Written By Jonathan Greene
Directed by David Platt
A pregnant rape victim flees the hospital before she can be questioned, and further investigation reveals the woman is connected with an illegal adoption ring. Benson and Stabler go undercover to flush out the suspects.
This episode provides examples of:
- And Starring: "Special Guest Star Sharon Stone" plus the regular guest-stars lineup ending "With Kate Nelligan, Kevin Corrigan and Pasha D Lychnikoff".
- Batman Gambit: D.A. Marlowe shows the team footage of one of the cases' important witness and evidence being destroyed by a car bomb. So the team focuses on a crooked doctor who goes on to torpedo the entire case against a mafioso after claiming his attorney is in cahoots with the suspect. Turns out, the Feds found the bomb and orchestrated the ruse to appear the witness was killed while Marlowe has everyone else focus elsewhere on the case. The ruse also manages to deceive the mafioso as he is unable to intimidate the witness, as her parents were brought to the USA to prevent his associates from killing them in revenge.
- Big Damn Heroes: Captain Cragen, Fin, and some members of The Squad track down Anton Petrov's den and save Sophia Zarov from being killed.
- Boom, Headshot!: How Anton Petrov killed Lili Denkova. Sophia Zarov nearly met the same fate until Cragen shoots her executioner moments before pulling the trigger.
- Chekhov M.I.A.: Sophia Zarov is the Victim of the Week, but she spends most of the episode captured by Anton Petrov's men and later Faking the Dead with the FBI and Marlowe to catch him.
- Cowboy Cop: Jo left the police force years ago after an incident in which she cavalierly risked the lives of undercover officers by blowing their cover; in the present day she insists on an undercover meet between Stabler, Benson, and the Big Bad which Cragen thinks is too risky. In the end, Stabler and Benson are offended because Jo was stringing them on throughout the episode. Jo remains unrepentant throughout and walks away at the end with a smug smile.
- A Day in the Limelight: The episode mostly centers around Jo.
- Dirty Cop: Anton Petrov was a member of the Bulgarian police force until he was caught with his trafficking business and went full-time criminal in the States.
- Disc-One Final Boss: The Serial Rapist who targets pregnant women including the Victim of the Week gets caught a quarter into the episode.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: The episode concludes with Anton Petrov going to prison for the rest of his life, Sophia Zarov reclaiming her baby, and having her and her parents process their naturalization (her baby was born in the U.S. and thus a citizen).
- Event Title: Jo makes a Title Drop that Sophia Zarov (Faking the Dead with the FBI) is her "ace in the hole".
- Faking the Dead: When the FBI agents who were guarding Sophia Zarov sees Anton Petrov's planted bomb on their transport vehicle, they decided to play into Petrov's plans.
- Females Are More Innocent: Petrov seems to believe that, since he pats down Elliot but not Olivia when they meet to "buy" Sofia's baby from him.
- Guile Hero: Jo Marlowe plays along with the FBI's Xanatos Speed Chess against Anton Petrov and has Elliot and Olivia Locked Out of the Loop until The Reveal.
- Halfway Plot Switch: The episode begins with Sophia Zarov being the victim of a serial rapist, then switches to protecting her and her child from a child trafficking ring.
- The Illegal: The child trafficking ring of Anton Petrov's M.O.—they bring pregnant women from Bulgaria to sell their babies once they give birth.
- Irony: Fin accuses the immigration office employee of racism for suggesting that Sophia shouldn't have been issued a visa while pregnant (as the child automatically gets citizenship if born in the U.S.). Ironically, Sophia and the immigration employee are both white (Sophia being Bulgarian).note
- Karma Houdini: Defense attorney Buchanan is not charged for his role in the murder conspiracy, nor is the issue handwaved away or even discussed. In fact, he remains a recurring SVU character in good standing.
- Killed Offscreen: Lili Denkova was executed by Anton Petrov after her introduction. Subverted by Sophia Zarov who is revealed to be Faking the Dead.
- Law of Inverse Fertility: Customers of the child trafficking ring are mostly childless couples who are unable to legally adopt. Elliot and Olivia disguise themselves as the couple featured in the episode.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Turns out the real reason Jo left the police force was she compromised two of her officers in an undercover mission back in 1995 to catch a drive-by mass murderer.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Jo knew of Sophia and the FBI's Faking the Dead to beat Petrov in a Xanatos Speed Chess but didn't tell the main characters until after The Reveal.
- Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: The rape of a pregnant woman leads to the discovery of a baby trafficking operation led by a Bulgarian mobster.
- Obviously Evil: Anton Petrov, a Card-Carrying Villain who is a Smug Smiler.
- Potty Emergency: Jo secures her highly improper ex parte meeting with the judge when the latter ditches the male defense attorney because she desperately needs to pee.
- Rape as Drama: The episode's first act is catching a Serial Rapist who targets pregnant women.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: The prosecutor, judge and an unaffiliated defense attorney concoct a scheme to undermine one defendant's relationship with his legal counsel in order to secure a conviction against the other defendant; this scheme includes inducing the first defendant to lie under oath.
- Ship Tease: Elliot and Olivia are Undercover as Lovers for much of the third quarter of the episode.
- Smug Snake: Anton Petrov is all smirk until he sees that Sophia is alive.
- Undercover as Lovers: Elliot and Olivia pretended to be a Happily Married couple to catch baby trafficker Anton Petrov.
- Villainous Breakdown: When Sophia Zarov reveals herself to be Faking the Dead, Anton Petrov loses it.
- Wham Shot: The Reveal that Sophia Zarov is only Faking the Dead.
- Woobie of the Week: Unlike many other adult victims on the show (who have a range of character flaws and occasionally turn out to actually be the perpetrator), Sophia mostly exists to elicit sympathy.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Upon realizing that Anton Petrov has frighteningly unknown connections after finding his planted bomb, the FBI decides to fake the deaths of Sophia Zarov and her assigned guardians until the perfect opportunity to screw him presents itself.
