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Zebras (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)
Encyclopedia
"Zebras" is the 22nd episode and season finale of the tenth season
of the television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
, and the 224th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC
in the United States on June 2, 2009. In the episode, an open-and-shut case against a mentally disturbed murderer, played by Nick Stahl
, is blown when a forensics technician makes a technical error. As Elliot
and Olivia
investigate additional murders believed to be the work of the same killer, they uncover a plot within their own department.
The episode was written by Amanda Green and Daniel Truly, and directed by Peter Leto. It was the final appearance of Mike Doyle
, who had played forensics technician Ryan O'Halloran since 2003 and appeared on the show more than 50 times; the character was killed by fellow technician Dale Stuckey (Noel Fisher) as part of a surprise twist conceived by executive producer and showrunner Neal Baer
. "Zebras" also included guest appearances by Kelly Bishop
, Judith Light
and Carol Kane
as Gwen Munch, the conspiracy theorist ex-wife of Detective John Munch
; Kane had previously played the same role opposite actor Richard Belzer
in a 1997 episode of Homicide: Life on the Street
.
According to Nielsen ratings
, "Zebras" was watched by 11.3 million viewers, making it the highest-rated show of the night and the most watched episode of SVU in more than a year. The episode received higher ratings than Inside the Obama White House, a one-hour special documenting one day in the White House
of U.S. President
Barack Obama
, which aired earlier in the evening on NBC and was seen by 9.1 million viewers.
stumble across the body of a woman with several lacerations hidden in a bush. Munch
(Richard Belzer
) and Fin
(Ice-T
) learn Peter Harrison (Nick Stahl
), who was performing community service for a prior crime against a woman, left work early with a cut thumb around the time of the murder. Stabler
(Christopher Meloni
) and Benson
(Mariska Hargitay
) question Harrison, who spouts wild conspiracy theories
about the police. During an interrogation, Harrison suggests he killed the woman in Central Park because she was taking photos of him, before the questioning is stopped by his attorney, Julia Zimmer (Kelly Bishop
). Munch and Fin find a bloody knife during a search of Harrison's apartment and forensics technician Ryan O'Halloran (Mike Doyle
) finds the DNA
matches the victim, resulting in an open-and-shut case against Harrison. However, Zimmer finds a technical error by forensics technician Dale Stuckey (Noel Fisher) in the evidence paperwork. Stuckey insists he made no mistake, but Judge Elizabeth Donnelly
(Judith Light
) is forced to set Harrison free, with a harsh rebuke against Stuckey.
Shortly afterward, another woman is found murdered at Coney Island
in exactly the same way, and during the investigation Stuckey finds a soda can with Harrison's bloody thumbprint on it. The police learn Harrison told his hiding place to a friend on a conspiracy theorist website; Munch recognizes the friend as his ex-wife Gwen (Carol Kane
), whom he convinces to reveal Harrison's location, but he eludes capture. Stabler and Benson ask for help from Zimmer, who said she has been taking care of Harrison since he lost his parents as a child. An unstable Harrison visits Zimmer, who calls Stabler and Benson to arrest him. As they are about to return to the precinct, Zimmer gets locked into her car and a poisonous gas is released into the air; Stabler breaks her car window but she has already been killed, presumably by Harrison.
Later, Judge Donnelly is nearly killed when she sits on a needle filled with potassium chloride
at her home; she is saved when Stabler and Benson rush her to the hospital. O'Halloran tells Stabler and Benson that a mosquito
sucked the blood from the killer as he or she was rigging Zimmer's car, and that the DNA from the blood will likely implicate Harrison. As the DNA is later being processed, however, O'Halloran is stabbed and killed by someone in the forensics lab. Stabler arrives and sees on the computer screen that the DNA matches Stuckey. He is knocked out from behind by Stuckey. Stabler's phone then rings with a call from Benson and Stuckey answers, saying Stabler went out for lunch and left his phone. He then ties Stabler to a chair and starts slicing him with a knife. Stuckey admits he killed the woman at Coney Island in order to frame Harrison, and that he attacked Zimmer and Donnelly for embarrassing him. Benson arrives and is held at gunpoint by Stuckey, but she convinces Stuckey that she too hates Stabler and is in love with him. While Benson kisses Stuckey to distract him, Stabler kicks him from behind, allowing Benson to knock Stuckey out and free Stabler. He asks Benson how she knew he was in trouble and Benson tells him that Stuckey told her he went out for sushi, something she knows he doesn't like.
