"Surrendering Noah" is an intense SVU episode for many reasons, but it ends in a rewarding moment for our favorite detective. Benson was partnered with Detective Elliot Stabler ( Christopher Meloni ), serving as the junior member of the pair. In "Beast's Obsession", Lewis uses the distraction caused by his (self-induced) cardiac incident to escape from prison. Mike Dodds is made Acting Commanding Officer. Her career is threatened until SVU's temporary commanding officer, Lt. Declan Murphy (Donal Logue), tells the grand jury that he instructed Benson to lie in her press conference, thus clearing her of Lewis' death and possible perjury charges. There's also sexual chemistry between them, it's so loaded and layered. 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. Redditoru/malifact responded to the original post by writing, "I wouldn't be surprised. She's been working in an intensely high pressure job for over 20 years now. In the middle of season 13, Benson enters into a relationship with a new prosecutor to the District Attorney's Office, Executive ADA David Haden (Harry Connick Jr.). Both Calvin and Benson are devastated by the separation. 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. Benson's mother, Serena, was an alcoholic who emotionally and physically abused Benson. Love the series but I can't stand Olivia Benson. When she tries to talk to him about it, however, he becomes defensive and tells her to "back off". In Season 17, she is promoted to Lieutenant and becomes the squad's official commanding officer. She is rescued by her fellow detectives moments later, and Cragen puts her on mandatory leave so she can recover. When the children are taken by the City because of Simon's criminal background, Benson calls defense attorney Bayard Ellis (Andre Braugher), an old friend of hers, to help Simon and Tracy get the children back. We know that people are into the Alex-Olivia thing. Benson has a half-brother named Simon Marsden. With the premiere of season 21, Hargitay's Benson became the longest running prime-time live-action character of all time, surpassing the record held by Gunsmoke's Marshall Matt Dillon and Kelsey Grammer's character Frasier Crane from Cheers and Frasier, as well as Belzers John Munch, who was a regular character for 22 seasons (7 on Homicide: Life on the Street and 15 on SVU).[3][4]. When the police came to the house after I was raped, The Wife asked when a female detective would be coming. Jesse Lee Soffer Movies and TV Shows: Law & Order: SVU - NBC "Omg that look is so bad it's good . In "911," the episode that earned Hargitay an Emmy, Benson is forced to stay on the phone after a kidnapped child calls 9-1-1. Olivia briefly and unfortunately dates reporter Nick Ganzner (Tom McCarthy) in Season 1, who she dumps after he tries to get her to act out a rape fantasy. Olivia Benson Finally Takes Charge In New 'Law & Order: SVU' Clip Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler Reunited! It's always thrilling when an SVU episode features a celebrity guest star, but Robin Williams knocked his episode out of the park. 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. How Benson May Have Referenced Her Partnership With Stabler - Yahoo News 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. Benson told Tutuola to tell Churlish to see her about a job, eventually hiring Churlish to take the position previously held by Rollins. Hargitay remains the only original cast member still present on the series. [40] She feels her character is a role model for teenage girls, revealing: I get letters saying, 'I want to do the right thing like Olivia. She was born on February 7, 1968, which would make her 55 as of 2023. Benson appears on five episodes of Law & Order, one episode of Law & Order: Trial by Jury, three episodes of Chicago P.D. Benson is reinstated after SVU breaks up the sex trafficking ring and Tucker is cleared. Cookie Notice [1], In the Season 21 episode "Murdered at a Bad Address", Simon reaches out to Benson for the first time in years as his only remaining family, Tracy having left him and taken their children. Even worse? On May 27, 2021, a fan onRedditshared an image of Benson at the rave. [17], Benson had a younger half-brother named Simon Marsden (Michael Weston). Simon is reluctant, but Benson tells him that the deal is better than his daughter visiting him in jail. She claims to be on the victims side but she's not, she's a despicable person. 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. [10] Benson's mother, Serena (Elizabeth Ashley), an English professor, was an alcoholic who abused Olivia emotionally and physically. By May 1998, she had received her detective's shield and was assigned to the 16th Precinct as a Detective 3rd Grade,[43] and was partnered with Det. While a dedicated officer, Benson is more likely to go to bat for women she deals with during cases than men and has shown skepticism during cases where women are the offenders and men are the victims, or allows her sympathy for the victim to cloud her judgment and make her commit actions without thinking. There have been a number of episodes ofLaw & Order: SVUwhere the detectives have needed to go undercover. For me, when a television show has that kind of positive effect on young people, it is great. Law & Order's Olivia Benson & Elliot Stabler Relationship - Parade (SVU: "Payback") Serena was worried about Benson working in the Special Victims Unit. Reddit user u/okonthefarm also noted that Mariska Hargitay herself is "a dedicated advocate for mental health," which makes the possibility of Benson addressing her mental health struggles a lot more likely from our point of view. Published Oct 9, 2019 Mariska Hargitay's Olivia Benson has led Law & Order: Special Victims Unit since 1999, and here are some surprising facts about the detective. Find Out What Happened to Noah on SVU - E! Online [46] Cragen announces that Benson has been approved to remain at SVU (it was feared she would be reassigned); at the end of the episode, Cragen reveals his impending retirement from the NYPD, making Benson SVU's acting commanding officer. She is rescued by SVU colleague Fin Tutuola (Ice-T), who gets there just in time to stop Harris from raping her. As a sergeant, her badge number was #01139. Her career is threatened until Declan Murphy tells the grand jury that he instructed Benson to lie in her press conference, thus clearing her of Lewis' death and possible perjury charges. 