Beef (21 Apr. 2010)

Investigation reveals that a victim with multiple DNA samples whose throat was slashed was an aspiring investigative journalist about to expose the highly unsanitary practices at a meat-packing plant.

Director:

Peter Leto

Writers:

Dick Wolf (creator), Lisa Loomer

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
Ice-T	...	Detective Odafin 'Fin' Tutuola
BD Wong	...	Dr. George Huang (credit only)
Tamara Tunie	...	Dr. Melinda Warner
Dann Florek	...	Captain Donald Cragen
Lynn Cohen	...	Rosa Donetti
Robert Petkoff	...	John Reilly
Aaron Tveit	...	Jan Eyck
Ellen Dolan	...	Lisbeth Sandler
Nelson Landrieu	...	Mr. Santiago
Jeb Brown	...	Jake Bradshaw
Arthur J. Nascarella	...	Alberto Seraphine (as Arthur Nascarella)
Joel de la Fuente	...	TARU Tech Ruben Morales

Storyline

After a young woman is sexually assaulted and murdered, Detectives Olivia Benson and Eliot Stabler track down the woman's boyfriend - their first suspect - but learn that he is a devout vegan who wouldn't hurt a fly. They soon find that the victim had been deeply involved in the fight to expose questionable practices in the meat-packing industry, even going undercover at a large company to find out the truth. Benson goes undercover herself to retrace the woman's footsteps and to identify who the victim might have angered along the way.

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Plot Keywords:

vegan | documentary filmmaker | meat | beef | dog lover | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

21 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

User Reviews

SVU treads in Michael Moore territory...unsuccessfully!

From the title of the episode to Benson (Marika Hargitay) going "undercover," this installment does try to mask that it's "preaching" about suspicious practices in the food, particularly meat, industry. The installment even makes a reference to film director Moore, known for his film exposes.

The murder at the beginning of the show is horrific enough but even more graphic are the film images that hammer into us, the viewers, the "fact" that something might be amiss in the food that we eat.

Even the revelation of the real killer's identity isn't too shocking and seems rather rushed, an occurrence that usually happens within the last five minutes of the show.

Like the beef in the title, this installment is kinda "tainted."