Spoilers are unmarked per Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned
Written By Daniel Truly
Directed By David Platt
A teenager is burnt to death, exposing a group of Italian-American girls (Jessica Varley, Britt Robertson, Donna Misal) who have formed a pregnancy pact led by the girlfriend (Varley) of another student (Jesse McCartney) who heads the school's chastity circle. The involvement of one of the girls' (Robertson) mother (Debi Mazar) and brother (Philip Ettinger) complicate things, while the victim's own father (Michael Badalucco) tries to keep their neighborhood from falling apart from the fallout of the events.
This episode provides examples of:
- Alcoholic Parent: Fidelia's parents are apparently both alcoholics, as her mother confesses that they were drinking and fighting on the night of their daughter's suicide. Mrs. Vidal laments, "I heard her crying...and all I did was pour myself another drink. Why didn't I help her?"
- Alliterative Name: Max Matarrazo.
- And Starring: "Special Guest Appearance By Ray Abruzzo and Katherine Narducci with Michael Badalucco, Britt Robertson and Debi Mazar".
- Answer Cut: While investigating a group of toughs who assault the homeless, Fin suggests luring them out with "the laziest filthiest bum they've ever seen." Cue Munch roaming the streets shouting conspiracy theories.
- Asshole Victim: Fidelia Vidal. She is a shitty girlfriend to a boy who is loyal to her, and in her scenes, appears as a total Jerkass (e.g being unnecessarily rude to Olivia). When her boyfriend finally snaps and murders her, Elliot and Munch didn't show their usual contempt when arresting him.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: The Bernardis: A psychotic mother who bullies her daughter's best friend into suicide (or so it seems), a daughter who deliberately gets herself pregnant by a homeless schizophrenic man, and a son who castrates said man and sets him on fire because he thought he raped his sister. The father is not present, but he got his wife pregnant when she was a teenager and is implied to have been a violent man, considering the son's claim that his dad would have been proud of him for brutally murdering his sister's baby-daddy.
- Bittersweet Ending: Fidelia Vidal (along with her unborn baby) and Josh Galli are dead, Max Matarrazo gets a reduced sentence despite the part he played in Fidelia's murder, Alec Bernardi gets the minimum sentence for Josh's murder, Peggy Bernardi gets an assault charge pinned on her thanks to Greyleck provoking her anger, and poor Tina Bernardi is left to be in foster care while pregnant which makes the bitterness heavy. But in an overwhelming tsunami of sweet, Tom Galli (the father of Josh) steps up to adopt Tina so that they won't be alone and be able to provide Tina and Josh's child with a loving family.
- Break the Haughty: When Olivia goes to interview/interrogate Fidelia, the ringleader of the pregnancy pact, she's smug and confident about her situation, declaring that she and her friends are going to be "the hottest MILFs on the block." She even taunts the older woman and asks if she's jealous because she waited too long to have a child. Olivia lays out exactly how hard her life is going to be as a teen mom, including the health risks to her baby and how she herself probably won't be able to graduate from high school, let alone go to college. By the end of it, Fidelia is sobbing and begging her father, "Daddy, make her be quiet!"
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: When being confronted by the detectives, Donald "Dizzer" Zuccho has no recollection of ever having sex with Fedelia and getting her pregnant, claiming he already has two baby mamas for his Really Gets Around attitude.
- Catfishing: Peggy Bernandi catfished her daughter's (also pregnant) friend and then cyberbullied her with what she'd learned to punish her for ruining her daughter's life and getting her son sent to prison (for killing the father of her daughter's baby).
- The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much: Fidelia appears to have committed suicide before it's revealed that her boyfriend Max, during an argument over her having sex with Dizzer, accidentally strangled her to death in a fit of rage. Apparently, nobody notices any physical evidence that Fidelia was strangled and didn't die by hanging herself, such as finger marks on her neck.
- Crazy Homeless People: Munch disguises as one early in the episode to lure out the "Street Cleaners", a group of masked assailants who beat up homeless people for fun. Fin and Elliot are amused.Munch: They're watching us! The CIA! Brain waves! The Illuminati are after us... or they're after you! Nobody's after me! Is anyone after me?
- Crippling Castration: The poor victim in the Cold Open had his family jewels cut off... before setting him on fire.
- Curse Cut Short: The guest characters are all prone to Precision F-Strike that the main characters interrupt them in the first chance they get.Fidelia: Isn't it great? We're totally gonna be the hottest MILFs on the block.
Olivia: MILFs?
Fidelia: It means "mother I'd like to..."
Olivia: (interrupts) I know what it stands for. - Did Not Think This Through:
- All the girls make light of Teen Pregnancy. They've been called out on their attitude in every given chance.
