Payback (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)

"Payback"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode
Anya Rugov (Gordana Rashovich) brutally stabbing herself in her restaurant in front of Detectives Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Stabler (Chris Meloni), and Munch (Richard Belzer) who is holding Marta Stevens (Mili Avital).
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 1
Directed by	Jean de Segonzac
Written by	Dick Wolf
Production code	E0901
Original air date	September 20, 1999 (1999-09-20)
Running time	43 minutes
Guest appearance(s)
Gordana Rashovich as Anya Rugov Dean Winters as Detective Brian Cassidy Michelle Hurd as Detective Monique Jeffries Isabel Gillies as Kathy Stabler Elizabeth Ashley as Serena Benson Ned Eisenberg as Jerry Kleinert Tina Benko as Mrs. Panacek Ronald Guttman as Gallery Owner Leslie Hendrix as ME Elizabeth Rodgers Jeremy Bergman as Nicholas Stevens Judy Del Giudice as Judge Elizabeth Masullo Chris Orbach as Detective Ken Briscoe Special guest appearance by: Angie Harmon as Assistant District Attorney Abbie Carmichael Mili Avital as Marta Stevens
Episode chronology
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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (season 1) List of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes

Special guest appearance by:

"Payback" is the pilot episode of the police procedural television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the first spinoff of the original Law & Order series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on Monday, September 20, 1999. In the episode, the detectives of the Special Victims Unit investigate a taxi-cab driver's brutal murder and castration. Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) becomes personally involved in the case after discovering that the taxi driver was a rapist and murderer himself.

A white male cab driver in his mid-30's is found murdered in his cab. Detectives Benson and Stabler go to the scene; when they ask why the sex crimes unit was called they are informed that the man's genitals have been removed. The cab driver's license says he is "Victor Spicer". However, after they run a background check on Victor Spicer they see that he (Matt Skollar) is serving a prison sentence at Riker's Island for male prostitution. They go and meet with him and he says that he sold his license to a man with a baby on Broadway for $100.

Benson and Stabler return to the precinct and are told that the victim died from 37 stab wounds and that forensics found a broken off red fingernail. Benson is convinced the killer meant to kill the real Victor Spicer and they follow that lead, but it leads nowhere. By interviewing witnesses at a restaurant named Cabbie's diner, the detectives learn that the victim was last seen in his cab being hailed by two women. They are also able to inform his wife who is taking care of a young boy. Stabler finds out that Interpol made a positive hit on the victim, identifying him as Stefan Tanzic, a Serbian soldier indicted for crimes of ethnic cleansing and the rape of sixty-seven women, five of whom live in New York City.

Benson, who herself is a child of rape, begins to sympathize with the killers. She and Stabler are called back to the morgue and they are told that there were two killers and two weapons. They start to look for the rape victims. The first one they talk to is Ileana Jashari (Sevanne Kassarjian) who is blinded and horribly scarred at the hands of Tanzic. Next, they go visit Marta Stevens (Mili Avital), they are told by her husband that Marta is at work. Benson notices a little boy that runs in the room with them, and she concludes that this little boy is the product of Marta's rape. When Benson visits her, Marta uses work as her alibi, but is not sorry that Tanzic is dead. She goes on to tell Benson about how she was repeatedly raped for twenty-three days. Benson leaves convinced that Marta is guilty, but doesn't arrest her, a move which upsets Stabler.