Martin Short Played a Twisted Psychic with a Sinister Side on Law & Order: SVU

Martin Short guest starred in SVU Season 6, Episode 18 ("Pure") as Sebastian Ballentine, a psychic who visited the SVU after he learned of a kidnapping case.

Sebastian told the squad he had paranormal insight into the incident and wanted to help locate the child with his preternatural talents. However, as the investigation continued, Sebastian was revealed to be much closer to the case than they'd thought. "Sebastian" was, in reality, Henry Palaver, a con man and serial rapist. Henry had an obsession with kidnapping and sexually assaulting virgins, recruiting his wife, Carlene (Mary Mara), to help him target and murder victims to dispose of the evidence.

Sebastian first rolled into the SVU as a helpful civilian who, after catching wind of an 18-year-old woman being kidnapped and sexually assaulted, wanted to lend his talents to the squad. While Sebastian wanted to help with his psychic abilities, Benson and Stabler (Christopher Meloni) were skeptical. Stabler even suspected Sebastian was connected to the case due to some of the specifics he mentioned under the guise of heightened intuition.

After Sebastian's psychic readings led the detectives to the exact location of the kidnapped woman's dead body, Stabler's hunch gained traction. It seemed like maybe Sebastian only visited Benson and Stabler to keep tabs on the chaos, not help their investigation. After getting a search warrant for Sebastian's apartment, they caught wind of his false identity and that he was actually Henry Palavar, a serial rapist from Canada who targeted virgins and had moved his operations south. But, just as viewers thought Sebastian was toast, he kidnapped SVU friend Sister Peg (Charlayne Woodard), mobilizing the unit to save one of their own.

The squad successfully arrested Sebastian and Carlene, with Benson even getting Carlene to confess to the many virgins they'd targeted in Canada, as well as the recent kidnapping and murder of the 18-year-old. But where was Sister Peg? After Sebastian finally revealed Peg's location, the nun revealed to the squad that she'd been subdued after Carlene used her baby, Henry Jr., as bait. Wait — what baby?

This development led Stabler to learn Carlene and Henry Palavar's actions were even worse than they'd thought. Stabler connected them to a murder case from a while back, where an 8-month pregnant woman was murdered via C-section, which occurred at the same time Carlene and Sebastian fled Canada. Henry Jr. wasn't their baby. Carlene kidnapped the child out of the womb because she and Sebastian never consummated their relationship due to her not being a virgin. She thought bringing a baby into their family would make Henry happy, but she was mistaken.

The Palavers were an insidious team, but Benson and Stabler were able to finally bring all their dastardly actions to light. Finally caught, Sebastian snapped and nearly choked Carlene to death, later taunting Stabler with menace. While the Palavers ultimately got their day in court, Short's Sebastian Ballentine lives on in our memories as one of the most twisted villains the SVU ever took down.