Law & Order: SVU‘s Season 25, Episode 2 puts Detective Olivia Benson in the middle of two scary cases. Benson goes for a run at the beginning of the show and sees a van that looks a lot like the one that was used to kidnap Maddie. Along the way, she almost gets hit by a car, but when she opens the van door, she is met with anger.
At the same time, Detective Fin finds out that the gun used in the kidnap is 15 years old. This makes an FBI agent offer to help Benson with his plans. To help them with their studies, they are making a behavioral profile.
At the same time, Brooke and Natalie talk about their plans for their vacation. While there is a wild mob attack at a department store, Natalie is sexually assaulted. SVU is called in to look into it, and Benson finds Natalie hiding in an area only for workers because she is traumatized.
As the case goes on, the team finds a suspect named Travis Butler who is linked to the theft. Travis tells the rapist’s name, Jay Watson, in order to make a deal. Jay is caught, but the trial takes a different turn when Natalie doesn’t want to say who he is.
In a dramatic moment in court, Natalie talks about her past and the trauma she experienced with her family, saying she doesn’t want to send Jay to jail. Even though she was pushed and accused of forcing her to do it, she finally identified Jay as the person who attacked her.
In a shocking turn of events, Jay later admits to the crime, saying that he only meant to rob someone but ended up changing Natalie’s life forever. At the end of the episode, Benson is still trying to figure out what happened to Maddie. This shows how complicated and stressful the cases the SVU team works on are.
