Written By Judith McCreary
Directed By Arthur W. Forney
A teen boy admits to looking at a child porn website run by a "look, but don't touch" pedophile (Tom Noonan) in an attempt to curb his own pedophilic urges toward his younger stepbrother; when he goes missing, however, his stepfather (Josh Charles) is the prime suspect. Meanwhile, Stabler discovers that one of his own daughters' pictures has ended up on the site.
Tropes
- Asshole Victim: Eric Byers, who gave in to his pedophilic urges and molested a child.
- Big "NO!": Eric Byers' mother Dana lets out a heartwrenching one upon discovering her son's dead body.
- Book Ends: The episode begins with Munch interviewing battered housewife Lisa Deering who denies that her husband Frank is abusing her. It ends with Lisa, this time sporting bruises from Domestic Abuse, going to Munch for help.
- Death Glare: While Stabler gets some rather disapproving looks for putting the other detectives' careers on the line, Fin's is noticeably harder than Munch's or Benson's, indicating that he's not happy with Stabler over the last season's events.
- Jerkass: Sean Kelly has a very pissy attitude and a very bad temper. He understandably hates pedophiles, especially when he finds out that his stepson is one as well. Sean takes it too far when he sodomize Eric when he fought Eric molested his stepbrother. Even after he learned that Eric didn't molest his stepbrother, he showed no remorse and said that every pedophile deserves to wiped off the planet, completely ignoring that he isn't any different from a rapist.
- Noble Demon: Jake Berlin, a man who is mockingly referred to as a "good pedophile": he runs a website (Pediaphax) featuring tame pictures of young children for other pedophiles to enjoy without actually going out and harming one, strictly enforcing its "look but don't touch" rule, reasoning that it keeps real children safe, and is also rather nonchalant about his predilections. He is arrested at the end of the episode for murdering Eric Byers, a teenage website subscriber, after he admitted to violating the "Look but don't touch" rule, proudly stating that he "did what the Supreme Court refused to do" and "made raping a child a capital offense".
- Oh, Crap!: Stabler has one when he sees his younger daughter's picture on the Pediaphax website. So do Munch and Cragen later after seeing the same, noting that Stabler suddenly had an "errand to run" after the fact, and immediately realizing where he's really headed.
- The One Thing I Don't Hate About You: Considering his grudge against him, Fin tells Benson about how Stabler showed restraint when attacking Berlin over his daughters' picture on his website. Admitting that if he was in his position he would've killed him.
- Papa Wolf: Stabler is about as happy as any typical father would be to discover his youngest daughter's picture posted on a site designed for pedophiles. He gets himself suspended for attacking the person who posted it. Fin states that if it had been a picture of his son, he wouldn't have shown so much restraint.
- "Ray of Hope" Ending: The ending is bleak, but the abused wife Lisa goes to Munch for help.
- Riddle for the Ages: The SVU doesn't find the kid that Eric abused and Liv more or less says there's little chance they'll ever find him.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Stabler works over the webmaster for the Pediaphax site for including his daughter's picture among the many others posted on it. Naturally, Cragen reads him the riot act and suspends him for it.
- Where Did I Go Wrong?: Eric's mother Dana is tormented over what she did or didn't do that caused her son to be a pedophile. Benson tries to reassure Dana that it wasn't her fault that Eric was a pedophile, but Dana is unconvinced.Dana: My son is... is sexually stimulated by children. I can't understand that. Can you?
Benson: No.
Dana: I keep going over and over the past in my mind, and I'm... What did I... What did I say? What did I do or what didn't I do? What did I do wrong?
Benson: Dana, you didn't make your son a pedophile. That's what he is.
Dana: I brought him into this world. What does that make me?
