Law & Order: Special Victims Unit/Season 7

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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–present) is a long-running crime drama, part of the popular Law & Order franchise created by Dick Wolf. The show focuses on the Special Victims Unit, a special squad of the NYPD dealing with sex crimes and crimes against children.

Demons [7.01]

[Stabler poses as a sex offender to gain Ray Schenkel's trust]

Ray: Get the van. We'll have a good time with it.

Stabler: You're not a fag, are you?

Ray: No. I thought we could use it to pick up girls. [pause] You in?

Stabler: Oh, yeah.

Ray: [to Stabler, after learning the truth] I've always been a great judge of character. So I've been sitting here wondering how I could have been so wrong about you. [pause] Maybe I wasn't. Some of what you said was a load of crap, but not all of it. I can see it. You and me, we're brothers under the skin. People think sex offenders are different. We're aliens, drooling fiends lurking in the bushes. We're just like everybody else. Why are pictures of young girls plastered all over billboards, half-naked, mouths open, legs spread, peddlin' ass to sell clothes? If it didn't turn us on, they wouldn't do it.

Stabler: You're only doing what other men dream.

Ray: But your dreams are much darker, aren't they? You try to hide the evil inside you, but I can smell it. You got me the van. You egged me on.

Stabler: Don't blame this on me. You took that girl on your own.

Ray: You wanted me to rape again. You're as guilty as I am.

Design [7.02]

Dr. Warner: The only explanation is a technique called "Electro-ejaculation".

Fin: I don't like the sound of that.

Dr. Warner: [picks up a metal rod attached to a power box] Nothing to it. Insert this end in the rectum and electric shock causes an involuntary ejaculation.

Munch: I thought I'd heard of every sex crime.

Fin: Damn, who thinks this stuff up?

Benson: Novak let you off, didn't she?

April: Yeah.

Benson: I'm glad.

April: Why?

Benson: Because you don't deserve to be a mother and I'm gonna make sure you never see that child again.

April: Good. Maybe the kid might have a chance.

911 [7.03]

Benson: [about Maria] Nobody would invent the nightmare that she has been through! Why are you trying to poke holes in her story rather than trying to find her, because Munch found some spook toy?!

Captain Cragen: Whoever's doing this likes spook toys. He's already using at least one device.

[Fin approaches Munch and Benson looking at incriminating photos of Maria]

Munch: Detective Tutuola, come and pollute your soul with some child porn, my friend.

Ripped [7.04]

Stabler: I've known Luke since he was a baby. Always a sweet kid.

Benson: Well, you haven't seen him since before he hit puberty. And he's not so sweet anymore.

Dr. Hendrix: [to Stabler] You're not weak. You're so busy being strong and helping everyone, you've got nothing left for yourself. It takes a lot more balls to talk about your problems than to beat the hell out of a ghost.

Strain [7.05]

Captain Cragen: Early bird catches the perp.

[Benson goes undercover as a hooker]

Benson: [to Cragen] Hey sweetheart...you lonely tonight? [in her normal voice] Twelve o'clock, there's a skinny kid, black shirt, blue jeans, hustling a guy in a gray sweater. He could be MKS.

Raw [7.06]

Judge Schuyler: Now, before we begin, let's just make sure that everyone is familiar with the rules of my courtroom. I have a zero-tolerance policy for shenanigans. I appreciate that emotions are running high. But you must control them if you wish to remain. That means no outbursts, and no foul language. Capisce, Mr. Redding?

Brannon: Yes, your honor.

Judge Schuyler: I understand you wanna change the plea you made at arraignment?

Brannon: Yeah. I wanna plead guilty.

Judge Schuyler: Please stand.

[Brannon and Horowitz stand up]

Judge Schuyler: You may now allocute.

[Brannon is silent]

Judge Schuyler: Describe your crime for the court.

Brannon: Uh,... I shot the 2 Jew kids and the porch monkey.

Woman in gallery: May you burn in Hell, you racist pig!

Judge Schuyler: [bangs gavel] Order! Madam, sit down, or I'll have you removed! And as for you, Mr. Redding, I'm rejecting your plea offer.

Horowitz: But, your honor, there's a deal in place.

Judge Schuyler: My courtroom, my decision, Mr. Horowitz. And I find this deal reprehensible. [to the ADA] You should be ashamed of yourself for agreeing to it, Miss Novak.

Novak: I apologize.