- Alec murdering the guy who got his sister pregnant. He didn't even ask Tina what happened before jumping to the conclusion that Josh raped her, and apparently didn't consider how she would react to him murdering her baby-daddy. Josh's death also means Tina can't make him pay child support for the baby.
- Though it is possible Alec came to the conclusion that Tina had been raped due to the belief that due to her involvement in their school's Chastity Circle, she would never have willingly had sex before marriage, and certainly not with an adult or a schizophrenic for that matter.
- Assaulting a lawyer immediately after a trial. One in which your charges were dropped, no less.
- Disappeared Dad:
- The Bernardi household has no patriarch. Alec comments that his father isn't around anymore, but that he would be proud of him for murdering Josh Galli.
- Josh Galli's murder sets off a series of events that leads to Tina Bernardi having to raise their child alone. Fortunately Josh's father is willing to step in.
- The Dog Bites Back: Max Matarrazo snaps at Fidelia Vidal and murders her for being such a shitty girlfriend to him despite his devotion.
- Double-Meaning Title: As Teen Pregnancy is the episode's theme, it refers to the young mothers and their would-be children.
- For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: Munch goes undercover as a paranoid lunatic to lure out the "Street Cleaners", a gang that beats up homeless people for fun.Stabler: I gotta say the man does crazy good.
Fin: Good? That's the same crap he says every day, only louder. - Freudian Excuse: One of the Street Cleaners hates the homeless because her father was killed by one while on a subway and that the police did nothing to stop him after all of the many, previous times he was violent.
- Full-Name Ultimatum: While being questioned by Benson about being pregnant, Tina's shocked mom compels her to tell the truth while calling her by her full name, "Cristina Davola Bernardi".
- Gilligan Cut: Fin summarizes what the so-called "Street Cleaners" are looking for.Fin: So we just introduce them to the filthiest, laziest bum they've ever seen.
(Gilligan Cut to a mangy-looking Munch ranting like crazy in the streets) - Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Elliot admits that he's personally opposed to abortion, at least when the pregnancy is the result of consensual sex. However, he doesn't let this affect how he does his job. Given that he's Catholic, this view shouldn't be too surprising.
- Groin Attack: Alec Bernardi castrates Josh before killing him.
- Heel–Face Turn: We learn in this episode that recurring character Defense Attorney Barry Moredock is now a Judge who is more sympathetic towards the District Attorney's office and the Special Victims Unit.
- If I Can't Have You…: Max Matarazzo is a devoted boyfriend to Fidelia Vidal, but he isn't enough for her. It causes Max to snap.
- Ironic Name: Fidelia means “faithful” in Latin. Fidelia was anything but faithful. Her surname, Vidal, means “life” in various languages and she dies.
- "It" Is Dehumanizing: Sara, one of the "Street Cleaners" who beats up homeless people, refers to them as "vermin" and the homeless man who killed her father as a "thing", pronouncing that word with particular disgust.
- Jerkass: As noted above, Fidelia wasn't the most pleasant person. Peggy Bernardi is if anything, worse.
- Kill It with Fire: Josh Galli was burned to death.
- Knight Templar Big Brother: Alec Bernardi mutilated and killed Josh Galli, believing that he raped his sister.
- Lack of Empathy:
- Donald "Dizzer" Zuccho has no concern over the death of Fidelia Vidal and their unborn child. Elliot and Fin are visibly disgusted.
- Peggy Bernardi similarly has no qualms over having seemingly bullied a pregnant teenager into committing suicide. When it later turns out that Fidelia was actually murdered and the charges against her are dropped, she outright tells Greyleck that she didn't do anything wrong and that her neighbors (presumably including Fidelia's parents, who Greyleck reminds her won't feel the same) can "go to Hell".
- Love Makes You Evil: Ultimately, the reason Max Matarazzo killed Fidelia Vidal is because he just couldn't handle the fact that she is not as devoted to their relationship as he is.
- Mama Didn't Raise No Criminal:
- Peggy Bernardi keeps insisting that her eldest son Alec didn't murder Josh Galli, despite him proudly confessing to it. Later when on trial for allegedly causing Fidelia to kill herself, she admits that she did cyberbully her, but tries to justify herself, blaming Fidelia for her daughter getting pregnant and her son committing murder (which she refers to as "making a mistake").
- When Mr. Vidal finds out that his daughter not only got pregnant but convinced three of her friends to do the same, he goes on the news and starts blaming American culture for sexualizing kids at young ages and the police for "not doing anything to protect our daughters from male predators".
- Man on Fire: A burning Josh Galli ran through a diner window in the opening scene.
