"[75], A poll on the Hallmark Channel voted her second-greatest detective in the Law & Order franchise, only being beaten by Law & Order: Criminal Intent's Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio). She returns to work in the following episode, "Imprisoned Lives", which takes place two months later, but is still haunted by the experience. NBC Insider is your all-access pass to some of your favorite NBC shows. (SVU: "Prodigy"), Benson found out about the man who raped her mother and others. The character first appeared in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit pilot episode, "Payback", which aired September 20, 1999. As TV's longest-running detective, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit's Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) has been through the wringer more than a few times. One of the most controversial episodes of "SVU" came in Season 9, with Benson and Detective Fin Tutuola (Ice-T) going undercover at a women's prison to investigate rape allegations against a male corrections officer. Ellis makes a deal to have Simon serve a 60-day sentence, knocking his charge down from kidnapping to a misdemeanor, custodial interference. The team tracks the culprit down, but while they have him in the interrogation room, they learn that his latest victim is buried alive. Benson is fluent in several languages, such as Italian, Spanish, Russian, and French. Both Calvin and Benson are devastated by the separation. I understand Olivia was upset about how Alex was forced to leave, but she refused to give Casey the benefit of the doubt and clearly thought her to be inferior. She begins seeing a therapist, Dr. Peter Lindstrom (Bill Irwin), to cope with the trauma. In season 18, Tucker tries to convince Benson to retire with him, though at the conclusion of the episode "Next Chapter", Benson realizes she is not ready to do so, as being a cop and a mother are parts of who she is. After 20 seasons and over 400 episodes, SVU fans everywhere cheered when Benson was finally announced as Captain of the SVU. She often worries about how Noah will turn out due to his biological parents dodgy past as criminals but is frequently reassured that he will turn out fine due to her great parenting and having custody of Noah since he was a baby. I think it is a good thing that we are shedding light on darkness. Her former partner Elliot Stabler was often more skeptical of victims' accounts, which often brought the two partners into conflict. Fan speculation exists over alleged sexual tension between Benson and Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March), which Baer admits to indulging: "We read the fan sites. While Benson has only been portrayed in relationships with men, she has, according to lesbian entertainment website AfterEllen.com, "attracted a large lesbian following". [10] Benson's mother, Serena (Elizabeth Ashley), an English professor, was an alcoholic who abused Olivia emotionally and physically. As other "Law & Order: SVU" fans have noted, Benson has shown signs of breaking down previously. "The show is very fortunate to have Harry's extraordinary talent, and I'm lucky because I get to work with my friend. Serena died from injuries sustained in a fall in 2000 when she was drunk, which left Benson deeply saddened. [8], Hargitay has stated that her favorite SVU scene occurs in the season 7 episode "Fault", when Benson is faced with the possibility of losing Stabler: "Lou Diamond Phillips [a murderous kidnapper] has a gun to Elliot's head. Even though their relationship does not work out, however, Benson is still saddened when Tucker commits suicide after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. This just seems like the beginning, I feel like it's only going to get worse from here. Erin's story goes to show that being sensitive and having a past doesn't mean you're not a badass and definitely doesn't mean you can't get shit done. She is promoted to Detective 2nd Grade in 2001, and Detective 1st Grade in 2011. Law & Order: SVU: Detective Fin Tutuola Once Shockingly Hit a Kid in the Head With a Dodgeball. (SVU: "Stalked"), Benson and Serena seemed to care about each other a great deal. Olivia was born in 1968 as the product of the rape of Serena Benson in the spring of 1967 by a food salesman named Joseph Hollister, who later committed suicide. As a result of the brutal assault towards Benson, the case was taken over by the Bronx Special Victims Unit, with Mike Duarte leading the case. A fan says, She went all in for that undercover.. As a police squad closes in, Lewis shoots himself in the head right in front of her, while making it look like she killed him in cold blood. [8] Her assessment is that: Sometimes it's very much like brother and sister, and I think the reason that they're so close is that they share a passion for their jobs and for the people. Photo : NBC Season 1, Episode 1 Can you believe SVU has been on almost two decades? But it can also be argued that the show might have grown stale if Olivia Benson never moved up. Dick Wolf, along with officials from NBC and Studios USA, were at the final auditions for the two leads at Rockefeller Center. But in real life, outside of the NYPD's SVU squad, actor Peter Gallagher, who plays Chief Dodds, is leaving the show because he recently "got a pilot that went to series," according to showrunner Warren Leight. During a heated exchange with Amaro, he