Recaps are Spoilers Off. All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.
When a woman is found handcuffed to her bed and with a plastic bag over her head, she claims to have been assaulted. In reality, she tried to kill herself. The SVU tries to go after IVF specialist Amy Solwey (Marlee Matlin), the creator of a website that appears to promote suicide.
Tropes present in this episode:
- The Anti-Nihilist: Munch, surprisingly. In spite of how much of a cynic he is and complains about life (which Fin lampshades), he still believes it's worth living.
- Driven to Suicide:
- Christina had depression and that led to her first attempt at suicide and her final and successful one.
- Munch reveals that his father died by suicide.
- Get Out!: Amy tries to order Munch out of her hospital room when he tries to convince her to accept the kidney transplant.
- Glasses Pull: Munch does this after he admits his father's suicide to Amy when he was a teenager.
- Irony: Amy Solwey works as an IVF specialist whilst also helping people to commit suicide.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After Munch's shocking confession about his own father, Amy immediately cries out that she's sorry, not only for manipulating Christina into killing herself, but for Munch's own grief after his father's death.
- Out-of-Character Moment: In "Mercy", when Alex says she assumed Munch was pro-euthanasia, he says he is, 'for legal, consenting adults'. Here, he seems to be vehemently against it.
- Sleeping with the Boss: Christina is dumped by her married boss over breakfast, which (in part) prompted her suicide.
- Suicide Pact: Amy Solwey, who had a chronic illness that caused her great pain, brought insulin and two syringes to Christina's hospital room so they could go together. Per Novak, her failure to follow through on the pact qualifies as second-degree murder.
- Wham Line: When Munch visits Amy in the hospital and tries to convince her to accept the kidney transplant:Amy: What do you care whether I live or die?
Munch: Because my father killed himself. - You Won't Feel a Thing!: Rather than accept a kidney transplant, Amy Solwey has plans to refuse food or drink, claiming that death by starvation is painless.
