goin' undercover
There are several episodes where Elliot goes undercover, befriending criminals or infiltrating groups of them to expose their behavior. Some missions are quite dangerous while others are relatively safe. They range from exposing a corrupt judge to keeping an eye on a newly-released pedophile to even infiltrating an illegal animal smuggling ring. Whatever the level of danger involved, Elliot always seems willing and ready to take on the job. It's just another example of how committed he is to his work and playing his part in bringing the bad guys to justice.So how does Elliot do on the undercover gigs? Usually he does very well and is able to fulfill his mission with no harm done to himself. He can easily slip into character and play the role convincingly so. Or, if he is instantly recognizable as a cop, as he was to a call girl in one episode, he wasn't in any danger anyway. However, there have been times on undercover missions when he finds himself in deep trouble, even so far as nearly losing his life.
The most extreme undercover job he did was in the episode 'Wildlife', where he played the part of a customs agent in order to bring down a very dangerous animal smuggler. Doing so required him to completely isolate himself from his family; they had no idea where he was or what he was doing, and he nearly lost them a second time because of it. So you can see where he risks not only his life, but his family as well, when he goes undercover.