- Missing Mom: Josh Galli's mother left years ago because she couldn't cope with her son's schizophrenia.
- Moral Myopia: Even after confession to murdering Fidelia, Max continues to insist that "he's not the bad one" because he kept his promise to not have sex until marriage and she didn't.
- My Biological Clock Is Ticking: Fidelia Vidal mocks Olivia when she figures out Olivia doesn't have a child yet despite her age. She even made clock sounds. It backfires on her when Olivia retaliates by rattling off the unpleasant facts and statistics about teen motherhood, leaving Fidelia in tears.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Mrs. Vidal didn't go help her daughter Fidelia before she was found dead, which she's clearly distraught by.Mrs. Vidal: Last night, me and Gordon, we were fighting and we were screaming and yelling and we were both drinking, and I told Fidelia to go to her room, and she took the laptop with her. Why didn't I go help her? I heard her crying and...all I did was pour myself another drink. Why didn't I help her?
- Never Suicide: Max Matarazzo snaps at Fidelia Vidal for being a shitty girlfriend to him. After her death, he takes her blanket, tie it to her neck, then hangs her corpse in the ceiling to cover up the murder.
- Nice Guy: Tom Galli is the kindest people in this episode, and possibly one of the kindest in the entire show. Tom did his best to help his son despite Josh's mother leaving them because she couldn't handle Josh's schizophrenia. Despite Josh's murder, Tom was obviously saddened but never held it against the Bernardi family and even tried to talk down an angry mob screaming for Peggy's head over Fidelia's murder. By the end of the episode, Tom offers Tina a home to her and her unborn child (his grandchild) after Peggy and Alec are put in jail.
- One-Steve Limit: The episode has Donald Cragen and Donald "Dizzer" Zuccho.
- Only Sane Man: Tom Galli tries to calm down the mob screaming for Peggy Bernardi's head after she allegedly caused Fidelia's suicide. It doesn't help, but points for trying.Tom: Please, everyone! Calm down! This is crazy! My boy is dead! The Vidal girl is dead! Do we really want more death? We're neighbors!
- Outliving One's Offspring: Tom Galli after Alec Bernardi's murder of Josh. Ditto the Vidals after Max's murder of Fidelia (and they lose their unborn grandchild, too).
- Patched Together from the Headlines: The episode begins as a take on the 2008 "pregnancy pact"
before it's revealed to actually be based on the suicide of Megan Meier. - Politically Incorrect Villain: Peggy Bernardi refers to Josh Galli, who suffered from schizophrenia, as a "nutcase".
- Pretty Fly for a White Guy: Donald "Dizzer" Zuccho dresses and speaks ghetto. He even tries to win Fin over. Fin is not impressed.
- Psychopathic Womanchild: Peggy Bernadi
- Punny Name: Fidelia Vidal (whose name means "Faithful Life") is a Catholic schoolgirl who cheated on her boyfriend.
- Pure Is Not Good: Max Matarazzo is an upstanding student and loyal boyfriend. When his girlfriend still cheats on him despite these, he snaps.
- Really Gets Around: Donald "Dizzer" Zuccho's motto is "wrecking decks and getting sex." By his own admission, he already has two babymamas in addition to Fidelia Vidal, so apparently condoms aren't part of his credo.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Olivia launched a classic one to Fidelia Vidal, the leader of the Teen Pregnancy pact. Flaunting pregnancy (as a teenager) is one thing, but bringing up Liv's biological clock is just asking for it. Fidelia attacked Olivia confidently, but then cowers behind her father when the Awful Truth of Olivia's words scare her.
- Red Herring: The "Street Cleaners" had nothing to do with the victim from the opening.
- Ripped from the Headlines: The events were inspired by the 2008 pregnancy pact of Gloucester, Massachusetts.
- Somebody Else's Problem: Elliot's stance on the Teen Pregnancy pact. He (rightfully) comments that this is not a SVU case, as there was no rape or incest; and while they could have arrested Josh for statutory rape, he's dead. ADA Greylek agrees, but tells them to double check that none of the other cases involve statutory rape. If there isn't, then they no longer have any reason to be involved.
- Something Only They Would Say: Peggy Bernardi is charged in connection to Fidelia Vidal's suicide. While going through the trial, the DA asks the woman to list out various Internet chat terms. However, when she mentions that the word "fath" means "father", Peggy's daughter Tina, who is more Internet-savvy than her mother, realizes that's entirely wrong and bursts out that it's actually "first and true husband". It makes the team realize that they got the wrong person and that the real killer was Fidelia's ex-boyfriend Max Matarazzo.
