LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT {LAW AND ORDER: SVU}: PAYBACK {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The first 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, Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler are called to the scene of a homicide, in which a cabbie named Victor Spicer was stabbed and castrated. As they begin to investigate, Elliot is sent to testify for another case, in which a man flashed various women in a park, but the trial wraps up quickly when the man repeats his offense in front of the jury. Olivia discovers that Victor Spicer is still alive and in Rikers for prostitution, and when they visit him, he admits he sold his hack license before going to prison, although he cannot provide any names. Olivia and Elliot go to a cabbies’ diner and ask about the dead man, and another taxi driver, a Sikh man, says that the victim was actually called Steven and that he saw him the previous night leaving the diner and then picking up two unknown women. They also discover that someone called the cab company to ask when “Victor” was working and conclude that the murder was a case of mistaken identity and the real target was the man in prison. They locate Steven’s address and break the news to his wife, who is devastated. She says that her husband was Czech and was in the country illegally, and that he faked the license to avoid being arrested.
The coroner reports that the attack was a particularly vicious one, and a painted fingernail is found in the car, implying that a woman committed the crime. The detectives investigate the two men with whom the real Spicer was caught prostituting himself, thinking one of their wives may be guilty, but nothing pans out. Back at the station house, Elliot, Cragen and Jeffries enjoy lunch as Munch goes off on one of his trademark rants about government conspiracies and his multiple divorces. Elliot receives new information about his victim and tells Olivia that his real name was Stefan Tanzic, and he was in fact a Serb convicted for war crimes, including many rapes. Olivia confronts Tanzic’s wife angrily, saying that she must have known what he did, and Elliot reminds her that they “don’t get to pick the vic” and she must solve Tanzic’s murder despite his actions. The M.E. states that there was more than one assailant, and they learn that five of Tanzic’s former victims live in the New York area. When they go to question them, they find that the first one is incapable of having committed the crime, as she was blinded and scarred by Tanzic’s torture, which upsets Olivia greatly. Another woman, Marta Stevens, is revealed to have had Tanzic’s son, and when Olivia questions her, she tells her about her horrible rape and torture at the man’s hands and says she is not sorry he is dead, but denies any involvement. Olivia later has dinner with her mother, Serena, and discusses the case, and it is revealed that Olivia is the product of her mother’s rape.
Olivia tells Elliot that she doubts Marta committed the crime, considering that none of her nails were broken, but Elliot is unconvinced. They talk to another woman, Anya Rugova, who states that Tanzic murdered her family, but says she was at her restaurant at the time of the murder and does not know Marta. However, Elliot notices her injured hand and knows she is lying. He suggests to a conflicted Olivia that the women planned and carried out Tanzic’s murder together in revenge for his crimes against them, and, pretending to have a positive ID from the Sikh cab driver, they arrest Marta. When they go to arrest Anya, however, she grabs a knife in panic and stabs herself, whispering something to Elliot as she dies.
Back at the station house, Marta admits that she and Anya killed Tanzic when they recognized him, but she makes it sounds as though it was an impulsive act. ADA Carmichael agrees on second-degree manslaughter, meaning she will serve minimal time. Cragen agrees, but privately confronts Elliot and Olivia and angrily points out that they cheated the system by pretending to have an eyewitness and ignoring the details that clearly proved that the women planned the murder in advance. Olivia responds that her conscience would not allow her to prosecute Marta any more harshly after what she went through, and Cragen coldly says that she used her only “get-out-of-jail-free card” on the case. Back at their desks, Olivia asks Elliot what Anya said to him, and he replies “‘I just want to be with my family.’” Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: September 20, 1999 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:43:23
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:76363
- GENRE: Drama, police/detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/detective; Drama, legal; Sex crimes
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1999-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Robert Palm … Executive Producer
- Dick Wolf … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Ted Kotcheff … Co-Executive Producer
- Peter Jankowski … Co-Executive Producer
- Michael R. Perry … Producer
- David DeClerque … Producer
- Joe Lazarov … Co-Producer
- Tim DeLuca … Associate Producer
- Mike Post … Music by
- Jean DeSegonzac … Director
- Chris Meloni … Cast, Detective Elliot Stabler
- Mariska Hargitay … Cast, Detective Olivia Benson
- Richard Belzer … Cast, Detective John Munch
- Dann Florek … Cast, Captain Donald Cragen
- Gordana Rashovich … Cast, Anya Rugova
- Dean Winters … Cast, Detective Brian Cassidy
- Michelle Hurd … Cast, Detective Monique Jefferies
- Isabel Gillies … Cast, Kathy Stabler
- Elizabeth Ashley … Cast, Serena Benson
- Ned Eisenberg … Cast, Jerry Kleinert
- Tina Benko … Cast, Mrs. Panacek
- Ronald Guttman … Cast, Gallery Owner
- Mark Zimmerman … Cast, Mr. Dupree
- Angie Harmon … Cast, A.D.A. Abbie Carmichael
- Mili Avital … Cast, Marta Stevens
- Leslie Hendrix … Cast, M.E. Rodgers
- P.J. Brown … Cast, Bremmer
- Ramsey Faragallah … Cast, Taxi Driver
- Rebecca Creskoff … Cast, Waitress
- Angela Bullock … Cast, Prosecutor
- Mark Nelson … Cast, Robert Stevens
- Jeremy Bergman … Cast, Nicholas Stevens
- Matt Skollar … Cast, Victor Spicer
- Irma St. Paule … Cast, Aunt Jashari
- Sevanne Martin … Cast, Ileana Jashari
- Daniel Bess … Cast, Policeman
- Judy Del Giudice … Cast, Judge
- Bill Driscoll … Cast, Mr. Kloster
- Vivian Nesbitt … Cast, Farley
- Chris Orbach … Cast, Ken Briscoe