The return of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is a great one, and the wait for Season 25 Episode 1, “Tunnel Blind,” was definitely worth it. The episode starts with flashbacks of Benson’s (Mariska Hargitay) career throughout her 25 years working for Manhattan SVU. Clips of previous victims she helped with her own voice, talking about her lifelong commitment to be on this job and help as many survivors as possible.
Flashbacks and a Baptism
These flashbacks are a great reminder of everything Benson has been through, but they also show us how far she has come not only as a cop but as a person. This ties beautifully together with the baptism of Dominick Carisi (Peter Scanavino) and Amanda Rollins’s (Kelli Giddish) baby, showing she now has the family she has always dreamed of.
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For those of us who have always been rooting for Benson, we hope to see her love life flourish as much as the rest of her life. Funny enough, after the baptism, Carisi’s cousin tries to hit on her, letting her know Carisi shared the tiny detail that she is still single. However, Benson rejects his advancements quite quickly.
There is a contrast between Benson shutting down this man while simultaneously watching Rollins and Carisi kissing and enjoying their love. Then, the compass Elliot gave her at the end of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 24 comes into play. With different letters, Benson shares the L is for love, but the compass hasn’t yet pointed to that. For us Benson and Stabler shippers, that is a nice nod to what could happen between the former partners.
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An Introduction
While everyone in the squad happily celebrates the baptism, we are introduced to a family we know will be the center of the case. Maddie, her mom and her dad are out shopping for acrylics she needs for her art class. The three of them seem to be having a great time as they decide to split up, each looking for what they need.
When the parents reunite at the checkout line, they realize Maddie is missing. They desperately start looking for her in the shop, but instead of finding her, the dad finds a broken paint container on the floor. That immediately lets us know Maddie is missing.
The episode’s title, “Tunnel Blind,” comes to mind as soon as we see Benson driving herself and Noah out of a tunnel. Her eyes shut as the sunlight blinds her, changing from the darkness of the tunnel to the brightness of day in New York. Due to this change in lighting, she is still pretty dazed when she sees a young girl in a van.
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As the audience, we know it is Maddie, the girl who has gone missing, but Benson simply gets a weird feeling about it. She looks at Maddie, trying to figure out what is going on. All she can get from that short period between red and green lights is that Maddie is wearing a friendship bracelet — a bracelet that will become the center of the episode.
A Missing Girl
Shortly after that, the cops arrive at the shop where Maddie was taken. Unsurprisingly, Benson is with them. We know that is when things will start getting more complicated. As she questions the parents about what happened, Benson is shown a photo of the missing girl. She realizes it is the girl she saw in the van. It is by zooming in on the bracelet that she confirms this. When they ask who the last person to see Maddie alive was, we know the answer is Olivia — something she doesn’t disclose with the parents at any given point in the episode.
However, Benson discloses with McGrath (Terry Serpico) about having seen Maddie, but he commands her not to share that information with the parents. That will affect how they see her as the case captain. But even if she doesn’t tell them, Benson still blames herself for what happened. She believes she should have known better and should have known what was going on.
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Luckily, as Benson continues to blame herself, Bruno (Kevin Kane) says they have found Maddie’s phone. That evidence allows them to talk to the parents again, asking several questions about their social media usage and their daughter. Does Maddie have social media? Do they have access to it? These questions will help the investigation.
A Witness
However, the parents are more focused on getting answers from them. Then, Benson and Bruno share with the mother that there is a witness. The risky thing about this is that the only witness is Benson. How would that make the parents feel if they found out? What would it mean for this case?
Both parents have different reactions to what is going on. On the one hand, the mom is angry at NYPD and blames them for not doing anything and not knowing how she feels. On the other hand, the dad is blaming himself for the disappearance. Both wish there were more being done for their daughter.
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At that point, the only thing they can do is go through everything they have, but this only pushes Olivia to blame herself further. While the team tries to reassure her that it’s not her fault, she pushes against that, thinking she could have done more for Maddie.
The first real lead comes from state troopers in Pennsylvania who found the van abandoned in a gas station. When looking through the van for any clues, Benson finds the bracelet she had seen Maddie wearing. The girl dared to leave a clue behind, letting them know she is still alive.
