Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Season 6

Stabler:
Back then with Dana, I thought I knew it all. It didn't matter that we couldn't find the place where you murdered her. It didn't matter that we couldn't find the place where you dumped the body. I knew you were guilty. I thought that was enough, but we both know how that turned out. See, back then I thought you were a pedophile. In their own sick way, pedophiles think they love children, that they build a relationship with them, that they have an emotional connection to the child. You know how to get a pedophile to confess? Offer them the opportunity. Some of them feel so guilty about it, they're just dying to tell you. But that's not you, is it, Gordon? I was all wrong. Working at SVU, I've learned the difference between a pedophile and a man who rapes children. It's not about attraction or power or dominance - it's about annihilation. You don't care about the kids - you hate the kids. You defile and destroy her because she has what you never will: Hope, trust, potential.

Gordon:
[smirks] Is that why I do it?

Stabler:
That's part of it. The other part, the part I've been trying to get at all night, is the rage. You're very good at hiding it - it's unbelievable - but I know it's there. I can see it even when you're sitting still, like now. Gordon, you're kidding yourself if you think you're controlling it. It's controlling you. Every lie you tell to cover your inadequacies… every perceived insult you think you're getting… just feeds it.

Gordon:
You're lecturing me about rage? Are you kidding?

Stabler:
I'm not.

Gordon:
What do you know about controlling anything?

Stabler:
I don't murder people.

Gordon:
Give it time. You say you see something in me. Well, I see something in you, too. You think you control? You can't. You're controlled by your boss, by your job, by your wife… your kids… What would you be if all those controls went away?

Stabler:
[quietly] I'd be you.