Judge Schuyler: A blatant hate crime, countless children traumatized, 2 of them maimed, and one precious young life snuffed out.

Judge Schuyler: [to Brannon] If you should choose to go to trial, and are found guilty, I will show no leniency. Your parole officer's parents haven't even been born yet.

Brannon: No. No way in Hell. I want the deal I was promised!

Judge Schuyler: Court officers, remove the prisoner.

Brannon: [as he is escorted out by the court officers] Yeah, screw you, old man! RA-HO-WA! RA-HO-WA! RA-HO-WA!

Judge Schuyler: [bangs gavel] Order!

Star: Have you been brainwashed by the Jew-controlled media?

Judge Schuyler: Silence!

Star: Or are you just another corrupt lackey of the Zionist-occupied government?

Judge Schuyler: All right. Remove that woman.

Star: White power.

Judge Schuyler: The fine for contempt of my court is $500, young lady.

Star: [as the court officers take her away] What are you gonna do?! You gonna criminalize the First Amendment?!

Judge Schuyler: You've just made it $1,000. Court officers, lock her up.

Star: Free the political prisoner!

Judge Schuyler: That's 1,500!

Star: Keep countin', Mr. Judge!

Name [7.07]

[Fin finds a 25-year-old lunch box]

Fin: [to Munch] Do Twinkies last forever? I'll give you 20 bucks. Take a bite.

Stabler: I just don't want you to get your hopes up.

Mrs. Padilla: Hope is all we have, Detective Stabler.

Starved [7.08]

[D.A. Arthur Branch looks at Novak's story in the papers]

Branch: What the hell were you thinking?

Novak: Cora's mom went to the papers. How's that my fault?

Branch: You gave her the bologna, and she made the sandwich! Says so on page 3. You told her to shout her story to the rooftops.

Novak: She's frustrated, and she's voiceless. And the law can't help her.

Branch: Which is the reason you have no business involving yourself in this mess.

Novak: We speak for the victims. And you taught me that.

Branch: Crime victims. Nobody's committing a crime here.

Novak: Mike Jergens did! So should a rapist who's been her husband for a week get to pull the plug on Cora?

Branch: She married him.

Novak: He conned her! He doesn't know what Cora really wants.

Branch: And you do?

Novak: Her mother does.

Branch: Based on what? Letters? Diaries? A memorable conversation? A living will?

Novak: Based on the mother knowing her child.

Branch: That's not enough.

Novak: There's a difference between law and justice.

Branch: Casey, I agree. But this is not your fight.

[Novak turns on the TV, which shows NY1 coverage of a picket in front of the courthouse]

Branch: "Protect the disabled". Looks like there's no stoppin' mama now.

[on NY1, Virginia speaks to the press]

Virginia: This rapist is trying to kill Cora. Do not let him do it. Please. I know my daughter. I know she wants to live. Help me fight back. This is legalized murder. Please! Help me send a message to the judge, to protect the disabled.

[Novak mutes the TV]

Branch: Don't let a tragedy turn into a circus. Convince Mrs. Kennison that the case oughta be tried in a court of law. Not in a court of public opinion.

Rockabye [7.09]

Novak: The baby was more than 24 weeks old, it could have lived outside the womb.

Devere: But tragically it did not, so it is not a person, not a baby, not an unborn child; it is a fetus. My client is already handicapped by the law, let's not add insult to injury.

Novak: The only insult is to the English language.

Devere: There are people in this country who want to take us back to the 50's, and look what we've got - a 50's crime.

Storm [7.10]

[the detectives return to the squad room, only to find that all the evidence is gone]

Stabler: What the hell?

Benson: Everything's gone.

Stabler: The whole de-con routine was a scam.

Munch: Why, Santa? Why?

Stabler: My DD Fives, notebooks, all gone.

Tutuola: Who do we call when we’ve been raped?

Captain Cragen: [to Benson, after his talk with the chief] I don't like bein' bossed around by some G-man in a $1,000 suit.

Alien [7.11]

[An investigation into the near-fatal beating of a 12-year old boy uncovers a suspect whose trial becomes about the rights of same-sex parents.]

Small girl: One time, this big boy, he pushed Sean. He fell down.

Fin: What was the big boy's name?

Girl: I don't know. But he's bad. I saw him smoking.

CSU: [Displays bagged scissors] Found these in the school dumpster.

Fin: She means I found them under the tuna casserole. All she did is stand and point.

