Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series)

Loss (2003)

Christopher Meloni: Detective Elliot Stabler

Quotes 

• Elliot Stabler : Look, we had a good run. Conviction rates are up. We had to get screwed sometime.

  Olivia Benson : Cesar Velez can probably do more damage to Zapata now than the justice system ever could.

  Alex Cabot : It just... It never seems like enough, you know. The Feds'll get Zapata for killing Donovan, but what about Livia Sandoval? She dies without any justice, and we're supposed to be happy about it? We tell ourselves that we speak for the victims, but we don't. We can close cases, but the victims, even if they survive, their lives are ruined. I just get so sick of it.

  Elliot Stabler : Alex, we can't always win.

  Alex Cabot : But that's just it. Even when we win, we don't.

• Elliot Stabler : TRW and Equifax both show no activity on that social prior to June 2001. No bank accounts, no student loans, no jobs. All of her credit cards were issued around the same time also.

  Olivia Benson : DMV says Livia Tellez was issued a New York State driver's license same month, same year. No prior driving record in any other state.

  Donald Cragen : And nobody knew anything about this girl?

  John Munch : Neighbors were just passing acquaintances.

  Fin Tutuola : Vital statistics doesn't have anything on her or any living relative.

  Donald Cragen : We can rule out identity theft. Can't steal an identity that didn't exist until a couple of years ago.

  Olivia Benson : Everything that we've found says that Livia Tellez just appeared out of nowhere.

  Donald Cragen : What about witness protection?

  Elliot Stabler : We checked. She's not one of theirs.

  John Munch : Feel free to express your derision and ridicule, but I'm gonna say it: spook.

  Fin Tutuola : I'm not ridiculing. We probably got spies from every country all over this city.

  Donald Cragen : Uh, before we call in the CIA, let's see if the body can shed some light on who this girl really was.

• Donald Cragen : Why is the DEA following my detectives?

  D.E.A. Agent Jack Hammond : We needed to make sure that they weren't working for the people we were investigating.

  Elliot Stabler : You sure now?

  D.E.A. Agent Jack Hammond : If I weren't, you'd already be in federal lockup, Detective Stabler.

  Tim Donovan : Officer Sandoval's prints were red-flagged in the system. When you ran them, it tipped us off.

  Olivia Benson : And it never occurred to you that we ran them because we were investigating her murder?

• Olivia Benson : What's the story?

  Dr. Melinda Warner : Hasn't been dead more than twelve hours. No stab or gunshot wounds. You can see the trauma to the left side of her face and torso. Beat her to death.

  Olivia Benson : Rape kit?

  Dr. Melinda Warner : Positive for fluids. She was moved post-mortem, too. Lividity looks like she died on her back, but she was on her side when they found her.

  Elliot Stabler : Sounds like a dump job. Question: why here?

  Olivia Benson : She's got a boyfriend in the neighborhood. He starts smacking her around, she grabs the coat and tries to leave.

  Elliot Stabler : Or she's a high-priced call girl. John's got some fantasy of her showing up wearing nothing but the coat, only this time the john's a psycho.

  Dr. Melinda Warner : I'm guessing whatever she was, she said something she shouldn't have.

  Elliot Stabler : How do you figure that?

  Dr. Melinda Warner : Guy cut out her tongue.

• Elliot Stabler : [to Donovan]  Hey, did you tell Livia to do coke and screw Zapata to make your case or was that her idea?

  Tim Donovan : You don't know anything about her.

  Elliot Stabler : I know you were supposed to protect her, and you let her die! And I know you feel so guilty that you'd rather let her killer get away with it than think about what you didn't do to help her.

  Tim Donovan : I didn't tell her to do drugs. I didn't tell her to do any of that. She wanted to nail those guys, she did what she thought she had to do.

  Olivia Benson : You didn't see how bad it was getting?

  Tim Donovan : She was getting the job done. I didn't think she was in over her head. I should have pulled her. I didn't. That's my responsibility. My... my mistake.

• Olivia Benson : [to Cabot]  What does Branch think since the deal's shut down?

  Alex Cabot : We move forward with the trial. We warn the DEA's office and they have a chance to pull their undercovers if it's necessary.

  Elliot Stabler : You're going to blow a two-year investigation.

  Alex Cabot : This is the best option of only bad options. We either prosecute Zapata ourselves or drop it, give him back his passport, he leaves the country, and the DEA's case is blown anyway.

  Olivia Benson : The fact of the matter is that Zapata blew the DEA's investigation wide open when he raped and murdered Livia Sandoval.

• Alex Cabot : We know who did it. It's Cesar Velez fixing things for Zapata. The more important question is, how did Velez know Donovan was the CI?

  John Munch : Same way he knows where you and your mother live. He's got the money and the power.

  Elliot Stabler : And he's not gonna stop until you back off or you're dead.

  Alex Cabot : I have a protective detail, my mom has a protective detail. I'm not backing off.

  Olivia Benson : Alex, there's no reason for you to die for this case.

  Alex Cabot : Men like Zapata and Velez live on other people's fear. It doesn't matter if I try this case or somebody else in my office does. The intimidation is always there. So I can either accept it as a part of my job or concede everything.

• Elliot Stabler : So Livia Tellez is a hooker with a soul, huh? Sounds like someone Sister Peg would want to save, doesn't it?

• Elliot Stabler : [after Cabot is nearly killed by a car bomb which ends up killing Agent Donovan]  Alex, you've got to get yourself off this case. End of story.

  D.E.A. Agent Jack Hammond : Oh, you don't have a case. It blew up with Tim Donovan.