Written By Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas
Directed By Juan J Campanella
Stabler must fight to maintain his temper as he interrogates a suspected child murderer (played by Matthew Modine) who first crossed his path 14 years earlier.
Tropes for this episode:
- Bottle Episode: The majority of the episode takes place inside of the squadroom where Stabler tries to get Rickett to confess.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Both Stabler and Fin mock Rickett for his troubled upbringing, saying how his hatred for his mother and women in general doesn't excuse his actions.
- I'll Kill You!: Stabler says this verbatim to Gordon as he holds a child hostage. It's implied he may very well have done so had Benson not intervened.
- Minimalist Cast: Aside from the main characters, the only other characters include Rickett, his "girlfriend" and his "Aunt".
- Punch a Wall: At the end of the episode, Stabler finally lets his emotions go by punching his locker repeatedly. Once he's finished, his hands are left a bloody mess.
- Relative Button: Discussed: at one point in the interrogation, Rickett threatens to hurt Stabler's children and calls himself a "psycho killer", but does this only to mock the detective for his lack of self-control.
- Serial Killer: Gordon Rickett, who has killed at least four different young girls throughout the years, getting away with one years ago due to Stabler roughing him up during interrogation.
- Sinister Whistling: A subversion. Gordon uses his whistling to help control his emotions so as to not give anything away to Benson and Stabler or blurting anything out in anger.
- Spiteful Spit: While screaming at Rickett, at one point Stabler spits on his forehead. Creepily enough, he lets it stay there.
- Whispered Threat: When confronting Ricketts about his preference for preteen victims, Stabler asks "Why do you only go after kids? Is a grown woman too much of a challenge for you?" and tops it off with "I should do the same thing to you that you do to those little girls!"
