Torch (28 Apr. 2010)

One of Stabler's former partners joins SVU as an ADA, and helps Benson and Stabler find an arsonist responsible for the deaths of two girls.

Director:

Peter Leto

Writers:

Dick Wolf (creator), Mick Betancourt,

Stars:

Christopher Meloni, Mariska Hargitay, Richard Belzer

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Meloni	...	Detective Elliot Stabler
Mariska Hargitay	...	Detective Olivia Benson
Richard Belzer	...	Sergeant John Munch (credit only)
Ice-T	...	Detective Odafin 'Fin' Tutuola
BD Wong	...	Dr. George Huang (credit only)
Tamara Tunie	...	Dr. Melinda Warner (credit only)
Dann Florek	...	Captain Donald Cragen
Sharon Stone	...	A.D.A. Jo Marlowe
Justine Cotsonas	...	Emily Sullivan
P.J. Benjamin	...	Deputy Fire Marhsal Couric
Lindsay Crouse	...	Judge Andrews
Jeremy Allen White	...	Michael Parisi (as Jeremy White)
Georgia Lyman	...	Officer Whitney Bowman
Jason Jurman	...	Mitch Shankman
Sam Waterston	...	Jack McCoy

Storyline

When two sisters are killed in a fire, Detectives Olivia Benson and Eliot Stabler are confused about why they are called to investigate. They soon discover that Stabler's old partner, ADA Jo Marlowe, has been put on the case -- despite the absence of a sex crime -- because the two victims were so young, and that she has enlisted the duo to help. However, as the investigation continues, Benson and Stabler find that the case might be more suited to their department than anyone originally assumed, and Stabler's interrogation tactics threaten to get the detectives into trouble.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 April 2010 (USA)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wolf Films, Universal Media Studios (UMS)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

The case in Texas Dr. Drexel mentions, in which an innocent man was convicted due to faulty application of arson analysis, seems to be a reference to the real-life case of Cameron Willingham, a man executed in Texas in 2004 for the arson murder of his children. In 2009, an independent review of the case by the Texas Forensic Science Commission found that the evidence in the case did not sustain a finding of arson.

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Connections

References Law & Order (1990)

User Reviews

Stabler and Stone have history

Sharon Stone who got everyone's motors running in Casino guest stars as a new Assistant District Attorney for Sex Crimes. She's got a good track record in the field, back in the day she was Christopher Meloni's first partner, he broke into SVU with her.

Though juries will take the testimony of cops with a grain of salt and in fact are always instructed never to give their testimony more weight than anyone else's at trial, they will accept the word of a fire marshal without question. That's what happens here as the SVU squad gets a case involving what is called an arson fire by the Fire Department and its expert Brad Dourif. He says it was an arson and furthermore the father of the girls set it.

So Meloni and Mariska Hargitay even though they have a suspect, drop him and arrest Kevin Anderson the father. It's a gut wrenching episode because even if the result was unintended, the fact of putting his single digit age daughters in harm's way revolts the audience and we always take the word of fire marshals.

This is a good episode with an unusual twist to it.