Stabler: In the 6 months since Zoe and Kate took St. Victor's to court, the whole family's been harassed. They've even changed their phone numbers twice.

Fin: Didn't do any good. Broken windows, graffiti on the doors. Zoe's filed 6 reports. Nobody's ever been charged.

Munch: Since when did New York become a red state?

Fin: But Zoe wanted to make a point. Take the school to court. Win one for the cause.

Munch: Someone's got to fight the fight.

Fin: It shouldn't be an 8-year-old.

Novak: How'd it go?

Benson: Great. I love putting 8-year olds in lockup overnight.

Infected [7.12]

[When the accused killer of a teen's mother is released due to lack of evidence, the youth exacts his own justice by killing the man.]

DJ: Man, I ain't carrying, all right? And you can search me.

Munch: (Opens a front-loading washing machine and finds dozens of packets of crystal meth) Look at what I found.

Fin: Oughtta be worth a couple of grand.

DJ: Can't pin that on me.

Fin: Yeah, but I might be able to pin a murder on you, DJ.

DJ: What?

Fin: The rape and murder of Monica Phelps.

DJ: No no no. I did not murder her.

Munch: (Studies bottles of detergent on top of the machine) So what should I use? Lemony goodness, or Mount Stream?

DJ: Thought she was working at a hot dog stand. She wouldn't be frying franks if she was dealing. Now wasn't I helpful.

Munch: Very. (turns on the laundry machine)

Carthage: (to underage girl in motel room) Why don't you just take off your clothes, and we'll have ourselves a good time.

Stabler: (bursts into room with a drawn gun) Can we have a good time too?

Fin: (entering) Me too. I bet we can all have a lot of fun.

Granger: He was attempting to have sex with a minor, and you know this because you can read his mind?

Benson: We know this because he paid a minor $2,000 to have sex.

Devere: Some of you might think that Nathan Phelps acted out of simple vengeance. Ted Carthage murdered his mother, so he murdered Ted Carthage. That is what the assistant district attorney will argue. She will tell you that anyone who kills out of retaliation should go to jail. I agree with her. But that is not what my client did. Did he hate Ted Carthage? Absolutely. Did he kill him? Yes. So, if not out of retaliation, what made Nathan do it? This is a new study published in Science magazine. It found that people who have witnessed gun violence are twice as likely, sometimes 3 times as likely, to commit an act of violence themselves. Nathan witnessed Ted Carthage shoot his mother. And just as this study predicts, he reacted with violence. This study equates gun violence with an infectious disease. Anyone exposed to it is infected. Now, you may not agree or like this study. Gun manufacturers don't like it, either. It goes against their mantra: "Guns don't kill people. People kill people." But this study points to something that is almost unspeakable in today's gun culture, and that is that the blame for violence can be directly placed on the gun. Once you see someone squeeze the trigger, it's easier to do it yourself. Nathan saw his mother shot to death in front him, and at that moment he contracted the disease. It wasn't his choice, any more than it is your choice to catch a cold after someone has sneezed on you. Violence is the disease. Guns are the virus. And we have an epidemic on our hands.

Novak: Does witnessing a murder justify a murder?

Benson: It doesn't justify it. But it might explain it.

Devere: He's not testifying, period!

Judge Donnelly: Let him.

Devere: And let him incriminate himself?

Judge Donnelly: Exactly

Devere: Are you crazy?

Judge Donnelly: [to Novak] What do you think?

Novak: A jury's been sworn in on a criminal case, a witness has testified. Do you see where this is heading?

Devere: If you screw us over on this-

Novak: Trust me.

[during Nathan's testimony]

Geddes: Why did you kill Ted Carthage?

Nathan: I don't know.

Geddes: Didn't he kill your mom?

Nathan: Yeah.

Geddes: So are you lying when you say you don't know?

Nathan: I'm not lying.

Geddes: Was your mom a prostitute?

Nathan: I don't know.

Geddes: Did you have a nice apartment when she was alive?

Nathan: It was okay.

Geddes: Was there a lot of crime in the neighborhood?

Nathan: I guess.

Geddes: Did you have a nice life, Nathan?

Nathan: Yes.

Geddes: Doesn't sound like it. How old were you when your dad was stabbed to death?

Nathan: 6.

Geddes: If you could, would you shoot the guy that stabbed your dad, just like you shot Ted Carthage?

Nathan: No.

Geddes: No?! Why not?! He stabbed your father!

Nathan: I don't wanna kill anybody!

Geddes: Sure. You did. You were angry.

