Control 

The Detectives find themselves hunting for a person who cut off a man's genitals, and left him to die. But what starts out looking like a homeless-crazy man may have done the deed, further ... See full summary »

Director:

Ted Kotcheff

Writers:

Dick Wolf (created by), Neal Baer (teleplay by)

Stars:

Christopher Meloni, Mariska Hargitay, Richard Belzer

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Meloni	...	Detective Elliot Stabler
Mariska Hargitay	...	Olivia Benson
Richard Belzer	...	John Munch
Diane Neal	...	Casey Novak
Ice-T	...	Odafin Tutuola
BD Wong	...	Dr. George Huang (as B.D. Wong)
Dann Florek	...	Donald Cragen
Jacqueline Bisset	...	Juliet Barclay
Austin Pendleton	...	Horace Gorman
David Thornton	...	Lionel Granger
Caren Browning	...	CSU Captain Judith Siper
Mike Doyle	...	Forensics Tech Ryan O'Halloran
Mickey Hargitay	...	Grandfather
Joseph McKenna	...	Samael
Joanna Merlin	...	Judge Lena Petrovsky

Storyline

The Detectives find themselves hunting for a person who cut off a man's genitals, and left him to die. But what starts out looking like a homeless-crazy man may have done the deed, further investigation reveals a much more sinister reason behind why Mr. Gorman was butchered. Olivia finds herself re-visiting the abduction and rape of a woman she didn't believe four years earlier, because the woman was drunk, and her complaint sounded too outrageous.

---

Plot Keywords:

100th episode | hoarder | drug addict | antique store | mother daughter relationship | 

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

---

Certificate:

TV-14

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was Mickey Hargitay's first acting role since he appeared in The Reincarnation of Isabel in 1973 - 30 years earlier. This episode would also mark his final acting role before his death in 2006.

---

Goofs

Fin states that the 2 trains run south from Riverdale (where a doctor performs castrations), but this is incorrect. The 1st train runs from Riverdale. The 2nd train runs from the Central Bronx - nowhere near Riverdale.

---

Quotes

John Munch: [about Mr. Gorman] He could've been a member of some cult. You know, in ancient Rome, priests of the goddess Cybele would castrate themselves to achieve divine status.
Odafin Tutuola: How the hell you know that?
John Munch: The Internet.

---

Connections

References Bob the Builder (1998)

User Reviews

Benson doesn't believe

In the list of creepy perpetrators that the SVU squad has had to deal with Austin Pendleton in this episode has to rank in the top five. But the squad doesn't deal with him as a perpetrator but as a victim.

SVU gets called in by Transit Police and finds Pendleton with his unit whacked off with a sharp instrument. Later on when he books from the hospital in locating him they find he's been the stalker of several women, he kidnaps them, tortures them, puts them through 'marriage ceremony' and then lets them go. It's so bizarre that no one except Samantha Mathis reported him. And on the day she did a few years back Mariska Hargitay found her drunk and incoherent and didn't believe her.

Finding the torture chamber built under a synagogue made believers of the whole squad. And then other victims come forward and the mass of evidence piles up. And then Pendleton is found dead.

SVU looks at both Mathis and her mother fashion mogul Jacqueline Bisset. So what happened and who did it, for that you watch the show for.

As an added treat David Thornton shows up once again as smarmy criminal defense attorney and he's always a creep even when he's defending good people. But it's Pendleton's chamber of horrors and method of torture that will leave you gasping.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 November 2003 (USA)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wolf Films, Universal Network Television

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1