Glasgowman's Wrath

Plot

The episode starts with a girl being scared by her sister and her sister's friend. One of the girls is videoing a video log of finding something called "Glasgowman" they enter a park to search for Glasgowman. The younger girl tells her sister she's scared but is ignored. In the morning the younger girl is found by a bird watcher with multiple stab wounds. Amanda Rollins and Carisi respond to the call. Rollins travels in the ambulance with the girl while Carisi interviews the bird watcher. At the hospital, Rollins shows the bird watcher's photos of the suspect to Nick Amaro. Zoe's parents arrive at the hospital and hound Amaro and Rollins for answers. Amaro calls Olivia Benson in on the case. At the girls' friend's house, they notice a possible attack but it turned out to be roleplay. Once inside the house the detectives discover that the girls had abandoned their phones. Zoe's parents don't take well to the questions Zoe is receiving.

The police soon find Glasgowman and find that he is just someone with mental difficulties. Carisi manages to bond with Glasgowman and they find that he isn't guilty for the crimes of which he has been accused. They soon learn that one of Perry's babysitters told the girls the story of Glasgowman. When interrogating the babysitter, they learn that he has made a make-believe map which is like the park where Zoe was found. They soon find Perry and Mia.

At the hospital, the doctor informs detectives that Perry's wounds were self-inflicted. The detectives then look into the possibility that it was Perry who hurt Zoe. ADA Pippa Cox comes to prosecute Perry as a child in children's court. The judge lets the two girls off and in the lift of the court it is revealed that the two girls played everybody by making a pinky promise that the detectives witness.

Reception

Anne Easton of The Observer wrote "On the heels of Halloween, the spookiest time of the year, SVU presents an episode that's part Blair Witch Project, part Slender Man homage. Much like the plot of Blair Witch, "Glasgowman's Wrath" features three youngsters heading into the woods on a quest to capture a video image of an illusive figure; in this case it's three girls on a quest to see the supposedly iconic Glasgowman." Easton went on to state "While maybe a bit unoriginal in plotting, this episode was still adequately spooky and disturbing, particularly with regard to the violent actions carried out by the youngsters." Easton finished her review with "On the surface, this episode of SVU may seem like a simple tale of young girl's devotion gone awry, but once again it's the undercurrent of the installment, filled with various incarnations of complicated issues, the main one of which seems to be who do you trust and at what level, that make this a satisfying episode." Bill Bodkin of Pop-Break gave the episode a 8 out of 10 rating and stated "'Glasgowman's Wrath,' despite the awful name, is a terrifically acted, tense and well thought out episode." Jennifer Gerson Uffalussy of The Guardian said "It is an episode beautifully aware of its own narrative devices, using its storytelling prowess to call attention to our cultural lust for violence and our deliberate repression of the fact that the greatest evils may not take our forms of choice." Narsimha Chintaluri of TV Fanatic wrote "Overall, tonight's episode was seasonal rather than topical but the twisted tale of these little girls' delusions proved to be an entertaining hour." Gabi Quinn of The Eagle called the final scene "chilling", she also called Will Harris one of the better guest stars of this season of Law & Order: SVU.