Written By Lawrence Kaplow
Directed By Tom Di Cillo
A Coast Guard officer (Shiri Appleby) is stopped for a DUI while on leave in New York City, but the arresting officers calls SVU when her numerous injuries and ripped clothes lead them to believe that she had been recently attacked. When the other member of her unit are fingered as suspects, she and her commanding officer (Terry Serpico) hinder the investigation. Out of options, Amaro asks his ex-wife, an ex-soldier herself, to dig up information, possibly at the expense of Barba's case.
Tropes
- Good Parents: The victim's father, who's easily in the top brass of the military, immediately takes her side against the hierarchy of her unit, and even punches out her commanding officer when he speaks badly of her.
- Refuge in Audacity:
- The gang rapists' lawyers claim the sex was consensual even though the rape was so brutal it left the victim with severe injuries including facial lacerations, severe vaginal and rectal trauma, a swollen larynx from a chokehold, and ligament tears in her wrists. Sleazy recurring lawyer John Buchanan even gets right up in the victim's face on the witness stand to tell her she enjoyed it.
- The Pentagon, as part of its conspiracy to defame the victim, has her arrested for adultery (while not charging the rapists with adultery or any other crime).
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: The victim starts the episode with an epic rant, as she is being arrested for DUI:Amelia: '"My grandfather was at the bataan death march, so hell yeah, I can walk in a straight line. Okay, I am a third-generation member of the United States military. My grandfather died in World War 2. My two brothers were in the marines. My father served in three wars! I am an officer in the United States coast guard! I am a U.S. citizen! You cannot arrest me!"
- Whole-Plot Reference: Bears similarities with The General's Daughter, which also centers around the brutal gang rape of a well-respected, high-ranking officer's daughter by fellow officers.
