This recap contains unmarked spoilers. You Have Been Warned
Written By Lisa Marie Petersen
Directed By David Platt
After saving April Troost from jumping off a roof, Benson feels responsible when Troost seemingly dies during the trial of the man she accused of raping her and getting her pregnant. However, it isn't long before detectives learn that millionaire Barclay Pallister, the father of April's baby, wasn't the only man that April picked up in a bar who has no recollection of sleeping with her, and the squad realizes that Troost was purposefully drugging men and ejaculating them to get the best possible sperm to impregnate herself with, (an idea she caught from her own father, who runs a sperm bank intent on making "the perfect human being") and that April had faked her death to avoid suspicion before moving on to her next con.
Tropes:
- Abusive Parents: The mother in Dr. McManus's office is angry because her daughter can't play Mozart on a keyboard, and the kid is a toddler. She even has the gall to outright ask "Why am I stuck with her?"
- Ambiguous Situation: It's unknown if Barclay and his wife, who left him when he was falsely charged with raping April, ever reconcile after she inevitably learns that Barclay was April's rape victim. A big factor would be if she's willing to be a mother to Sarah.
- Bait-and-Switch: Subverted. When the police visit the sperm bank to investigate April, the receptionist says she used to work there. When they ask what she did, the receptionist says "Collections." After a pause where Benson and Munch exchange a disgusted glance with each other, the receptionist clarifies that April was the accountant. Then we find out she really did work in the other kind of "Collections", though it's unclear if the receptionist knew that.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: April and her parents are three very messed-up individuals. To start with, April herself is a sociopathic Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who frames a man for rape and murder, cons the prospective adoptive parents of her baby out of thousands of dollars, and abandons her newborn daughter without a second thought after she's born. Her mother kept her out of school, taught her how to con people out of their money, and molded her Social Darwinist views, while her father is a doctor who has his daughter drug wealthy men and steal their semen for him in an attempt to create a superior gene pool. Despite being a Well-Intentioned Extremist, he is still the least deranged of the three—when he tries to help his daughter, she asks him why. He says it's because he's her father and he loves her, and she coldly states, "Love is for suckers." At the end of the episode, the father is imprisoned, while April and her mother escape to Florida, having abandoned their newborn daughter/granddaughter as soon as she was no longer useful. Thankfully, the baby's father steps in to raise her.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Both April and her mother Lorraine are definitely this.
- Break the Haughty: Douglas McManus is a pompous Well-Intentioned Extremist doctor with an obvious class bias. But when he realizes his daughter April not only doesn't love him back but is endangering the life of his own grandchild, McManus ends up begging Novak to help. McManus looks crushed after April abandons him in jail.
- The Cameo: Used to serious effect. When the detectives discover April was stalking prominent male celebrities, they question a famous musician (Mark McGrath), a famous chef (Bobby Flay), and a famous athlete (Jesse Palmer). All three of them help the detectives realize that April was sexually assaulting them to steal their sperm.
- Child by Rape: April claims she was raped and impregnated due to this. However, it turns out she's the rapist. She drugged men and then made men ejaculate when they were unconscious to get the "best" DNA for impregnating herself.
- Darwinist Desire: Dr. McManus's freely admits that he'd chosen his wife based on her perceived genetic qualities, in hopes of having the best child possible. He also opened a fertility clinic for people seeking the same thing, with the "best" sperm from men with high IQs.
- Date Rape: April went out with several men and drugged them using rohypnol. While they were unconscious, she used a device to rape them and get their sperm.
- Dead Guy Junior: April claims she named her daughter Sarah after her late mother. This becomes an averted trope after we meet Lorraine.
- Designer Baby: Deconstructed with the woman who was disappointed by her daughter's lack of musical talent. Just because one biological parent has a particular skill, doesn't mean a child will be able to effortlessly mimic that skill. It also shows what kind of person would want to design their child, and how they would react to not getting exactly what they want.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Completely averted. Everyone has the same attitude they would toward a male rapist once it is discovered that April raped multiple men (whom she drugged) to get their sperm. She only gets out of prison time due to cutting a deal so she'll tell them where her daughter has gone.
- Evilutionary Biologist: Dr. McManus is very concerned by what he perceives as a drop in average IQ, so he's paying men with high ones to donate sperm hoping it can be raised. Stabler calls him a Nazi trying to make a master race. Cragen refers to him as "Dr. Frankenstein". Wong says he's considered brilliant in the genetics field and invented many highly innovative selection techniques, but his eugenicist views are very controversial. However, he seems to abide by medical ethics, though his daughter April (unbeknownst to him) certainly does not.
