Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (season 9) - Episodes

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)
1 184 "Alternate" David Platt Neal Baer & Dawn DeNoon September 25, 2007 09003 12.10
A woman (Cynthia Nixon) who switches between five different personalities is suspected of harming her daughter. The investigation is met with initial resistance from her psychiatrist (Bronson Pinchot). When the woman's sister (Laura Allen) is released from jail, their parents are found murdered the next day and the two of them become the prime suspects.
2 185 "Avatar" Peter Leto Paul Grellong & Chris Emposimato October 2, 2007 09004 11.66
A girl who plays virtual world games (Christina Brucato) goes missing. Her boyfriend (Ryan Lynn), a suspect in the case, is discovered to suffer from sexsomnia which caused him to attempt to rape her sister (Liza Joyce). In an effort to locate the girl, Detectives Benson and Stabler use her avatar to track her kidnapper (Kevin Tighe) down.
3 186 "Impulsive" David Platt Jonathan Greene October 9, 2007 09001 12.19
A statutory rape case against a high school teacher (Melissa Joan Hart) is filed after gonorrhea is discovered in one of her students (Kyle Gallner). The teacher tries to secretly have an abortion which angers her husband (Quincy Dunn-Baker) and gets her accused of destroying evidence. However, after observing the student more closely, the SVU realizes that he is a sex addict who hires prostitutes, photoshops scantily-clad women and masturbates with high frequency. He confesses to raping his teacher and is sent to a rehabilitation clinic. The situation changes gears when the student is raped by a much older sex offender (David Conley) exposing an ongoing problem at the clinic.
4 187 "Savant" Kate Woods Judith McCreary October 16, 2007 09005 12.54
A government agent (Aidan Quinn) discovers that his daughter (Paulina Gerzon), who has Williams syndrome, is the only witness to the savage beating of his wife (Judy Kuhn). Even though the investigation is impeded by the man's superiors (Jayne Atkinson), Detectives Benson and Stabler and ADA Novak work with his daughter to reconstruct the night the beating took place. Her testimony is able to clear one suspect (Robert Clohessy), who also has a mentally challenged daughter (Geraldine Hughes) and implicate his son (Josh Barclay Caras).
5 188 "Harm" Peter Leto Josh Singer October 23, 2007 09002 12.17
The detectives investigate the fatal stabbing of a private school teacher (Elizabeth Morton), who had volunteered at a victim's rehabilitation center. The teacher had been working with an Iraqi man (Jarreth J. Merz) whose story helped uncover some military secrets. The investigation leads to a doctor (Elizabeth McGovern) who works for private military contractors focusing on interrogation techniques. Melinda Warner tries to have her medical license revoked for violating the hippocratic oath.
6 189 "Svengali" David Platt Kam Miller November 6, 2007 09006 11.75
A college student is found murdered in an attack that bears the hallmarks of an infamous serial killer (Jared Harris). Detectives Benson and Stabler question the killer and discover his loyal following, which includes a comic book artist (Gareth Saxe) who glorifies the murders. When the last person (Shannon Marie Woodward) to see the victim alive goes missing, the detectives search for her, thinking that she is about to become the next victim. Benson also finds herself in danger when the fans retaliate against the investigation.
7 190 "Blinded" David Platt Jonathan Greene November 13, 2007 09009 12.49

Detective Stabler is attacked and temporarily blinded when arresting a child molester (Arye Gross) who suffers from schizophrenia. Disturbed by what has been done to her partner, Detective Benson tries to sabotage New York's case against the man and have him put on death row in Louisiana instead. Due to her own conflict on interest, ADA Novak tries to bend the rules in the opposite direction and have the man acquitted. The situation is resolved when the District Attorney reminds Novak that executing a mentally ill prisoner is illegal and threatens to pull her license unless she acts as a voice for the prosecution. The schizophrenic is sent to a New York jail and Benson admits that her interference almost caused a miscarriage of justice.

