A WOMAN INVOLVED IN VIRTUAL REALITY VIDEO GAMES GOES MISSING, AND HER "AVATAR" IS AT THE ROOT OF THE INVESTIGATION -- Kristi McGarrett (guest star Liza Joyce) is raped by her sister’s boyfriend, Dan Friedich (guest star Ryan Lynn), while her sister Rachel (guest star Christina Brucato) goes missing. Friedich remains a suspect, while Detective Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Christopher Meloni) use Rachel’s "avatar" (screen persona) to track down the kidnapper before time runs out. Also starring: Adam Beach, Dann Florek, Ice-T, Diane Neal, and Tamara Tunie

Episode Detail: Avatar - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Clues in the case of a missing woman are found in an online virtual-reality game, where she played an underage prostitute who had recently sent out a warning about one of her in-game “clients.” Kevin Tighe.

-Claps-



Hard at work again I see

Looking forward to the episode.

Ok, ya'll -- someone please help me out here with an actor's name. Who's the grey-haired man playing the book store owner? He looks so familiar, I swear I've seen him in tons of stuff on TV, but can't recall his name. Didn't catch the names of the guests during the opening.

Thanks!

I wonder who he is too, he looks so familiar.

I also wonder who that british guy was, y'know the administrator of that site. Pretty cute.

Cooper was played by Kevin Tighe. His most recent roles have been on the shows The 4400 and Lost. I thought he was familiar too when I first saw him. I remembered him from lost where he played Anthony Cooper.

Kevin Tighe...he was regular as a paramedic on the old series Emergency.

Yes!!!!!!! I KNEW he looked familiar! I loved that show growing up. I thought he and his partner were so cute, and I used to pretend I was one of the victims they rescued. I was jealous of all the girls my age who got to be on the show.......

Ahhhh......youth, the memories..........

Thanks for the help! Even my husband remembered him when they showed the rap sheet with the picture of him when he was younger......he couldn't place Kevin either...........

I lusted after Robert Fuller myself...it was always interesting to watch the interplay between the hospital staff and the fire-fighters.

Well, either one of those hot, hunky paramedics could've given me mouth-to-mouth and I'd've been a happy girl!

Hmmmmm, maybe TVLand would show reruns of "Emergency" if enough fans asked them to?

No...Robert Fuller was one of the doctors...here is the cast info...it was a spin-off from Adam-12 in 1972.



Robert Fuller ... Dr. Kelly Brackett M.D. / F.A.C.S
Julie London ... Nurse Dixie McCall
Bobby Troup ... Dr. Joe Early
Randolph Mantooth ... Paramedic John Gage
Kevin Tighe ... Paramedic Roy DeSoto
Martin Milner ... Officer Pete Malloy
Kent McCord ... Officer Jim Reed

Ok, honestly, I thought that episode was super dumb until the end. The ending I thought was pretty good. I'm am a super loyal SVU fan, so it pains me to say that this episode was dumb, but I really thought it was pretty bad until the ending. The ending saved it. Just my opinion.

And when they 'turned on' the sun and Benson was just standing there for a couple of seconds looking at it, I was like "quit watching the sunrise and call it in as the east side dude. You can admire how beautiful the sunrise is in REAL LIFE another day".

Next week Benson has to be going undercover. What other explaination is there for that hair?

lol ok yeah honestly i thought the whole "turn on the sun" line was funny. I really couldn't take them seriously at that point.

I liked it, didn't love it. I thought parts of it were over the top "turn on the sun" haha. I think it would have been better if they did without the cabin bit and just tracked down his previous victim some other way. I loved when Elliot arrested him for crossing on the red.

What I did not like was Lake. I am not warming up to him and he didn't having any chemistry working with Olivia

I wasn't too fond of this episode. It was okay but there were just way too many questions that were unanswered. I mean why couldn't they do anything to the guy in the beginning of the episode for raping that girl? Also, the whole girl waiting for 20+ years for a guy, in his cabin, that was only in love with her when she was 15 was...unrealistic. I also was a bit confused about how the perp found Racheal in the first place. I think Olivia said something about him getting some other guy to hack into the system but did they ever go into detail about that?

The concept of the episode was pretty screwed up. Let's take Game and mix it with Infiltrated, but without making any of the characters any more two dimensional than the avatars in the alternate universe. The two guys were such stereotypical nerds. This episode cried out for Munch to decry the need for computer generated sex. I can hear that conversation in the squad room now.
In an episode called Dominance, Detective Duethorn told Finn that sex crimes is all about the why. There was no why here. They just skimmed the surface. Why did Rachel and Ginger go online to fantasize about being underage sex workers? Was Cooper a pedophile or did he just want this one girl? Why did Laureen stay in the cabin for 25 years after he told her to leave and didn't come back?
The rape scene in the beginning was not only gratuitous but you couldn't tell it was a rape scene until the girl ran off. It just looked that they were having sex until then. Had they shown you the sleeping girl first and then have him get on top of her, it would would have been clear.
Casey needs to wake up her brain in regards to the law. She can't get a conviction on rape due to lack of intent, but she can charge him other counts of sexual assault using "reckless endangerment". He knew of his condition. He didn't warn Christi of the possibility he might go after her in his sleep or take steps to keep her safe. As a guest in his home, he had a duty to warn her. Now, I don't want the guy to go to jail for this, but I would want him put on probation and get mandatory medical treatment.
Rachel and Christy's father was so over the top. I know he's upset but they are still figuring out what happened. It's only been a few hours. And what television station would let him go on air to ask for help without consulting the police first? They helped him out his daughter as a rape victim, allowed him to claim crimes were committed which the police did not confirm, and they used the SVU tipline for a private reward offer. The Police Commissioner and the FCC should be jumping all over that station.
What happened to the 4th Amendment requirement of search warrant? The CEO gave the detective personal information without one. Unless the subscriber agreement allows that specifically, the information was illegally obtained and everything stemming from it would not be unusable in court.
Lake is still questionable. The writers had a shot at adding to the character and blew it. When the CEO brought up Nestor's information, there should have been a street address, not the name of the place he works. Lake could have seen the address and recognised it as the book store. Then we find out that he collects rare books.
They mentioned the possibility of Cooper hiring a hacker to get Rachel's address. But they dropped it. It was rather an important thing to figure out.
How did Laureen get a job without any ID? Even 25 years ago, you needed a Social Security number. And she did not look 40 years old.
Speaking of 40 years old, how soon will Olivia be over her mid-life crisis? Sometime this year she is turning 40 and she wants to prove she's still an attractive, desirable woman. But it is not appropriate at her work. She looks ridiculous in the clothes they have put her in. It's time for Cragen to call her on it.
The one bright note in the whole episode was Elliot arresting Cooper for crossing against the light. That was a bit of quick thinking on his part.
I find Avatar is tied with Outsider as the worst SVU episode ever.