It is unknown what happens to Stuckey after his knockout by Benson, but it can be presumed he's taken into custody and sent to jail for a long time.
, the series executive producer and showrunner. Baer said the decision to kill the character in the story "just came to me one day. I thought, this may be a really interesting way to bring our cast together and deal with this story point". In particular, Baer said he wanted to kill a long-recurring character so the show could "explore characters' reactions to a death in an interesting way". Mike Doyle
, the actor who played O'Halloran, was notified about the decision by Baer in a phone call a few weeks before the episode was filmed in May 2009. Baer said Doyle and the rest of the cast took the news well because, in his words, "I think everybody knew that somebody was going, so they weren't shocked." During a May 2009 interview, Baer hinted at the twist by telling media outlets that the season finale would include a surprise ending in which, "One of our own is murdered."
"Zebras" was the final episode for Doyle, who had been a recurring character since 2003 and had made more than 50 appearances on the show. The episode also marked the seventh on-screen death for the actor, who had been killed in several films and television episodes, including on the HBO series Oz
. Christopher Meloni
, who also appeared on Oz, comforted Doyle about his character's death by saying, "At least you're not getting gang-raped", a reference to Doyle's death scene from that show. The climax scene of "Zebras", which involves Dale Stuckey threatening Elliot Stabler
as Olivia Benson
tries to talk him down, was filmed on May 7, 2009, in a warehouse in North Bergen, New Jersey
. A crew member shouted "dead man walking!" to Doyle as he arrived on the set. The knife protruding from Doyle was staged by strapping a metal plate with a center slot holding the retractable blade of the fake knife to his chest.
Carol Kane played Gwen Munch, Detective John Munch's conspiracy theorist
ex-wife. Kane played the same part alongside actor Richard Belzer
in 1997 on the series Homicide: Life on the Street
, which also starred Belzer as John Munch.
of U.S. President
Barack Obama
; the show, which aired at 9 p.m., one hour before "Zebras", was seen by 9.1 million viewers, the most of its time-slot. The two shows made NBC, which had been experiencing poor ratings in recent years, the highest-watched network for the fourth night in a row. "Zebras" received a 3.5 rating/9 share among viewers aged between 18 and 49, and a 2.6 rating/8 share among viewers between 18 and 34. E!
writer Joel Ryan, however, noted that Law & Order: Special Victims Unit had little competition other than re-runs because it aired during the summer season.
Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly
called the death of O'Halloran and the twist involving Stuckey "very welcome, because they added a fresh element of uncertainty to a show that can be predictable". Tucker also praised the return of Kelly Bishop
as an attorney. Nick Zaino of TV Squad described "Zebras" as, "Overall, a well-paced, well-written episode, and a whole lot of creepy fun", and said the scenes with Kane and Belzer were "laugh-out-loud funny".
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (season 10)
This article contains a list of episodes for season 10 of the television series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.-Cast:*Christopher Meloni as Det. Elliot Stabler*Mariska Hargitay as Det. Olivia Benson*Richard Belzer as Sgt. John Munch...
of the television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
, and the 224th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in the United States on June 2, 2009. In the episode, an open-and-shut case against a mentally disturbed murderer, played by Nick Stahl
Nick Stahl
Nicolas Kent "Nick" Stahl is an American actor. Starting out as a child actor, he gained recognition for his performance in the 1993 film The Man Without a Face and then embarked on a successful career as a child actor...
, is blown when a forensics technician makes a technical error. As Elliot
Elliot Stabler
Det. Elliot "El" Stabler is a fictional character on the TV crime drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portrayed by Christopher Meloni. He was the partner of Olivia Benson before retiring, following a shooting.-Character overview:...
and Olivia
Olivia Benson
Det. Olivia "Liv" Benson is a fictional character on the NBC police procedural drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portrayed by Mariska Hargitay. She is the former partner of Elliot Stabler. In Season 13, her partner will be Nick Amaro...
investigate additional murders believed to be the work of the same killer, they uncover a plot within their own department.
The episode was written by Amanda Green and Daniel Truly, and directed by Peter Leto. It was the final appearance of Mike Doyle
Mike Doyle (actor)
Mike Doyle is an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is best known for his recurring roles in the television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, playing Forensics Tech Ryan O'Halloran, and Oz, playing Adam Guenzel....
