Dr. Huang: Relax, I'm not trying to shrink you.
Benson: Yes, you are. Every statement's interpretive. Trying to make something out of nothing.
Dr. Huang: It's my job. I used to interview some of the most dangerous psychopaths. It's all I did.
Benson: Profiling serial killers, it sounds like a lot of fun.
Dr. Huang: It's why I joined the FBI. They had access to all the disorders that I wanted to study. Until I got complacent.
Benson: Were you attacked?
Dr. Huang: I was interviewing a psychopath and I missed him calculate how much time there was to kill me before the guards hit the door. It was a... it was a close call.
Benson: He got into your head.
Dr. Huang: The way this perp is in yours. Instead of attacking you directly, he's hurting the people around you. It's psychological warfare.
Benson: [looking at crime scene photos] He's been planning this for a while.
Dr. Huang: He posed the bodies comforting each other. Potassium chloride is a painless death. He's freeing them.
Benson: From what?
Dr. Huang: From the miserable existence that you left them in. He felt like they were suffering, and so... he euthanized them. He identifies with them. He sees himself as your victim, too.

Olivia Benson: We blame all kinds of people for creating monsters. Why not ourselves?

Stabler: I didn't tell you about the detail because I knew you'd refuse.
Benson: Only the rat-squad puts cops on other cops, Elliot, without telling them. I deserve better than that. Especially from you.
Stabler: [pauses] You've been under a lot of stress lately...
Benson: I've always backed your play.
Stabler: And I did what I had to do. The guy's murdered four people, what's to stop him from coming after you, Olivia?
Benson: If you can't trust your partner, Elliot, it's time to get a new one.

Benson: We've gotten warrants based on less, why are you stonewalling?
Cabot: This is different and you know it. Once a judge hears the suspect's history, he's gonna bend over backwards for the guy.
Benson: I saw him, Alex. Plummer is stalking me.
Cabot: How did he know where you were when he was in the interview room being questioned?
Benson: He must've overheard.
Cabot: Okay, how many businesses are in the area near Chauncey's?
Benson: I don't know, several. Why? Where are you going with this?
Cabot: Any decent defense attorney is going to say that Mr. Plummer was in the area running errands, that it was just a coincidence.
Benson: He has killed four people and we're doing *nothing*.
Cabot: How many drinks did you have? Olivia, the system made a mistake before, now everything we do is under a microscope.
Benson: [pause] I wasn't drunk.

Eric Plummer: How does it feel, Detective Benson, to have your credibility shattered and your life in ruins?
Benson: It sucks.
Eric Plummer: I was innocent.
Benson: Yes, you were. But then you killed four innocent people.
Eric Plummer: Three innocent people. One child abuser. I thought cops cared about the facts.
Benson: Why did you choose them?
Eric Plummer: They were suffering and they needed their misery to end. Who was going to help them, you?
Benson: I'm sorry for what happened to you. I really am. I can't turn back the clock. But I can testify for you on your behalf and I can admit in open court that I am responsible for you.
Eric Plummer: There's not going to be a trial. Not this time.
Benson: Let her go and let's just talk about it.
Eric Plummer: There's nothing to discuss.

Stabler: Let's go.
Benson: I got to give my statement.
Stabler: I'll take it.
Benson: You leave me alone.

Benson: I'm fine.
Stabler: I'm not. Some low-life's out to get you.
Benson: If he wanted to take me out, he would've tried it already.

Background information and notes[]

  • This is the second episode in which Detective Olivia Benson has a stalker. Her first stalker was Richard White in the first season episode "Stalked" and her third would be in sixth season in "Quarry". This is also the second time that she is forced to shoot a suspect, and the last fatal officer-involved shooting she is directly involved in until 2017.
  • Olivia mentions she has experience with a parent who drinks, referring to her late alcoholic mother, Serena Benson.
  • This is actor Ned Eisenberg's first appearance as Defense Attorney Roger Kressler. He played several other Defense Attorneys throughout the Law & Order franchise, including two other attorneys on SVU: Jerry Kleinert and Klein Rothberg.
  • Huang tells Olivia that he had a "close call" in which a prisoner nearly killed him before being stopped by the guards. A very similar incident occurs to him (again) when he and Stabler interview Death Row inmate Matthew Brodus in "Execution."
  • Goof: When Benson first discovers the body in the cardboard box, the body's arm is sticking out and nothing else is visible. Later, the body's head is sticking out of the box and its arms are down inside the box.

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3 4 5

Home of Adam Cordell
424 West 38th Street
Tuesday, February 27

Mrs. Harding's
Foster Home
450 East 106th Street
Tuesday, February 27

Barrantes Residence
800 Amsterdam Avenue
Tuesday, February 27

West 125th Street
& Broadway
Wednesday, February 28

Heaven Scent Flowers
490 Broome Street
Wednesday, February 28

6 7 8 9

Lonnie's Bail Bonds
50 East 116th Street
Thursday, March 1

Baseline Labs
98 West 54th Street
Thursday, March 1

Office of Executive Assistant
District Attorney
Friday, March 2

Home of Eric Plummer
274 West 87th Street
Friday, March 2

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