Wrath (Season 3, Episode 2)
Premise: Three murder victims tied to Benson’s old cases are found posed at a research site, and the trail leads to a man she once helped convict before DNA proved him innocent.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 3, Episode 2
- Starring
- Det. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Det. Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), Det. John Munch (Richard Belzer), Det. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Capt. Donald Cragen (Dann Florek), ADA Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March), Dr. George Huang (BD Wong)
- Guest stars
- Justin Kirk as Eric Plummer, Ben Gazzara as the Executive ADA, John Doman as Special Agent Rod Franklin, Orlagh Cassidy as Valerie Plummer, Jernard Burks as Russell Williams
- Director
- Jean de Segonzac
- Writers
- Judy McCreary
Summary
“Wrath” opens at a federally funded body-decay research site 90 miles from the city, where three bodies have been dumped and posed together: Peter Cordell, whose teenage daughter Tina was raped and murdered in 1993; Carmela Barrantes, a rape survivor; and Clayton Derricks, a 10-year-old taken from his abusive father. All were cases of Det. Olivia Benson, who insists on leading the investigation while Stabler acts as liaison to FBI Special Agent Rod Franklin. Each victim was given sedatives and then potassium chloride.
Victor Klaussen, acquitted of Tina’s murder, has an alibi. Relatives and a friend reveal that each victim got a letter announcing a free computer, and a car service record leads to a Chelsea office leased by phone under the name Vilia Sonoben, where the victims were drugged. Dr. George Huang concludes the killer is punishing Benson through the people she tried to help. Clayton’s father, Bruce Derricks, is bailed out of jail by a man using the name Oliver Benson, and his body is left at Benson’s building; he was given the paralytic Pavulon and suffocated while conscious.
The detectives check ex-convicts who threatened Benson and settle on Eric Plummer, who served seven years for a rape and attempted murder until DNA cleared him; Benson had helped convict him on an eyewitness identification. He now goes by Norman Webber and draws blood for insurance exams. Questioned with his lawyer, he describes the abuse he suffered in prison and has no alibi, but there is not enough for a search warrant. Benson confronts an unannounced protective detail that Stabler ordered, quarrels with him, and takes vacation time.
Plummer’s former cellmate, Russell Williams, says Plummer was fixated on a female officer and sent letters out through his ex-wife, Valerie. The letters, found with clippings and photos of Benson with the victims, give the squad enough to move, but Benson, working alone, has already pressed Valerie for his location.
Spoiler, the ending: At an apartment on Avenue D, Plummer holds a woman at gunpoint and has her call Benson inside. Benson tells him she is sorry and offers to testify on his behalf, but he says there will be no trial and refuses to drop his gun. Benson fires, and his gun proves to have been unloaded. She then leaves to give her statement.
Why it stands out
- Ben Gazzara makes a special guest appearance as an unnamed executive assistant district attorney.
- Justin Kirk plays Eric Plummer, and John Doman plays FBI Special Agent in Charge Rod Franklin.