While patrolling, police stumble upon an attack in progress at Momma Sue’s restaurant on the pregnant owner. Her husband is arrested and then seeks to have her charged with neglect for drinking during her pregnancy. The detectives discover it's not the first time a child has been exposed to the devastating repercussions of her uncontrolled alcoholism.

A career con artist, forger and thief turns to murder and serial pedophilia to populate the cult he created and to get his hands on a multi-million dollar trust fund. The detectives have trouble getting any leads because no one in the cult is saying anything, not even their names.

When a wealthy couple is found dead in their home, Benson and Stabler soon realise that their deaths are connected to a drug smuggling ring. Eventually the road leads back to the same drug dealers who forced a former assistant district attorney into hiding, and Alex Cabot comes home to face her enemies.

After a mother and her ten-year-old daughter are found raped and butchered in their apartment, Stabler and Beck take in a homeless man who turns out to be Munch's uncle, Andrew. Initially he's their main suspect until they find their way to a new suspect. Unfortunately, when their only evidence against Brent Allen Banks is thrown out in court, Andrew, suffering from mental illness, goes too far trying to do what he is convinced is the right thing.

Stabler finds himself drawn into a case where a young mother has committed suicide after her baby goes missing. The case leads to questions for Benson about her own family history.