Written By Daniel Truly
Directed By Patrick Creadon
After Jerry Bullard (Tom Irwin) is found stabbed in a parking garage, Detectives Benson and Stabler discover that the family man might have had an illicit hobby. When the detectives go undercover at a swingers club they meet a popular lady named Cassandra Davina (Rose McGowan) and her jealous boyfriend, Doug Loveless (Ryan Hurst). As tensions grow, the detectives learn that Cassandra and Doug are con artists working together, and Jerry is her latest mark.
Tropes
- Aerith and Bob: Cassandra Davina and Doug Loveless alongside the Bullards and the regulars.
- Arc Words: "Everyone loves Cassandra". And boy do we mean everyone.
- The Artifact: Cassandra and Doug are still addressed with said names even after SVU discovers that those weren't their real ones.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Cassandra and Doug are revealed to be twin siblings who are partners in crime.
- Captain Obvious:
Huang: His insomnia, sweating and extreme myosis are all symptoms of a kind of genetic neurodegenerative disease called fatal familial insomnia.
...
Stabler: And by fatal, you mean fatal.
- Downer Ending: The episode ends with Jerry killing Doug, leaving his daughter with two incarcerated parents.
- Dramatic Irony: Cassandra and Doug love pretending to be in a Psychotic Love Triangle to their marks. They actually end up in one after Jerry falls in Mad Love.
- Dumb Muscle: Fin describes Doug as "all muscles, no brains".
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Cassandra adores Doug above anyone else in the world.
- Evil Versus Evil: Jerry's wife castrated him. Jerry himself is obsessed with Cassandra, despite the fact that she's using him, and isn't particularly sympathetic, what with draining his daughter's college fund for a woman he doesn't know, even before he kills "Doug." And that's without even getting started on Cassandra and Doug, who are unrepentant con artists and murderers.
- Fanservice Extra: A good chunk of the episode is set in a swing bar, so of course there are plenty of almost or completely naked good looking people around.
- Femme Fatale: Cassandra.
- Groin Attack: Jerry is introduced stabbed in the crotch.
- Halfway Plot Switch: Starts off being about Jerry's stabbing, ends being about Cassandra and Doug working as con artists.
- Hoist by Their Own Petard: Jerry's wife was the one who introduced him to the swing club to "expand his sexual horizons". He ended up falling in love with Cassandra and everything goes to hell for their family.
- I Have Many Names: Cassandra and Doug have several identities in the different states they lived. Even said names are aliases.
- The Insomniac: Aldo suffers from Fatal Familial Insomnia, which makes him appear crazy (the victim's blood on his clothes doesn't help). Dr. Huang looks really guilty when the guy perks up and asks if he'll get better.
- Ironic Name: Cassandra means always telling the truth. To hammer the point home, Cassandra is not even her real name.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Cassandra manages to get very little punishment for her cons and probably assisting her brother/lover in murder but the death of her brother is probably worse for her than anything the legal system could do to her anyway.
- Love Makes You Dumb: Jerry falls head over heels over Cassandra, to the point of using his daughter's college fund to support her. He even kills Doug in the climax, without consideration about leaving his daughter without any parents as his wife is already in jail.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Jerry murders Doug in the closing scene so he and Cassandra "could be together".
- One Head Taller: Ryan Hurst (6'4") and Rose McGowan (5'3") play a Twincest couple.
- Outlaw Couple: Cassandra and Doug, doubling as Siblings in Crime.
- Psychotic Love Triangle: Doug and Cassandra routinely play this trick on everyone for money, but get a taste of their own medicine when Jerry takes Cassandra up very literally on it and murders her brother/lover.
- Put on a Bus: This episode is B.D. Wong's final appearance as a series regular, though he will still be credited for the duration of the season. His departure won't be officially confirmed until after the Season Finale.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Elliot and Olivia dressed to the nines when they go Undercover as Lovers in a swing club. Twice.
- Siblings in Crime: Twin siblings Cassandra and Doug, who are also an Outlaw Couple.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: While Stabler and Benson arrest Doug, Cassandra orbs out.
- Too Much Information: Jerry insists on gushing about his adulterous love for Cassandra in front of his teen daughter even after Stabler tries to shelter her from it, giving an early indication of the irrationality of his obsession.
- Twincest: Cassandra and Doug. Elliot even name-drops the trope.
- Undercover as Lovers: Elliot and Olivia pretended to be a married couple while infiltrating a swing club.
- Villainous Incest: Cassandra and Doug, too.
- Woman Scorned: Jerry's wife did not take it well that he's seeing Cassandra on his own. Him giving their daughter's college funds to Cassandra causes Mrs. Bullard to finally snap and stab him.
