Recap / Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S3 E23 "Silence"

Recap pages are Spoilers Off per policy and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned

Written by Patrick Harbinson

Directed By Steve Shill

A transgender prostitute is found murdered in a church, casting suspicion on Father Sweeney, who was forced to resign from parochial school after accusations of abuse.

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Tropes

• Confess in Confidence: The bishop had been confessing his crimes to Father Sweeney, who in turn could not speak about it to authorities. Stabler eventually managed to convince him to testify anyway by pointing out how many children have suffered because the bishop kept confessing the same sin again, and again, and again...
• Deadpan Snarker: Benson asks a supervisor of a youth program if he's noticed any mood swings among the boys. He responds, "Plenty. They call it puberty."
• Hollywood Law: The bishop has repeatedly confessed to Father Sweeney after sexually abusing minors. Father Sweeney finally breaks the seal of confession after Stabler urges him to and says he'll testify about what was said. Per New York state law though this is inadmissible. All communications between a priest and penitent while giving a confession are privileged, so Sweeney couldn't be a witness as to what the bishop confessed even if he'd done this. The only exception is if the penitent voluntarily waives the privilege-that was definitely not the case here.
• Pedophile Priest: Father Michael Sweeney himself was a far more sympathetic character than you might expect ^note though he was accused, he had never abused anyone, only fantasized about it. In the episode's final scene, he redeems himself by agreeing to testify against the real villain — the bishop.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Father Sweeney eventually decides to break the Seal of Confession so the bishop wouldn't be able to abuse any more children.
• Smart People Know Latin: Dr. Huang effortlessly steps in to correct a mistranslated Latin word. Bonus points because Elliot, who studied Latin as a kid as part of his religion, didn't quite get it. (Elliot translated it as "I have sinned." The correct translation was "You have sinned.")