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| “ | Those who fight monsters had better make damn sure they don't become monsters. | „ |
| ~ Lauren Cooper's last words before committing suicide. |
Lauren Cooper is the main antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Signature".
She was portrayed by Erika Christensen, who also played Madison Bell in Swimfan and Elise Landry The Tortured.
Biography[]
Lauren Cooper is an FBI agent who spent years tracking a serial killer named Larry Moore, originally working with her mentor, Dr. Tillman. After Tillman committed suicide, Lauren continued her pursuit, and was called to aid Benson and Lake on their search. All the while, Lauren began succumbing to the emotional stress.
Lauren had actually tracked Moore down and attempted to force him to reveal the location of his latest victim. When Moore refused, Lauren shot and killed him, and kept the shell casing as a trophy. As a form of symbolism, Lauren used the gun that Tillman used to kill himself, having received the gun from Tillman's widow as something to remember him by. She and Detective Olivia Benson of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit eventually find Moore's victim alive, but she eventually dies as a result of the torture he inflicted upon her.
Benson recovers surveillance footage of Lauren in the vicinity of Moore's murder. She is later arrested and interrogated by Benson, who asks Lauren if she and Tillman were lovers. An infuriated Lauren denies the claim, stating she killed Moore to punish him for all the women he murdered. Lauren is later charged with the murder, but the charges are dropped due to lack of evidence.
After Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak refiled the charges, Benson and her SVU colleague Chester Lake find the gun Lauren used to kill Moore, leading to the duo heading to Lauren's apartment to arrest her again. Lauren finally confessed everything, and Benson stated that while she did not condone Lauren's actions, she understood them. She added that Novak understood, as well, which was why Lauren would face a much more lenient sentence based on Moore's history. Even with that, Lauren refused to turn herself in, and stated that those who hunt monsters should avoid becoming one, right before she took the gun and committed suicide.
External Links[]
- Lauren Cooper on the Law & Order Wiki
