Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 5

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 5
Season 5
No. of episodes	25
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	September 23, 2003 (2003-09-23) – May 18, 2004 (2004-05-18)
Season chronology

This article contains a list of episodes for season 5 of the television series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Diane Neal joins the cast this season as Casey Novak, the SVU's new ADA.

Cast

• Christopher Meloni as Det. Elliot Stabler
• Mariska Hargitay as Det. Olivia Benson
• Richard Belzer as Det. John Munch
• Ice-T as Det. Fin Tutuola
• Stephanie March as ADA Alexandra Cabot (Episodes 1-4)
• Diane Neal as ADA Casey Novak (Episode 5-)
• B. D. Wong as Dr. George Huang
• Dann Florek as Capt. Don Cragen

Guest stars

This season Law & Order: Special Victims Unit's guest stars consisted of Shirley Knight Marisa Ryan, Kellie Martin, Mare Winningham, Susanna Thompson, Jon Abrahams, Marisol Nichols, John M. Jackson, Shirley Jones, Michael Boatman, Samantha Mathis, Beverly D'Angelo, Stephen Lang, Gary Cole, Serena Williams, Barry Bostwick, Michael Emerson, Helen Shaver, Dixie Carter, David Thornton, Julie Hagerty, Peter Riegert, Michael Beach, Doug E. Doug, Marlee Matlin, Anthony Rapp, Marlo Thomas, Amy Sedaris, Jake Weary, and Jane Seymour.

