LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT {LAW AND ORDER: SVU}: GREED (TV)

Summary

One in this series of police dramas—a spin-off of "Law & Order"—about the sexual crimes investigated by the elite Special Victims Unit of the New York Police Department. In this episode, wealthy Jessica Todd suffers a stroke after being assaulted in her home during an apparent robbery. Her husband Edwin explains that he recently had the locks changed after several neighborhood break-ins, and the detectives find that Andrei Gorsky, boyfriend of the Todds' cleaner Katarina, apparently had their new keys and was not at work on the night in question. When the police interrogate him, Gorsky denies any wrongdoing and states that the mix-up with the keys was a mere accident, adding that Katarina overheard the Todds arguing about money shortly before the attack. Todd downplays the disagreement, however, and while CSU finds no helpful evidence on the door lock, DNA evidence reveals that Jessica's attacker recently raped another woman, Denise Johansen. Denise describes the terrifying incident, though notes that the rapist did not beat her as he did Jessica, and the cops learn that the Johansens also had their locks replaced – by the same locksmith, Danny Ryan. Ryan, a law student, denies committing any crimes and Cabot states that the evidence is still insufficient, but Stabler and Benson soon find Jessica and Denise's jewelry inside Ryan's van and he is arrested.

The jewelry evidence is soon thrown out on a technicality, and Stabler wonders why Ryan would have left the expensive items in such a public spot. Ryan's DNA is not a match, and CSU soon finds one of Todd's fingerprints on Denise's diamond bracelet, suggesting that they worked together to plan Jessica's attack, stage Denise's and frame Ryan for everything, presumably for financial reasons. Further investigation reveals that Jessica inherited millions from her late first husband, Jerry Blaine – and that "Edwin Todd" is in fact not Edwin Todd and has stolen a wealthy retiree's identity. Benson and Stabler break the bad news to Jessica, explaining that her husband has stolen from her under the guise of funding his new restaurant, but Jessica refuses to accept it. Finding that fake Todd has made many trips to Canada, the detectives send his prints to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and Olivia figures out that Denise planted her own husband's DNA on Jessica during her staged attack to make it appear as though the same unknown man assaulted them both. Curtis Johansen is baffled by the news that his own wife set him up, adding that he too invested in fake Todd's restaurant at his wife's behest.

The detectives show Jessica her husband's Canadian police records, explaining that he was imprisoned for fraud under another name, but she tearfully admits that she forgave him after he confessed to her, aware that, as his spouse, she cannot testify against him. The cops attempt to arrest Edwin and Denise for falsifying their marriage licenses to Jessica and Curtis with their fake names, but then find that they both legally changed their names after leaving Canada. However, they then find that Edwin and Denise were in fact married in Mexico and did not divorce, thus rendering their second marriages invalid. Fake Todd smugly declares that Jessica will still not testify against him because of her love for him, but Jessica arrives in the interrogation room and makes it very clear that she now has no qualms about sending her treacherous "husband" to prison. Commercials deleted.

Details

NETWORK: NBC
DATE: November 30, 1999 10:00 PM
RUNNING TIME: 0:44:06
COLOR/B&W: Color
CATALOG ID: B:72365
GENRE: Drama, police/detective
SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/detective; Drama, legal; Sex crimes
SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1999-
COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

Peter Jankowski … Executive Producer
Neal Baer … Executive Producer
Ted Kotcheff … Executive Producer
Dick Wolf … Executive Producer, Created by
Arthur W. Forney … Co-Executive Producer
Judith McCreary … Co-Executive Producer
Jeff Eckerle … Supervising Producer
David Declerque … Producer
Roz Weinman … Producer
Dawn DeNoon … Producer
Lisa Marie Petersen … Producer
Randy Roberts … Co-Producer
Lynn Goldman … Co-Producer
Robert F. Campbell … Co-Producer, Writer
Jonathan Greene … Co-Producer, Writer
Samantha Howard Corbin … Consulting Producer
Eric Overmyer … Consulting Producer
Constantine Makris … Director
Mike Post … Music by
Christopher Meloni … Cast, Elliot Stabler
Mariska Hargitay … Cast, Olivia Benson
Richard Belzer … Cast, John Munch
Stephanie March … Cast, Alexandra Cabot
Ice-T … Cast, Odafin "Fin" Tutuola
Dann Florek … Cast, Donald Cragen
Henry Winkler … Cast, Edwin Todd / Edward Crandall
Mary Beth Hurt … Cast, Jessica Blaine-Todd
Roy Thinnes … Cast, Curtis Johansen
Sherri Parker Lee … Cast, Denise Johansen
Joanna Merlin … Cast, Judge Lena Petrovsky
Daniel Sunjata … Cast, CSU Technician Burt Trevor
Louis Mustillo … Cast, Locksmith Manager
David Pittu … Cast, Investment Banker
Alex Feldman … Cast, Danny Ryan
Rob Bartlett … Cast, Milton Schoenfeld
Sarah Knowlton … Cast, Valerie Emerson
David Lipman … Cast, Judge Arthur Cohen
Michael Aronov … Cast, Andrei Gorsky
John Leone … Cast, Randy
Etya Dudko … Cast, Katarina Dinov
Nick James Sullivan … Cast, Super
Mike Benitez … Cast, Dispatcher
Charlie Sandlan … Cast, Medic #1
Wallace E. Wilhoit Jr. … Cast, Court Clerk
Nicolas Glaeser … Cast, Harold Karaka
Derek Kelly … Cast, Medic #2