Written By Jose Molina
Directed By Constantine Makris
The trial regarding the vicious assault of a 12-year-old boy by his young female classmate soon becomes about the rights of same-sex parents.
This episode provides examples of:
- Amicable Exes: Charlie's biological parents (Emma's mom and her ex). His father doesn't seem to hold beef against Kate for using him as The Beard.
- All Gays Are Pedophiles: Zoe has been accused of molesting Emma simply because she's a lesbian. Decker even has "evidence" that gays are more likely to molest children than heterosexual people.
- The Atoner: Father Justin, the parish priest at St. Victor's, makes up for keeping silent about Sean bullying Emma out of fear of a lawsuit from his parents by providing Olivia with a lengthy transcript of homophobic messages Sean sent via the school's instant messaging service which gets Emma off the hook.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Zoe tries to get Emma's confession thrown out by arguing she is not Emma's parent or legal guardian and thus had no right to consent to Emma's interrogation and that her presence during it meant nothing. It works. Later, when Zoe tries to get custody of Emma during her house arrest pending her trial by arguing she's been Emma's parent notwithstanding any paperwork, the judge understandably tells her she can't have it both ways and remands Emma to the temporary custody of her grandparents.
- Big Brother Instinct: In addition to previously beating up Sean, Charlie tries to protect his younger half-sister by helping her clean away the evidence and giving her an alibi.Olivia: Emma's not lying to protect her brother. He's lying to protect her.
- The Bully: Sean's revealed to be this and had been bullying Emma for months before he was hospitalized, having cut off her hair when she finally stabbed him. The messages he sent to Emma are used as evidence needed to get the case thrown out of court, since no jury would convict Emma after realizing what Sean had been doing to her that eventually caused her to snap, wheelchair or not.
- Decoy Protagonist: Sean Hamill first appears as the Victim of the Week, then it's revealed that he's actually an Asshole Victim. And then Emma's maternal grandparents' homophobic attorney eventually becomes the antagonist of the episode, making Sean a Disc-One Final Boss too.
- The Dog Bites Back: After being constantly bullied by Sean Hamill, Emma finally snaps and stabs him In the Back using scissors, paralyzing him.
- False Rape Accusation: James Decker uses the photos of Emma during her massage therapy sessions with Zoe as a means to manipulate her grandparents into thinking that Zoe is molesting Emma.
- Gay Aesop: The episode tackles LGBT adoption and the possible obstacles it could face.
- Hiding Behind Religion: Every Politically Incorrect Villain in this episode tries using their religious teachings to justify their homophobia.Deborah: (while being arrested) Zoe is ruining my granddaughter's life — it's our moral duty to protect her!
Stabler: Try following the Eighth Commandment: "Thou shalt not bear false witness." - Homophobic Hate Crime:
- Sean Hamill perpetually harasses Emma for having same-sex (lesbian) parents.
- James Decker, Emma's grandparents' defense attorney, is even worse than Sean. He's had a long history of representing straight clients fighting custody battles with their homosexual exes.
- Karma Houdini: For no explained reason, Charlie is never shown having to face charges for Sean's assault like Emma does, despite being an accessory after the fact.
- Killed Offscreen: Emma's biological mother succumbs to her illness offscreen.
- Knight Templar Big Brother: Emma's older half-brother Charlie went ballistic on Sean for constantly harassing her.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Olivia shows the prosecution lawyer for the Hamills a lengthy transcript of homophobic messages Sean sent to Emma, adding that when the defense lawyer presents it to the court as evidence, the jury will immediately see his client as a bully who got his just desserts. The prosecution lawyer concedes the point and begins working out a deal with the defense team.Olivia: Here's your proof that Sean's a bully. "I wanna teach you a game after school. It might hurt, but it'll cure you from being a queer." Does that sound like a sweet kid? And that's not the worst of 'em. You know that I have to share this with the defense. The minute that I do, Sean's credibility goes right out the window and so does yours.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- Sean Hamill gives Emma a Traumatic Haircut. Finally snapping from Sean's perpetual harassment, Emma stabs him In the Back with the same pair of scissors, resulting in him being left paralyzed from the waist down.
