This story ran longer than it should have, there was no reason to drag it out another fifteen minutes or so past where the case was wrapped up. Cut out everything after the FBI agent leaves, and Benson's "so what happens to her now, toss her back out on the street?" (or whatever the line was). would have been a better ending. The entire "intervention" sequence was unnecessary, and the story would have been much better without it. There have been other episodes that had "you can't solve every problem" endings, so it's not as if there wasn't a precedent. This is just not a show that works if you have a "happy ending", it's supposed to be more realistic than that.
Review of Dreams Deferred
