Written by Dawn De Noon and Lisa Marie Petersen
Directed By Chad Lowe
A girl is raped at a popular Manhattan nightclub, kidnapped from her hospital room, and then murdered. Detectives initially suspect a trio of wealthy young men, until some digging into one of boy's friend's past reveals some disturbing crimes in his juvenile record.
Tropes
- Asshole Victim: Seth does a great job of convincing us to feel fine about his being framed for murder.Seth, as the detectives are executing a search warrant: If you would just tell me what you're looking for you could save my maid a lot of work.
- Hypocrite: When the squad is preparing a blatant violation of Seth's constitutional rights, Munch piously lampshades it, and then goes along with it cheerfully.
- Interrupted Intimacy: Detectives arrest one of the suspects while he's in bed with two women.
- Justice by Other Legal Means: the squad doesn't have enough evidence to hold Seth, so when his lawyer asks them to let him out of lockup so he can go to his Congressional internship in Arlington Cabot does not object - because Virginia has just become the first state to allow the taking of DNA from a suspect upon arrest, without conviction. Munch declares this blatantly unconstitutional and Cabot agrees but is unconcerned so long as the law is not overturned before she can use it. Seth goes to Virginia and, conveniently, is arrested in a bank robbery case he had nothing to do with, allowing his DNA to be drawn.
- Mama Didn't Raise No Criminal: Mitch's mom is absolutely convinced he's still a good person, despite overwhelming evidence that he's a sociopath. It's only when Benson realizes that he gave her the victim's bracelet that she finally admits he's a monster.
- Nature Versus Nurture: Elliot and Olivia briefly discuss it; Olivia says, "You're either born with a conscience or you're not", and Elliot replies "Oh, no, no, no. It's all about how you're raised." But they don't get into an argument about that.
- Redemption Rejection: After Mitch is convicted, it turns out he also murdered an elderly woman for her brownstone. The detectives try to get him to reveal where her body is, even telling him that he isn't actually beyond redemption, but he refuses. With a smirk no less.
- The Sociopath: Mitch Wilkens.
- Serial Killer: Mitch has at least three victims that we know about.
- Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: Mitch's mom wants this for her son, who she claims is "a good boy" (despite his serial killing) because he "has a job" and "lives in a beautiful brownstone".
- Weather Dissonance: The episode is supposed to take place in early May—so what's up with all the snow?
- Woman Scorned: The first suspect's wife is furious when the detectives find evidence the victim was transported in his rental car. He is cheating on her, but not with the girl in question.
- Younger Than They Look: The victim is 15, but she believably passes for older and manages to get inside a nightclub with an ID that says she's 21.
