Captain Benson gets a rough start to the year in “Jumped In” – the first in a three part arc.
We begin with Benson and Fin standing by Rollins empty desk. The two longest serving members of SVU are clearly both missing their friend and colleague. The ghost of Amanda Rollins lingers in the squad room even though she isn’t dead, she’s just moved on to new adventures. Kelli Giddish, you are missed.
“Nothing good ever happens at night,” Fin says, as McGrath arrives… which is never good news for Benson. He asks Benson to help clean up Bronx SVU – like she has the time with the recent loss of Rollins, and her own cases to work.
Meanwhile, Muncy and Duarte are at the firing range. Muncy is still beating herself up for screwing up on the witness stand in their previous case. She wonders if she made a wrong choice in choosing SVU, but Duarte tells her to stick it out. While Duarte is now her ex-boss, he remains a good mentor to Muncy and I enjoy seeing this. Both characters are great additions to the show, and I look forward to seeing more of them throughout this BX9 arc.
Speaking of BX9, Olivia and Noah are walking home when she spots more graffiti on the side of their building – and two gang members lying in wait for her across the road. After ensuring Noah is safely inside, Benson moves to confront the youths but a BX9 member on a moped knocks Benson to the ground as one of the others threatens her with a machete, kicks her and gives her a black eye in retaliation for arresting two of their members over the summer. It hasn’t been an easy couple of years for Benson, who seems to never be able to catch a break. The timing of this attack is especially rough as she doesn’t have Rollins to lean on for support.
What I like is the continuity here. With Duarte first seen earlier in season 24, it’s great to see SVU threading a lengthy case throughout a few episodes instead of doing standalone case episodes only. It’s also worth noting that SVU first crossed paths with BX9 all the way back in season 13, episode 21 – so there’s definitely some history there. Don’t love that we have to see Benson injured in front of her child, though. As she gives her statement to the responding officer, Benson notes it seems she’s been “greenlit” by BX9.
Fin says it went out on the radio that Benson blew out one of her attackers’ kneecaps, meaning just about every cop in New York would’ve heard about the incident. This episode would be a good opportunity for a catch-up between Olivia and ex-partner Elliot Stabler, though no mention of the attack is made to Elliot in this episode or in Organized Crime. Given BX9 is a gang and somewhat fits the organized crime category, I can’t help but feel this could be a missed opportunity for a great crossover arc. Hopefully the OC taskforce will assist the SVU and gangs squads to take down BX9 once and for all in a future episode.
Thankfully Benson has no broken bones, just one hell of a black eye. Benson is not thrilled to see McGrath show up to the hospital as he promptly discourages Olivia from going after BX9 leader Oscar Papa. McGrath is the most frustrating character on this show, constantly trying to suppress progress and is only interested in making his reports look good. The good part about seeing him is the classic Benson eye roll and her glances to the ceiling as if some divine entity will save her from having to deal with this out-of-touch Chief. Love a little comedy aspect.
Benson makes the decision to send Noah off to the mysterious McCanns – a family introduced in season 24, episode 9. They are the adoptive parents of Noah’s newly-discovered half brother, Connor. While it’s great to see continuity here, I can’t help but feel suspicious of this family. Olivia sending Noah off to stay with them when she has far more qualified friends in the city (Fin, Rollins & Carisi, for example) seems out of character. Also out of character? Benson keeping a shotgun in her apartment where her son could access it.
Benson and Duarte naturally butt heads over how to deal with Oscar Papa. With the first third of the episode focused on Benson’s attack and BX9, our case-of-the-week soon arrives in the form of a trip to the Bronx for Benson, Fin, Muncy and Velasco. Loved Benson’s little “lose the blazer” remark to Muncy after she’d asked her to get one earlier in the season.
Terry Bruno, a Detective infamous in Bronx SVU for suing the department and winning – has a case that keeps him up at night. Problem is? It’s closed. Six young deaf girls were attacked over two years, and Bruno is convinced the wrong man is behind bars. Benson is intrigued, and it gets her mind off BX9 for a minute. Lt. Dixon is brought in from Law & Order as they need a woman fluent in ASL. Great to see Benson and Dixon working side by side.
However, McGrath orders Benson to move on to another case and “get her people out of the Bronx” like he wasn’t ordering her to go TO the Bronx a day ago. As they progress through the witness statements and the case, things escalate when another victim is attacked – and this time, murdered. The new murder enables Benson to ignore McGrath’s orders and work the murder alongside Bruno, who is very passionate about his job and precinct. Great potential for him to be a recurring character.
The two head to the Forensic Biology department to rush along their DNA results, and Benson is frustrated when batting her eyelashes doesn’t move them up in line but Bruno giving the tech his expensive watch DOES work. The risky move pays off when the identity of the rapist is secured via a genealogy database. Legal? Maybe not. But case officially closed.
When Duarte and Muncy find the young gang member Benson shot in the knee, she goes to visit him in hospital to find out why he attacked her… and who his co-conspirators are. It’s clear BX9 fear nobody, and they need to be stopped before they kill someone else – or worse, a member of the SVU squad. Still feeling the loss of Rollins, Benson can’t afford to lose anyone else.
A strong start to 2023 for SVU, and I can’t wait to see how this arc progresses for Benson and her squad.