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. Serial rapist and killer William Lewis abducts Olivia in her home, tortures her, and hides her away in a Long Island beach home. Law And Order SVU: Why Each Cast Member Left | Cinemablend Benson helps Lowe accept responsibility for what he did, and he pleads guilty to sexual misconduct to spare his victim the trauma of a trial. 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. But it does show how far she is willing to go to help her victims. Since she's such an important part arguably the most important part of the show, it's also understandable that fans would be concerned about Benson's health and well-being as she faces personal and professional troubles. But from all of the episodes I've seen of Law and Order SVU, Olivia comes off as the type of person who always has to get her way and when she doesn't she has to take it away from anyone else. and our That hair and outfit was a hot mess even by 2000s standards.. All the codes are in there."[32]. It's the classic Benson bob, a little pop of color from the shirt, but otherwise all business. While Benson tries to keep her work and personal life separate, several cases have made her upset to the point where she has been unable to sleep or focus on enjoying her life out of work. As other "Law & Order: SVU" fans have noted, Benson has shown signs of breaking down previously. I think Olivia Benson has a lot of good moments that make her a role model for other women. "I wanted [Benson] to go undercover because I thought there's no way to fully see and understand this problem unless you experience it," he continued. Benson is deeply sympathetic to victims of sex crimes and as a result, she is often quick to believe victims' stories. While Benson and Stabler end the episode relatively unscathed, the kidnapper kills a child while the partners protect one another, forcing them to reevaluate their working relationship. In "Manhattan Transfer", they are forced to confirm their relationship when Tucker is accused by his own cousin, a priest of being complicit with a sex trafficking ring that has ties to Vice and the Catholic Church. 'Law & Order: SVU': Detective Olivia Benson Once Went Undercover at a Rave A few months after she returns to work, they get a new apartment together. He then rapes a teenaged girl, kidnaps her younger sister and threatens to kill her unless Benson tells the truth about her testimony. A man named Tito (Sean Nelson), a journalist, filmed her speaking to him. She is attending group therapy, something she has not shared with anyone but Tutuola. Benson is forced to keep Stabler, who is now working in Rome in an organized crime task force, out of the investigation. Simon makes his way into her life again in 2012, this time with a family of his own, including a daughter he named Olivia after her aunt. [7] In 2006, however, fellow San Francisco Chronicle writer Jean Gonick deemed Benson a suitable role model for teenage girls, calling her "courageous and strong, and unspeakably gorgeous",[74] and writing that "Olivia Benson is our own special hero. 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. Pregnancy can and has ruined women's lives - and the infuriating part is she's seen it all firsthand. Jill was invited by Lance Kanick, a convicted sex offender and pimp according to Captain Cragen, to go to a rave. She didn't find out about her brother until she illegally ran her DNA through a kinship analysis in 2007 (SVU: "Haystack"). In the season 14 premiere, Benson shares a kiss with Cassidy after she tells him she is not the same person from 13 years before, when they had a brief sexual relationship. When Lewis does not release the girl, Benson tracks him down and surrenders to him. [51] In spite of this, Benson quietly continues to call the shots at SVU, as Dodds disagrees with her suspension and continues to seek her advice in secret. Benson walks off by herself looking for Jill. 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. When Lowe is accused of taking advantage of several young women, Benson gradually comes to believe that despite its consensual nature, their relationship was actually sexual abuse, due to the power differential and age difference. 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. She is condescending to victims and witnesses. As a lieutenant, she no longer has a badge number. [69] However, two months later it was officially reported that both their contracts had been renewed for two more years. some of the most memorable moments of the show, Benson's long history on "Law & Order: SVU,". Law & Order: SVU Season 24 premieres Thursday, September 22 at 9/8c on NBC. This left her with a huge black eye. [65][66], In May 2009, after the show's tenth season, Hargitay and Meloni's contracts expired when they were reportedly making $375,000[67]$385,000 per episode. Upon waking up in hospital, she appeared to have a headache but there were no serious concerns or any harm done towards her and was quickly able to return to work once she had been dismissed from hospital. It was a painful, high-stakes scene. Years later, Benson reunites with her former fianc, true crime podcaster Burton Lowe (Aidan Quinn), while they are both investigating a cold case, and they sleep together. Bensler Get Steamy and Almost Kiss | NBCs Law & Order: SVU, Season 15, Episode 1 ("Surrender Benson"), Season 15, Episode 20 ("Beast's Obsession"), Season 16, Episode 23 ("Surrendering Noah"), Season 21, Episode 1 ("I'm Going to Make You a Star"), Season 24 premieres Thursday, September 22. However, he lied for her, as he had not actually been with her in the same room at the time.[42]. Now I'm an Emmy winner. 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. Benson has been part of the "Law & Order: SVU" team since the show first aired, so it makes sense that she'd be a fan favorite to this day.