pointedly asks her whether she can ever forgive Lewis; she does not answer, and he apologizes. Adam Beach (Detective Chester . When the victim refuses she actually sneaks into her bedroom and steals her underwear. She didnt believe a rape victim because she was drunk. Vivian revokes Benson's guardianship, and sends Calvin to live with his grandparents in Vermont. She tries to force medical staff to do rape kits on mentally ill victims. Despite her tenacity, some fans think that Season 23 has Benson on a path toward a mental breakdown from all the current stress she's dealing with. After Elliot's resignation, Benson partnered primarily with Nick Amaro before she became a sergeant and took over the SVU unit from Captain Donald Cragen. A 13-year-old girl raped by her stepfather and who has no support is not in a good place to have a baby and Olivia should not be lying about how great it'll be when she's an adult with the means to take care of Noah. When Warner asks Benson if she had been raped, she replies, "It was the closest I've ever come.". [21] In season 13, she is seen with Calvin and his grandparents during or right before Halloween.[22]. Hargitay's Olivia Benson has been the reigning queen of TV strength and power for more than 17 years. Here's why some people think a Benson scene from the episode "Undercover" went too far. Nick then proves himself to be an even bigger jerk when he sneakily looks through Olivia's confidential notes about an active case and then reports those details . Simon is reluctant, but Benson tells him that the deal is better than his daughter visiting him in jail. I think it is a good thing to make teenage girls aware. At one point in his life, Simon was nearly killed when his father lost . (SVU: "Savior"), Olivia is appointed Calvin Arliss' legal guardian too, but her legal guardian rights were then terminated by Calvin's mother through his paternal grandparents. Benson is a fan-favorite character and was described by the show's technical advisor, producer, and writer Amanda Green as "the wish fulfillment of every victim, someone who believes you, who you can trust, who has empathy and a heart the size of Chicago" (via Jezebel). (SVU: "Trophy", "Rescue", "Missing Pieces"). [5] Wolf conceived Benson as a detective in the Manhattan Special Victims Unit, which investigates sex crimes. It comes out only because Internal Affairs is investigating Benson and Stabler in a case in which the department accidentally outed a professional football player. With his hostage watching, Lewis at first attempts to rape Benson, but changes his mind when she refuses to show him fear; instead, he forces her to play Russian roulette with him. Having overcome a history of abuse and addiction within her family, Detective Lindsay is a compassionate and sensitive character with a knack for connecting with victims and earning their trust. She used her badge to get access to the hospital sign-in sheet to figure out the victims name and then confronts the 14 year old rape victim at her school. When she returns to the squad room, the detective is shocked to discover Calvin waiting for her. "[26] In an episode in which Stabler goes undercover to catch an animal-smuggling ring, Benson shows up at his house and tries to talk him out of it; when they are interrupted by Stabler's targets, she undresses and pretends to be a prostitute. So this was where we really got that to pay off. (, Benson and Stabler were partners for 13 years, not 12 as commonly referred to. The following are the medals and service awards worn by then-Sergeant Benson, as seen in "Betrayal's Climax" and "Beast's Obsession". She tries to force medical staff to do rape kits on mentally ill victims. In 2006, she is temporarily reassigned to the Computer Crimes Unit; later that year, she does a stint undercover for the FBI's Domestic Terrorism Unit at the request of her friend, Special Agent Dana Lewis (Marcia Gay Harden). As of season 24, Benson has been credited in 538 episodes of SVU (559 in the franchise/universe). [69] However, two months later it was officially reported that both their contracts had been renewed for two more years. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, She became a detective with SVU in May 1998. [23], Lt. Ed Tucker (Robert John Burke), representing 1 Police Plaza, asks Benson to take the Lieutenant's exam in order to officially take command of SVU before the NYPD appoints another officer to the position. In 2014, after the Season 15 finale, Benson becomes the court-appointed custodial guardian of Noah Porter, an orphaned baby who she rescued from child pornographers. When he taunts her, she loses control and beats him within an inch of his life with an iron rod. Benson became involved with a child who was neglected by her parents the way Benson felt neglected by her mother. In "Gone Baby Gone", it is revealed that Sheila was behind the kidnapping, and that she intends to take Noah to live with her in Derry, New Hampshire. (SVU: "Wanderlust") Benson once told Casey Novak about an incident when she was 16, an older student of her mother asked her to marry him and when she told Serena that she was leaving, her mother who had been drinking flew into a rage and went after her with a broken bottle. What It Could Mean For The Organized Crime Crossover. Now, on Law & Order: SVU, Captain Olivia Benson ( Mariska Hargitay) orders Velasco to bring Chilly (Joseph Castillo-Midyett) to