Law And Order: SVU Handled Benson’s Finale Standoff In The Perfect Way, But I See Why More Crime Dramas Won’t Do It

Law & Order: SVU reached a milestone that few shows ever have or will with Season 25, and the finale was a bit more thrilling than the average episode in the 2024 TV schedule. Special Victims was on the hunt for a serial rapist known for binding his victims’ hands with twisted wire hangers. Basically, “Duty to Hope” didn’t need to bring up either of Olivia Benson’s nemeses to be pretty darn dark! There was a standoff before the NYPD could capture the perp, and SVU resolved in the perfect way… but I don’t expect SVU to do this regularly or other crime dramas to try it often.

The case was stressful enough for Special Victims (and Carisi) even before the standoff, with Trial Division Chief Heidi Russell – a.k.a. Carisi’s new boss – pushing a case through court way too quickly with minimal evidence, Fin getting shot in the arm by the wrongfully accused man’s son who tracked him down via the internet, and the unit having to try as hard to catch the bad guy as to exonerate the innocent man.

Then, there was a breakthrough via some touch DNA that connected a former Marine by the name of Glenn Duncan to the crimes. Given that there were still fifteen minutes left in the episode and the trailer for “Duty to Hope” had heavily promoted a shootout and standoff, it was safe to say that they hadn’t closed the case just yet. They arrived at Duncan’s apartment, only for the dishonorably discharged Marine to open fire with an automatic weapon, wounding an officer and prompting Benson to risk her own life to pull him to safety.

Normally in SVU (and other crime dramas including those elsewhere in the nine-show Dick Wolf TV universe), a standoff with an armed perp holding a hostage would probably involve a major character delivering a dramatic speech to talk the bad guy down in a prolonged and wonderfully dramatic sequence. This time around, the ESU guys on site had an infrared device that quickly told them where the rapist was and that he had a hostage, both alive with heat signatures. Take a look:

That didn’t mean there wasn’t a chance for a dramatic speech, as Benson called Duncan’s phone to give him a chance to surrender, but he knew his options were death or prison for the rest of his life. He’d made his choice: he and his hostage would die together. So, the cops breached the apartment, easily killed him, and saved the victim. It took less than two minutes.

Now, I watch a lot of crime dramas as part of this job, including all three FBIs, all three Law & Orders, and Chicago P.D., which means I see a lot of standoffs and hostage situations in a given TV season. While I enjoy the drama and high stakes for the characters, I do often wonder why the various teams don’t just use infrared to clear up a lot of questions without risking their own lives. SVU’s Season 25 finale showed how hostage situations can indeed be resolved quickly with that tech, so I feel validated… and filled with understanding for why most crime dramas don’t go this route each and every time.