Recaps are Spoilers Off per policy. All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned
Written By Ken Storer
Directed by Donna Deitch
A girl's body is found in one of a dry cleaner's machines, leading detectives to try and close a thirty year old rape case. While in the course of investigating, Benson encounters the daughter of one of the rape victims and starts to draws some parallels to her own parentage.
Tropes
- Child by Rape: The team trails a rapist some thirty years after his attacks. When Olivia talks to Vivian Arliss, the daughter of one of the victims, Vivian — who previously had no idea — realizes she was the product of her mother's rape. As she and Olivia continuing talking and the investigation continues, Olivia realizes that the rapist they're tailing has similar patterns to her own mother's rapist, leading her to believe that Vivian may be her half-sister. She's not, which disappoints Olivia a little bit.
- Double Standard: Rape, Male on Male: A man is targeted by the SVU as an accomplice to rape and murder. The truth is the man, Jason, had been brutally beaten and violated by the real culprit who was his former cellmate for five years. The SVU shows no sympathy for Jason and act completely indifferent to the evidence of Jason's rape prompting his lawyer to show the evidence again to argue Jason is not an accomplice but a victim. Jason is a nervous wreck through out the whole episode and the mere sight of his rapist nearly causes him to have a panic attack but all he receives from the SVU is Stabler threatening to deliver him back to his rapist. This stands out even more when a woman who was raped by the same criminal shows up and Benson goes the extra mile to show her support and offers therapy groups to the victim.
- Hope Spot: When Vivian comes in to ask for a blood test, Olivia is able to convince her to work through her trauma for her son's sake. Then, she ends up encountering her mother's rapist near the elevator, leading to Sarah going to his house and murder him with a frying pan, and leaving Calvin with Olivia while she goes on the run with her.
- Promotion to Parent: Vivian runs off and leaves Olivia, who had never had experience raising children beforehand that we know of, with custody over Vivian's son Calvin.
- Wham Line:Olivia: It's a notarized transfer of parental rights. Vivian made me Calvin's legal guardian.
