Written by Dawn De Noon and Lisa Marie Petersen
Directed By Michael Fields
When a young gay man named Seth Langdon is found murdered, suspicion lands on the man's homophobic father William at first, but it later leads SVU to a convicted rapist Ray Gunther & his brother Jesse Hansen. Meanwhile, Munch helps Olivia find the man who raped her mother years ago.
Tropes
- Accidental Murder: The younger Gunther brother accidentally killed the victim because he lost his mind temporarily and thought he was killing his abusive older brother.
- The Alibi: Ray and Jesse keep stating they both weren't at the party. With how tight the timeline is, the detectives need to get a videotape showing what was happening exactly at the time just before Seth died to find out the truth.
- Big Brother Bully: Ray Gunther started off as this in his childhood towards his brother Jesse and got much worse over the course of his life.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: The Gunther patriarch abused his sons physically and sexually. Ray is a convicted rapist who shows no remorse and finds joy in psychologically tormenting his younger brother, plus having raped him in their younger years. Jesse has spent years of Ray deliberately hurting him physically and mentally, culminating in his attempt to kill his older brother, only coming to his senses once he realized that he's murdered Seth instead.
- Closet Gay: A police officer who was at the party where Seth died and possibly caught who did it on videotape is this. He's petrified the other officers will find out he's gay and it takes a while to convince him to give up the videotape.
- Cure Your Gays: William Langdon, the victim's father, was a firm believer of gay conversion therapy and subjected his son to it to help him get through a "rebellious phase".
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: Munch doesn't necessarily start off as the bad cop when interviewing William's assistant. But once he starts going on a tirade about Newt Gingrich that can practically be heard outside the interrogation room, it causes Cragen to ask ".....Anybody know where Cassidy is?" The interrogation goes much smoother after the much more affable detective is brought in to talk to him.
- It Amused Me: Ray set up Jesse to end up being given oral sex by Seth purely because he wanted to humiliate his younger brother. He even laughed as Jesse killed Seth.
- Kinda Busy Here: When Cassidy and Jeffries first approached André Lasnik, he was conducting a practice of an orchestra and almost quotes the trope verbatim when asked if he could be interviewed.
- Like Parent, Like Spouse: Lasnik theorizes Seth was looking for an older male figure in his life to be his lover because of his father issues, hence why Seth gravitated towards him at the party.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Jesse breaks down sobbing, completely remorseful as he reveals to the detectives that he didn't mean to kill Seth. He thought he was killing his older abusive brother Ray and only snaps out of it once Seth is already dead.
- Not What It Looks Like: The victim is seen arguing with an older man at a party just before he dies. The detectives think it's a lover's tiff and that the older man is closeted since he has a wife and child. He reveals he's the father's assistant and the argument was about William interfering with his son's life all the time, hence yelling at him "Stay out of my life" being a message to his father, not because they were secretly in love.
- Perp Sweating: The detectives put Jesse through this in order to find out the truth.
- Pet the Dog: Munch is usually blunt, sarcastic, and rude with everyone. But upon being informed of how much he's put his foot in his mouth regarding Olivia's past, he sincerely apologizes and does his best to gather up all the evidence he can to help her find her mother's rapist.
- Plot Threads: The B Plot deals with Munch digging up evidence of Olivia's mother's rape that she hadn't been able to find before, allowing her to get one step closer to finding her mother's rapist (and her father).
- Rape Leads to Insanity: Jesse had already been sexually molested by his brother for years growing up. When he's tricked into being given oral sex by Seth, rape by deception, he completely snaps and thinks he's killing his brother when in truth he beats Seth to death instead.
- Secret Test of Character: Cragen privately asks the closeted officer to give up the videotape to help them solve the case even though it might hurt his career. It's implied Cragen wanted to see if the officer would do so without getting the law involved to force him to. As it turns out, the officer had already come to the conclusion he needed to do the right thing anyway and gives it up at the end of the conversation, earning Cragen's respect and making him do his best to keep the officer's name out of the ensuing investigation.
- Shout-Out: Munch and William's assistant discuss Candace Gingrich
and their effect on Newt Gingrich's political career the same way having a gay son will effect Willaim's career, as well as Newt allegedly asking for a divorce from his first wife while she was in the hospital battling cancer. Munch also mentions the "Menendez defense" when talking about how Jesse and Ray claim their father sexually abused them for years, referencing a pair of brothers who killed their parents to gain their wealth and then claimed their father had physically, emotionally, and sexually abused them as their defense at trial. Cragen also tells the true story of golfer Bobby Jones losing the 1925 U.S. Open by one point because he was honest as a way to help the cop who possesses the videotape to give it up. - Straight Gay: The couple that hosts the party the victim dies at come across as this. So does Seth Langdon. And the cop who was also at the party.
- Title Drop: While being questioned, Jesse's wife states that her husband's entire family has "bad blood" (see below).
- Twofer Token Minority: One man in the couple who hosted the party is both black and gay.
- Villainous Lineage: The Gunthers were described as having "bad blood" wherein the father was an alleged abuser and rapist, the mother was distant, and Ray Gunther was a serial rapist back in the '80s. Olivia is also haunted by the possibility of her inheriting something from her rapist father.
- Would Hurt a Child: In addition to being a career criminal, Ray and Jesse's father physically and sexually abused his sons.
