Jacob Lowenstein, recently released after serving a jail sentence for his daughter's murder (per the Season 1 episode "Indifference"), is severely wounded in a hit and run. Lowenstein shows no remorse for his crimes, denies all responsibility, and has already broken the terms of his parole by moving in with his fiancee Cheryl and her children. The detectives are led to Joyce Draper, Lowenstein's therapist as part of an experimental treatment program he undertook in jail. She has no alibi, and DNA on her car is matched to Lowenstein. Van Buren and Southerlyn discover that Lowenstein had taunted Draper during the therapy sessions, threatening to re-offend as soon as he was released. She had checked up on Cheryl's family and learned that Cheryl's daughter broke her arm in an "accident" right after Lowenstein moved in. The detectives arrest Draper for the murder of Lowenstein, who has now died.
At trial, the jury is shown tapes of Lowenstein's therapy sessions with Draper, in which he all but openly threatened to harm Cheryl's children. She denies killing Lowenstein, but can't explain why she didn't try to speak to Cheryl herself or go to the police. The defense tries to argue that, since Draper's car was kept in a public place, anyone else could have had access to it and killed Lowenstein. McCoy says that while Draper is a sympathetic defendant, this is no excuse for taking the law into her own hands when she could have stopped Lowenstein legally. The jury acquits and the DAs reflect that this was reasonable behavior.
This episode contains examples of:
- Abuse Mistake: Draper undoubtedly believed that Emily's broken arm.was the result of abuse by Lowenstein; however, it was caused by her falling off her bike.
- The Alleged Expert: Dr. Jacob Lowenstein studied law in jail and earned money on the side helping other inmates with their legal appeals - which tended not to go so well, since he wasn't as skilled as he claimed to be.
- An Arm and a Leg: Jacob lost a leg in the hit and run.
- Asshole Victim: Jacob is designated as this. Many of the main characters learn that he's in terrible pain and draw some glee from it, knowing how much of a monster he was, and can only hope he suffered more.
- Back for the Dead: Jacob, since his previous appearance on the show.
- Broken Bird: Jacob's ex-wife Carla, who is still living in terror of him.
- Continuity Snarl: Played with. When discussing the case, the prosecutors say Lowenstein got a lenient plea deal because it wasn't a slam dunk case. Although Indifference ended with a jury conviction, it's entirely possible that the appeals court got involved and vacated the verdict, while tossing some evidence out, leading to the plea deal.
- Crossover: Cragen returns to the mothership series from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
- Even Evil Can Be Loved: Green and Fontana comment on this when they see Cheryl crying over Jacob in hospital.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: One of the children at the nursery school that Carla works at is named Ezra, the same name as her son.
- Happily Adopted: Jacob's son Ezra, since the previous episode.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Draper's spirit was slowly broken by Dr. Lowenstein over the course of their therapy sessions until the point of driving her to murder just like he did.
- It's All About Me: Jacob Lowenstein.
- May–December Romance: Jacob and Cheryl, who's the same age his daughter Didi would have been if she'd lived.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Based on the national interest in Joel Steinberg (on whom Jacob Lowenstein was originally based) after his release from prison.
- Same Character, But Different: In "Indifference", Dr. Lowenstein was motivated more by his drug addiction and sexual perversion; his daughter died because he didn't bother to help her after her mother violently beat her. In this episode, he's a calculated sadist who actively enjoys and planned to harm children.
- Sequel Episode: This episode is a sequel to "Indifference" from Season 1.
- Smug Snake: Dr. Lowenstein.
- The Unfair Sex: Despite being convicted of manslaughter for killing her daughter, Carla is never treated as anything except a victim of her husband. She was even able to get a job at a nursery school.
