Written By Barbie Kligman
Directed By Juan Jose Campanella
A 6-year-old shooting victim tests positive for an STD, leading Benson and Stabler to take a closer look at her family (Dan Lauria and Glynnis O'Connor) and her adopted sister (Ari Graynor). A prominent lawyer (Michael Gaston) and his son (Christopher Denham) also get involved.
Tropes:
- Accidental Murder: The guy who was breaking up with his girlfriend in the opening scene was just caught in Joey Field's line of fire. Subverted with Rebecca Kurtz, who was set up to be murdered by her sister.
- Antagonist Title: Missy is the eponymous damaged woman.
- Asshole Victim: Joey's friend, Eric, who committed the murders before being fatally shot, was initially thought to be this. Even his father was disgusted by his actions, even saying good riddance to him.
- Break the Haughty: Averted. After Missy's true nature is exposed, she acts smug and confident that she won't be convicted. When Cabot lays down that Missy will most certainly be convicted, Missy just reacts coldly. Cabot even seems slightly disappointed that Missy won't break.
- Bittersweet Ending: Missy is facing the death penalty for her crimes (not that she cares anyhow), but Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz have now lost both of their daughters (they still love Missy even after all she's done), and Joey's life has been ruined due to his girlfriend's manipulations.
- Chekhov's Gunman:
- Joey Fields is a literal example, as he disappears after his Accidental Murder in the opening scene only to show up again midway through the episode.
- Detective Dave Deuthorn appears as a random cocky detective in the opening scene, only to show up again when the depths regarding Rebecca's supposed Accidental Murder is uncovered.
- Death of a Child: Rebecca Kurtz dies about midway through the episode.
- Death Seeker / Empty Shell: Missy is so consumed by her trauma and depression that being faced with the death penalty no longer bothers her.Missy: You can't kill me. I'm already dead.
- Femme Fatale: Missy has no problems using sexual manipulation tactics to get what she wants.
- Freudian Excuse: Missy lost her mother at age six, after which her biological father began sexually abusing her. Even worse, Missy's father pimped her out to his friends before the authorities caught on by the time she was nine. Missy was ultimately adopted by a loving family at age 12, but by that point, the damage was already done.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: As horribly traumatic as Missy's childhood was, the fact that she raped and murdered an innocent little girl and caused several other needless deaths can't be forgiven.
- Good Parents: Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz genuinely loved Rebecca and their adopted daughter, Missy. Even after they are convinced of Missy's crimes, they still refuse to help the police as they can't bear the thought of losing another daughter.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Missy's biological father, who not only routinely beat and raped her as a child, but also pimped her out to his fellow scumbag friends, as his abuse of her was almost certainly the first link in the chain that led to Missy doing what she did. Unfortunately, he's already dead by the episode's events from AIDSnote .
- Home Porn Movie: A truly icky version: Missy had one where she coerced Joey into have sex with her and a drugged-up Rebecca.
- Karma Houdini: Missy almost becomes this due to her having been granted immunity before the detectives learned of her true role in the event. Fortunately, Cabot manages to figure out a way around it.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: One of the victims of the video store shooting is a man out front who is hit in the middle of breaking up with his girlfriend.
- Lack of Empathy: Missy feels no love for her adoptive parents, her adoptive sister, her boyfriend, or even herself. When Cabot tells Missy she will be executed for the murders, Missy coldly states "She wasn't my sister."
- Manipulative Bitch: Missy, to a T. She orchestrated the whole video store incident to rape and kill Rebecca. She then proceeds to manipulate the police and ADA into blaming her boyfriend, Joey, before they finally catch on to her.
- Mistaken for Paedophile: Mr. Kurtz was SVU's first suspect regarding Rebecca's rape. Obviously, he is not amused.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Rebecca dies about midway through the episode, much to the Kurtzes' (sans Missy) grief.
- Parental Incest: Missy's Rape as Backstory. Subverted with Mr. Kurtz as detailed in Mistaken for Paedophile above.
- Rape as Backstory: Missy was raped and pimped out by her biological father.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Attempted. Joey's father is a rich and powerful attorney, but even he could not save his son from the law, especially after detectives tricked him into stepping out of his home to arrest him under the guise of giving him a reward for stopping the video store robbery.
- The Sociopath: Missy. Dr. Huang specifically diagnoses her as such.
- Title Drop:Mr. Kurtz: Ms. Cabot, can't you see how damaged Missy is?
- Would Hurt a Child: The whole episode revolves around Rebecca Kurtz's shooting and rape.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Rebecca was born years after the Kurtzes were told that they would never have biological children. Mrs. Kurtz even asked Benson "Why would God bless us with a miracle just to take it away?"
- You Are What You Hate: Missy's Rape as Backstory involved her biological father raping her and "renting her out" to his friends. The Reveal of the episode is her doing the same to her sister Rebecca (actually, worse — she didn't just offer up Rebecca, she pushed her boyfriend into doing it when he was reluctant).
