‘Law & Order: SVU’ Clip Shows Benson Facing Her Dark Past

Wednesday’s episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit will force Lieutenant Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) to face her demons once again.

The show will shake the traditional investigation and trial story line for a more centrally-focused hour, highlighting Benson’s interview with an alleged rape victim.

Though Benson has told victims pieces of her past struggles, she is forced to really open herself up to the victim, Laurel (Melora Walters), in order to connect with her and solve the case.

“She basically sacrifices her self, her own sense of privacy, in order to get to the truth of what happened in that room,” executive producer Michael Chernuchin told Entertainment Weekly.

Chernuchin said he got the idea for the special story after seeing a statue of a mountain lion perched on a rock in a tree in Central Park. It gave him the idea to create a central theme about predators versus prey.

“It starts out where [Laurel] is the prey and halfway through, it switched and Olivia becomes the prey,” he said of the episode.

In the extended clip of Wednesday’s episode, called “Something Happened,” Benson tears up as the victim scolds her for offering “faux sympathy” and not understanding her pain.

“You can’t save me. You can’t make it go away, no matter what you say,” Laurel says. “The pain, the humiliation…”

“You can’t know,” she adds of her feelings.

“Laurel, I know all about hate,” Benson says, teasing viewers of the secrets she’ll share with the victim. “But your soul’s not dead … I think that I’m here to help you understand that. This, I know.”

Benson may share her own birth story with the victim, or she could reveal her scary past with her captor, William Lewis, who still haunts the long-time detective. She may even reveal a new secret for the audience.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.