An ADA is found sexually assaulted and murdered in the park on her lunch break. Olivia takes it hard since she was acquainted with the victim. Things get worse when their main suspect, Richard White, starts to stalk Olivia with the intent of raping and murdering her.
Tropes present in this episode
- Aborted Arc: It's implied at the end of the episode that Richard will come back later on as a threat to haunt Benson and Stabler both. Twenty-four years later, he still hasn't made good on that threat.
- Abusive Parents: Richard's mother is a cold woman who doesn't give a damn about anything, including her husband's death or the monster her son has turned into thanks to her brand of parenting.
- The Alibi: Richard claims he couldn't have committed the crime because he was at a house he was selling as a real estate agent. There's a lockbox that can only be used by his code. The detectives figure out the code can be used by his partner and so the alibi falls apart.
- Commonality Connection: Munch convinces a devout Orthodox Jew to keep looking at pictures to identify their perp even after he's tired by revealing he's Jewish as well.
- Control Freak: Richard has to have things under his control, namely the women in his life. When they aren't, such as Olivia standing up to him, his amicable façade drops and he goes into attack mode.
- Date Rape: What Richard initially went to prison for, raping an old girlfriend after she tried to turn him down.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Richard's modus operandi. He rapes and kills the ADA who sent him to prison for rape despite the fact she was only doing her job. He murders a former victim because she talked to police and was able to give them evidence to help them realize he was the killer. Benson is the only woman to show no fear when confronting him and he ends up wanting to rape and kill her.
- Faux Affably Evil: Richard acts charming on the surface but it soon drops, revealing the sociopath beneath who is only interested in getting what he wants.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Richard's mother is a woman who possesses no real human emotions beyond her love of money, including any affection for her son, which clearly turned him into the sociopathic stalker he is. That being said, it's clear that he chose to become the way he is instead of becoming a better person than his mother treated him as.
- Idiot Ball: Richard really believed that, due to his enormous ego, Olivia was dumb enough to confront him in the middle of the park alone instead of immediately informing her fellow officers so they could turn it into a sting operation.
- Implied Death Threat: Richard asks Olivia about her mother and Elliot at the end of the episode how his wife and kids are doing, implying he may go after them as his next target, even from prison.
- It's All About Me: Richard cares nothing for the people he hurts or kills in the course of settling his scores. All that matters is soothing his wounded ego and pride.
- It's Personal: The first but not the last time the criminal of the week would focus on Benson as a target.
- Rich Bitch: Richard's mother is one, caring more about her social status than her family.
- Shout-Out: While searching Canada for a possible suspect, Munch says they've got the Canadian police force and Dudley Do-Right on the case. Cassidy references The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when Richard's old girlfriend and rape victim describes him as having two personalities, though in his usual ignorant fashion he messes it up as Dr. Hyde and Mr. Jekyll. Munch describes the kind of pornographic films they find in Richard's house as making "the Marquis de Sade look like Beatrix Potter."
- The Sociopath: Richard is one of the charming variety. Superficially, he's able to get people to do what he wants, but the minute anyone refuses his advances he turns deadly.
- Something Only They Would Say: Richard sends flowers to Olivia with a note that reads "No hard feelings", the phrase that he has used on many women in his life when he wanted to charm them, including the one he raped.
- Stalker with a Crush/Stalker without a Crush: Richard plays both, depending on the woman in question. His rape victim and Olivia are more on the "with a crush" side, while his business partner and the ADA are the "without a crush" side.
- Stealth Insult: Richard's mother contemptuously tells the detectives that because they don't make a lot of money, they get to deal with filth all day. Stabler's reply? "All shapes and sizes." It's clear he hits a nerve but she's too well-bred to call him out on it.
- True Companions: The squad really starts to develop into one in this episode, with many of them protectively watching over Benson and doing things like driving her to her house because they don't want the perp to attack her.
