Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series)

Wrath (2001)

Christopher Meloni: Detective Elliot Stabler

Quotes 

• [a murderer is stalking Olivia] 

  Elliot Stabler : I didn't tell you about the detail because I knew you'd refuse.

  Olivia Benson : Only the rat-squad puts cops on other cops, Elliot, without telling them. I deserve better than that. Especially from you.

  Elliot Stabler : [pauses]  You've been under a lot of stress lately...

  Olivia Benson : I've always backed your play.

  Elliot Stabler : And I did what I had to do. The guy's murdered four people, what's to stop him from coming after you, Olivia?

  Olivia Benson : If you can't trust your partner, Elliot, it's time to get a new one.

• John Munch : Missing persons report was filed yesterday by the foster mother.

  Elliot Stabler : Do we know cause of death?

  John Munch : Preliminary tox reports just came in. All three victims were pumped full of sedatives and potassium chloride. M.E. says death was painless.

  Odafin Tutuola : Like that makes a difference.

  Donald Cragen : Interview the families. Let's find a connection other than Benson.

• Dr. George Huang : Three victims. Different race. Different gender. Different age. This is about revenge. The real target is Detective Benson.

  Olivia Benson : It's personal.

  Dr. George Huang : You've enraged someone so much, they want you twisting.

  Donald Cragen : Why the body farm? Why transport three victims ninety miles outside the city?

  Dr. George Huang : He wanted them found and studied. He dumped them in a research facility that's federally funded.

  Olivia Benson : Guaranteeing national attention. But how did the suspect find them? How did he get into my files? How did he even know that they're my cases?

  Donald Cragen : Tina Cordell case had a lot of national press coverage, right? High school kid raped, strangled with her purse strap by her boyfriend Victor Klaussen.

  Elliot Stabler : Latching onto a news story doesn't explain the other two victims, though.

  John Munch : The foster mother said that you supervised meetings between Clayton and his father. Why?

  Olivia Benson : Because the man is a drunk. I thought if I stuck around that he'd get some help. I know what it's like to live through that.

  Elliot Stabler : You maintained a personal relationship with Carmella Barrantes.

  Olivia Benson : Well, she needed help. My day doesn't end when we catch a perp or get a conviction.

  Dr. George Huang : No one's blaming you, Detective.

  Olivia Benson : Well, you think that I led him to these people? That... that I have a stalker?

  Dr. George Huang : If that's how he chose them, he wasn't stalking you. There was no sexual fixation. It was reconnaissance.

  Olivia Benson : Well, let's look into my files and see who has a grudge.

• Olivia Benson : I'm fine.

  Elliot Stabler : I'm not. Some lowlife's out to get you.

  Olivia Benson : Look, if he wanted to take me out, he would have tried it already.

  Elliot Stabler : Oh, now you can read minds and you got eyes in back of your head.

• Olivia Benson : You worried about something?

  Donald Cragen : Your safety.

  Olivia Benson : No protective detail. Trust me, I'm not trying to be a hero. Just that a protective detail is exactly what this guy expects.

  Donald Cragen : And what happens when this hump comes after you next?

  Olivia Benson : He wants me twisting, not dead. He wants me thinking about him, obsessing as much as he is.

  Elliot Stabler : You can't be sure of that.

  Olivia Benson : Yes, I can, 'cause it's working.

• [last lines, after Olivia's killed someone] 

  Olivia Benson : I gotta give my statement.

  Elliot Stabler : I'll take it...

  Olivia Benson : YOU leave me alone.

• Olivia Benson : These are our three victims. Our first victim was Peter Cordell. I met Peter in 1993 when his daughter, Tina Cordell, was raped and murdered. I kept him updated on the case. I drove him to court every day, and I held his hand when our perp, Victor Klaussen, was acquitted.

  John Munch : What went wrong with the case?

  Olivia Benson : A series of lab mix-ups contaminated the evidence.

  Elliot Stabler : Pioneer days of DNA. There was nothing you could do about it.

  Donald Cragen : What's the background on the Hispanic female?

  Olivia Benson : Victim number two is Carmella Barrantes. She was raped and beaten three years ago by a gangbanger who's now serving eight to twelve in Sing Sing.

  Elliot Stabler : I guess we can cross him off our suspect list.

  Odafin Tutuola : Why? This might be a revenge killing by the gangbanger's crew.

  Elliot Stabler : But there's no gang affiliation between the other two victims.

  Donald Cragen : Are we sure about that? What about the ten year old?

  Odafin Tutuola : Gangs are recruiting younger and younger these days.

  Olivia Benson : Victim number three is Clayton Derricks, who was physically abused by his father, Bruce Derricks. When Clayton was placed in a group home, he was sodomized by an older boy and then he was placed in foster care, and I cannot tell you what it took to get this boy to trust me.

• Olivia Benson : Those checks should go to our lab. I don't want the feds processing our evidence, doling out information whenever they feel like it.

  Elliot Stabler : Well, their lab is better equipped. It's faster, and if there are any problems, then it's on them.

  Olivia Benson : Wasn't your name stenciled on that door, so whose ass are you really covering?

  Elliot Stabler : Okay, the way I see it, the only "us and them" is cops and criminals. We are on the same team.

  Olivia Benson : Yeah, we are 'tilll the press shows up.

• Olivia Benson : Hey, Victor, how you doing?

  Victor Klaussen : I'm working.

  Olivia Benson : Well, you need to account for your movements for the last couple of days.

  Victor Klaussen : I don't have to talk to you. A jury found me not guilty, remember?

  Elliot Stabler : Okay. We'll talk to his wife. I'm sure she'll tell us what we need to know.

  Victor Klaussen : Why can't you just leave me alone?

  Olivia Benson : Like you left Tina Cordell alone? You raped her, then you strangled her.

  Victor Klaussen : You know, you can't harass me. Not you, and not her old man.

  Olivia Benson : Her old man's dead, Victor.

  Victor Klaussen : Good. I can get on with my life now. Why don't you?

  Elliot Stabler : Well, we'd like to, except he was murdered. That makes you prime suspect number one.

  Victor Klaussen : You know, you can't pin that on me. All right? The guy was unhinged. I even had to get a restraining order, but you cops, you never enforced it.

  Olivia Benson : Well, that's 'cause we figured a murdering rapist like you can handle yourself.

  Victor Klaussen : You know, Tina had a smart mouth, too. It got her in a lot of trouble.

  Olivia Benson : That sounded like a threat.

  Elliot Stabler : Yeah, it did. Maybe we should arrest him, ruin his day.

  Victor Klaussen : Arrest me for what?

  Elliot Stabler : [grabbing Klaussen and throwing him up against his van]  How about obstruction, resisting? It's a long way to the station house. I'll think of a thousand things by the time we get there.

  Olivia Benson : We'll let you stew in the can for a few days. Maybe even leak that you're a pedophile. I bet after your arraignment, you'll tell us anything we want to know.

• Junior : Oh, I remember Detective Benson. How are you?

  Olivia Benson : Curious about some of your activities, Junior.

  Junior : Sorry, gave up my life of crime long ago. What's your beef?

  Olivia Benson : Well, you were pretty vocal about getting even when I collared you for carjacking and rape.

  Junior : I was hopped up on crack. I don't blame you for anything, Detective. At least not anymore.

  Elliot Stabler : You used to run these streets. Your crew still run drugs up to Canada?

  Junior : All my friends are either dead or in jail, so why the trip down memory lane?

  Elliot Stabler : Because we're out of time. We need some answers, Junior. Someone's got my partner in their sights.

  Junior : They must not be very good since she's still breathing.

  Olivia Benson : You were never very subtle, were you?