Written By Peter Blauner, Julie Martin and Warren Leight
Directed By Adam Bernstein
As part of their active approach to catching sex offenders, SVU investigates famous photographer Simon Wilkes (Joshua Malina), who they suspect has let his fantasies cross over into reality. Further investigation reveals a hidden room in his basement all set up to torture a child, but no DNA evidence to prove any actual crime was ever committed.
Tropes featured in ''Thought Criminal' include:
- Downer Ending: Despite SVU's efforts, Simon Wilkes is found Not Guilty on all charges, specifically pissing off Amaro that a potentially dangerous man is free until he actually hurts someone. On top of that, the episode ends with Amaro beating Wilkes in public after finding him taking pictures of young boys playing in the schoolyard from the sidewalk.
- Potty Failure: In order to coax information out of a suspect, Lieutenant Declan pretends to be a fellow inmate who, out of sheer fright at the prospect of going to prison, invokes this trope.
