- 3.1 Main cast
- 3.2 Recurring cast
- 3.3 Guest cast
- 6.1 Episode scene cards
Plot [ ]
Melanie Cramer, a 12-year-old pregnant girl who is weeks if not days away from going into labor, is reported to the Special Victims Unit by the hospital she is staying in, and Detective Benson is called in to interview the girl, who claims to have a husband. Upon investigating the home of her alleged husband, she and the rest of the NYPD find that he is the leader of a Branch Davidian-type religious cult called the Church of Wisdom and Sight. The leader later turns out to be a career con-artist named Eugene Hoff, who is using her pregnancy to inherit a vast fortune from her mother, one of his mostly female followers.
Summary [ ]
Episode summary
Cast [ ]
Main cast [ ]
- Christopher Meloni as DetectiveElliot Stabler
- Mariska Hargitay as DetectiveOlivia Benson
- Richard Belzer as DetectiveJohn Munch
- Diane Neal as A.D.A.Casey Novak
- Ice-T as DetectiveOdafin Tutuola
- B.D. Wong as Dr. George Huang
- Dann Florek as CaptainDonald Cragen
Recurring cast [ ]
- Margaret Reed as Defense AttorneyFelicia Chatham
- Tamara Tunie as M.E.Melinda Warner
- Ali Reza as Dr. Rohit Mehta
- Emilio Del Pozo as ESUCaptainClaros
- Elizabeth Flax as Nurse Carey Hutchins
- Kevin Jiggetts as Officer Green
- William H. Burns as Officer Robbins
- Angel Desai as CSUTechnician
Guest cast [ ]
- Jeff Kober as Abraham Ophion / Eugene Hoff
- Shannon Cochran as Cindy Cramer / John Ortiz as OfficerZermeño
- Peter Maloney as AttorneyGeoffrey Downs
- Bruce Norris as Reggie
- Holliston Coleman as Melanie Cramer
- Christopher Durham as Carl Buchman
- Laura Sametz as Simone Buchman
- Michael Cullen as Detective Munson Hicks as Reverend Tucker
- John Knox as Clerk
- Shirleyann Kaladjian as Woman #1
- Rachel Fowler as Woman #3
- Melissa Rocco as References [ ]
- ConEd
- Nuwaubian Nation
- Dwight York
- David Koresh
Quotes [ ]
Benson: You know, if you want, I can also try to find the father of your baby. Can you tell me his name? Melanie Cramer: Abraham. Benson: And who's Abraham? Melanie Cramer: He's my husband. Cragen: CSU found an old tunnel under the house leading to a vacant building on the next block. So far, that's where the trail ends. Abraham Ophion has no known criminal record, though it is likely a fake name. We do know eight years ago he tried to obtain tax exempt status for his group, the Church of Wisdom and Sight. That, along with the way they lived and the events surrounding their deaths, indicate we may be dealing with a cult. Other members may have escaped through the tunnel. Our priority now is to find them and to identify the victims. In addition, I want to make sure you're all taking care of yourselves. The department is providing psych support and you're all to sit down and talk to one of these people sooner rather than later. It is not optional. Dr. Huang: What's the first thing you remember seeing after entering the building? Stabler: Dead bodies. Dr. Huang: Can you be more specific? Stabler: A bunch of dead bodies. Dr. Huang: Well, what do you want to talk about? Munch: Well, it doesn't really matter. We could all talk till we're blue in the face. It's not gonna change the fact that the human race is ever-evolving and will always come up with elaborate, repulsive, and depraved ways to kill each other. Dr. Huang: And that's what really bothers you, isn't it? That you can still feel disgusted. Cragen: Elliot, can you step in here?
[Stabler goes into Cragen's office]
I'm referring you to psych services. Stabler: I just talked to them. Cragen: We've determined you require something ongoing. Stabler: [to Dr. Huang] What do you want me to do? You want me to cry? Is that it? Dr. Huang: If you won't take care of yourself, then you have to allow us. Stabler: If you stayed out of my head and let me do my job, there wouldn't be a problem! Cragen: You're out sick until psych says you can return. It's a week, at most. Take it. And you don't need to be carrying a gun around right now.
