The detectives look for a rapist who left his young victim in a coma. Ross is facing yet another custody battle and resigns the DA's office. McCoy faces the Disciplinary Committee for hiding a witness ("Under the Influence").
Tropes in this episode:
- Deal with the Devil: One of Briscoe's regular snitches offers him one; in exchange for help getting out of a felony charge, he'll put a hit on the man who murdered Briscoe's daughter Cathy. The audience sees Briscoe calling and later meeting the arresting officer, but no further details.
- Everybody Lives: Although the victim suffers horrific injuries, no one technically dies in this episode, a rarity for Law & Order.
- Put on a Bus: Jamie Ross resigns her position in this episode. She is no longer a major character, and has no appearances in the next season, although she does have some guest appearances later on.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Schiff delivers a brief one to Carl Anderton for irresponsibly backing a man who has no business holding the District Attorney's office because of a personal vendetta against Schiff.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Heavily based on the Girl X case out of Chicago.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: McCoy realizes he can't convict Castillo, so he asks a doctor to lie to Castillo's attorney and say his victim has recovered. The defendant hastily accepts a plea. The judge presiding over the case realizes what McCoy has done but accepts the plea to avoid the bad publicity of letting a rapist go free. When he warns McCoy that he may face disbarment over the affair, McCoy responds not to worry about him and just accept the deal.
- Title Drop: A doctor objects to McCoy's plan to trick Castillo into pleading guilty, so McCoy asserts that the doctor has an ethical duty to prevent more children from becoming victims, while McCoy has an ethical duty to put monsters like the defendant away.
