Written By Mark Goffman
Directed By Jonathan Kaplan
A 14-year old African girl is found murdered and subjected to genital mutilation. The investigation leads to her husband Chuckwei Bothame (Hakeem Kae-Kazim), a 35-year old Nigerian immigrant that escaped political persecution from his country and is revealed to be a polygamist to boot. However, suspicions that she might have been abused by him are dispersed when they find out that Chuckwei witnessed an murder by a neighborhood thug called Denis King (Method Man), who is intimidating him into not snitching or else something awful will happen to him or his family.
Tropes featured in this episode:
- Amoral Attorney: Stabler calls out Braden on how he can sleep at night while defending his client who is openly intimidating one of his witnesses.
- Arranged Marriage: Chuckwei married Nikki this way, over the phone no less. Granted, he did marry her to save her from persecution from Nigeria and bring her to safety in the US.
- Although, technically, there were thousands of young women facing religious persecution in Nigeria, and Chuckwei didn't have to specifically choose to "save" this particular 14-year-old girl by marrying her.
- Asshole Victim: Chuckwei, to an extent, in that he took three wives, including a 14-year-old girl (when he was 35) who he allowed to undergo high risk female genital mutilation. All while in the U.S., where such practices are illegal.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Chuckwei's lawyer and second wife Sara Flynt is a human rights worker that helped him settle in the US and married him as his second wife. However, it's revealed that she was the one who killed Nikki and then attacked Almani because she could identify Sara as the killer.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Sara murdered Nikki because she was jealous of Chuckwei's affection for her.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Both Chuckwei and Nikki experienced this in Nigeria; the former was arrested and tortured by the government for protesting about toxic waste being dumped to his farm, while the latter was escaping persecution from her village after her sisters were raped and killed for being Christians.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance:
- Female circumcision is practiced like an cultural norm even though its technically illegal in most countries, including the US obviously. As far as everyone knows, Nikki agreed to it on her own rather than being pressured to accepting it (although it's noted that refusing to be circumcised could have disastrous social consequences in her culture).
- Polygamy is also an common practice among African Christians, despite being it being frowned upon by mainstream Christians and considered against the law in America. Almani argues that polygamy isn't explicitly forbidden in the Bible since King David kept multiple wives and she seems to genuinely view it as normal and rational. (Sara claims to as well, but it turns out she can only handle it up to a point, suggesting she may not be as in favor of the practice as she claims.)
- Disability Alibi: Chuckwei attempts to invoke this, citing being unable to move his left hand. The detectives don't quite buy it, pointing out that even with one working hand he's still strong enough to beat a fourteen-year-old girl to death. He's soon cleared by other means though.
- Double Standard: Discussed in-universe when Olivia points out that polygyny (men married to multiple women) are more common than polyandry (women married to multiple men), but Sara points out that the latter is common in Mozambique.
- Sara seems to have one regarding her own marriage; she was happy to marry Chuckwei despite him already having one wife (Almani), but was infuriated by him taking another wife after her.
- Exotic Extended Marriage: Chuckwei with his three wives Almani, Sara and Nikki.
- Hypocrite: Sara tells the detectives that polygamy is perfectly acceptable as there is no issue among sharing the same partner, but Almani reveals that Sara killed Nikki precisely because she was jealous.
- Like Goes with Like: The episode has an African man (Chuckwei) married to a couple of African women (Almani and Nikki) and a white one (Sara). In the end of the episode it's just him and his black wife Almani.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Sara murdered Nikki because she was jealous of Chuckwei's affection for her, and then attempted to kill Almani because she found out.
- Not Me This Time: King did actually kill an innocent man in front of Chuckwei and is intimidating him for it. But he did not kill Nikki himself, it was Sara.
- Smug Snake: King never wastes time acting smug in front of the detectives when he thinks he is on top. Appropriately, he has a Villainous Breakdown when Chuckwei testifies against him at the end of the episode.
- Token White: Sarah is the only Caucasian among Chuckwei's three wives.
- Villainous Breakdown: A spectacular one at the end, when Chukwei, a witness to a murder by an otherwise suave and dangerously savvy Dennis King, finally musters the courage to testify.
Dennis King: "You're dead! You're family's dead! EVERYTHING YOU LOVE IS DEAD! YOU'RE DEAD!"