- Emma's grandparents finally pay for their homophobia when Zoe makes it clear she's never letting them near Emma ever again after what the two put her and Emma through.
- James Decker also pays for his homophobia in full after his true colors are revealed and his clients are willing to testify against him, thereby giving him a one-way ticket to disbarment and prison.
- Mama Bear: Zoe put up with a lot of shit from her in-laws because they blamed her for "making" their daughter gay, but she finally decides enough is enough after they and their attorney tried to gaslight Emma into thinking Zoe molested her.
- Mistaken for Pedophile: Zoe, due to being a pawn for a False Rape Accusation gambit by the attorney of Emma's grandparents.
- Moral Myopia:
- Sean has the audacity to complain that it's not fair Emma paralyzed him after "all [he] did" was cut off her hair, on top of months of severe bullying.
- Sean's parents demand Emma be arrested for stabbing their son, without caring what he did to provoke her.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Zoe when she realizes how making Emma stay at the Catholic academy led her to suffer months of bullying and harassment, causing her to attack Sean.
- The grandparents have this reaction when shown how thoroughly Decker manipulated them into thinking Emma was sexually abused by Zoe. It gets worse for them when this proves to be the last straw for Zoe.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Emma's maternal grandparents claim that Zoe is molesting her because they were convinced of such by a religious conservative attorney so they could get custody. After Casey shows them how the huckster lied to them, they apologize. But Zoe is so offended by the implication and accusation that she tells them they can't be trusted anymore and will never see Emma again.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Stabler's reservations regarding same-sex couples comes up, but regardless is very sympathetic towards Emma and her mothers through and through. Showing that it is possible to disagree with someone and still be kind to them.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Sean Hamill and James Decker. To a lesser extent, Sean's parents.
- Raised by Grandparents: Invoked. Emma's maternal grandparents file for custody of her after their daughter's death, as the mother's same-sex partner never legally adopted her.
- Rejected Apology: When the in-laws realize Decker was manipulating them, they try to apologize to Zoe but, feeling too far betrayed over the molestation allegations, she refuses to trust them or ever let them see Emma again.
- Skewed Priorities: Emma is being viciously bullied at the Catholic school she attends for being the daughter of a lesbian couple, to the point of needing therapy twice a week. When the detectives ask Zoe why Emma hasn't been transferred to another school if the bullying is so bad, her response is that they want their daughter to have a Catholic education because it's important to their family, along with wanting to take a stand. Her daughter's life is a complete hell... but it's okay, because she's getting a Catholic education and won't be ashamed of having two moms! The prosecutor eventually calls her out on this, pointing out that because Zoe forced her daughter to stay at the school, where Emma's main bully continued to torment her, he pushed her far enough that she eventually stabbed him in the back with a pair of scissors, severing his spinal cord and paralyzing him for the rest of his life. Thankfully, Zoe seems to have learned better by the end.
- Stabler highlights the seeming contradiction of sending a child to a school that disagrees with the family's lifestyle choices, regardless of the parents' intentions, comparing it to a pacifist sending their child to military school.
- Traumatic Haircut: Sean forcibly chops-off Emma's ponytail so "she could look like a dyke".
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Sean comes off as not just a bigoted bully, but a budding sociopath and sexual predator in his harassment of Emma, casually using vulgar slurs and even having tried to forcefully kiss her.
- Villain Has a Point: While James Decker is no doubt a homophobic bigot who doesn't care about Emma's well-being and only sees her as a pawn in his own agenda, he is justified in chastising Zoe on the stand for having kept Emma at St. Victor's, despite how much the bullying she received there was hurting her. Stabler is even shown sharing the same sentiment earlier in the episode, and Zoe ultimately concedes that Decker is right and she should've pulled Emma out sooner.
- Woobie of the Week: Emma has a hard time during the episode. First, she is bullied, then her mother dies, then she is falsely led to believe that she was sexually abused. To top it off, the episode ends with her remaining legal guardian declaring that she will never allow Emma to see her grandparents again.
