Episodes
See also: List of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes| No. in season |
No. in series |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Production code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 162 | "Informed" | Peter Leto | Dawn DeNoon | September 19, 2006 | 08001 | 14.55 |
| A young woman (Kristen Bush) shows up at a hospital emergency room beaten and with her head shaved. Despite signs of sexual assault, she demands only a morning-after pill and refuses a rape kit. Accosted on the street by Benson, she returns to her apartment and locks herself in the bathroom but leaves her underwear behind for Benson to steal as evidence. Benson and Stabler try to find out who assaulted the woman by talking to a friend of hers (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) at the cooperative where she works. When she goes missing, FBI Agent Dana Lewis (Marcia Gay Harden) reveals her vital role in a sting operation against an eco-terrorism group. Posing as a radical (Joanna Adler), Benson goes undercover to help prevent a terrorist bombing. | |||||||
| 2 | 163 | "Clock" | James Hayman | Allison Intrieri | September 26, 2006 | 08003 | 14.41 |
| Stabler and Tutuola team up to investigate when a teenage boy (Daniel Farcher) and girl (Betsy Hogg) go missing on a school field trip. The case takes a different turn however, when they realize that the girl has Turner's syndrome making her look twelve when she is seventeen. The girl is found with her lover (Jason Butler Harner), an older man who has found a legal way to have sex with a girl who looks twelve. The girl's parents (Gregory Harrison and Deborah Raffin) and grandfather (Robert Vaughn) take the case to family court but there is nothing they can do since both parties are past the age of consent. When the court is adjourned, Stabler meets his new partner; Detective Dani Beck. | |||||||
| 3 | 164 | "Recall" | Juan J. Campanella | Jonathan Greene | October 3, 2006 | 08005 | 14.30 |
| Stabler and Cragen have concerns about Beck's reputation as an overzealous investigator. She works with Stabler to help a woman (Lily Rabe) who was raped by a prominent lawyer (Charles Shaughnessy). The squad's credibility is damaged when another woman (Robin Weigert) comes forward, mistakenly claiming that she was raped by the same man. The people are unable to make the charges stick until a surprise witness (Leslie Caron) comes forward. | |||||||
| 4 | 165 | "Uncle" | David Platt | Dawn DeNoon | October 10, 2006 | 08004 | 13.89 |
| When a mother and daughter are found raped and murdered, Stabler and Beck take in a homeless man who turns out to be Munch's uncle (Jerry Lewis). Although they question his dementia at first, Stabler and Beck find their way to a much more calculating suspect (Timothy Adams). | |||||||
| 5 | 166 | "Confrontation" | David Platt | Judith McCreary | October 17, 2006 | 08006 | 12.98 |
| Stabler and Beck handle a case in which the attacker (Michael Kelly) seems to be coming back to rape his victims again and again. They disagree on how to help a woman (Marin Ireland) who is living in fear. The detectives soon discover that his plan is to impregnate selected women. In order to put him away, they compel a pregnant woman (Kerry O'Malley) to undergo chorionic villus sampling even though her husband (Matthew Arkin) wishes to remain ignorant to the fact that he is not the father. | |||||||
| 6 | 167 | "Infiltrated" | David Platt | Dawn DeNoon | October 31, 2006 | 08009 | 13.36 |
| Casey Novak is forced to get Olivia Benson, still undercover with the FBI, to come back to New York to testify on behalf of a woman who was raped in a bank. While undercover with an Oregon environmental group, she and her group members (Maria Thayer and Chris Bowers) are injured by an overzealous deputy sheriff (Steven Rishard) and charged with assault. She is eventually released but is questioned about her group's involvement with a murder. She then sets out to clear her group's name and investigates the murdered man. Despite the efforts of his widow (Debra Jo Rupp) trying to shield her daughter from the truth, Benson learns that he was a pedophile with a room under his garage that he used for kidnapping. The local sheriff (Charles Martin Smith) finds two sets of prints at the scene, the murdered man's and those of a ten-year-old girl (Molly Camp) who went missing seven years ago. Benson's case agent (Vincent Spano) tells her that she is indeed spending time with harmless activists and that her undercover work is no longer needed. As she is still unaware of the urgency of Novak's case, she decides to stay and help the FBI find the missing girl. In the end Benson finds the girl, who had developed Stockholm syndrome and makes it back to New York just in time to testify. | |||||||
| 7 | 168 | "Underbelly" | Jonathan Kaplan | Amanda Green | November 14, 2006 | 08007 | 14.76 |