, who had played forensics technician Ryan O'Halloran since 2003 and appeared on the show more than 50 times; the character was killed by fellow technician Dale Stuckey (Noel Fisher) as part of a surprise twist conceived by executive producer and showrunner Neal Baer
Neal Baer
Neal Baer, MD is an American pediatrician and television writer and producer. He is best known for his work on the television shows ER and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.-Education:...
. "Zebras" also included guest appearances by Kelly Bishop
Kelly Bishop
Carole "Kelly" Bishop is an American actress and dancer, best-known for her roles as matriarch Emily Gilmore on the series Gilmore Girls, and as the mother of Jennifer Grey's character in the film Dirty Dancing...
, Judith Light
Judith Light
Judith Ellen Light is an American actress. Her television roles include Karen Wolek on the soap opera One Life to Live, Angela Bower on the sitcom Who's the Boss?, Claire Meade on ABC's TV series Ugly Betty and Judge Elizabeth "Liz" Donnelly on Law & Order Special Victims Unit.-Early life:Light...
and Carol Kane
Carol Kane
Carolyn Laurie "Carol" Kane is an American actress. Kane has worked on the stage, on the screen and in television. She appeared on the television series Taxi in the early 1980s, as the wife of the character played by Andy Kaufman. She received two Emmy Awards for her work...
as Gwen Munch, the conspiracy theorist ex-wife of Detective John Munch
John Munch
Sergeant John Munch is a fictional character played by actor Richard Belzer. Munch first appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street. Upon that series' cancellation, the character was transplanted to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the first spin-off of the Law & Order franchise...
; Kane had previously played the same role opposite actor Richard Belzer
Richard Belzer
Richard Jay Belzer is an American stand-up comedian, author, and actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as John Munch, which he has portrayed as a regular cast member on the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as in guest...
in a 1997 episode of Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
.
According to Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, "Zebras" was watched by 11.3 million viewers, making it the highest-rated show of the night and the most watched episode of SVU in more than a year. The episode received higher ratings than Inside the Obama White House, a one-hour special documenting one day in the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
of U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, which aired earlier in the evening on NBC and was seen by 9.1 million viewers.
Plot
A father and daughter rollerblading in Central ParkCentral Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
stumble across the body of a woman with several lacerations hidden in a bush. Munch
John Munch
Sergeant John Munch is a fictional character played by actor Richard Belzer. Munch first appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street. Upon that series' cancellation, the character was transplanted to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the first spin-off of the Law & Order franchise...
(Richard Belzer
Richard Belzer
Richard Jay Belzer is an American stand-up comedian, author, and actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as John Munch, which he has portrayed as a regular cast member on the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as in guest...
) and Fin
Fin Tutuola
Det. Odafin "Fin" Tutuola is a fictional character and protagonist on the TV drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, played by Ice-T.The character's name is taken from the book The Palm Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola, a member of the Yoruba people of Nigeria...
(Ice-T
ICE-T
* Ice-T, an American rapper and actor* ICE T , a tilting model of the German InterCityExpress series of high-speed trains...
) learn Peter Harrison (Nick Stahl
Nick Stahl
Nicolas Kent "Nick" Stahl is an American actor. Starting out as a child actor, he gained recognition for his performance in the 1993 film The Man Without a Face and then embarked on a successful career as a child actor...
), who was performing community service for a prior crime against a woman, left work early with a cut thumb around the time of the murder. Stabler
Elliot Stabler
Det. Elliot "El" Stabler is a fictional character on the TV crime drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portrayed by Christopher Meloni. He was the partner of Olivia Benson before retiring, following a shooting.-Character overview:...
(Christopher Meloni
Christopher Meloni
Christopher Peter Meloni is an American actor. He is best known for his television roles as NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and as inmate Chris Keller on the HBO prison drama Oz.-Early life:Meloni was born the youngest of three children in...
) and Benson
Olivia Benson
Det. Olivia "Liv" Benson is a fictional character on the NBC police procedural drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portrayed by Mariska Hargitay. She is the former partner of Elliot Stabler. In Season 13, her partner will be Nick Amaro...
(Mariska Hargitay
Mariska Hargitay
Mariska Hargitay is an American actress, best known for her role as New York City sex crimes Detective Olivia Benson on the NBC television drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a role that has earned her multiple awards and nominations, including an Emmy and Golden Globe.The daughter of actress...
