WARNING! SPOILERS ahead for Law & Order: SVU season 26, episode 14, “Grid Plan.”
Benson (Mariska Hargitay) makes a comment in Law & Order: SVU season 26, episode 14, titled “Grid Plan,” that completely discredits the show’s mission to empower survivors. For the past 26 years, the procedural has emphasized support and empowerment for sexual assault survivors. Many of Law & Order: SVU‘s best cases involve Benson encouraging the victims she works with to face their accusers, press charges, or simply move forward with their lives.
“Grid Plan” is one of Law & Order: SVU‘s saddest cases because it involves a woman who is raped while treating herself to a bucket-list trip to New York shortly after receiving a devastating medical diagnosis. The woman doesn’t trust the police to catch her rapist and tries to go after him herself, which causes trouble for the investigation. While trying to encourage her, Benson suggests that the woman is trying to avoid feelings of powerlessness by fighting so hard and adds that she does something similar through her work.
Why Benson Suggests Her Law & Order SVU Career Choice Is Unhealthy
She’s Trying To Help This Woman Stop Interfering In The Investigation
Benson makes her comment while trying to stop a survivor from taking matters into her own hands. Shortly after the detectives get a lead on the rapist, his victim wants to run off to the bar he’s at to confront him rather than meet her husband, who is flying in from out of town to support her. Benson tries to convince her that this is an example of “displacement,” a psychological defense mechanism where a person over-focuses on something they can control to avoid thinking about how powerless they are in a given situation.
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In order to build rapport, Benson explains, “So, um… my father was a rapist. And look what I do for a living. I understand displacement more than you think.” Benson’s comment explains why she sometimes becomes obsessed with the cases she’s working on. However, it’s concerning that Benson suggests her entire career is based on avoiding feelings of powerlessness, as it implies it is unhealthy for her to have devoted her life to the important work she does.
Benson Denied This Was The Case In Law & Order: SVU Season 1 (And She Was Right)
In SVU’s Pilot, Benson’s Mother Tried to Discourage Her From Working With SVU
The issue of whether Benson’s dedication to SVU cases is unhealthy was already settled in Law & Order: SVU‘s first episode. During her mother Serena’s only guest appearance, Benson has a conversation with her in which her mother says that she “wishes you would get out of that unit… do you think this is healthy for you?” Although Benson doesn’t answer this question directly, she makes it clear that she thinks her mother should have the same empathy for victims she has since Serena was raped.
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Captain Cragen (Dann Florek) also occasionally questioned Benson’s motives, but the question was settled definitively by the end of the season. Law & Order: SVU‘s freshman season ended with every member of the team having to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Benson was not flagged for further evaluation, unlike Stabler. Thus, it is clear that her desire to work in the unit doesn’t stem from a mental health condition, nor is it considered an unhealthy way to deal with the trauma of being a child of rape.
Benson’s Claim Contradicts SVU’s Entire Mission
SVU Is About Survivor Empowerment — How Can That Be Unhealthy
For the last quarter of a century, Law & Order: SVU has centered survivors. Many of its stories include Benson empowering the victims she works with so that they can move forward with their lives. She has changed countless lives for the better through the work she does, yet her comment implies that her career choice is fundamentally unhealthy. This idea makes little sense, considering the positive impact Benson has had on others in the 25 years she has worked for the Special Victims Unit.
It is incongruous at best to label her [Benson’s] life’s work as an example of displacement rather than admitting that she turned a traumatic experience into a strong positive.
At this point in her career, Benson leads the Law & Order: SVU season 26 team. For several seasons, Benson has mentored younger women who want to do this type of work, which has only added to her impact on survivors. Thus, it is incongruous at best to label her life’s work as an example of displacement rather than admitting that she turned a traumatic experience into a strong positive.
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In all likelihood, Benson didn’t mean to imply that her choices in this area are unhealthy. She was trying to encourage a survivor who was attempting to control the outcome of the investigation because of her pain. However, by comparing that unhealthy behavior to her choice of career, Benson suggested that her entire motivation in Law & Order: SVU is based on avoiding painful feelings. This claim is simply not true and contradicts the procedural’s mission to empower real-life survivors.
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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
- Release Date
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September 20, 1999
- Showrunner
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Robert Palm, David J. Bruke, Neal Baer, Warren Leight, Rick Eid, Michael S. Chernuchin, David Graziano
- Directors
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David Platt, Jean de Segonzac, Peter Leto, Alex Chapple
- Writers
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Dick Wolf