| Three teenaged homicide victims with matching tattoos lead Detectives Stabler and Beck to an underage prostitution ring. With the victims' pimp (Michael K. Williams) as the prime suspect, detectives must rely on one of his young girls (Charlie Ray), to testify against him. Benson shows up at Cragen's office but decides not to go back to detective work just yet after seeing how Stabler and Beck are getting along. | |||||||
| 8 | 169 | "Cage" | David Platt | Patrick Harbinson | November 21, 2006 | 08008 | 14.20 |
| Detectives Stabler and Beck investigate a car accident involving two foster children (Elle Fanning and Khaleel Carter) in which the driver (Marlyne Afflack) was fired from being a foster parent. The accident leads the detectives to foster parents (Margo Martindale and Leo Burmester), a doctor (Ken Howard) who advised them over the phone and some questionable medical practices involving controversial "rebirthing" therapy. As the detectives dig deeper into the case, they discover other gruesome secrets; one of the foster children sets a fire in Beck's living room attempting to murder Beck and commit suicide. This is too much for Dani to handle and she says goodbye to Stabler and the Special Victims Unit. | |||||||
| 9 | 170 | "Choreographed" | Peter Leto | Paul Grellong | November 28, 2006 | 08010 | 14.64 |
| The body of a woman (Kristine Szabo) with a mysterious cause of death is discovered in central park. Detective Stabler begins the investigation by talking to the victim's husband (Chris Sarandon) as his friends (Bob Saget and Catherine Bell) pay a condolence visit. Stabler's investigation unravels a case of drugs, infidelity and an elaborate plot that impacts everyone involved in the troupe. Stabler also discovers that Detective Benson is back in town and she is assigned to be his partner once again. | |||||||
| 10 | 171 | "Scheherazade" | David Platt | Amanda Green | January 2, 2007 | 08002 | 15.17 |
| Stabler agrees to hear the dying confession of a cancer patient (Brian Dennehy) but first, he and Benson do some digging into what possible crime he could have committed. This leads them to an unsolved case that goes back 47 years. The man is found to be responsible for 21 armed bank robberies, murder, and kidnapping. His daughter (Paget Brewster) refuses to see him in his last days, but as he lays dying she goes to his bedside. | |||||||
| 11 | 172 | "Burned" | Eriq La Salle | Judith McCreary | January 9, 2007 | 08011 | 14.41 |
| A former drug addict (Blair Underwood) who only gets to see his daughter (Tiffany Evans) during short supervised visits is accused of rape by his wife (Michael Michele). Stabler and Benson are at odds over whom to believe in the ensuing “he said, she said” case because the parties are in the middle of a bitter divorce and child-custody dispute. | |||||||
| 12 | 173 | "Outsider" | Arthur W. Forney | Paul Grellong | January 16, 2007 | 08016 | 14.17 |
| Fin looks into a string of similar assaults in which the victims (Tiffany Pao and Kelli Giddish) were raped, choked and beaten. Fin is joined in his investigation by a Brooklyn SVU detective (Adam Beach) working a similar case. This leads them to a successful family (Navid Negahban, Pooja Kumar and Sakina Jaffrey) who disowned their son (Kal Penn) for being an underachiever. | |||||||
| 13 | 174 | "Loophole" | David Platt | Jonathan Greene | February 6, 2007 | 08012 | 13.45 |
| Stabler is injured by a drug-crazed suspect (Bill Goldberg) and Benson follows up on an anonymous letter which leads to an apparent child-pornography case and the testing of pesticides on unwitting apartment tenants. After arresting the landlord (Wayne Duvall), Olivia is exposed to the pesticide and develops medical symptoms similar to those exhibited by the victim (Marquis Rodriguez) and his mother (Karen Olivo). Despite the health risks, an official (Casey Siemaszko) informs the squad that this was done legally. Casey Novak eventually pursues the CEO (Ray Wise) of a pharmaceutical company and his lawyer (James Naughton) in order to challenge a controversial United States Environmental Protection Agency rule that allows intentional dosing of human beings in pesticide experiments. | |||||||
| 14 | 175 | "Dependent" | Peter Leto | Ken Storer | February 13, 2007 | 08015 | 12.94 |
| After an intruder attacks a mob lawyer (Cary Elwes), murders his wife and spares his son (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick), Benson and Stabler question their daughter (Emily VanCamp). However her wild night of drunken partying leaves her unable to recall her actions, even though her father insists she was at the scene of the crime. Stabler is charged with excessive force when the daughter's boyfriend (Justin Klosky) dies in his custody. | |||||||
| 15 | 176 | "Haystack" | Peter Leto | Amanda Green | February 20, 2007 | 08013 | 11.94 |
