Assault Of An Edmontonian

Initial Crime

A Jane Doe is found in a rowboat, way the hell up by Gracie Mansion, injured and unconscious but still alive.

Real Crime

Though there's a lot of misdirection involving the victim -- eventually identified as Canadian blogger/podcaster Ariel Randolph (Kerry Butler) -- and her friendship with a musician (Rhys Coiro) and his transvestite cousin Charley (Russell Saylor), her sexual contact with them turns out to have been consensual. Eventually, Ariel succumbs to her injuries and dies in hospital.

Famous Guest Star Who Obviously Did It

The viewer gets thrown off by the appearance of Ariel's husband Nat, when he arrives from Edmonton and is being played by Richard Thomas, but since he was in Canada when Ariel was assaulted, he is -- amazingly -- totally innocent.

It's Late, Y'All!

"Bite marks on her breasts, bruises on her thighs, scrapes on her knees"; "Warner says with the vaginal abrasions and the bite marks, that it's likely she was sexually assaulted"; "No semen, but saliva and bite marks from one male, DNA from saliva on her neck from a second male, and DNA under her fingernails from a third male."

Who on the SVU Team Is Taking It Personally?

Amaro (Danny Pino) seems particularly affected when Nat talks about being scared that if he didn't hold on tightly to Ariel, he would lose her.

Verdict

Ariel ran into a random homeless person, Slick (Tracy Westmoreland), outside a diner late at night, and he was the one who committed the assault that killed her.

Revelations about the Continuing Characters' Personal Lives That We Should Remember Going Forward

Cragen (Dann Florek) asks Rollins (Kelli Giddish) about her "wing," which she got shot in last week, and she says it's fine. When Amaro first sees Ariel, he speculates that she might be a "working girl," but Benson (Mariska Hargitay) essentially accuses him of being a fuddy-duddy: "Nick, you gotta get out more. Everyone dresses like that now."