- Forced Orgasm: April drugs men who she believes have "good" DNA, and then uses a type of cattle prod which when inserted into their rectum makes them ejaculate, all in order to get their sperm.
- Frame-Up: April frames Barclay Pallister for raping and impregnating her. When she fakes her death, its implied that she tried to frame him for murdering her as well. By the time April is caught, Barclay's wife has left him, and the only thing keeping his head up is the fact that his new child could be in danger.
- Genius Breeding Act: The episode deals with smart and/or successful men getting sperm-jacked by an unscrupulous woman and her mother for use at a geniuses-only sperm bank. Interestingly, the father of one such baby ends up seeing the wisdom of breeding high I Qs, if not the means.
- Good Parents: Barclay is more than willing to raise his and April's daughter Sarah, despite her being the product of his rape. When SVU is looking for Sarah, he is supportive of April getting a deal where she serves no prison time if it means getting Sarah back.
- Karma Houdini:
- April and Lorraine get away with their crimes...for now. note
- Nothing is shown to happen to the arrogant mother in Dr. McManus's office, who's angry because she conceived a daughter with a famous musician's sperm and feels she was cheated because her daughter can't play Mozart despite only being a toddler; her exact words are, "Now what am I supposed to do with her?" One can only hope the father is notified by SVU and sues for custody.
- Love Is a Weakness: Dr. McManus wants to help his daughter April and she asks him why. When he says it's because she's his daughter and he loves her, she coldly states, "Love is for suckers."
- Medical Rape and Impregnate: In a rare example of it being a woman doing this, April has drugged several men and then used a type of cattle prod, which when inserted into their rectum makes them ejaculate. She then gives her geneticist father the sperm as part of his eugenics project, while impregnating herself with one sample too.
- Mistaken for Cheating: While never confirmed, it's possible Mrs. Pallister may have believed Barclay about him not raping April, but instead thought April's pregnancy was the result of her and Barclay having an affair.
- "Ray of Hope" Ending: April gets off legally scot-free, keeps the money she scammed the would-be adoptive parents out of, and flees with her mother to Florida, leaving her baby daughter behind and Barclay's reputation in ruins. The one bright spot is that he's willing to raise his and April's baby.
- Serial Rapist: April it turns out is one, raping several men to get sperm from them.
- Slipping a Mickey: April drugged multiple men with rohypnol and then raped them to get sperm.
- The Social Darwinist: Lorraine has this worldview, and taught her daughter April the same. In the pair's philosophy, everybody will screw you over whenever possible. Therefore, you'd better do this first. Anyone who falls for their cons just deserves the result-survival of the fittest. Lorraine's ex-husband/April's father also has a eugenics program that she worked for hoping to breed more intelligent people, who he fears are dying out. He even married Lorraine solely to have a "fitter" child.
- The Sociopath: April and Lorraine are both this. Lorraine explicitly taught April not to care about rules or other people, living off them through whatever means to succeed. April might not have been naturally sociopathic as a result, while Lorraine may be.
- Stalker with a Test Tube: April chatted up a number of men whom she perceived as having "good" DNA, then drugged their drinks and raped them to get their sperm. She gave most samples to her father, a eugenicist, but also used one for impregnating herself.
- Super Breeding Program: Dr. McManus is running one, hoping to increase the IQ of the human race by gathering the sperm samples of men with high intelligence for in-vitro fertilization, as he's convinced that IQs are dropping.
- That Thing Is Not My Child!: Averted with Barclay Pallister. Even though his daughter Sarah was conceived as a result of his rape, he's willing to raise her.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Pregnant woman April Troost is about to commit suicide and claims her baby is the product of a rape. It is...only she was the rapist, having drugged a wealthy scientist to collect his semen, impregnate herself, and frame him for the crime. She previously drugged 34 other famous or rich men and collected their semen, trying to do the same thing to them, and proceeds to scam the potential adoptive parents of her baby out of $50,000 each. The whole thing was a massive con.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: A particularly sickening example, April uses her pregnancy to scam prospective adoptive parents out of $50,000 each and frame the father of her baby for rape. As soon as the baby is born, she withholds its location to get herself a deal and escape jail, knowing the detectives will give up the chance to imprison her if it means saving the baby's life. When that's all said and done, she and her mother flee to Florida, abandoning her newborn daughter without a second thought.
- You Owe Me: Barclay says that after what the case did to his marriage and reputation, SVU owes it to him to find his and April's daughter.
