Written By Jonathan Greene
Directed By Helen Shaver
A rape victim Vicki Sayers (Jennifer Love Hewitt) claims that she has been raped 4 times and harassed across the country by the same man, traveling salesman Bill Harris (James LeGros), and the investigation reveals that she may not be his only victim.
Tropes
- Actor Allusion: Vicki says she moved to Los Angeles and got engaged to a man named Scott. Jennifer Love Hewitt starred on Party of Five in which she played the love interest of Scott Wolf's character.
- The Aloner: Vicki has been made into this as a result of her rape and fear of her stalker.
- An Aesop: Police departments and crime labs must test their rape kits and put the DNA in the system as soon as possible.
- And I Must Scream: Harris turns his victims' lives into waking nightmares by repeatedly stalking and raping them, tracking them down no matter where they move or how far, and wearing them down until they become agorophobic shells of themselves with no choice but to wait until he strikes again.
- And Starring: "Special Guest Star Jennifer Love Hewitt" and "Special Appearance By Skeet Ulrich".
- Arc Words: "Behave."
- Asshole Victim: In any other episode, the way that the SVU harasses Harris would be ripe for Protagonist-Centered Morality. But here, knowing exactly how completely he's destroyed Vicki's life, every ounce of suffering he gets is completely deserved.
- Backdoor Pilot: The episode serves as one for Law & Order: LA.
- Beauty Inversion: Jennifer Love Hewitt is known for being a particularly attractive woman with a lovely pair of, ahem, assets. Indeed, the casting director was reluctant to put her in this role specifically because she's so beautiful. But in this episode she's dressed down, goes without almost any makeup, and has her hair done in a plain manner to help emphasize how broken-down and terrified she's become after years of being stalked and raped.
- Broken Bird: Vicki as a result of being raped four times by the same man.
- Early-Bird Cameo: With this being a Backdoor Pilot for Law & Order: LA, main cast member Det. Rex Winters shows up.
- Hospital Hottie: Deconstructed, as the Villain of the Week is a Serial Rapist who goes after attractive female hospital staff.
- Ironic Echo: "Behave".
- Justice by Other Legal Means: Despite the squad's best efforts, they are unable to collect sufficient evidence to prosecute Bill for rape. Then they realize they can get him for kidnapping instead, as he held Vicki prisoner for over 12 hours one of those times.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Bill likes to stalk and rape his victims so they'll never be free of him, essentially using their very existence to imprison them. Not only does he wind up imprisoned, but it's Vicki at the end who gets to use Bill's Something Only They Would Say while he's locked in a jail cell.
- Neverending Terror: A particularly twisted example with serial rapist Bill Harris, who takes sick pleasure in stalking and tracking his victims after their first assault and then raping them again and again at random points in their lives. One woman, Vicki Sayers, is so broken by the experience that her career, marriage, family and entire life got to pieces as she becomes afraid of ANY human interaction, or even leaving her house...forcing her to live in painful solitude. Bill gets pleasure from knowing he's the only thing these women think about, every moment of their lives. The team finally catches him, but not until after he's ruined multiple lives.
- Put on a Bus: This is the last episode in which Judith Light appears.
- Serial Rapist: Bill Harris preys on attractive female hospital staff.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Having no evidence against Harris, the detectives relentlessly hound him until he snaps and says "You're all the same" which makes Olivia think he has other victims, so they check the federal database for similar patterns. In other words, the only thing the detectives got from their illegal campaign of harassment was the idea to check for information that they already had (and would have checked first if any of them were remotely competent).
- Stalker Shrine: Bill has a whole garage dedicated to every single one of his victims.
- Stalker with a Crush: Bill Harris to several women across the United States. In Vicki Sayers's case, he's been stalking her for fifteen years.
- Used to Be More Social: Vicki. After the first time she was raped, he was never caught and eventually tracked her down again. Even after changing her identity, moving to another state, and becoming a paranoid shut-in, he still found her and did it again. And again. And again...
