'Law & Order: SVU' Fans Left Heartbroken By Benson Family Member's Sudden Death

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit fans were left heartbroken again by the end of this week's [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit fans were left heartbroken again by the end of this week's episode, "Murdered at a Bad Address." Most of the episode centered on the assault of a young girl, and the perpetrator turned out to be the real criminal behind a 16-year-old double murder. Between that case though, Captain Olivia Benson was met by someone she had not seen in seven years and the way that story turned out left fans heartbroken.

For the first time in seven years, Olivia's (Mariska Hargitay) estranged half-brother Simon Marsden (guest star Michael Weston) appeared on the show. He approached Olivia on the street, asking her if he could get to know her son Noah. Unfortunately, he has not seen his own children in years, but he has been sober for the last five years.

Olivia was understandably apprehensive about letting this man even she barely knows into Noah's life. She relented though, agreeing to arrange a lunch.

Sadly, Simon never arrived at lunch. This angered Olivia, who left a voice message telling him to never contact her again.
Later on, Olivia was interrupted by a phone call from the medical examiner's office. She was called to identify a body, which turned out to be Simon's. Olivia was under the impression he overdosed and was never really sober, but Dr. Melinda Warner (Tamara Tunie) told her he was telling the truth. He just happened to take the wrong kind of drug today and died.

At the end of the episode, Olivia told Rollins (Kelli Giddish) about her brother. Olivia made it clear that she feels some of the guilt, but Rollins tried to ease her burden.

"When he didn't show for lunch, I left him a message and I told him not to call me. What if my message was the last thing he heard?" Benson asked Rollins.

"You don't know that. The life he led, more likely... it was... just his time," she replied.

The way this played out left fans shocked and reaching for tissue boxes. Many fans praised Mariska Hargitay's performance.

"That part was heartbreaking, I wish #Benson could've seen her brother 1 last time. [Mariska Hargitay] as usual played that scene brilliantly & she had me crying like a baby," one fan wrote.

"Did not see that coming. Great episode- and sad on so many levels. RIP Simon. And it will be interesting to see how Benson copes with the guilt in the phone call. Amazing how important these characters become when a show speaks of things others don't touch (or botch)," another wrote.

Some fans were not exactly thrilled with Simon coming back just so he could be killed. One fan theorized that it was meant to be closure for Simon's character.

Law & Order: SVU airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo credit: NBC

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