Uh oh. Benson has a brand new obsession.
On Law & Order: SVU Season 25 Episode 7, her desperation to reconnect with a former sufferer she as soon as saved threatened to devour her. However, she managed to direct an investigation right into a disturbing collection of murders successfully.
Benson’s empathy for the girl who was dismembering pedophiles, together together with her deep-seated have to re-establish a relationship with Maria, suggests that each one her years at SVU have taken an emotional toll.
Benson solely not too long ago discovered lacking teenager Maddie Flynn, turning into so obsessive about that case that I used to be shocked Maddie wasn’t the sufferer she needed to reconnect with.
While she lastly put Maddie’s case behind her, she rapidly developed a brand new obsession, discussing Maria’s case in remedy and spending each spare second watching an article about rescuing her 20 years in the past. That wasn’t any extra wholesome than her hyperfocus on Maddie’s abduction!
Who Was Maria Recinos?
SVU did a wonderful job utilizing flashbacks from 2005 to provide an summary. As the clips defined, on Law & Order: SVU Season 7 Episode 3, Benson was referred to as in to reply a 911 name from a terrified baby named Maria, who claimed she’d been kidnapped.
This story might be necessary to Benson now as a result of it was one other instance of nobody however her being keen to face up for the sufferer.
Everyone else within the squad room was satisfied the caller was pranking Benson, and Munch even went so far as utilizing a voice generator system to make a pretend name with the same voice.
Benson’s recollections of Maria may need been triggered by nobody believing she was proper about Maddie being on that practice on Law & Order: SVU Season 25 Episode 5.
Why Did Maria Resurface Now?
Maria’s reappearance as a newly graduated cop might be a part of the Twenty fifth-anniversary celebration. Her authentic look is one among SVU’s most iconic episodes, so it is pure the collection would need to meet up with her throughout this milestone yr.
Storywise, Benson’s need to go to her made a pleasant set of bookends for the hour, however will there be extra to the story than that?
Fin: How you doing?
Benson: Good.
Fin: Well, that is a lie trigger you are ingesting boxed wine.
Maria’s a cop now, so she and Benson might cross paths once more later within the season. I hope that is the case! It could be fascinating for Benson to take care of her as a fellow cop quite than a former sufferer.
That storyline appears extra becoming for Blue Bloods, however it might nonetheless work on Law & Order: SVU, particularly given Benson’s psychological well being struggles.
Fin’s Assessment of Why Benson Was Obsessed Seemed Off-Base
I used to be stunned that Fin instructed that Benson was scared that Maria had grown as much as fall far wanting Benson’s hopes for her. That appeared foolish — since Maria is a cop now, it is extra seemingly that her earlier interplay with Benson impressed her to decide on this profession.
I assumed he would draw a line between Benson’s troubled childhood and what she stated about Tori. Although Benson did not know her father, she knew he raped her mom, and her traumatic childhood left her weak to being manipulated by a predator when she was sixteen.
Benson has at all times been pushed by a need to make the world a greater place for different survivors, however it appears to have morphed into over-identifying with victims, which is a psychological well being challenge folks in her line of labor should take care of.
Thank goodness she’s in remedy, although I can not assist shaking the sensation she’s headed for a breakdown anyway.
How Benson’s Issues Impacted the Case
On the floor, Benson appeared to be doing her job nicely. She nonetheless labored the case, even visiting a mechanic’s store and looking out the underside of a automobile herself.
Her interactions with the rookie CSU agent, who was extra interested by traditional vehicles than in completely looking out the one which belonged to the sufferer, have been unusual, however I chalked that as much as annoyance with the man getting distracted.
Benson: What concerning the ex-wife?
Fin: I do not assume she’s gonna be too heartbroken.
Benson: I simply need to ensure that she’s not a suspect earlier than I console her.
Despite getting referred to as away from the commencement ceremony and her obsession with that article from 20 years in the past, Benson was as sharp as ever because the investigation started, questioning whether or not the ex-wife might have killed the sufferer and accurately labeling the homicide a criminal offense of rage.
Those furtive glances on the article have been regarding however not overly distracting, even when they have been a symptom of a deeper challenge.
The case was one of many extra disturbing ones, reminding me of Law & Order: SVU Season 1 Episode 1. When Olivia Benson was a rookie herself, she had bother empathizing with a sufferer who had stolen one other man’s id and was hiding from the police.
This scenario was the other — she over empathized with the perp — however it was the same downside. In each circumstances, Benson’s private emotions threatened to get in the best way of fixing the case successfully. (Plus, each circumstances have been fairly ugly!)
Interestingly, Benson was in a position to separate her private emotions from the job she needed to do till she realized the killer was a younger girl whom her father had abused. That strongly means that I’m proper about Benson’s previous trauma getting triggered by Tori’s story.
Was Justice Served?
The disturbing story additionally touched on questions of vigilante justice and harmful responses to trauma.
While Benson over-empathized with Tori, Carisi was clear that Tori’s violent habits had penalties.
Carisi: This is a tragic story, however your shopper nonetheless murdered three folks. I can discuss to the DA, however Tori, you are going away for a very long time.
Tori: What’s gonna occur to Nina now that there is not any one to guard her?
He was proper that Tori’s earlier trauma or the issues her victims had finished to youngsters did not excuse her option to kill and dismember the three males, however Benson was proper that the whole factor might have deeply traumatized Nina.
It wasn’t uncommon for Benson to go the additional mile to guard Nina, however it was regarding, given how triggered she appeared all through the hour.
At least she discovered the woman’s grandmother, and presumably, the girl is not one other abuser. (For Benson’s sake and Nina’s, let’s hope not! I don’t want a narrative about Benson’s guilt if she discovers Nina’s new guardian is abusing her in any case the hassle she put into stopping that.)
Fin and Curry Need to Call a Truce Already
Benson’s struggles have been counter-balanced by this ongoing irritating subplot of Fin disliking Curry. I received the sense that these scenes have been speculated to be comedian reduction, however they got here off as obnoxious.
Fin has at all times been one among my favourite characters, and I’m thrilled he is lastly getting extra display screen time. However, I’d quite he do issues that do not irritate me. The rivalry between him and Curry is getting previous and must cease.
What do you assume, Law & Order: SVU fanatics? Is Benson headed for a breakdown? Is Fin getting in your final nerve?
Hit the massive, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and tell us.
Law & Order: SVU’s historic Twenty fifth season airs on NBC on Thursdays at 9/8c. New episodes drop on Peacock the day after they air.
Jack Ori is a senior workers author for TV Fanatic. His debut younger grownup novel, Reinventing Hannah, is obtainable on Amazon. Follow him on X.
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