This SVU Episode with Tracy Pollan Scored The Show’s First Emmy Nod in Season 1
There are dozens of must-see episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, but fans old and new will never forget the haunting two-parter “Closure.”
The episode led to SVU‘s first-ever Emmy nomination thanks to Family Ties star Tracy Pollan’s dynamite performance as Harper Anderson. Pollan scored a 2000 nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series. The critical acclaim is well deserved; Pollan turns in a truly haunting performance as an assault survivor who becomes placated by a lack of justice.
“Closure” is also iconic due to being one of the few times we see Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) enjoying a workplace hook-up — leading to a humorous exchange between her and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) after he called his partner out for the rendezvous.
While it first aired over two decades ago, SVU‘s “Closure” remains a fan-favorite thanks to the gripping squad room dynamics and horrific criminal case. Relive the mayhem and Emmy-nominated episode, below.
Tracy Pollan scored an Emmy nod for her role as Harper Anderson on SVU
“Closure” is a Season 1 must-watch in part due to its grueling realism and powerhouse performances. After Pollan’s Harper was assaulted by a man who broke into her apartment through her fire escape, viewers followed Harper from the moment she reported the assault, to the hospital’s rape kit, to the tumultuous line of questioning with the SVU detectives. After several hours of trauma, Benson dropped Harper off at her boyfriend’s place as she and Stabler worked on cracking the case.
After finding a potential suspect, Harper was invited to the precinct to make an identification. But after this proved to be a mistake on the detective’s behalf, Harper grew infuriated that her rapist remained at large. SVU fans were shocked after the episode jumped ahead six months and the rapist struck again.
Harper was in rough shape after losing her job and breaking up with her boyfriend amid the emotional fallout of the assault, transforming into a jaded, cynical individual. After the squad arrested Kenneth Cleary for the crime, the detectives visited Harper to ask her to visit the precinct to make an identification again. Harper initially refused, but was eventually convinced to do the line-up upon considering Kenneth’s other victims.
Despite her initial confidence in being able to identify her assailant, Harper was tragically unable to recognize Kenneth six months later, leading her to break down as Benson comforted her.
Tracy Pollan’s Harper returned in SVU Season 2 for her own closure
After the squad failed to deliver justice to Harper, they got another chance in Season 2, Episode 3 (“Closure Part 2”) after Kenneth became a suspect in another assault. Harper soon struck up an obsession with Kenneth’s wife, Meredith, stalking the woman to confront her about enabling her husband’s monstrous behavior. Harper had embraced vigilante justice to take control over her life.
Eventually, Meredith came around, apologizing to Harper for sympathizing with a serial rapist. During Kenneth’s legal proceedings, Harper and Meredith grew closer and closer. However, after a mistrial was declared, things soon turned south after Meredith visited Kenneth’s house to pick up her possessions. Meredith claimed that Kenneth had physically attacked her, leading her to shoot Kenneth to death in self-defense.
As the SVU detectives arrived on the scene, they discovered Harper had already arrived and used bleach to clean the crime scene, destroying any DNA evidence. Harper denied any clean-up as Meredith maintained she shot Kenneth, but based on the satisfied look on Harper’s face as she witnessed the pandemonium, Kenneth’s killer remained a mystery as she was alluded to be the culprit.
As Benson put it perfectly, “closure is a myth” for many survivors of sexual assault, and viewers were led on a wild ride as Harper took matters into her own hands.