Recap pages are Spoilers Off per policy and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned
Written By Daniel Truly
Directed By Peter Leto
A famous astronaut's corpse is found floating in the waters of Battery Park; Believing it to be connected to a string of serial rapes, Stabler seeks advice from an old mentor (James Brolin).
Tropes
- Broken Pedestal: Dick Finley becomes this to Elliot when he finds out that he murdered an astronaut because of his ambition.
- Conspiracy Theorist: Munch, as regular viewers will be well aware, believes the moon landing was faked, but doesn't want to say so in front of Finley because he likes the guy. This makes for some hilariously awkward moments between them.
- Double-Meaning Title: The episode is about the murder of an astronaut, and "lunacy" is also a word that means "insanity", with its root etymology coming from a word referring to the Moon.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Lance Corliss seems to have taken to this after a mental breakdown cost him his chance to become an astronaut, too ashamed of himself to go home to his family in Houston.
- Fallen Hero: It turns out the Victim of the Week was raped and killed by Elliot's own personal idol Richard Finley.
- Foreshadowing: Finley is revealed to be an adulterer with four ex-wives and even prompts Elliot to get with Olivia even though the latter is married. This would forerun Dick Finley not being the idol Elliot always saw him as.
- He Knows Too Much: The reason why Dick Finley coerced Anton Thibodeaux into killing Vincent Beckwithe: he'd seem him disposing of Marga's necklace and wallet and could thus identify him as her killer.
- Straight Gay: Marga's girlfriend Andi.