) question Harrison, who spouts wild conspiracy theories
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
about the police. During an interrogation, Harrison suggests he killed the woman in Central Park because she was taking photos of him, before the questioning is stopped by his attorney, Julia Zimmer (Kelly Bishop
Kelly Bishop
Carole "Kelly" Bishop is an American actress and dancer, best-known for her roles as matriarch Emily Gilmore on the series Gilmore Girls, and as the mother of Jennifer Grey's character in the film Dirty Dancing...
). Munch and Fin find a bloody knife during a search of Harrison's apartment and forensics technician Ryan O'Halloran (Mike Doyle
Mike Doyle (actor)
Mike Doyle is an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is best known for his recurring roles in the television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, playing Forensics Tech Ryan O'Halloran, and Oz, playing Adam Guenzel....
) finds the DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
matches the victim, resulting in an open-and-shut case against Harrison. However, Zimmer finds a technical error by forensics technician Dale Stuckey (Noel Fisher) in the evidence paperwork. Stuckey insists he made no mistake, but Judge Elizabeth Donnelly
Elizabeth Donnelly
Elizabeth Donnelly is a fictional character on the NBC crime drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portrayed by Judith Light since 2002.-Character overview:...
(Judith Light
Judith Light
Judith Ellen Light is an American actress. Her television roles include Karen Wolek on the soap opera One Life to Live, Angela Bower on the sitcom Who's the Boss?, Claire Meade on ABC's TV series Ugly Betty and Judge Elizabeth "Liz" Donnelly on Law & Order Special Victims Unit.-Early life:Light...
) is forced to set Harrison free, with a harsh rebuke against Stuckey.
Shortly afterward, another woman is found murdered at Coney Island
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....
in exactly the same way, and during the investigation Stuckey finds a soda can with Harrison's bloody thumbprint on it. The police learn Harrison told his hiding place to a friend on a conspiracy theorist website; Munch recognizes the friend as his ex-wife Gwen (Carol Kane
Carol Kane
Carolyn Laurie "Carol" Kane is an American actress. Kane has worked on the stage, on the screen and in television. She appeared on the television series Taxi in the early 1980s, as the wife of the character played by Andy Kaufman. She received two Emmy Awards for her work...
), whom he convinces to reveal Harrison's location, but he eludes capture. Stabler and Benson ask for help from Zimmer, who said she has been taking care of Harrison since he lost his parents as a child. An unstable Harrison visits Zimmer, who calls Stabler and Benson to arrest him. As they are about to return to the precinct, Zimmer gets locked into her car and a poisonous gas is released into the air; Stabler breaks her car window but she has already been killed, presumably by Harrison.
Later, Judge Donnelly is nearly killed when she sits on a needle filled with potassium chloride
Potassium chloride
The chemical compound potassium chloride is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. In its pure state, it is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance, with a crystal structure that cleaves easily in three directions. Potassium chloride crystals are...
at her home; she is saved when Stabler and Benson rush her to the hospital. O'Halloran tells Stabler and Benson that a mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...
sucked the blood from the killer as he or she was rigging Zimmer's car, and that the DNA from the blood will likely implicate Harrison. As the DNA is later being processed, however, O'Halloran is stabbed and killed by someone in the forensics lab. Stabler arrives and sees on the computer screen that the DNA matches Stuckey. He is knocked out from behind by Stuckey. Stabler's phone then rings with a call from Benson and Stuckey answers, saying Stabler went out for lunch and left his phone. He then ties Stabler to a chair and starts slicing him with a knife. Stuckey admits he killed the woman at Coney Island in order to frame Harrison, and that he attacked Zimmer and Donnelly for embarrassing him. Benson arrives and is held at gunpoint by Stuckey, but she convinces Stuckey that she too hates Stabler and is in love with him. While Benson kisses Stuckey to distract him, Stabler kicks him from behind, allowing Benson to knock Stuckey out and free Stabler. He asks Benson how she knew he was in trouble and Benson tells him that Stuckey told her he went out for sushi, something she knows he doesn't like.
It is unknown what happens to Stuckey after his knockout by Benson, but it can be presumed he's taken into custody and sent to jail for a long time.
Production
"Zebras" was written by Amanda Green and Daniel Truly, and directed by Peter Leto. The surprise twist in the episode, in which forensics technician Ryan O'Halloran is killed by fellow technician Dale Stuckey, was conceived by Neal BaerNeal Baer
Neal Baer, MD is an American pediatrician and television writer and producer. He is best known for his work on the television shows ER and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.-Education:...
