SVU searches for a woman abducted in a taxi cab. The victim's left leg is discovered in a canal, having been amputated while she was still alive. Benson and Amaro suspect a connection to a sex worker who said a john paid $25,000 to cut off her leg. The victim's obsession with body modification lead Fin and Rollins to a woman with a peg leg who gives pointy ear surgery to people out of a box truck. But the medical paper trail points to a psychiatrist who developed a strange fetish after his mother became an amputee. 

We're talking about one of the weirdest SVUs ever. It's Special Victims Unit season 13 episode 22 "Strange Beauty." Our returning guest is Ronald Young Jr from the "Leaving the Theater" podcast.

This episode takes some cues from the real life story of Doctor John Ronald Brown.

Benson and Stabler investigate a case of prolonged child abuse that's left a girl in a coma. The suspects include the victim's ex-con father, business executive stepfather, douchebag stepbrother, and an avuncular foreign diplomat. Munch tells Fin he isn't convinced they've arrested the right person. He gently elicits a confession from the girl's mother, herself a victim of childhood abuse. Later, a tearful Munch tells Olivia the victim reminded him of an abused girl he wished he could have saved when he was a teenager.

We salute a fine performance by Richard Belzer in Special Victims Unit season 2 episode 4 "Legacy." Our guest is Bob Ruff from the "Truth and Justice" podcast.

This episode is inspired by the real-life case of Elisa Izquierdo.

Pop singer Dallas is found beaten in her home while her rap star husband Snake is on stage. As a child, Snake's family took Fin into their home after Mrs. Tutuola  was murdered.  Carisi and Rollins learn a rival rapper (played by Snoop Dogg) threatened the couple on his latest single. The trail eventually leads Benson to a music fan, but Fin figures out the attack was not about obsession...it was about revenge.

We're talking about Special Victims Unit season 20 episode 22 "Diss." Our guest is Gianmarco Soresi of "The Downside" podcast.

Certain plot points were taken from the October 2016 robbery of Kim Kardashian.

The admissions director at an elite kindergarten is murdered. Briscoe and Green learn she wanted to admit a gifted Black girl, but the headmaster overruled the decision  and gave the slot to the son of a pornographer. 

Southerlyn discovers the pornographer scratched the back of a cement supplier who scratched the back of a real estate developer who got the headmaster an expensive apartment. McCoy tells the jury the admissions director was about to expose the arrangement when she was killed.

We're talking about Law & Order season 13 episode 20 "Kid Pro Quo." Our guest is Joshua Unruh from the "In the Gutter" podcast.

This episode is inspired by the controversy around business tycoon Sandy Weill and the 92nd St Y.

To mark the passing of actor Richard Belzer, we revisit our discussion of the actor from an October 2017 episode.

Benson and Stabler investigate the brutal murder of a teen found in a car trunk. The detectives learn the victim was a popular girl who was bullying a classmate, but suspicion soon turns to her clique of friends. The motive is jealousy over a boy, and the other mean girls turn on the queen bee who put them up to the killing. While Novak gets justice in the courtroom, the bullied student gets instant justice in the classroom.

We're talking about Special Victims Unit season 5 episode 17 "Mean." Our returning guest is Sonia Sells. 

This episode is inspired by the brutal 1992 murder of twelve-year-old Shanda Sharer.

A Hudson University student who'd been making money selling term papers is found dead. Elliot and Fin trace Caroline's diamond ring to a football player who lost it to her in a poker game. They learn she was a high-rolling card shark, and her lifelong friend and poker-cheating partner Adam admits to strangling Caroline for running up a huge debt.

Seeing a bit of himself in Adam, Stabler feels sympathy for the killer. The defense says his gambling addiction was to blame, but Novak discovers his motivation was the money needed to keep his rich girlfriend from dumping him.

We're taking you to school for Special Victims Unit season 7 episode 17 "Class." Our guest is Lani Diane Rich from the "How Story Works" podcast. 

This episode takes some cues from the cheating scandal around Walmart heiress Elizabeth Paige Laurie.

Fontana and Green look into the murder of a mob accountant. When his widow (Amy Ryan) messes up on the witness stand, the burglar who killed him is acquitted. Later the victim's best friend, a former cop, shoots him. McCoy and Borgia aren't buying his claim it was self-defense. He threatens to lie on the stand about planting evidence in past murder cases, jeopardizing dozens of convictions. To get a guilty verdict, Jack grants the widow immunity to testify...when she discloses the revenge killing was her plan all along.

We're talking about Law & Order season 16 episode 12 "Family Friend." Our guest is Shadow and Bone and Hell Bent author Leigh Bardugo.

This episode takes cues from the evidence planting scandal for New York State Police Troop C.

The rape and murder of an office worker leads Benson and Stabler to a former company security guard (Chad Lowe) who's eager to get into the police academy. With advice from newly-arrived Dr. George Huang, Elliot channels his misogyny to learn more about the suspect's relationship with the victim. Meanwhile, Olivia discovers he likes two things: pricking women's butts with hatpins and sleeping with his mother (Margot Kidder). 

We're talking about the creeptastic Special Victims Unit season 2 episode 20 "Pique." Our guest is Sarah D. Bunting from the Extra Hot Great podcast.

This episode takes some cues from the 1990 crime spree by a suspect dubbed "the Dart Man."

Briscoe and Curtis investigate the killing of a Central Park jogger. Her husband is the sleazy Michael Dobson (played with relish by Larry Miller), a club owner who tricked McCoy into dropping charges of murdering his first wife in an earlier episode. The hit man has connections to Dobson...but also to the mobster who Dobson owes money to. Is he guilty or not? McCoy and Kincaid fear he'll skate again for killing wife number two...until they unravel the mystery with the woman in line to be wife number three.

We're talking about Law & Order season 6 episode 15 "Encore." Our guest is author and Emmy winner Edward Zuckerman, who also wrote this classic mothership episode.

Plot points for this episode come from the murder of Maria Isabel Monteiro Alves.

Check out Edward's new book, Wealth Management, a novel.