Nathan: No!

Geddes: Yeah, Ted Carthage killed your mother. You hated him!

Nathan: Stop it!

Geddes: You didn't kill because you saw the gun! You wanted to hurt him! You hated him, and you wanted him to die!

Nathan: [furiously jumps out of his seat] YES! I HATED HIM! ALL RIGHT?!!

Devere: Your honor, at this time, the defense would move for a mistrial.

Judge Malloy: Miss Devere, you can't do that. This is a hearing. Not a trial.

Devere: My apologies, Judge Malloy. That motion wasn't made to you. I'm speaking to Judge Donnelly. Nathan Phelps was compelled to incriminate himself in these proceedings. The testimony is admissible in his criminal trial and violates his right against self-incrimination. It's grounds for a mistrial.

Judge Donnelly: Motion granted. The criminal case against Nathan Phelps is dismissed with prejudice.

Geddes: What?!

Novak: In that event, Judge Malloy, I move to dismiss this proceeding. Now that there is no case against Nathan Phelps, there is no reason to investigate this research.

Geddes: Your honor, this is a setup, perpetrated by the DA's office.

Judge Malloy: Mr. Geddes, I'd agree with you, except you're the one who called Mr. Phelps to the stand. This action is dismissed. Court is adjourned.

Geddes: Killer got a foster family. That's nice.

Novak: You're a jerk, Geddes.

Geddes: Yeah, and you got a murderer off.

Novak: Nathan Phelps would be serving the sentence I had already negotiated had you not gotten involved. So why don't we put the blame where it really belongs? On your bosses?

Blast [7.13]

[When an 8-year-old girl is kidnapped on her way home from school, DNA tests on the blood found in the abductor's abandoned van reveal she has leukemia.]

Stabler: "Password protected."

Morales: My 6-year old could hack this.

Stabler: No way. You're not doing this.

Dr. Warner: I can take care of myself.

Stabler: No offense, but med school doesn't exactly prepare you for something like this.

Dr. Warner: The Air Force did. They paid for medical school. I did 2 tours at Ramstein during Desert Storm. I know how to handle myself around men with guns.

Danny: No. Everybody stays. They're my ticket out of here.

Stabler: You don't need them. You've got me. I'm a cop. So's every guy out there. They're not going to risk my life. As long as you're with me, you're safe.

Taboo [7.14]

Captain Cragen: This nutcase is a serial baby killer.

Stabler: You look just like him.

Ella: Who?

Stabler: [shows pictures of the baby] Your son.

Ella: I don't have a son.

Stabler: Carried him 9 months. You didn't want him. You had legal options. You have a problem with abortion? That's your choice. I understand that. There's adoption. [Ella shakes her head] You chose to give birth!

Ella: You have the wrong person.

Stabler: You chose to walk 6 blocks with him, right past a firehouse! A hospital where, under safe haven laws, you could've just left him anonymously!

Ella: Why are you yelling at me?

Stabler: Because you tossed him in the trash like the garbage you are!! All those choices... How is that even an option?!

[during Ella's arraignment]

Judge Preston: How do you plead?

Ella: Not guilty.

Judge Preston: I'll hear the People on bail.

Novak: Well, a million has a nice ring to it.

Berger: Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Novak: The defendant is a flight risk.

Berger: To where? Jersey? She's a U.S. citizen.

Novak: Given the severity of her crimes, and the fact that she killed a baby once before...

Berger: My client was never charged with that crime. In fact, there was no crime. That fetus was stillborn.

Judge Preston: Mr. Berger!

Berger: Your honor, this poor girl lost a child. How dare the People twist that tragic incident to suit their own needs.

Novak: You have got to be kidding.

Berger: No! You are. My client doesn't have as much as a parking ticket!

Novak: I'm sure if she did, she'd just throw it in the trash along with her babies.

Judge Preston: Oh, all right. That's enough out of both of you. As I believe the defendant is not a threat to anyone but her own offspring, the court is requesting that in exchange for a lower bail amount, she does not get pregnant again before trial.

Berger: That's unconstitutional!

Judge Preston: I'm not ordering that she be sterilized, Mr. Berger. [to Ella] But if you do become pregnant again, young lady, you will be found in contempt of this court, and bail will be rescinded.

Berger: Your honor has no right to legislate procreation.

Judge Preston: You think you could manage to comply with that order, Miss Christensen?

Ella: I don't know.

