'Law & Order: SVU' Season 18 Episode 18: Squad Comes After Hypnotizer Rapist
Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and her team will track down a rapist who uses hypnosis to assault his victims in the upcoming episode of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."
In the episode titled "Spellbound," the synopsis (according to CarterMatt) reveals that the SVU will take on a curious case involving a spiritual healer (guest star Stuart Townsend). One of his clients is accusing him of rape. According to the woman, she was hypnotized to do his bidding. She claims he incapacitated and took advantage of her when she was not in her right mind.
The promo shows the victim explaining what took place the night she was raped to Benson and the others. The SVU team appears to be doubting her claims until Fin (Ice-T) shows them the results of the victim's test. They found no drugs or alcohol in her bloodstream. It looks like she is telling the truth. The notion that the healer raped her while she was under hypnosis is starting to make sense.
In the clip, the woman is shown with a group of people, all eager to get spiritual healing for the "master." The scene looks like a usual therapeutic session, complete with incense. The healer appears to be zeroing in on the woman the moment she takes her place. She is young and beautiful. No other person from the group has reported anything malicious against the suspect, though.
Last episode, the SVU went after a website that feeds wrong information to others. The owner kept on claiming that a respectable restaurant was actually a front for a sex trafficking ring. He even accused a congressman (guest star James Waterston) of protecting the criminals. When Benson and Rollins (Kelli Giddish) proved that his website was spreading nothing but salacious rumors, the man released a feature about Benson's adoptive son.
"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" season 18 airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EDT on NBC.