Line #9 Recap/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnitS3E15Execution


1	Written By Creator/JudithMcCreary
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3	Directed By Creator/AlexZakrzewski
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5	Stabler has 72 hours to prove that Matthew Brodus, a serial killer on Death Row, has another murder to his name.
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7	----
8	!!Tropes
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10	* AbusiveParents: Like many serial killers, Brodus had an abusive mother. His was of the emotionally abusive variety, openly hating him and telling him to his face that she should've got an abortion.
11	* ArtisticLicenseLaw: The state of New York hasn't executed anyone since 1963.
12	* CharacterFocus: On Stabler, Huang, and Munch, with Benson and Fin as OutOfFocus (since they were the focus on the previous episode).
13	* DidNotThinkThisThrough: Matthew Brodus deliberately attacks Stabler and Huang mid-interrogation to provoke the guards into beating him, as he knows about the law stating that an injured inmate can't be executed. But while the episode treats this as him getting some sort of last laugh over his victims' families, he's now in an indefinite coma, having to breathe via life-support, and still eligible for execution when/if he ever wakes up — so it's exceedingly difficult to see him as a KarmaHoudini or anything.
14	* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Even though his mother very clearly hated him, Brodus angrily insists that she loved him when Elliot begins needling him about his ParentalIssues.
15	--> '''Brodus:''' Psychiatric pap. You always blame Mom.\
16	'''Elliot:''' Yeah, yeah. Well, why not? I mean, look at your mother.\
17	'''Brodus:''' Leave her out of this.\
18	'''Elliot:''' She couldn't stand you. She left you with your grandparents. When they died, she shipped you off to foster care.\
19	'''Brodus:''' She came and got me. She loved me.\
20	'''Elliot:''' Matt, tell the truth. She got married. She had a daughter with her new husband. And when she left him, she took your half-sister with her and left you behind. Again. I mean, obviously, she must have loathed you. She saw the real you and it made her want to vomit. How many times did she tell you she wished you'd been aborted?\
21	'''Brodus:''' She never said that! She loved me! She never said that! Ever!
22	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Maybe. While it is implied that Brodus may be a necrophile, it is never actually confirmed, with Brodus himself expressing anger and disgust over the insinuation (so if he is one, he is either in denial or ashamed and embarrassed).
23	* EvilSoundsDeep: Brodus certainly qualifies.
24	* FiveSecondForeshadowing: In the cold open, Huang senses that Brodus is about to attack and tells Stabler to get off the table....just as Brodus [[FlippingTheTable flips said table]]. Stabler was barely able to react, and Huang was attacked swiftly afterwards.
25	* HowWeGotHere: The episode begins with Huang and Stabler interviewing Brodus and then getting in a struggle with him in the cold open. Then the episode lets us know the events that preceded this scene.
26	* ILoveTheDead: Brodus, possibly: Huang accuses of him of molesting the corpse of Debbie Cooper, but he reacts with anger and disgust at the accusation, making it uncertain if he really is a necrophile or not.
27	* InMediasRes: See above.
28	* ItIsDehumanizing: Brodus refers to one of his victims as "it" during a disturbing monologue about how he tortured and gutted her, in line with his earlier statement that his victims were "things".
29	* KarmaHoudini: We're supposed to see Brodus as one since he's managed to indefinitely delay his execution, but since he delayed it by being [[PyrrhicVictory beaten into a coma]] it doesn't really come off that way to a lot of viewers.
30	* OffstageVillainy: Brodus's crimes are described in graphic detail, but are never actually shown, not even peripherally, like through crime scene photographs.

Context Recap / LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnitS3E15Execution