Judge Preston: Bail is set at 2,000,000, cash or bond. 10-minute recess. [bangs gavel]

Berger: Are you familiar with Kendall's study of postpartum women, which showed: "Psychiatric hospital admissions increase 7 times in the first 3 postpartum months compared to pre-pregnancy, and represent the peak prevalence for psychiatric disorders for women."?

Dr. Huang: I'm aware of the biologically vulnerable state of women following childbirth.

Berger: So, their brain chemistry can be altered. Their hormones go crazy. Uh, sorry. I'm gonna anticipate an objection to that one. Lemme rephrase. [pauses] Their hormones... go kooky.

Manipulated [7.15]

[After a woman's body is found, Benson and Stabler delve into her private life and finally learn that in addition to being a respected lawyer, she was also a stripper.]

Fin: Hey, Tim. I hear you got a great wiener.

Stabler: A man's DNA doesn't just pop up inside a woman without his participation.

Benson: What do PMCs do?

Munch: Profit from the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Fin: Don't get him started on Dick Cheney again.

Munch: I miss the day when revenge just meant shooting someone.

Dr. Warner: And I miss the days when I never had to say I ran more DNA tests on that semen.

Gone [7.16]

[Donnelly finds Novak in a restaurant having a drink]

Judge Donnelly: I'd prefer shrimp cocktail for an appetizer.

Novak: This is the entree.

Judge Donnelly: [takes a seat next to her; to the waiter] Club soda, lime. [to Novak] That liquid lunch isn't going to change what happened.

Novak: Yeah, but it'll help me forget.

Judge Donnelly: You played the hand you were dealt.

Novak: I had to look Jennifer Durning's parents in the eye and tell them that their daughter would never get justice, because I let Nick Pratt and Doug Waverly get away with murder.

Judge Donnelly: Well, that wasn't your fault. But it will be if you let them get away with another one and don't try to stop it.

Novak: We haven't found Jennifer, so what makes you think Jason's gonna be any different?

Judge Donnelly: Because whoever planted that bug in my office knows what happened to him. And you are going to find that person if you have to interrogate everyone who works in that courthouse. Trial's over, Casey. Put the gloves on for round 2.

Stabler: [after arresting Nick and Doug for Jason's murder] You like sea bass? You'll just love what we pulled out of the river.

Class [7.17]

Novak: I waited tables in law school and served my classmates. It sucked, but it didn’t make me kill anyone.

[a man solicits a prostitute from his car]

Vegas: My name is Vegas.

Man: I've never done this before.

Vegas: Don't worry baby. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Fin: All the gin joints in this city, we had to walk into yours.

Venom [7.18]

Fin: Prisons are full of innocent people and we both know what color most of them are.

Captain Cragen: Nobody in my department cuts corners or goes for an easy close.

Fin: And that's your opinion, Captain?

Captain Cragen: And for your son's sake, you better be grateful it's the only thing that matters.

Teresa: You and I need to talk.

Fin: Talk or yell?

Teresa: That's up to you.

Fin: All this is about the family?

Darius: You're damn right it's about the family! Every last one of you is gonna have to be in that courtroom. You're gonna have to testify. Your lives out in the open for everyone to judge, same way you all been doing to me since day one. [to Fin] They gonna know what kinda cop you are, and what kind of husband and father you weren't. They gonna know all about my brother's sexual habits and his collusion. And I guarantee once that comes out, everybody's gonna wonder why he's not being charged too. They gonna think his cop father has friends in your office, Ms. Novak. And I hope you have a damn good explanation, 'cause cover-up makes for a nice headline. Never mind a no-good mother is dead and her poor baby is missing, even though the baby is better off. So yeah, I'm going to prison, but not for as long as you think. 'Cause once Theresa Rendall takes that stand and has to tell the truth, that festering bitch is gonna have to claim me for the first time in her miserable life. And let's see her shake me after that. So you wanna bury me? You go right ahead, 'cause I'm taking you all down with me when you do.

Fault [7.19]

Stabler: Why didn't you shoot Gitano?

Benson: He was using the child as a shield.

Stabler: How could you let him get so close to you?

Benson: There were innocent civilians around. I couldn't get a shot.

Stabler: Well, you got close, and Ryan's dead.

Benson: So this is my fault?

Stabler: I can't do this anymore. I can't be looking over my shoulder making sure you're okay!

Benson: You son-of-a-bitch, you know that's not true!

Stabler: I need to know you can do your job and not wait for me to come to the rescue!

