'Law & Order: SVU' Season 19 Episode 20 Spoilers: Squad Hunts Down Abusive Father
Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and her team will try to save another little girl in need in the upcoming episode of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."
In the episode titled "The Book of Esther," the synopsis reveals that the SVU will handle a case of child abduction. A girl is being held captive, not just by anyone, but by her own father (guest star Ray McKinnon).
Rollins (Kelli Giddish) will take the lead in the investigation, and it will not be easy, as the promo shows. In the clip, the suspect is maintaining his innocence. He seems to be being interviewed by the media. The man is claiming he loves his family while the child beside him is shaking with fright.
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Elsewhere, Rollins is falling into pieces. She is seen breaking down after failing to find evidence about the father's guilt.
The promo photos show that everything will end in a standoff. In the images, father and child are standing at their house's balcony, and surrounding the place are SVU agents. Benson looks like she is trying to convince the suspect to let her in the house to talk.
Elsewhere, Rollins is radioing for reinforcement. It is obvious they do not want a repeat of the last disastrous case they handled involving a dysfunctional family. In the previous episode, the squad got dragged in a messy cat and mouse game between a father and his wife and daughter. When a woman and her child went missing, they had reasons to believe that the culprit was the criminal husband who just got out of prison.
The episode also reintroduced Prosecutor Cabot (Stephanie March), the lawyer known for her unconventional way of solving a case. It turned out that she helped the women go into hiding out of fear of the man's return from jail. Cabot told Benson that it was the only way to ensure that they would be safe.
Benson opted to follow the law in handling the case, but the result was tragic, as the mother turned up dead. The evidence was not enough to prove that it was the husband who killed her. The SVU agents had to grit their teeth when he was awarded custody of his daughter. Then, they went off the grid, and Benson and her team were left picking up the pieces.
In a recent interview with E! News, March talked about Cabot's return in the series. The last time her character was seen was in season 11, where she was promoted to series regular. The actress was full of praise for Hargitay. She also revealed that it was nerve-wracking, reprising the role after quite a long hiatus, but the cast and crews were all supportive.
"It was different and the same, and it was different because so much time has passed since I did it last and so much of my life has changed, personally. And so, I was able to bring more maturity to the character than before, but it was the same in that Mariska was there and a lot of the same crew members were there. It felt—I was surprised. I was nervous going in and when I got there it was so fun, it was like going home, it was great," March said.
"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" season 19 airs on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EDT on NBC.
