Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series)

Monogamy (2002)

Christopher Meloni: Detective Elliot Stabler

Quotes 

• Detective Olivia Benson : [to Elliot]  You know, everybody in that room is on your side, but we're not mind-readers. And if you're not going to say what's going on with you, that's fine, but there's not a whole hell of a lot we can do.

  Detective Elliot Stabler : I know you're on my side.

  Detective Olivia Benson : Elliot, what is going on? Would you talk to me? Is there somebody else?

  Detective Elliot Stabler : No, it's nothing like that. To be honest, it'd be easier if there was. I... I don't know what this is. It's It just never goes away, you know. Every case, a little bit more horrific than the last and I go home. What am I supposed to do, talk about my day at work? "Honey, today, a guy cut a baby out of his wife's stomach. Pass the gravy, please."

  Detective Olivia Benson : So you just don't talk at all. That's no solution, Elliot.

  Detective Elliot Stabler : Well, one of us has to be able to sleep at night. She thinks I'm shutting her out.

  Detective Olivia Benson : You are. That's exactly what you do. You keep this up, you're going to ruin the best thing you ever had.

• Detective Olivia Benson : [about Richard Manning's laundry]  You gotta check this out. His laundry is nicer than my entire wardrobe. Folds and labels them: Whites, colors, dry cleaning.

  Detective Elliot Stabler : Anything marked "bloody clothes"?

• Dr. Richard Manning : [about his relationship with his wife]  She probably felt our relationship was lacking.

  Detective Elliot Stabler : Lacking is a real interesting word. What is it you were lacking, Dick?

  Dr. Richard Manning : Challenging my masculinity. A little amateurish, don't you think?

• Detective Elliot Stabler : [to Cabot]  Tell me that looked worse than it actually was.

  Alexandra Cabot : If you think it looks like we just lost our murder conviction, you're right.

  Detective Elliot Stabler : Warner said exactly what you wanted her to say and you let Manning's lawyer sandbag her. Why didn't you stop him?

  Alexandra Cabot : Because he's right, Detective. We can't prove how and when that baby died beyond a reasonable doubt and if you want to blame me for that, go right ahead.

  Detective Elliot Stabler : So we got nothing?

  Alexandra Cabot : Barring an outright confession the child was alive, he gets three-and-half to nine for the assault, out in two unless he gets off entirely on extreme emotional distress. I wish I could do more, Elliot.

• Detective Olivia Benson : [to Erin Sena]  Nice place.

  Erin Sena : I cleaned up especially for you.

  Detective Elliot Stabler : Your boyfriend doesn't mind the mess?

  Erin Sena : Who says I've got a boyfriend?

  Detective Elliot Stabler : Come on. A girl like you, I'm sure you have a few.

  Erin Sena : You coming on to me? I'm into that. Your friend can watch.

• Detective Olivia Benson : [to Erin]  Must have been jealous of Nicole. The woman who took everything from you and now she's having her own baby.

  Erin Sena : Get out.

  Detective Elliot Stabler : [gets a hold of Erin]  You still using? Yeah, we are. Look, I gotta tell you that no agency is gonna give a junkie back her kid.

  Erin Sena : Yeah? Screw you.

• Detective Elliot Stabler : At seven months, a baby moves inside of the mother. The only reason that baby is dead is because he bashed its skull in. Now, I don't care if you call it a person or not, that's murder.

  Alexandra Cabot : That argument could also be used to condemn legal abortion. Do you want me to charge every doctor who performs an abortion with murder?

  Detective Elliot Stabler : Abortion is different. It's the mother's choice.

  Alexandra Cabot : We're not talking about the mother's rights. You want to charge for homicide with the fetus as victim, you give the fetus rights. Do you want to go down that road?

  Detective Elliot Stabler : It's not the same thing.

  Alexandra Cabot : In the eyes of the law, it is.

  Detective Elliot Stabler : Well, the law needs to change.

  Detective Olivia Benson : I don't know, Elliot. You can't have it both ways. A fetus is either a life or it's not.

• Detective Elliot Stabler : You saw that baby. Olivia, you saw that baby. This guy's gonna walk.

  Alexandra Cabot : And I don't like it any more than you do, but this is very dangerous territory and I am not prepared to dismantle reproductive rights on an inconclusive case.

  Detective Elliot Stabler : We're going to let a murderer get away to preserve a political ideal. I don't even know what I'm doing here!

  Donald Cragen : Take a break, Detective.

  [Elliot leaves the room]