Dr. Warner: [about Stabler] Sometimes all that brooding intensity is just annoying.

Greenfield: Men like Gitano were the reason I left the prisons.

Huang: These kinds of sex offenders have the worst kind of pathology, because they make you believe that you can help them.

Greenfield: You can't help a sociopath. This whole debate about whether or not sex offenders can be cured... Can I cure you of needing oxygen?

Stabler: If that sniper hadn't beaten you to it... I know you would have taken that shot, Olivia.

Benson: No, I wouldn't have. Did you really expect me to? Did you really expect me to cause your death? What about your kids?

Stabler: I don't know. I just couldn't get that boy out of my head.

Benson: What about me?

Stabler: Look, we both chose each other over the job. We can never let that happen again. Otherwise... we can't be partners.

Benson: I can't believe you're saying that.

Stabler: Look, you and this job are about the only things that I've got anymore. I don't want to wreck that. I couldn't take it.

Captain Cragen: Olivia, what's up?

Benson: I want a new partner.

Fat [7.20]

Blaine: Pervert. What, you get turned on by little children?

Hamzid: What are you saying?

Blaine: I'm sayin' the little whore came in here and stole your tobacco license, so you wanted to pay her back.

Hamzid: Okay! She got me angry. She called me names. She laugh at me. But I swear, I didn't touch her!

Stabler: Blaine.

Blaine: So, that's why you took her outside and hit her over the head?!

Stabler: Blaine!

Blaine: WHAT?!

Stabler: Nice shoes. Are those Quattros?

[Blaine looks down at Hamzid's shoes]

Blaine: No wonder your partner dumped you.

Stabler: What'd you just say to me?

Blaine: You screwed her, and now you're tryin' to screw me. [Stabler punches him, and both detectives get into a fight] GET OFF ME!!

[Fin and Cragen approach and try to break up the fight]

Fin: Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! C'mon, guys! Easy! Easy!

Blaine: [released from Stabler's grasp] Get off me! Get off me!!

Captain Cragen: THAT'S ENOUGH!!! Blaine, my office. Now! [to his other detectives] Everybody, back to work! Fun's over! [walks up to Stabler] What've you got to say, Elliot?

Stabler: Either you get rid of him, or I quit!

Captain Cragen: You get changed, and get in my office.

[Rudi comes across Tommy and Granger, who are about to leave the squad room]

Rudi: Hey! Hey! You! Hey, I'm talkin' to you. 'Member me? [points his gun at Tommy]

Granger: He's got a gun!!

[Rudi pulls the trigger, shooting Tommy; Tommy hits the ground; Stabler and Blaine, guns on hand, approach the scene]

Stabler: Drop it! Drop it!!

[Stabler grabs Rudi's gun as Blaine heads for Tommy's lifeless body]

Blaine: Somebody call a bus!!

Rudi: Did-- Did I kill him?

Web [7.21]

Fin: 4 packs of coolers and a pack of condoms. What, do you plan on getting frisky with the Hamburglar?

Benson: I wasn't planning on coming back.

Stabler: It's in your blood.

Benson: That's the problem.

Influence [7.22]

Derek: Psychiatry is a corrupt instrument of social control. And no offense, Ms. Novak, but you're a lawyer.

Novak: And you're a rock star. So you'll understand if I don't defer to your expertise on the subject.

Munch: When I was a kid, girls who had sex were afraid of being called sluts. Now they’re auditioning for the title.

Derek: They strap you down to a special table that flips over. So that you don't choke on your own vomit. Then they inject you with a muscle relaxant. Then they tape electrodes to your forehead and then turn up the juice. When your toes starts twitching, that means you're having a major convulsion, which is what they want. It's what they call "healing".

Novak: Why did they do this procedure?

Derek: Because...they said I was psychotic depressive.

Novak: And, in fact, didn't you attempt suicide three weeks prior to your parents committing you?

Derek: It was a mistake.

Novak: You took enough pills to cause permanent brain damage.

Derek: And the cure for that was for them to pass huge amounts of electric current through my brain. ECT fried my memory. Huge chunks of my childhood gone! It was painful, dehumanizing torture. I'll never know how much damage they did to me.

Novak: That sounds like a terrible ordeal. But tell me, after you got out of the hospital, did you ever attempt suicide again?

Derek: No.

Novak: And now you're a rich, successful musician with millions of fans. Isn't it possible that psychiatry didn't ruin your life...it saved it?

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