Line #15 Recap/LawAndOrderS15E11Fixed


1	Jacob Lowenstein, recently released after serving a jail sentence for his daughter's murder (per the Season 1 episode "[[{{Recap/LawAndOrderS1E9Indifference}} Indifference]]"), is severely wounded in a hit and run. Lowenstein shows no remorse for his crimes, denies all responsibility, and has already broken the terms of his parole by moving in with his fiancée Sheryl and her two children. The detectives are led to Joyce Draper, Lowenstein's therapist as part of an experimental treatment program he undertook in jail. She has no alibi, and DNA on her car is matched to Lowenstein. Van Buren and Southerlyn discover that Lowenstein had taunted Draper during the therapy sessions, threatening to re-offend as soon as he was released. She had checked up on Sheryl's family and learned that Sheryl's daughter broke her arm in an "accident" right after Lowenstein moved in. The detectives arrest Draper for the murder of Lowenstein, who has now died.
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3	At trial, the jury is shown tapes of Lowenstein's therapy sessions with Draper, in which he all but openly threatened to harm Sheryl's children. She denies killing Lowenstein, but can't explain why she didn't try to speak to Sheryl herself or go to the police. The defense tries to argue that, since Draper's car was kept in a public place, anyone else could have had access to it and killed Lowenstein. [=McCoy=] says that while Draper is a sympathetic defendant, this is no excuse for taking the law into her own hands when she could have stopped Lowenstein legally. The jury acquits and the [=DAs=] reflect that this was reasonable behavior.
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5	-->'''Branch''': "They knew she was guilty, but didn't want to hold her accountable."
6	-->'''[=McCoy=]''': "Goidell gave them a door to walk through and they took it."
7	-->'''Branch''': "They don't think the system works for guys like Lowenstein any more than we do."
8	-->'''Southerlyn''': "So what's the answer?"
9	-->'''[=McCoy=]''': "Nobody has one."
10	-->'''Branch''': "I think that's exactly why Joyce Draper is on her way home tonight."
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12	!!!This episode contains examples of:
13	* AbuseMistake: Draper undoubtedly believed that Emily's broken arm.was the result of abuse by Lowenstein; however, it was caused by her falling off her bike.
14	* TheAllegedExpert: Dr. Jacob Lowenstein studied law in jail and earned money on the side helping other inmates with their legal appeals - which tended not to go so well, since he wasn't as skilled as he claimed to be.
15	* AnArmAndALeg: Jacob lost a leg in the hit and run.
16	* AssholeVictim: Jacob is designated as this. Many of the main characters learn that he's in terrible pain and draw some glee from it, knowing how much of a monster he was, and can only hope he suffered more.
17	* BackForTheDead: Jacob, since his previous appearance on the show.
18	* BrokenBird: Jacob's ex-wife Carla, who is still living in terror of him.
19	* ContinuitySnarl: Played with. When discussing the case, the prosecutors say Lowenstein got a lenient plea deal because it wasn't a slam dunk case. Although ''[[{{Recap/LawAndOrderS1E9Indifference}} Indifference]]'' ended with a jury conviction, it's entirely possible that the appeals court got involved and vacated the verdict, while tossing some evidence out, leading to the plea deal.
20	* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: In [=McCoy's=] cross-examination of Draper and closing statement to the jury, he argues that Draper could have reported Lowenstein to the police and have him arrested for parole violation instead of resorting to murder.
21	* {{Crossover}}: Cragen [[TheBusCameBack returns to the mothership series]] from ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''.
22	* EvenEvilCanBeLoved: Fontana comments on this to Green when they see Sheryl crying over the recently-deceased Jacob in hospital.
23	-->'''Fontana''': "I guarantee you, she's the only person in this world that will ever shed a tear over this guy."
24	* FreezeFrameBonus: One of the children at the nursery school that Carla works at is named Ezra, the same name as her son.
25	* HappilyAdopted: Jacob's son Ezra, since the previous episode.
26	* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Draper's spirit was slowly broken by Dr. Lowenstein over the course of their therapy sessions until the point of driving her to murder just like he did.
27	* INeedAFreakingDrink: The episode ends with the [=DAs=] sharing a drink, disappointed that the jury acquitted Draper for Lowenstein's murder but also relieved that the Lowenstein case can be put to rest.
28	* ItsAllAboutMe: Jacob Lowenstein.
29	* KarmicDeath: After getting run over and losing a leg, Jacob Lowenstein dies in his hospital bed from a pulmonary embolism.
30	* MayDecemberRomance: Jacob and Sheryl, who's the same age his daughter Didi would have been if she'd lived.
31	* NeverMyFault: Jacob Lowenstein continues to deny responsibility over what he did to his family, blaming the news media for vilifying him to the public.
32	* PariahPrisoner: As a child molester and murderer, Lowenstein was despised by many of his fellow prison inmates who only tolerated him because he did legal work for them, albeit incompetently. One of Lowenstein's former client explained to the detectives that the inmates called him "Cockroach" because he gave them the creeps and made their skin crawl and was seen as a whiner and teacher's pet.
33	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: Based on the national interest in Joel Steinberg (on whom Jacob Lowenstein was originally based) after his release from prison.
34	* SameCharacterButDifferent: In "Indifference", Dr. Lowenstein was motivated more by his drug addiction and sexual perversion; his daughter died because he didn't bother to help her after her mother violently beat her. In this episode, he's a calculated sadist who actively enjoys and planned to harm children.
35	* SequelEpisode: This episode is a sequel to "[[Recap/LawAndOrderS1E9Indifference Indifference]]" from Season 1.
36	* SmugSnake: In Lowenstein and Draper's last therapy session, he bragged about how he looks forward to moving in with his fiancé and her two children so he could be a "good daddy".
37	* TheUnfairSex: Despite [[{{Recap/LawAndOrderS1E9Indifference}} being convicted of manslaughter]] for killing her daughter, Carla is never treated as anything except a victim of her husband. She was even able to get a job at a nursery school.

Context Recap / LawAndOrderS15E11Fixed