Written by Jeff Eckerle
Written By Ted Kotcheff
Stabler joins forces with Cowboy Cop John Hawkins to capture a serial rapist and murderer Hawkins has been hunting for years. However, fresh evidence makes Hawkins suspect he may have put the wrong guy away initially.
Tropes
- Common Nonsense Jury: The Jury in the Cold open. Despite the testimony of Stabler and of the little girl who was the rape victim, and despite the fact that the victim and the defendant both had the same sexually transmitted infection, the jury apparently gives a not-guilty verdict. Stabler is understandably upset.
- Cowboy Cop: While Stabler's always been one, Hawkins is just as bad.
- Desk Sweep of Rage: In the cold open, Stabler takes out his rage at the rapist grandfather being acquitted by hurling the coffee paper cups in the SVU snack table, shocking Benson.
- Frame-Up: As it turns out, the original suspect (Roger Berry) was in fact innocent all those years ago.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Blessard's attempts to frame Berry for his newest killings ultimately sets in motion the chain of events that finally exposes him.
- Karma Houdini: The Cold Open has this happen with Stabler's suspect, a man charged with raping his granddaughter, declared not guilty.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Blessard finally gets caught after 18 years of evading justice.
- Kick the Dog: Arthur Blessard decides to move back to New York just to ruin Roger Berry's life all over again. This ultimately causes his downfall, since this time Roger has an airtight alibi.
- Mental Handicap, Moral Deficiency: Subverted for drama in this episode, John Hawkins is convinced that the man he put away years ago who has just been released Roger Berry is responsible for a series of murders and rapes despite the fact that Roger Berry is mentally disabled and his mother protests his innocence. However, in this case, Roger has an airtight alibi, and John's team begins to be skeptical of Roger being guilty because of his disability. John insists that Roger is smarter than he looks. Ultimately, John accepted that he got the wrong man and put an innocent person in prison; thankfully, the real killer who was framing Roger Berry for his crimes was captured by John Hawkins by the end of the episode.
- Hot-Blooded: Stabler for the entire episode. He reduces a witness to tears with his incessant questioning. He manhandles a suspect during interrogation. Benson is understandably worried and tries distracting him from time to time.
