Badass Benson is back! It’s been a protracted 4 months since Olivia Benson put William Lewis in the morgue and welcomed child Noah into her existence on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, so Sept. 24’s season Sixteen premiere can’t come quickly sufficient for SVU diehards — or for Us Weekly!
As Mariska Hargitay, 50, explains, turning into a mom will soften her personality Benson in upcoming episodes. “She’s been single-focused for many years and had one priority: to hunt justice. That has been No. 1, 2 and three. Having a kid will redefine her,” the actress — mother of August, Andrew and Amaya with husband Peter Hermann — told Us Weekly all the way through an interview Sept. 10.
In preparation for SVU‘s kickoff, Us Weekly ranked Hargitay’s 10 best episodes in series historical past. Did we pass over your favourite? Sound off in the comments!
10. “Wrath”
Det. Benson faced the concept of nature vs. nurture when she found herself in relation to a perp who, like her, was the made of a rape. Wondering if she had inherited the same “bad” genes as the serial killer (Justin Kirk) she was once chasing, Benson discovered herself up towards a wall when the assassin boxed her right into a corner and forced her to shoot him. (Season 3, 2001)
9. “Behave”
A repeat rape victim (Jennifer Love Hewitt) became to Benson for help after she was tormented by way of the similar man for 15 years, but when the victim refused to put up to a rape kit, Benson used her boulevard smarts to get the lady to consent. Later in the episode, Benson went cross-country on a quest to check ignored rape kits from unsolved instances. (Season 12, 2010)
8. “Payback”
In the procedural’s premiere episode, Benson and Det. Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) investigated the homicide of a cabdriver who was once indicted for the rape of sixty seven girls. While seeking out the five rape victims in the NYC space, Benson shared a glimpse into her backstory once she started to sympathize with the killers. Neglecting to arrest considered one of the feminine killers as a result of the girl was a rape victim, Benson got a rude awakening when her commanding officer, Capt. Cragen, chewed her out for sloppy case paintings. (Season 1, 1999)
7. “Zebras”
Dale Stuckey be damned! During the investigation of a murder in Central Park, the gang found out that forensics tech Stuckey tampered with evidence — diverting attention off himself, the true murderer — in a tense episode that left Stabler combating for his lifestyles in the display’s final mins. Once Stabler discovered Stuckey’s handiwork he confronted the bumbling tech, and the males got right into a gunfight that left Stabler duct-taped to a chair and pleading for his life. Enter Stabler’s trusty partner for existence Benson — who received over the perp by way of verbally abusing, and, sure, even slapping (!!) Stabler throughout the face. A complete about-face scene for Hargitay, the “Zebras” conclusion left audience by no means short of to get on the Detective’s bad aspect. (Season 10, 2009)
6. “Scorched Earth”
Viewers’ hearts weren’t the most effective ones damaged after Meloni introduced his departure: Det. Stabler’s go out proved simply as hard for Benson to maintain. During the ripped-from-the-headlines episode impressed by the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case, America’s favourite detective struggled to paintings the case with a brand new partner (Kelli Giddish) as she mourned the lack of her paintings husband. SVU lovers collectively shed a tear along with Benson when Hargitay — holding her emotions in check for the majority of the episode — retreated to the interrogation room in the display’s final mins for a stunningly-acted emotional meltdown over Stabler’s go out. (Season 13, 2011)
5. “Bombshell”
Liv and El shippers had a good time when Benson and Stabler went undercover as a married couple trying out a swingers club frequented by means of their newest victim. Though the crime stood out as one among SVU’s more strange — the perps, including Rose McGowan, had been siblings who pretended thus far — it was once Benson and Stabler’s lovely PDA and undeniable chemistry that truly made “Bombshell” a Benson favourite. (Season 12, 2011)
4. “Infiltrated”
Long earlier than Benson fought for her existence in “Beast’s Obsession,” she fought for a motive in “Infiltrated.” Embedded as Persephone James in an Oregon-based ecoterrorist group, Benson carried out her own internal investigation into the murder of a pharmaceutical corporate’s CEO at the fingers of the eco staff. While undercover, Benson’s loyalties have been tested when she used to be arrested during a protest, then despatched back to Manhattan to testify in a rape case. (Season 8, 2006)
3. “Undercover”
Before there were the women of Litchfield on Orange Is the New Black, Benson attempted an orange jumpsuit on for dimension in “Undercover.” Investigating the rape of a tender girl, Benson and Stabler learned the girl’s mother used to be incarcerated in a facility the place the guards had been brutalizing inmates. In the adrenaline-filled hour, Benson went undercover (with Fin as backup!) and just about got raped herself. (Season 9, 2008)
2. “Beast’s Obsession”
William Lewis was once one among the Special Victims Unit’s most infamous perps however he was no match for Benson. Armed with nothing but her fists and her wits when Lewis (Pablo Schreiber) abducted and threatened to kill her after he escaped from jail, she gained over fans once once more when she beat him at his own game of Russian Roulette. (Season 15, 2014)
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1. “911”
Hargitay earned each and every gold ounce of the Emmy she was awarded for this heart-pounding episode that centered around a 9-year-old lady who claimed to be locked in a room and phoned 911 for assist. Endearing Hargitay to Us, “911” was once distinctive to the SVU franchise in that it took place in large part in the squad room, with Benson preserving the little woman calm as her SVU counterparts tried to locate her. Benson’s feelings have been raw and real as the minutes ticked away, making the hour stand out as considered one of Benson’s best interactions with a sufferer in the procedural’s 15-year history. If you ask Us, Benson’s excessive care for younger Maria Recinos — including singing songs along with her and asking her about her circle of relatives with kid-gloves as simplest she can do — was once simply foreshadowing for her existence as a foster mother for child Noah. (Season 7, 2005)
The sixteenth season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premieres Wednesday, Sept. 24 at Nine p.m. (EST) on NBC.
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