- Speak Ill of the Dead: Peggy Bernardi refers to Josh Galli as a "nutcase" and later refers to Fidelia Vidal as a "little slut who ruined this family" (referring to her daughter who was convinced by Fidelia to get pregnant and her son who killed his sister's baby-daddy).
- Surprisingly Happy Ending: The episode seems to be heading to a Downer Ending with Tina Bernardi being left alone and about to be put in foster care while pregnant due to her mother and brother being sent to jail. Fortunately for her, her child's paternal grandfather steps in and decides to adopt her.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The four girls who made the pregnancy pact have it spelled out to them exactly how much harder their lives will be as teen moms. They probably won't be able to finish high school because now their lives will revolve around taking care of their babies — and that's if their Catholic school will even let them stay — let alone go to college or pursue any other dreams. They might have to go on welfare or get jobs to help pay for the babies if their parents won't help them (and because they don't have high school diplomas, the only jobs they'll probably be able to get are menial, low-paying ones like food service or retail). Giving birth in their teen years when their bodies aren't fully developed poses health risks to both them and their babies, not to mention that Tina's baby daddy suffered from schizophrenia, which puts their baby at increased risk of suffering from the same condition. This is all lampshaded by Olivia when she interviews the four girls separately. Fidelia in particular starts weeping/wailing/whining "Daddy!", immediately running to him for a hug when Olivia blasts her for her foolish actions, this proving Olivia's point that she's far too immature to be a parent.
- Tangled Family Tree: A variant. Tina Bernardi was adopted by Tom Galli, Josh's father, at the end of the episode. This will lead to Tom becoming his own grandchild's paternal grandfather biologically and maternal one via adoption.
- Teen Pregnancy: The plot and tribulations revolving around of the episode.
- Tempting Fate: In the cold open, waiters are waiting on a couple who just won't leave, even though it's past closing time. When the couple tries ordering Flambé for dessert, one of the waiters curtly tries to tell them to go home, adding that "the only thing here that's is flaming is the maitre d' and he left an hour ago." Cue the Victim of the Week suddenly running towards them....in flames.
- There Should Be a Law: The team wants to arrest Peggy Bernardi for driving Fidelia to suicide, but there aren't any laws in New York against cyber-bullying. Greylek tries to file a list of other charges against her, but the whole thing is rendered moot when it turns out she really was murdered.
- The Thing That Would Not Leave: The episode begins with the staff at a restaurant waiting on a couple who won't leave, even though it's way past closing time.
- Torches and Pitchforks: Once news of Fidelia's death gets out followed by the reveal that Peggy Bernardi apparently cyberbullied her into suicide, a furious mob shows up outside the Bernardis' apartment screaming at her and baying for her blood, with Tom Galli trying to calm them down. Fidelia's boyfriend Max Matarazzo is also there and screaming with the crowd to cover up the fact that he's actually the one who killed her (as we find out later).
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Fidelia probably didn't anticipate the massive fallout that would happen when she suggested the pregnancy pact to her three friends. By the end of the episode, she, her unborn baby and Josh Galli are all dead, Alec & Peggy Bernardi and Max Matarazzo are all in jail, and Tina Bernardi is about to be sent to a foster home while pregnant, but gets taken in by Tom Galli, providing a "Ray of Hope" Ending.
- Vow of Celibacy: The members of the Chastity Circle, a school club, made vows to not have sex before marriage and be faithful to their partners, with boys promising to be "first and true husbands" and girls promising to be "first and true wives." Unfortunately, at least one of the girls in the Chastity Circle broke her vow by getting involved in a pregnancy pact.
- Wacky Marriage Proposal: The episode opens with one, much to the chagrin of the diner staff they're eating at since the couple are taking their time (and things just gets worse for the staff when a burning Josh literally runs to his death towards the window).
- Was Too Hard on Him: Benson starts to feel that she may have been too harsh with Fidelia Vidal, who deliberately got pregnant and convinced her three friends to do so, after spelling out to her why having a baby at 16 would ruin her future and her chances of finishing high school, as well as explaining the health risks to babies of teen moms. Munch comments that Fidelia could probably have used a reality check.
- White Sheep: Out of all the members of the Bernadi family, Tina could be seen as this in spite of her teen pregnancy. She doesn't have a psychotic bone in her body (unlike her mother, her brother and quite possibly, her father) and is the only member of her family who doesn't end up in jail. When her unborn child's paternal grandfather decides to adopt her and help her take care of said child after her mother and brother have been sent to prison, the episode's ending suggests that she's on the road to being a better mom.
- Women Are Delicate: Elliot and Munch looked shocked that one of the "Street Cleaners" that attacked Munch is a red-headed woman.
