We open with Sweetie Ness, a former sex worker, giving a talk to promote his book. He is the author of a popular memoir about his abusive childhood, which included being pimped out by his mother at an early age. Sweetie goes out to a club with his fans but is later found murdered on a pier.
Lupo and Bernard soon discover that the deceased wasn't really Sweetie Ness. He was an actor named Dale Marx, and the book is based on the life of Cody Larson - a real victim of abuse and pimping. Years ago he gave an interview with Kate Tenny, a journalist. She wrote a book based on Larson's story, hired Marx to pose as "Sweetie", and set herself up as his agent. Tenny says Larson got in touch with her and demanded money, or he'd tell everyone "Sweetie" was a fraud.
Janice Dunlap, a fan of "Sweetie", tells the police she saw Larson following Marx around on the night of the murder. Larson has gone back to working truck stops, so Van Buren sets up a sting to arrest him. He says he beat up Marx, but didn't kill him. Cutter and Rubirosa are relying on Janice's testimony as she is the only person who saw Marx and Larson together. However, Janice is a very disturbed woman obsessed with "Sweetie". She does not want to testify against Larson, and even lies that she killed Marx.
Cutter still has to call her as a witness, or the defence will do it and claim reasonable doubt. In court Janice repeats her story of killing Marx, but Cutter convinces her that "Sweetie" doesn't care about her. Marx wouldn't speak to her, and Larson is taking advantage of her so she'll go to jail for him. She tells the jury that she saw Larson with Marx right before he was killed. Just when the jury convicts Larson, Rubirosa uncovers evidence Kate Tenny is the real killer.
Cutter and Rubirosa confront Tenny, who has already secured a deal for a second "Sweetie" book to be written with Larson. Cutter has checked her records and knows that she herself was prostituted as a teen, which is why she could write convincingly as "Sweetie." Tenny doesn't care because there is nothing the prosecutors can do. Cutter files to nullify Larson's conviction. He's determined to at least try to find evidence against Tenny, even though he may fail.
This episode contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Larson's mother, whose favorite trick was putting out cigarettes on his buttocks.
- Bittersweet Ending: Tenny gets away with murder, but the evidence gathered, while not enough to prosecute her, is enough to exonerate the wrongly convicted Larson.
- Composite Character: "Sweetie" is a composite of Tenny herself and at least four men she interviewed for a story about teen prostitution.
- I Have This Friend: The Sweetie books amount to this. Tenny used her partnership with Marx, and later Larson, as a vector to tell her own story.
- Karma Houdini: The ending of the episode implies Tenny is the real killer and got away with it. But ...
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Cutter has faith that he'll be able to gather evidence against Tenny and file charges against her.
- Loving a Shadow: Janice, who doesn't even seem to understand that Sweetie is not a real person.
- Misery Lit: Sweetie's "memoir" was an example of this.
- Outliving One's Offspring: After discovering the true identity of the victim, the police talk to his mother.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Heavily based on Laura Albert, who posed as a man named JT Leroy and wrote a novel about "his" experiences of underage sex work.
- Stalker with a Crush: Janice, who is obsessed with the fictional "Sweetie" and tries to protect Larson for that reason.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: This appears to be the motive for Marx's murder. With Larson back in the picture, Marx was no longer needed and could have threatened Tenny's plan to continue writing about Sweetie.
