NBCAttention Emmy votes: Mariska Hargitay is comin' for ya. Law & Order: SVU gave Hargitay, who has already taken home an Emmy for her work as Olivia Benson, a showcase episode with "Townhouse Incident." In the heart-pounding episode, Hargitay's Benson is taken hostage in a townhouse with the family who lives there after she stopped by, doing a good deed for her babysitter, Lucy (Bronwyn Reed).
The episode had similarities to the murders of Savvas and Amy Savopoulos, their son and their housekeeper, a prominent Washington, DC family. In SVU's take on the case, the owner of a well-known grocery store chain and his family are taken hostage by one of his former drivers. The kidnappers are after money, supposedly for an ailing mother, but things quickly got even more sinister. Benson's babysitter, who also works for the family, stopped by and knew something was up. Benson, who was on her way to a DNA conference, went by as a favor and ended up in the thick of it, beaten and battered by the perps. Yes, another Benson hostage situation. With her team assuming she was out of the office for the day, Benson's ordeal was prolonged. It wasn't until a text message to her babysitter with the code words William Lewis snuck in regarding a daycare playdate that everybody got on their toes. Viewers of course will recall Pablo Schreiber played William Lewis, aka the Beast, Benson's tormentor during seasons 14 and 15. He died, in front of Benson, during another hostage situation. Her interaction with him led to PTSD and therapy, giving the character another layer not yet seen on the series.
Benson did her best within the house, but she couldn't prevent the 16-year-old daughter from getting raped. She did succeed in turning the kidnappers against one another and enlisted the help of Tucker (Robert John Burke), Dodds (Andy Karl), Fin (Ice-T) and Carisi (Peter Scanavino) to turn the situation around. By the end of the harrowing episode, she had secured the release of the injured father, kept the mother from getting back in the house and had the kidnapper, Joe (Joe Reegan), release the kids ahead of her. At the last moment, with a gun to her head, Badass Benson broke free, delivering a swift punch to his face that was followed by a sniper bullet to his head. Benson survived, but did you expect any other outcome? However, it's safe to say she didn't come out of it unscathed. As soon as she was released, and properly thanked Tucker (there's something going on there…), she went for the main man in her life: Noah.
Best line of the night: "What are you Mother Teresa? I've already been saved by Joe, OK?"
Law & Order: SVU airs Wednesdays, 9 p.m. on NBC.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)