%%% Administrivia/Per Administrivia/SpoilerPolicy, all spoiler tags have been removed from this recap page and a warning has been added.

!! As per Tv Tropes policy, this page is Administrivia/SpoilersOff on any and all plot points. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!

Directed by Creator/JaceAlexander

Written by Creator/KathyMcCormick & Creator/DickWolf

The episode begins with the body of Navy Chief Petty Officer Robert Stroud being discovered. Briscoe and Curtis determine that he was shot, and that he was a notorious womanizer. His wife, who is an enlisted crewman, is also in New York. She had found out he was having an affair with Lieutenant Kristen Blair - the poster girl for female F-14 Tomcat pilots. Stroud was assigned to Blair's aircraft as ground crew. The detectives examine Blair's car and find that a bullet was fired through the window from inside.

The Navy asserts jurisdiction and won't hand over Blair for arrest. She gives a sworn statement saying that she shot Stroud in self-defense after he tried to rape her. But the evidence shows she's clearly lying. A judge grants the [=DA=]'s office jurisdiction, and the case goes to trial. [=McCoy=]'s case is that Blair was obsessed with Stroud and killed him after he ended the affair to save his marriage. Blair's lawyer demonstrates to the jury that Stroud had a long history of sexual harassment complaints that were swept under the rug.

[=McCoy=] and Ross locate Blair's previous training instructor, Lieutenant Ottenberg. He says that her poor safety record should have prevented her from qualifying, but the Navy made an exception because they were under political pressure to qualify more female pilots. In court Blair repeats her story that she killed Stroud in self-defense, and didn't report it because she knew no one would believe her. To bolster that, she presents a cold, calculating and decisive persona to the jury. She says that she can't afford to be rash or sentimental in her position.

[=McCoy=] disproves this by producing a tape recording of a training session six months previously. When Blair couldn't handle a test flight, she lost her temper and verbally abused Ottenberg. Subsequently, [=McCoy=] tells a press conference that Blair has accepted a plea for manslaughter and will serve at least 12.5 years in jail. Blair attempts to spin this as the system being stacked against her because she is a woman. Ross, who greatly admired Blair, is disappointed to find that her hero is so corrupt.

!Tropes found here are
* AffirmativeActionGirl: The navy wanted Blair to be one, as they were under immense pressure to qualify a few more female fighter pilots.
* BrokenPedestal: Discussed by Jamie and Jack after they reveal Blair wasn't TheAce she seemed to be
-->'''Jamie''': It's like finding out Amelia Earhart flew to Bakersfield and hid out for 50 years.\\
'''Jack''': I got over Pete Rose.
* FalseRapeAccusation: Blair falsely asserts she killed Stroud in self-defense because he was trying to rape her.
* IfICantHaveYou: Why Blair killed the victim.
* InformedAttractiveness: When verifying Blair's alibi, literally every man she interacted with comments on her beauty.
* JackieRobinsonStory: What the navy hoped for with Blair.
* JurisdictionFriction: Between the [=DA=]'s office and the navy as to who should handle Blair's case.
* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Blair uses this justification for her guilty plea.
* NotSoStoic: Blair, as revealed in an audio transcript.
* PerformanceAnxiety: Blair freaks out while attempting a night carrier landing. This is used to impeach her character.
* ReallyGetsAround: The victim.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When Blair botches yet another approach for a night trap and is waved off, she demands to be diverted to a land based airfield. The Landing Signal Officer refuses.
* SlaveToPR: The navy defends Blair throughout because she is excellent PR for them. Schiff is also aware that the case will have a huge impact on the public image of the [=DA=]'s office.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Blair is one of very few women to reach her rank in the navy.
* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Blair's alibi is sunk when (a) No one remembers seeing her at places she claimed to have been--"And this is a woman you'd remember!"--and (b) People remember seeing her in places, as well as with the victim, in places she denied being.
* StalkerWithACrush: Blair was one.
* TheStoic: Blair presents herself as one.