, the series executive producer and showrunner. Baer said the decision to kill the character in the story "just came to me one day. I thought, this may be a really interesting way to bring our cast together and deal with this story point". In particular, Baer said he wanted to kill a long-recurring character so the show could "explore characters' reactions to a death in an interesting way". Mike Doyle
Mike Doyle (actor)
Mike Doyle is an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is best known for his recurring roles in the television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, playing Forensics Tech Ryan O'Halloran, and Oz, playing Adam Guenzel....
, the actor who played O'Halloran, was notified about the decision by Baer in a phone call a few weeks before the episode was filmed in May 2009. Baer said Doyle and the rest of the cast took the news well because, in his words, "I think everybody knew that somebody was going, so they weren't shocked." During a May 2009 interview, Baer hinted at the twist by telling media outlets that the season finale would include a surprise ending in which, "One of our own is murdered."
"Zebras" was the final episode for Doyle, who had been a recurring character since 2003 and had made more than 50 appearances on the show. The episode also marked the seventh on-screen death for the actor, who had been killed in several films and television episodes, including on the HBO series Oz
Oz (TV series)
Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes . It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons...
. Christopher Meloni
Christopher Meloni
Christopher Peter Meloni is an American actor. He is best known for his television roles as NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and as inmate Chris Keller on the HBO prison drama Oz.-Early life:Meloni was born the youngest of three children in...
, who also appeared on Oz, comforted Doyle about his character's death by saying, "At least you're not getting gang-raped", a reference to Doyle's death scene from that show. The climax scene of "Zebras", which involves Dale Stuckey threatening Elliot Stabler
Elliot Stabler
Det. Elliot "El" Stabler is a fictional character on the TV crime drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portrayed by Christopher Meloni. He was the partner of Olivia Benson before retiring, following a shooting.-Character overview:...
as Olivia Benson
Olivia Benson
Det. Olivia "Liv" Benson is a fictional character on the NBC police procedural drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portrayed by Mariska Hargitay. She is the former partner of Elliot Stabler. In Season 13, her partner will be Nick Amaro...
tries to talk him down, was filmed on May 7, 2009, in a warehouse in North Bergen, New Jersey
North Bergen, New Jersey
North Bergen is a township in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the township had a total population of 60,773. Originally founded in 1843, the town was much diminished in territory by a series of secessions. Situated on the Hudson Palisades, it is one...
. A crew member shouted "dead man walking!" to Doyle as he arrived on the set. The knife protruding from Doyle was staged by strapping a metal plate with a center slot holding the retractable blade of the fake knife to his chest.
Carol Kane played Gwen Munch, Detective John Munch's conspiracy theorist
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
ex-wife. Kane played the same part alongside actor Richard Belzer
Richard Belzer
Richard Jay Belzer is an American stand-up comedian, author, and actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as John Munch, which he has portrayed as a regular cast member on the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as in guest...
in 1997 on the series Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
, which also starred Belzer as John Munch.
Reception
The episode was watched by 11.3 million viewers, making it the highest rated show of the night. It was the most watched episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in more than a year, and was about two million viewers over its season average. It captured more viewers than the first one-hour episode of Inside the Obama White House, NBC's two-part special documenting one day in the White HouseWhite House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
of U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
; the show, which aired at 9 p.m., one hour before "Zebras", was seen by 9.1 million viewers, the most of its time-slot. The two shows made NBC, which had been experiencing poor ratings in recent years, the highest-watched network for the fourth night in a row. "Zebras" received a 3.5 rating/9 share among viewers aged between 18 and 49, and a 2.6 rating/8 share among viewers between 18 and 34. E!
E!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
writer Joel Ryan, however, noted that Law & Order: Special Victims Unit had little competition other than re-runs because it aired during the summer season.
Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
called the death of O'Halloran and the twist involving Stuckey "very welcome, because they added a fresh element of uncertainty to a show that can be predictable". Tucker also praised the return of Kelly Bishop
Kelly Bishop
Carole "Kelly" Bishop is an American actress and dancer, best-known for her roles as matriarch Emily Gilmore on the series Gilmore Girls, and as the mother of Jennifer Grey's character in the film Dirty Dancing...
as an attorney. Nick Zaino of TV Squad described "Zebras" as, "Overall, a well-paced, well-written episode, and a whole lot of creepy fun", and said the scenes with Kane and Belzer were "laugh-out-loud funny".