justice. I want to be strong like Olivia. Benson appears on five episodes of Law & Order, one episode of Law & Order: Trial by Jury, three episodes of Chicago P.D. After completing her probationary period, Smythe recommended that Benson be transferred to the Sex Crimes Unit (later renamed the Special Victims Unit) because of her talent for dealing with victims. I have to step it up. Benson has turned into a social justice warrior and a social worker, not a competent member of law enforcement. Benson's life has been a hard one. When Sheila attacks her, Benson subdues her, arrests her, and takes Noah home. Nick Amaro. She also hates it when women, men or children lie about being raped, which is particularly shown in the April Troost and Christine Hartwell cases and shows anger and coldness towards them even if they continue to claim they were raped. Olivia never visited her mother's grave, until a case left her shook (SVU: "Hammered"). She is rescued by her fellow detectives moments later, and Cragen puts her on mandatory leave so she can recover. She is rescued by SVU colleague Fin Tutuola (Ice-T), who gets there just in time to stop Harris from raping her. Benson has a half-brother named Simon Marsden. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. These 10intense Benson episodes in SVU's historyspeak to her brilliant character. [78] UGO Networks placed "the hard-charging detective" among the "fifty greatest fictional detectives of all time". Paternity is packed with action, both emotionally and physically, for all the SVU characters. He again rejects Benson's attempt to help him, but first blurts out that he loves her in front of his children.[30][31]. In a later episode, "Intoxicated", Benson mentions being engaged briefly when she was 16 to one of her mother's students; when her mother found out, she broke a bottle of vodka and went after her with it. Benson and Stabler work together for over 12 years, until Stabler quits SVU in 2011 after he is forced to kill a 16-year-old girl who shot up the SVU squad room. I'm negotiating [with him to drop the gun]. #LawAndOrderSVU. Benson is forced to kill a suspect on four separate occasions during her tenure on the show: in season 1's "Disrobed", she shoots and kills domestic abuser Roger Silver (Jack Gwaltney) in self-defense during a hostage situation; in season 3's "Wrath", serial killer Eric Plummer (Justin Kirk) commits suicide by cop by attacking a woman and forcing Benson to shoot him; in season 18's "Next Chapter", she shoots and kills rapist (and retired corrections officer) Tom Cole (Chris Bauer) during a hostage situation when Cole attacks her SVU colleague Detective Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino); and in season 23's "Silent Night, Hateful Night", she shoots and kills white supremacist Robert Paul Byers (Michael Laurence) to stop him from detonating a bomb in Washington Square Park. In "Chicago Crossover" and "They'll Have to Go Through Me", Benson strikes up a friendship with Sergeant Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) of the Chicago Police Department, despite their differing methodologies when it comes to solving crime. Benson was violently physically assaulted on the streets one night by gang members in front of a terrified Noah, with the gang members also attempting to murder both her and Noah but failing at this. While Benson eventually pulls herself together, watching our typically-steely lady fall apart is a difficult moment for any SVU fan to watch. The investigation is dropped in "Mood". "[74] In 2001, Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker criticized Benson and Stabler as "the most naive, bleeding heart molester busters in America. Another time in 2010, she unintentionally inhaled steam coming from a boiling pot of poisonous mushrooms. When he taunts her that she doesn't "have the balls" to kill him, she loses control and beats him within an inch of his life with an iron rod. [7] Executive producer and head writer Neal Baer has explained that Benson is "the empathetic, passionate voice for these victims,"[8] in contrast to Stabler, who embodies "the rage we feel, the 'How can this happen?' Before taking over SVU, Benson worked as an SVU detective and was partnered with Elliot Stabler for over twelve years. It is suggested throughout season 17 that Benson is in a relationship with Capt. At the end of "Intent", Benson gets a call from Porter telling her that Noah has been kidnapped in the mall. With each new promotion, "Law & Order: SVU" opened up new story opportunities. Benson holds a press conference and admits that she lied on the witness stand. The Benson Moment On Law & Order: SVU That Went Too Far. Cookies help us deliver our Services. Just as he is about to rape her, she breaks free and attacks, handcuffs him, and holds him at gunpoint. The duo, who Wolf believed had the perfect chemistry from the first time he saw them together, were his first choice. Cragen retired, due to hitting the mandatory age cap to do so, and groomed Mariska Hartigay's Olivia Benson to take the Sergeant's Exam and fill the role herself. She is also able to read the Miranda rights in two or three other languages. Now I'm an Emmy winner. [12], Benson is a graduate of Siena College. But no worries: The action-packed episode has a surprisingly lovely ending with Benson officially adopting her son, Noah.

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