Olivia Benson has been fighting crime for more than two decades on Law & Order: SVU, and now the iconic TV character has helped thwart a crime in real life when a young SVU fan used what she learned from the show to foil a kidnapper. In response to the young girl's quick-thinking and heroic actions, SVU leading lady Mariska Hargitay virtually dropped in on her for the best kind of surprise that any SVU fan could hope for.
Recently, 11-year-old Alyssa Bonal was the target of an attempted kidnapping in Florida, but she successfully fought off the kidnapper. And that's not all! She had been playing with blue slime at a bus stop when a man attempted to drag her into a car, prompting her to smear the slime onto his arms while fighting him off. The blue slime on his arms delivered the kind of hard evidence that the real-life authorities could use to catch the suspect, and the kind that Benson and Co. are always chasing on Law & Order: SVU.
So, it's only fitting that Alyssa Bonal's interview with Today was interrupted by none other than the longtime SVU star, and Bonal definitely didn't see it coming that the injured Mariska Hargitay would turn up for a chat via video. Hargitay had a touching message for the young SVU fan, saying:
I'm so incredibly honored to meet you.... I just want to tell you how blown away me and all of my squad are, and I think the whole world right now, that you had the forethought and the wherewithal to do what you did. And I am just blown away.... You're amazing, sweetheart. You're amazing. And strong and brave! And what's most important to everyone is that you're okay. And that is the most beautiful gift that we all have.
All things considered, it's a good thing that Alyssa Bonal was allowed to watch Law & Order: SVU at the age of 11! Mariska Hargitay wasn't finished with just delivering her speech to the preteen fan. She signed a script for Bonal, with the message "You are my HERO" written on it along with her name and some hearts. For her part, Bonal told Hargitay that it was "amazing to meet" her, and Hargitay shared the message that her character would have for Bonal on SVU:
Would you like to be on my squad?
Law & Order: SVU has been on the air for twice as long as Alyssa Bonal has been alive, and the series has found a life beyond primetime thanks to reruns and availability streaming. You can find it streaming now on both Hulu and Peacock Premium, although the first two seasons are available streaming for free on Peacock without the Premium membership.
The current 22nd season of SVU will come to an end on Thursday, June 3 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, ahead of the worrisome Season 1 finale of Law & Order: Organized Crime at 10 p.m. ET. The good news for fans (including Alyssa Bonal) is that Law & Order: SVU has already been renewed for another two seasons and will return to NBC in the fall, so it's just a matter of getting through the summer TV schedule before getting to see Benson and Co. back in action.