Episodes

Ep.	No.	Title	Directed by:	Written by:	Airdate	Prod. code
1	92	"Tragedy"	David Platt	Amanda Green	September 23, 2003	E4403
A high-risk pregnant woman is kidnapped when approaching her due date. Confusion arises when multiple suspects are willing to admit the crime to Detectives Benson and Stabler. Based on the real-life murder of Laci Peterson.
2	93	"Manic"	Guy Norman Bee	Patrick Harbinson	September 30, 2003	E4401
Detectives Benson and Stabler look for a link between the deaths of two high school students and an illegal marketing campaign by the major pharmaceutical company Tauscher-Leto.
3	94	"Mother"	Ted Kotcheff	Lisa Marie Petersen, Dawn DeNoon	October 7, 2003	E4404
A psychiatrist is almost fatally attacked - possibly by her patient, but she refuses to reveal information due to doctor-patient confidentiality. Two patients become suspects; one a serial rapist and one a frat boy with fugue states. While the serial rapist is found with tools of his past crimes, his librarian girlfriend can't believe he is a possible suspect. The hyper-concerned sister of the college student gives clues to the emotional state of her traumatized brother. Eventually, detectives Benson and Stabler find a link between the attack, a child abuse and an unsolved homicide.
4	95	"Loss"	Constantine Makris	Michele Fazekas, Tara Butters	October 14, 2003	E4402
Alex Cabot gets in over her head while prosecuting a rape and murder case, in which the victim was an undercover federal agent and the suspect, Rafael Zapata Gaviria, is a powerful drug dealer working for the notorious international drug lord, Cesar Velez. Due to Cabot getting in over her head, this puts her life in jeopardy.
5	96	"Serendipity"	Constantine Makris	Dawn DeNoon, Lisa Marie Petersen	October 21, 2003	E4408
A male dermatologist is suspected for murdering both a baby and her mom, and molesting little girls with honey. However, he can't be put in jail due to the lack of hard evidence. Detectives Benson and Stabler soon find out there was a victim that remembered it all. Meanwhile, the new ADA, Casey Novak, is having difficulties accepting the nature of the crime and asks to be reassigned. Based on John Schneeberger.
6	97	"Coerced"	Jean de Segonzac	Jonathan Greene	October 28, 2003	E4409
When a man kidnaps a little boy from his bed one night, it is soon revealed the man is homeless and schizophrenic. Detective Stabler, who is attacked by the man, exposes further crimes at an adult group home.
7	98	"Choice"	David Platt	Patrick Harbinson	November 4, 2003	E4411
A man is arrested for attacking his pregnant wife in protest of her drinking during pregnancy. Detective Benson finds out it is not the first time she has overindulged in alcohol during pregnancy. The wife is taken to family court by her husband, who accuses her of endangering the fetus by putting it at risk of developing fetal alcohol syndrome.
8	99	"Abomination"	Alex Zakrzewski	Michele Fazekas, Tara Butters	November 11, 2003	E4410
A minister (based on Fred Phelps), who used to harass a sexual re-education group's homosexual poster-boy, is suspected for his murder. However, his alibi checks out. It is revealed the victim had a thesis about the failure of sexual re-education groups, which drew the attention of an opposing professor.
9	100	"Control"	Ted Kotcheff	Neal Baer, Dick Wolf	November 18, 2003	E4413
Detectives Benson and Stabler investigate a man's mutilation in a subway station. The victim soon becomes a suspect when they learn he used to abduct women, make them his "brides," and force them to live in his dungeon. However, a woman manages to kill him before he is arrested. She claims she took the law into her own hands because when she reported the man's crimes to Detective Benson four years earlier, she didn't believe her. Based on the crimes of John Jamelske.
10	101	"Shaken"	Constantine Makris	Amanda Green	November 25, 2003	E4414
Detectives Stabler and Cragen suspect an infant was beaten by a pedophile. However, they soon learn the baby suffered from shaken baby syndrome, which leads them to suspect the mother, the nannies and the mother's boyfriend.
11	102	"Escape"	Jean de Segonzac	Barbie Kligman	December 2, 2003	E4415
In Virginia, Officer Edwards claims that he got jumped by Baxter and Gamble. Baxter & Gamble broke out of prison. Baxter might be heading back to New York City because his ex-girlfriend Karen lives there. 10 years ago, Karen's son Lee said, "Baxter raped me." Baxter was proven guilty, so that's why Baxter has been in jail for 10 years. In the end, it's revealed that Lee's cousin, Jeremy raped Lee 10 years ago. Baxter's innocent.
12	103	"Brotherhood"	Jean de Segonzac	José Molina	January 6, 2004	E4412
A local fraternity pledge master is sodomized and murdered. The detectives link it to a pornographic website that features college girls at a local bar. The investigation later re-focuses on ceremonies held for prospective pledges in the fraternity, even though the members won't talk.
13	104	"Hate"	David Platt	Robert Nathan	January 13, 2004	E4416
A man murders two Arabs (plus a third, while in custody) and claims his genes and biology enforced the hatred and violence in him. Detectives Benson and Stabler try to discover his true motive.
14	105	"Ritual"	Ed Bianchi	Ruth Fletcher, Christos N. Gage	February 3, 2004	E4406
A young boy is killed in a way that looks ritualistic. It is learned he was one of many slave children smuggled from Nigeria.
15	106	"Families"	Constantine Makris	Jonathan Greene	February 10, 2004	E4419
When a pregnant teenager is murdered, it is linked to a deep family secret. That secret involved another violent murder that ruined two families.
16	107	"Home"	Rick Wallace	Amanda Green	February 17, 2004	E4420
A kid found digging through garbage cans leads to a paranoid, overprotective mother and a murder-suicide gone wrong.
17	108	"Mean"	Constantine Makris	Michele Fazekas, Tara Butters	February 24, 2004	E4421
A sociopathic bully in a private high school tortures and murders her own friend. The incident leads to even more violence and death in the private school.
18	109	"Careless"	Steve Shill	Patrick Harbinson	March 2, 2004	E4422
When a young boy dies due to a religious ritual gone away, Benson and Stabler unravel a mysterious pattern of violence, abuse and murder within one foster care family. Based on the murders committed by Lois Jurgens.
19	110	"Sick"	David Platt	Dawn DeNoon	March 30, 2004	E4423
A rewarding non-disclosure agreement causes two parents to refuse to have their molested child questioned about a suspected pedophile. It is also revealed that in hopes of getting millions worth of settlement, another parent decides to seek out the same man and falsely accuse him of similar crimes, using clips she found in the paper. Based on Michael Jackson's child molestation accusations.
20	111	"Lowdown"	Jud Taylor	Robert Nathan	April 6, 2004	E4424
When internal information is used to stage a prosecutor's death, Novak puts her job on the line to get a confession.
21	112	"Criminal"	Alex Zakrzewski	José Molina	April 20, 2004	E4425
An ex-con criminology professor is among the suspects in a graduate student's rape and murder. A hasty investigation tries to find out if the professor could have been framed by his bitter rival, a disappearing alibi witness and a corrupted businessman.
22	113	"Painless"	Juan J. Campanella	Jonathan Greene	April 27, 2004	E4426
A defense lawyer challenges the assisted-suicide law in a case involving a hearing-impaired embryologist, whose website encouraged a woman to kill herself by putting a bag over her head and handcuffing herself to her bed, but failed after being found by two maids. The woman claims she was raped, and later commits suicide by medicine. Munch reveals that his father committed suicide after Munch insulted him.
23	114	"Bound"	Constantine Makris	Barbie Kligman	May 4, 2004	E4427
An elderly woman's strangulation leads to a case involving mass murders in a home-nursing company owned by a brother and nursed by his sister.
24	115	"Poison"	David Platt	Michele Fazekas, Tara Butters	May 11, 2004	E4428
A child passes out and is hospitalized after having a huge amount of detergent in her stomach. Her sister reveals their mother forced the child to drink it, but a judge disqualifies the sister's testimony. Novak and Clark investigate the judge due to his prior mishandling of an earlier child abuse case, in which he falsely jailed a woman.
25	116	"Head"	Juan J. Campanella	Lisa Marie Petersen, Dawn DeNoon	May 18, 2004	E4418
A man is investigated for hiding a video camera in a public restroom for sexual pleasure. To escape trial, he reveals an incriminating clip. In the clip a middle school female principal commits statutory rape with her male student in said public restroom. When the incident is exposed, her ashamed student son attacks her raped student at their school as revenge. It is then learned the principal did it due to her brain tumor, which can be cured by surgery. However, it is known to be able to grow back. Therefore, she agrees to register herself as a sex offender as part of a plea bargain. But after learning she got pregnant by her student, she breaks the bargain to contact him. Inspired by a real story about a sex offender male teacher in Virginia, who had an egg-sized tumor in the right lobe of the orbifrontal cortex. Once it was removed, he stopped his harassments. Once it grew back, he became a sex offender again until it was removed again.

See also

• List of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes

References

• TV.com - Law & Order: SUV's 5th season

External links

• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 5 - TV IV
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 5 on the Law & Order wiki

Preceded by Season 4

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit list of seasons

Succeeded by Season 6