  • Special appearance by Sam Waterston as DA Jack McCoy.
8 191 "Fight" Juan J. Campanella Mick Betancourt November 20, 2007 09007 11.66
A brutal murder leads the detectives into the dangerous world of mixed martial arts. Detective Lake discovers two troubled brothers (Giaus Charles and Adina Porter) who have been in and out of the foster care system. The brothers admit that they were told to rape the girl in order to enter a gang. The case gets harder when the leader of the gang and prime suspect is accidentally crushed to death in a trash compactor and one of the brothers lies to protect the other.
9 192 "Paternity" Kate Woods Amanda Green November 27, 2007 09010 12.29
The murder of a young boy's nanny leads Detectives Benson and Stabler to suspect her Internet love interest, "Casanova" (Steven Bauer). However, the nanny's employers (Mark Valley and Anastasia Griffith) soon get troubles of their own when the father finds out that his son is not his biological son. Stabler's family suffers a tragedy leaving his unborn child in serious danger after Benson and Kathy are hurt in a car accident.
10 193 "Snitch" Jonathan Kaplan Mark Goffman December 4, 2007 09008 11.72
Detectives Benson and Stabler investigate when the wife of an informant (Hakeem Kae-Kazim) is found dead. The man is revealed to be a Nigerian polygamist with several wives still living, one of whom (Tracy Middendorf) is not Nigerian. Benson and Stabler suspect that the man's cultural tradition may have been the cause of his wife's murder when they find a website that exposes potential witnesses to the crime for which he was testifying. A new Homicide Bureau Chief ADA (Gloria Reuben) has to try to keep her case from falling apart after the husband refuses to testify against the killer (Method Man) of a young boy.
11 194 "Streetwise" Helen Shaver Paul Grellong January 1, 2008 09011 12.35
The SVU squad members are called in when a wealthy teenager (Natalie Hall) is found murdered in Central Park. Suspicion soon falls on the "parents" (Mae Whitman and Thom Bishops) in a homeless street family. A young girl (Madeline Taylor) agrees to give information about them to Benson and Stabler in exchange for food but it is not long before she is found murdered as well.
12 195 "Signature" Arthur W. Forney Judith McCreary January 8, 2008 09012 15.17
Detectives Benson and Lake investigate a double homicide in which a man was shot and a woman was raped and stabbed. They soon team up with Special Agent Cooper (Erika Christensen) who is tracking a serial killer and sexual sadist known as "The Woodsman". Through the Woodsman's mother (Jane Cronin), they are able to find out the location of his latest victim. Police rescue the tortured woman (Amanda Leigh Cobb) but she succumbs to her injuries during treatment. The tragic ordeal turns into a case against a vigilante when the SVU discovers that the serial killer is already dead and that he was in fact the male victim discovered with the gunshot wound.
13 196 "Unorthodox" David Platt Josh Singer January 15, 2008 09013 12.14
The sexual assault of a Jewish boy (Braeden Lemasters) prompts the attention of Munch and Stabler. Initially an orthodox Jewish rabbi (Bob Dishy) is suspected to be the one responsible, but the case turns into a media circus as a flood of young victims are revealed, with all the clues pointing to one of their classmates. It is discovered that a fourteen-year-old boy (Alexander Gould) is the rapist, but he is declared mentally ill as a result of daily exposure to pornography and minimal supervision by his single father (Mike McGlone).
14 197 "Inconceivable" Chris Zalla Dawn DeNoon January 22, 2008 09014 12.97
When fertilized embryos disappear from a sperm bank, examination of a security tape points the detectives to two publicity-hungry extremists (Mark Moses and Janine Turner). Meanwhile, Olivia ponders her own decisions about fertility and motherhood.
15 198 "Undercover" David Platt Mark Goffman April 15, 2008 09015 13.27
After a young girl (Shareeka Epps) is found raped in a community garden, Benson and Stabler find out that her mother (Daria Hardeman) is in a female correction facility. After the rape kit on the girl goes missing, the detectives realize that one of the corrections officers (Johnny Messner) at the facility is raping and brutalizing women. In order to find out who it is, Detective Benson goes undercover as a prisoner and is almost raped herself in the basement of the facility.
16 199 "Closet" Peter Leto Ken Storer April 22, 2008 09016 11.50
When an investment banker is found murdered by an intern (Ian Alda), suspicion turns to his boyfriend (Bailey Chase), a professional football player who could lose everything if the truth about his sexuality comes to light. When information about his sexual orientation is leaked to the media, despite the best efforts of his publicity manager (Rick Hoffman), Benson comes under fire by Internal Affairs for her relationship with a reporter (Bill Pullman).
17 200 "Authority" David Platt Neal Baer & Amanda Green April 29, 2008 09017 12.06

A telephone voice impersonating a police officer asks people to do morally questionable and illegal things. SVU detectives learn that this plan was orchestrated by an engineer Merritt Rook (Robin Williams) in order to convince the public to be more discerning and oppose authority. Rook turns his trial into a media circus and seizes an opportunity to abduct Olivia Benson. With the help of Rook's co-worker (Ka-Ling Cheung), Elliot is able to learn about the man's tragic past and track him down. In an apparent hostage situation, Rook tries to make Elliot inflict pain on her by way of a Milgram experiment.

  • When Rook's "No Sheep" crew members freeze in their tracks at Grand Central Station, it is based on Improv Everywheres' 2006 performance.
18 201 "Trade" Peter Leto Jonathan Greene May 6, 2008 09018 10.44
When a pregnant woman (Brandi Burkhardt) is found raped and murdered inside her burnt loft the team investigates a family of coffee importers. The suspects are numerous ranging from the woman's fiance (Matthew Davis) to his father (Stephen Collins). Further investigation reveals a twisted love rectangle between the woman, her fiance, the father and even the son's lawyer (Michelle Borth).
19 202 "Cold" David Platt Judith McCreary May 13, 2008 09019 10.83
The SVU is shaken when multiple members of the squad are determined to stop a conspiracy of dirty cops. Haunted by a ten-year-old rape-murder case, Detective Lake meets a contact (Deirdre Lovejoy) to find out about new evidence. On his way back, he gets into a firefight with two police officers and kills one of them. In an injured state, Lake tracks down the surviving rape victim (Victoria Cartagena) and convinces her to testify. While this is happening, the SVU squad discovers that the second shooter (Jack Gwaltney) works for the Fugitive Apprehension Team. Benson and Stabler arrive just in time to stop him from killing Lake and Novak proceeds to put the shooter on trial. However, the case quickly goes downhill in the courtroom and Novak withholds evidence in a last ditch effort to win a conviction. She is informed by Elizabeth Donnelly (Judith Light) that she faces censure and possible suspension, and that the District Attorney declined the opportunity to refile the charges. This leaves Chester with no choice but to gun down the cop himself.

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