In the fourteen years since the premiere of Law & Order: SVU, Detective Olivia Benson has found herself in dozens of dangerous encounters, including a near sexual assault while undercover in a women's prison.
Risking her life is nothing new to our beloved seasoned detective, but last spring we left Liv in what was arguably the most horrific SVU cliffhanger to date: Held at gunpoint inside her apartment by the ever sadistic torturer-rapist-murderer William Lewis (played by a chilling Pablo Schrieber). When it cut to black and the DICK WOLF title card flashed it seemed like we were leaving her to be raped all summer long.
The highly anticipated two-hour Season 15 premiere is just hours from air time and (in this blogger's humble opinion) it can't come soon enough. This morning, in an interview with TODAY, Mariska Hargitay spoke of tonight's premiere. "It was, without a doubt, the most difficult episode I ever shot in 15 years, and it was unlike anything I've ever done."
Some things to think about: There was obviously some kind of sexual relationship happening between William Lewis and his defense attorney Vanessa Mayer (Lauren Ambrose). Mayer was unaware of the rape and murder of her client's previous counsel until Liv offered that information (much to District Attorney Barba's (Raul Esparza) dismay), during a heated interrogation. Will Mayer find herself the next attorney dead at the hands of Lewis or will he keep her around for sexual (and legal) manipulation? No way did execs cast Ambrose for a two-parter if it wasn't for something juicy. I expect she'll stick around for at least the first half of the premiere. Will something inspire her to turn against her client or will she overzealously represent the shit out of him down to the very end?
Another thing to consider is the evolution of Olivia. She, herself is the product of a rape and has dedicated her life to chasing and putting away child abusers, rapists, and murderers (and child-abusing rapist-murderers--Lou Diamond Phillips, anyone?). Now it appears that she is the victim. PTSD (which she struggled with after the prison assault) is most certainly in her future. How will this affect her ability to handle the job? Will she develop a substance dependency? If you remember, her mother Serena was an abusive alcoholic who died from a fall down a flight of stairs in the first season.
Will the relationship dynamic with her colleagues change drastically? How about Cassidy (Dean Winters)? I can definitely see a scenario where he murders Lewis in a fit of rage and Barba is forced to charge him with murder. For those who don't remember, Winters was an original SVU cast member until his character left the squad because all that rape and murder started to get to him. Cassidy's gotten himself into serious trouble before and Olivia's rape might be just the thing that pushes him over the edge. Quite frankly, I could use a hearty dose of vigilante justice but I'm also a big Pablo Schrieber fan so I'm hoping if he does die it doesn't happen until the end.
Some heavy business is coming our way, kids. So keep your Kleenex close and your Xanax closer because shit's about to get emotional.
-Sam