No Name
With this brand-new information, the squad room goes through the case with Carisi. Then, they find photos of the van driving to Pennsylvania, which allows Benson to recognize the man driving. However, they still don’t have a name, so they must get records from the energy drink company that reported the van stolen to see if any suspects pop up. Even though the case seems to be moving along, Benson continues to blame herself. Carisi tries to stop her from beating herself up.
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As they wait for the records, they try to find other leads by showing the parents photos of the driver. This doesn’t go far but instead leads them down a different road. The father mentions there was a weird man who went to watch the soccer games Maddie played. Apparently, the man had been questioned, but nothing came out of it. So, Fin (Ice T), Bruno and Velasco (Octavio Pisano) show up at his house and discover he has photos of Maddie everywhere.
This suspect is taken in for interrogation, but it leads nowhere. As we begin to lose hope and notice Benson is still beating herself up for what happened, a man shows up with a body bag. Immediately, just like everyone in the squad room, we think Maddie will be in the body bag. But when the man opens the bag, a doll inside looks precisely like Maddie.
The dolls are the most significant piece of evidence, revealing there had been several dolls made to look like Maddie. Once again, Law & Order: SVU turns its eye to social media, asking the parents if someone followed them who could have targeted Maddie.
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Investigating where the dolls came from leads the team to a warehouse with boxes full of dolls that cover the room from roof to floor. The squad finds out the doll that looks exactly like Maddie is a bestseller, and many people have purchased it. These dolls also wear a friendship bracelet — a key component in Maddie’s case.
An Obsession
It isn’t until Benson visits Rollins in class that they understand who they should be investigating. While talking to Rollins about the case, her frustration, and how bad she feels about not having stopped the van when she sees it, both women realize that what they need to be looking at is the people who purchased the doll. Amanda points out that it must be someone who became so obsessed with the doll that they wanted to get the real girl.
After that conversation, the detectives go on a city-wide search, visiting every man who had ever purchased the doll. They interrogate the men to find out where they were when Maddie was kidnapped, but at first, all the leads are dead.
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Then, they come across Hal. He tries to escape but reveals the doll is in the trash because “she is the reason all of this happened.” Even though he says he doesn’t know where Maddie is, they take him into custody to interrogate him
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit always delivers great interrogation room scenes, and this episode didn’t miss the mark. The most important interrogation scene is when they speak to Hal, and he confesses to having hired someone to kidnap Maddie. However, when the kidnapper was on his way to him, Hal decided he no longer wanted to do it.
Another Girl
Hal couldn’t tell them who the kidnapper was, but they find a number in his phone that leads them to a motel where they think he was. In the motel, they find a bag inside a bathtub. Our thoughts go to Maddie, thinking that is her sad ending. But when Benson opens the bag, we see another girl in there. Tanya, who survived miraculously, is a missing girl another SVU squad had been looking for.
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The other detective and Benson interview Tanya, who tells them everything she knows about the guy. She met him in Amtrack, and he convinced her to follow her by promising her drugs. Tanya also tells them she did see Maddie, and the kidnapper took off with her, leaving her behind in the bathtub.
Never Give Up
Although finding Tanya is a relief, Benson’s focus is still on Maddie. She refuses to give up on the girl or her parents, but McGrath has other things in mind. He forces Benson to do a press conference and stand by him to celebrate the return of Tanya. Celebrating this when another girl is still missing doesn’t seem appropriate. Maddie’s mom has the same thoughts and appears screaming during the press conference. She doesn’t want them to give up on her daughter.
While the press conference is going on, there is another voiceover of Benson talking about the different cases that have stayed with her and what her goals are as captain. It is another display of her emotions and what these two and a half decades have meant to her.
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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 25 Episode 1, “Tunnel Blind,” is a great way to kick off the season. It reminds us why Benson has been such an important character and why the show has stayed relevant through the years. It gives us hope that no victim will be forgotten and that Benson will always fight for them.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit airs Thursdays at 9 PM on your NBC affiliate.
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