| An overzealous reporter (Kali Rocha) accuses a new mother (Ashley Williams) on television of kidnapping and trying to kill her baby. This turns out to be the last straw for the despondent woman, who promptly commits suicide. Although everyone is under suspicion, including the mother and her ex-husband (Pablo Schreiber), the case takes an unusual emotional toll on Detective Stabler who is drawn into the line of fire by the kidnapper (Dana Ashbrook) and his mother (Marian Seldes). | |||||||
| 16 | 177 | "Philadelphia" | Peter Leto | Patrick Harbinson | February 27, 2007 | 08017 | 11.73 |
| Benson finally unravels a part of her past when she finds her brother Simon Marsden (Michael Weston) who is suspected of being a rapist by a New Jersey captain (Kim Delaney). This distraction compromises a chase during which the squad tries to apprehend two male rapists (Michael Carbonaro and Roberto Purvis) who rape other men. Benson must meet with Dr. Rebecca Hendrix (Mary Stuart Masterson) to discuss her recent actions. | |||||||
| 17 | 178 | "Sin" | George Pattison | Patrick Harbinson | March 27, 2007 | 08021 | 12.86 |
| A successful preacher (Tim Daly) is the prime suspect in a murder case, until his wife (Kathy Baker) provides detectives with a taped conversation. | |||||||
| 18 | 179 | "Responsible" | David Platt & Yelena Lanskaya | Allison Intrieri | April 3, 2007 | 08014 | 11.16 |
| Stabler and Benson are forced to dive in to the world of underage drinking when a death leads to high school binge parties and a mother (Laura Leighton) who not only supplies booze to her daughter (Sarah Drew)'s friends but sleeps with one of those friends (Hunter Parrish) as well. | |||||||
| 19 | 180 | "Florida" | David Platt | Jonathan Greene | May 1, 2007 | 08018 | 11.41 |
| When Detective Benson gets into the middle of an investigation of her brother Simon Marsden (Michael Weston), she takes out the stress on a suspect (Josh Casaubon) and gets suspended. Benson talks to Simon's mother (Maggie Burke), his father's coworker (Graham Winton) and a rape victim (Kathryn Hays) and begins to question whether or not she was the product of a rape in the first place. She digs deeper to discover that Simon was the victim of a frame-job by a police officer (Kim Delaney) who is in denial about sexual abuse in her own family. | |||||||
| 20 | 181 | "Annihilated" | Peter Leto | Amanda Green | May 8, 2007 | 08019 | 10.94 |
| A woman's murder appears to be the result of a professional hit, when her fiancé (Dylan Walsh) receives death threats, apparently resulting from his CIA career. Elliot, investigating this, finds that the man may not be all that he seems; the case takes a shocking turn when the man's wife (Kelly Deadmon) and children (Lucas Delvasto, John D'Leo and Shelby Adamowsky) are all found dead. Meanwhile, Elliot continues to rebuild his relationship with his family. | |||||||
| 21 | 182 | "Pretend" | David Platt | Dawn DeNoon | May 15, 2007 | 08020 | 12.75 |
| The team investigates the death of a partially clothed teenage boy wearing a leather mask. The detectives discover that the victim's best friend (Michael Welch) is the killer and has a video, showing that the boy's death was the result of a backyard wrestling match gone wrong. The trial ends with the boy's conviction on a lesser charge but then the victim's girlfriend (Misti Traya) fails to show up at the sentencing hearing. When the girlfriend is injured in an attack instigated by the defendant, the case takes a bizarre turn when information surfaces that the girl is far older than she appears and has been defrauding the foster care system for over a decade. | |||||||
| 22 | 183 | "Screwed" | Arthur W. Forney | Judith McCreary | May 22, 2007 | 08022 | 10.28 |
| Darius Parker (Chris "Ludacris" Bridges), goes on trial for the rape and murder of a woman with any mention of her fourteen-month-old child deemed inadmissible. The case brings Fin under fire from the media and even has Munch and Stabler at odds. Novak prosecutes the trial that brings Stabler and Tutuola, among others, to the stand. Many previous stories are brought into the trial, such as Stabler's daughter Kathleen's DUI, and Benson's illegal money-wiring to her half-brother, Simon Marsden (Michael Weston). It is also revealed that Kathy Stabler, Elliot's wife, is pregnant again. |
Read more about this topic: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (season 8)
Famous quotes containing the word episodes:
“Twenty or thirty years ago, in the army, we had a lot of obscure adventures, and years later we tell them at parties, and suddenly we realize that those two very difficult years of our lives have become lumped together into a few episodes that have lodged in our memory in a standardized form, and are always told in a standardized way, in the same words. But in fact that lump of memories has nothing whatsoever to do with our experience of those two years in the army and what it has made of us.”
—Václav Havel (b. 1936)
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—Joseph Conrad (1857–1924)