Last nights episode was great!
Does a game like that really exsist? It looks like a really cool game (minus the perves).
Anyone know if one like that exsists?

I am trying to find out the name of the actor who played the creator of Another Youniverse. Did anyone recognize him? I have tried looking it up, but no luck. He looks so familiar.

Yes, something like it exists, it is called SecondLife @ secondlife.com

Thanks, I'll check it out.
Do you play it?

I thought that this was a good story line and idea, but I didn't like that they started with one sex crime and just pass right over it and do nothing to help that victim. They should have done a more detailed episode about the problems of that rapist. Also, two mental illnesses back to back is not great. This is about sex crimes not mental disorders. The actual computer stuff and kidnapping was really good though, just not the small details.

I thought that episode was really good..I do agree that the ending was the best part...Im kinda puzzled on Olivias hair..she has to be doing something like that

The online virtural world for this episode...the idea came from the virtual world "Second life" Second Life
Its really close to the one they came up with on SVU. That is why the one on SVU is so believable!

scorpiochk1 provided this information back on the 3rd, please read through the posts to avoid duplicating responses.

JD/Forum Moderator

Okay this episode creped the **** out of me. Maybe its because Rachel is my name. My last initial is the same as this girl. Her love of school girl outfits and having her avatar online wear it is even scarier. I Overall this episode really took a lot out of me and put it out there. Has this ever happened to anyone else while watching this show?

From NBC Universal Media Village

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT

AVATAR

12-31-2007 10:00PM

A WOMAN INVOLVED IN VIRTUAL REALITY VIDEO GAMES GOES MISSING, AND HER "AVATAR" IS AT THE ROOT OF THE INVESTIGATION -- Kristi McGarrett (guest star Liza Joyce) is raped by her sister’s boyfriend, Dan Friedich (guest star Ryan Lynn), while her sister Rachel (guest star Christina Brucato) goes missing. Friedich remains a suspect, while Detective Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Christopher Meloni) use Rachel’s "avatar" (screen persona) to track down the kidnapper before time runs out. Also starring: Adam Beach, Dann Florek, Ice-T, Diane Neal, and Tamara Tunie

Show Cast: Chris Meloni, Mariska Hargitay, Dann Florek, Richard Belzer, Ice T, Diane Neal

From NBC Universal Media Village

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT

AVATAR

03-09-2008 10:00PM

A WOMAN INVOLVED IN VIRTUAL REALITY VIDEO GAMES GOES MISSING, AND HER "AVATAR" IS AT THE ROOT OF THE INVESTIGATION -- Kristi McGarrett (guest star Liza Joyce) is raped by her sister’s boyfriend, Dan Friedich (guest star Ryan Lynn), while her sister Rachel (guest star Christina Brucato) goes missing. Friedich remains a suspect, while Detective Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Christopher Meloni) use Rachel’s "avatar" (screen persona) to track down the kidnapper before time runs out. Also starring: Adam Beach, Dann Florek, Ice-T, Diane Neal, and Tamara Tunie

Show Cast: Chris Meloni, Mariska Hargitay, Dann Florek, Richard Belzer, Ice T, Diane Neal

Secondlife isn't really like the one on the show, it is a little less obscene but if there was an mmorpg (Massively Multplayer Online Role Playing Game) like the one on SVu, It Would Sell. And the more they allow, the more freedom given in an mmorpg, including owning and running a strip club, the more people you could get to buy it!

My sister and her computer friend is trying to design a game a lot like that... I emphasize the word Try! haha

From NBC Universal Media Village

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT
AVATAR
05-27-2008 10:00PM

A WOMAN INVOLVED IN VIRTUAL REALITY VIDEO GAMES GOES MISSING, AND HER "AVATAR" IS AT THE ROOT OF THE INVESTIGATION -- Kristi McGarrett (guest star Liza Joyce) is raped by her sister’s boyfriend, Dan Friedich (guest star Ryan Lynn), while her sister Rachel (guest star Christina Brucato) goes missing. Friedich remains a suspect, while Detective Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Christopher Meloni) use Rachel’s "avatar" (screen persona) to track down the kidnapper before time runs out. Also starring: Adam Beach, Dann Florek, Ice-T, Diane Neal, and Tamara Tunie

Show Cast: Ice T, Diane Neal, Tamara Tunie, Dann Florek, Richard Belzer, Chris Meloni, Mariska Hargitay

it was a pretty good episode. the game its based on is called Second Life.