Written By Jonathan Greene and Robert F Campbell
Directed By Alan Metzger
The SVU squad is given a crash course in "honor killings" and traditional values when the daughter of an Afghani diplomat is assaulted.
This recap contains unmarked spoilers.
Tropes:
- Against My Religion: The Amirs adhere to Taliban tradition of heavily suppressing women and even killing them if they get out of line. A religious expert the detectives speak to clarifies that there is nothing in the Quran that will justify that.
- Downer Ending: The Amir family is completely destroyed by the end of the episode, and all in the name of "honor": Nafessa and Aziza are both dead, Jaleel is locked up for life, and Saleh, after forcing his son to kill his daughter and then personally killing his wife for going against him, has fled back to Afghanistan, never to return.
- Honor-Related Abuse: The reason for Nafessa and later Aziza's murders.
- Karma Houdini: Saleh forces Jaleel to kill Nafessa, then personally kills Aziza for testifying against him, and then flees the country before he can be prosecuted.
- Like Father, Like Son: Turns out that Jaleel killed Nafeesa, proudly, because she "dishonored" their family by being a free woman". When Aziza helps the prosecution nail Jaleel by testifying against him, Saleh murders her and flees the country, much like Jaleel.