[Stabler places his gun on Cragen's desk and leaves] Melanie: [to Olivia] I'm not talking to you. Benson: Melanie, I know that you think that I want to hurt you and your family, but that is not true. Melanie: Just go away. Benson: Your mother was asking about a little boy. Is that your little brother? Is that Samuel? [Melanie holds her magazine close to her, but Olivia pushes the magazine away] Melanie, do you know what happened the night that you came to the hospital? Melanie: I'm not listening. Benson: Something terrible. Abraham is a liar. He killed your little brother. He killed your friends. He might kill your mom. Now, I can protect her, but I need you to tell me where she is. Melanie: Mom said Abraham was taking them to a safe place. Munch: [tries to talk to one of Eugene's followers] I'm gonna try this one more time. May I have your name, please, as well as any aliases? [the woman is silent and stares straight ahead] I hereby christen you "Jane Doe #3." Dr. Warner: All of the victims have the same father except the shooter. Munch: Abraham, father of many. Had children with his own children. Now we know why. Warner: Why what? Munch: Abraham's nothing more than an incestuous pedophile. You kill the victims, nobody can testify against you. Warner: There's still one victim left: the 12-year-old in the hospital who's having his baby. Benson: Sarah was Abraham's wife in the Bible, right? From what I recall, Sarah whored out her servant to her husband so that he could have a child. Is that why you let Abraham have sex with your daughter? Of course, your Abraham is different because he likes to have children with his own children. Sarah/Cindy: Melanie is not his daughter. Cragen: And we're supposed to believe you now because you've been so forthcoming? Sarah/Cindy: Her father abandoned us when she was a baby. Abraham took care of us. Benson: Abraham raped your daughter. Sarah/Cindy: I don't expect you to understand. Benson: Don't try to tell me for a minute that you believe this is right because I know you don't. You took Melanie to the hospital. You called us to see if Abraham had murdered your son. Sarah/Cindy: No, no. Benson: Your son was shot along with all these other children. Those women out there might be brainwashed, but you're not. You know exactly what he is: a murderer and a child rapist. Sarah/Cindy: That's not true! Benson: You knew who he was and you let this happen! You let all those children die! Sarah/Cindy: It was God's will! Benson: No, Sarah! It was your will! You can blame God, and you can blame Abraham, but we all know the truth! You did this! You sat there, and you watched as a man raped one of your children and then murdered the other! You might has well have killed him YOURSELF!! Cragen: Olivia! Benson: [calmly] He has one of your children and he has your unborn grandchild. Sarah/Cindy: This is a test. I won't be tempted. [Benson leaves the room in disgust] Reggie: Oh my God. Munch: God's not gonna help you, Reg. He doesn't like fraud committed in His name. Reggie: I want a lawyer. Benson: Oh, you're gonna need one. You're screwed. Munch: [talking Reggie through a sting with Abraham] Take a few deep breaths, relax, and just pretend you're embezzling thousands of dollars like it's any other day. Benson: Tell me where Melanie is. Eugene: How can you stand it? How can you invite this depravity into your mind, your body, your soul? It will kill you. Every horror, every torment afflicts your body. Like a cancer. It's devouring you, and you can't see it. Open your eyes. Benson: You know, I just thought that you were just another con artist. Seeking out people who were starved for anything that would give them meaning in their life. They're easy marks. You talk about God, the apocalypse and they give you all their money. But you are much more pathetic than that. You actually believe your own hype. You've conned yourself. [Olivia tosses a wallet on the table in front of Cindy] Benson: Do you recognize that? Cindy? Felicia Chatham: Her name is Sarah, Detective. Get your cases straight. Benson: Belonged to John, your husband. The one that you said abandoned you 10 years ago. [Cindy picks up the wallet and looks at it] This is what's left of him. He was shot in the back of the head and buried in the wall in the house where you lived. Chatham: Are you accusing my client of murder? Benson: No. Just of being stupid. And gullible. You know, it's interesting how Abraham only surrounds himself with women and girls. There's no men anywhere. I wonder if he didn't like the competition. Cindy Cramer: [teary-eyed; shakes her head] No. Benson: No? He killed your husband. The father of your child. What exactly does he have to do for you to stop defending him? Cindy Cramer: Abraham told me that John fell in love with another woman and I believe him. Benson: [holds an evidence bag that has John's wedding ring in front of Cindy] He was wearing it when he died. [throws the bag onto the table; Cindy picks it up and starts to cry] Chatham: What do you want from her? Benson: Abraham was last seen at Grand Central Station. He's going to wherever he's keeping Melanie. Now, she's gonna have her baby, he's gonna get his hands on her trust fund and then your daughter is dead. Where are they? Chatham: What are you offering? Benson: A chance to do the right thing for Melanie. Something you've never done her entire life. Chatham: That's not good enough. Cindy Cramer: [as she still clutches her husband's wedding ring] Up north. This warehouse. Eugene: All these men have come to kill me! Benson: Shut your mouth, Eugene! Eugene: Why?! Because they know! They know that I am greater than man! I am greater than God! And they're afraid of what I can do!
[a gunshot is heard and Eugene hits the ground dead; Melanie is holding the gun and she starts sobbing; Benson rushes over, takes the gun away, and comforts her] Benson: Melanie, it's okay. It's okay, honey. It's okay. Put it down. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. Melanie: That was a lie. Benson: What was? Melanie: He said he was greater than God, but nobody is.Background information and notes [ ]
- George Huang uses his FBI badge number to acquire a phone tap. The number is 2317616; the same number as Special Agent Dana Scully in The X-Files.
- The episode is dedicated in the memory of Emmy Ann Wooding (1947 - October 24, 2004), who died in a car accident. She worked at Universal Studios Television for thirty-seven years and was a longtime assistant at Wolf Films.
- The religious poem on the wall in Hoff's house is Thunder, Perfect Mind, an ancient text that was deemed heretical by Early Christian authorities.
- Story seems to be loosely based on the case of Marcus Wesson (AKA The Vampire King of Fresno). Leader of an incestuous vampire cult, Who fathered children with his daughters & nieces. On March 12, 2004, during a standoff 9 family members were killed while he was in the house. His defense was that his 25-year-old daughter Sebhrenah committed all the murders. The gun was found near her body with her DNA on it. He was convicted of murder because he persuaded his children to enter into a suicide pact. He had complete control over his children.
- Goof: Right after Melania shoots Eugene, there is a shot of her holding the gun and we hear her start to cry. But as evidenced in the next frame, where she sobs hard before hugging Olivia, her facial expression and movements do not match the crying we hear.
Episode scene cards [ ]
Special Victims Unit
Squad Room
Wednesday, October 27Apartment of
Carl and Simone Buchman
Queens, New York
Wednesday, October 27New York Savings Bank
609 West 112th Street
Thursday, October 28Church of
Wisdom and Sight
104 West 120th Street
Friday, October 29