Written by Peter Blauner and Warren Leight
Directed by Mariska Hargitay
Amaro's estranged father (Armand Assante) is arrested after a fight breaks out at his own wedding, Amaro becomes a witness and secrets in his family's past threatens to tear his family apart while also forcing issues in Barba's past to the surface.
Tropes
- Abusive Parents:
- Nicolas Amaro is revealed to have been physically abusive when Amaro was a child, and both him and his wife engage in heavy denial in the present day as to how bad it was.
- Barba later reveals to Amaro that his father was also abusive. This loses them the case, since questioning Nicolas on the stand makes Barba think of his own father.
- Domestic Abuse: Amaro Sr. used to beat Nick's mother when they were married, and in this episode he beats up his new wife on their wedding.
- Flowery Insults: Amaro Sr. to Barba: "I don't take crumbs. Especially from this ... this gentleman who wears suspenders".
- It's Personal:
- Barba is offended that Amaro Sr. is being accused because, being Cuban, he will bring shame on his fellow Cubans.
- It is personal for Amaro as his own father is the defendant.
- Language Barrier: After the fight broke out at the wedding, Amaro arrives at the scene and sees his father's new wife Gabriella being transported on a stretcher. Gabriella says his father has assaulted her. Amaro tells her, in Spanish, everything's ok, and offers help. Unfortunately the only witness to this conversation doesn't speak Spanish, so when Gabriella recants her accusation almost immediately after, it looks like Amaro told her to do it.
