Line #1 Recap/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnitS9E18Trade


1	!!Spoilers are unmarked per Administrivia/SpoilersOff. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned
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3	Written By Creator/JonathanGreene
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5	Directed By Creator/PeterLeto
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7	A young pregnant woman is murdered and a family of wealthy coffee importers-of whom the woman was sexually involved with both father and son- are the prime suspects.
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9	----
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11	!!This episode provides examples of:
12	* AmoralAttorney: Avery Hemmings bribes jurors to cause a mistrial in the Bartletts' favor.
13	* AssholeVictim: Jenna Ludlow turns out to be one hell of a GoldDigger and an all-around scumbag who financially abused the men in her life to the point that Sergeant Tutuola at one point tells the others, effectively, that Jenna basically brought her death on herself. Deconstructed when Novak admits that, yes, Jenna was a greedy asshole, but that didn't make killing her right.
14	* BigNo: At the end of the episode when Avery takes PJ down with her, Pierson Bartlett lets out one.
15	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Heaven Moscowitz. She talks to angels and practices "Therapy" with credentials from a "Higher authority".
16	* DisneyVillainDeath: Hemming invokes one upon herself during her VillainousBreakdown. Unfortunately, she takes PJ with her.
17	* DoubleMeaningTitle: The title refers to the Bartlett FamilyBusiness and the father and son LoveTriangle.
18	* EntitledToHaveYou: Basically the reason why Avery Hemmings murdered Jenna Ludlow is because she believes (which is true) the latter doesn't deserve P.J.
19	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Avery Hemmings threatens Casey that she could be suspended and lose her job.
20	* GoldDigger: Jenna Ludlow's obsession in life was getting as much money as possible, and she was more than willing to exploit any man who showed an interest in her. She did porn shoots, took her boyfriends to court for breaking up with her, took BlackMail videos of her having sex with her lovers, and even slept with her wealthy boyfriend's father -- and got pregnant by him -- to increase the money she could squeeze out of both of them.
21	* HelloAttorney: Avery Hemmings, as played by Creator/MichelleBorth. And of course [[Creator/DianeNeal Casey]].
22	** Don't forget about Trevor Langan, played by the TallDarkAndHandsome Peter Hermann.
23	* IdiotBall: Casey and the detectives just let Avery walk out of the room as they play the tape proving her guilt. Casey justifies this by saying she's alerted security, but this results in Avery heading for the roof and the SuddenDownerEnding. If Casey had instructed the detectives to arrest her without the theatrics, the murder-suicide would have been avoided.
24	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Given a dark twist with Hemmings, who turns out to have murdered Jenna out of a combination of jealousy and outrage over how Jenna was cheating on and financially exploiting P.J. Bartlett, whom she was in love with. She also confesses to having stalked P.J. when he was dating other women, because she felt that none of them were ever good enough for him. At the episode's end, she declares that she can't bear the idea of leaving P.J. "to be hurt"... which is her rationale for grabbing him and leaping off of the roof with him to their mutual deaths.
25	* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Avery's unrequited crush on P.J. leads her to stalk him and his lovers via a PI and she escalates to murder when his latest turns out to be a reprehensible GoldDigger. Once she's found out, she drags P.J. to his doom alongside her in a last-minute MurderSuicide.
26	%%* LoveMakesYouDumb: The Bartletts and Avery.
27	* MurderSuicide: Hemmings killed herself and takes P.J. with her.
28	* MurderTheHypotenuse: Avery Hemmings kills Jenna Ludlow because she believes (which is true) the latter is undeserving of P.J.'s love.
29	* MustHaveCaffeine: Munch makes a hilarious quip about needing caffeine when [[SleepDeprivation he's roused out of bed]] to question the Bartletts.
30	* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Pierson Bartlett is ForcedToWatch while his son was literally dragged to death.
31	* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Avery Hemmings uses her skills as a lawyer to manipulate the case against the Bartletts in their favor.
32	* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: The Bartletts attempted this but they were foiled.
33	* SiblingTriangle: A variant. It's between a father and a son.
34	* StalkerWithACrush: Hemmings has been hiring a private investigator to trail P.J. and his various girlfriends to see if the women are deserving of him.
35	* SuddenDownerEnding: Just as Avery Hemmings is pinned for Jenna Ludlow's murder, she immediately has a nasty VillainousBreakdown and kills P.J. Bartlett in a MurderSuicide.
36	* TogetherInDeath: A rather twisted variation, since one of the parties was an unwilling participant.
37	* VillainousBreakdown: When the main characters finally got evidence pinning her for Jenna's murder, Avery Hemmings completely loses her shit and things went FromBadToWorse real fast.
38	* WhamShot: The one showing Hemming and P.J. sprawled out on top of a parked car after their fatal plunge. It even looks like [[TogetherInDeath they're holding hands]].
39	* {{Yandere}}: Avery Hemming, full stop.

Context Recap / LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnitS9E18Trade