Written By Michael Chernuchin and Julie Martin
Directed By Alex Chapple
A fifteen-year-old boy is sexually assaulted and too scared to name his attacker (Dylan Walsh), making things complicated for SVU. When the attacker's identity is eventually uncovered, SVU tries their hardest to assure the teen's safety. Meanwhile, Rollins tries to patch things up with her ex-boyfriend and reveals her current pregnancy to Benson, who is starting to feel her age.
Tropes Associated with Man Up
- Big Brother Bully: Brian Conway is this to his brother Sam, calling him a pussy for not killing a rabbit during their hunting trip.
- Big Eater: Rollins is eating for two, revealing that she's pregnant.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Sam goes to a bar to drink away killing the rabbit on the hunting trip, despite being underage.
- Feeling Their Age: A minor plot point of the episode is Olivia having some difficulty running after perps as she gets winded and unable to continue pursuit. She and Fin share a moment about the sad reality of aging.Tutuola: Liv, no one expects you to be Wonder Woman.
Benson: I do. - If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: when we are first being intoduced to the victim, Sam, he is being forced by his father and brother to shoot an innocent little bunny rabbit. When he refuses to finish it off his father snaps its neck with an audible crack. Later:Benson: A rabbit? Something did happen on that hunting trip.
Tutuola: White people and rifles, don't ask me. - Mr. Fanservice: For fans of Peter Stone, his opening scene in the episode is....rewarding.
- Mood Whiplash: Rollins tells Benson she's pregnantBenson: Wow! Congratulations!
(pause)
Benson: (face dropping) Or? - Naytheist: An angry Stone misinterprets "suffer the little children to come unto me" note Stone: What kind of a world is this, Olivia?
Benson: I guess there has to be a hell so we can recognize heaven.
Stone: "Suffer the little children to come unto me", see, that always baffled me. If children have to be suffered to approach God, what kind of a world has he created? If they have to suffer, in order to be close to him, in what sort of a heaven does he reside?
(later)
Stone: A war you can't win is the only one worth fighting. - Parental Incest: John Conway rapes his teenage son as punishment for showing weakness.
- A Real Man Is a Killer: John believes this, raping his son to punish him for hesitating to Mercy Kill a rabbit. It'll come back to bite him in the next episode.
- Testosterone Poisoning: Played for drama. John Conway pushes his toxic masculinity onto his sons. He also believes the hard way in Cure Your Gays with Sam.
