Spoilers ahead for Episode 17 of Law & Order: SVU Season 24, called “Lime Chaser.”
Season 24 of Law & Order: SVU has been a time of upheaval for Olivia Benson both as a person and as captain of Manhattan’s Special Victims Unit. The loss of Rollins as a detective affected Mariska Hargitay’s character professionally and personally, all while she seems stuck on whether or not she has a future with Stabler. In “Lime Chaser,” Benson revealed what she wants from the cops in her unit, but it’s hard to be confident that she’ll actually get what she wants.
“Lime Chaser” was a frustrating episode for Benson thanks to Churlish and Muncy feuding while Bruno tried to play mediator and Velasco had his own problems to deal with after getting an ultimatum from his captain. Plus, Fin was taking a personal day and Carisi worked his legal magic off-screen, so Benson was basically working with a crew of relative newcomers to Special Victims.
Churlish’s eagerness to impress Benson and stay in Manhattan resulted in some ill-advised decisions to get herself sent undercover, costing her the captain’s trust without a lot of time to win it back. While speaking to the newest (and possibly temporary) cop within her unit, Benson gave away what she wants from all of them, saying:
Perfectionism is a dangerous way to approach imperfect victims, let alone perps. And from now on, I expect teamwork from you, not perfection.
Churlish will clearly have to adjust to not trying to deliver perfection to Benson, and the unit did start to come together after the undercover operation. Muncy even shook hands with her in a big step forward from their status quo in the previous episode. Plus, Benson acknowledged that while her detectives are all “dysfunctional,” the imperfections allow them to “lead with empathy and with compassion.”
Benson made this point specifically to Churlish because of Churlish’s insistence that she’s just trying to impress Benson, which resulted in her nearly derailing the case. She clearly cared about catching the men who were targeting women, drugging them, and assaulting them, but not necessarily 100% for the right reasons. Benson said:
I need to know that you’re here for the right reasons. Because you care about survivors and trauma and healing, not because you want a promotion.
On the whole, I’m not sure that Churlish can truly let go of her ambition and drive to impress Benson enough to fully fit into the team. She was nearly in tears at learning that she’d lost Benson’s trust, and getting a handshake from Muncy at the end of the hour doesn’t mean that they’re suddenly going to become the best of friends.
It seems likely that Muncy’s loyalties will remain with Velasco despite everything, and there just aren’t many longtime members of SVU left in Manhattan anymore to help guide the younger detectives. Benson certainly has enough on her plate without holding their hands through everything! A little dysfunction may be good for leading them to feel empathy and compassion, but the current status quo just leaves me missing the classic days of the show with Cragen, Stabler, and Munch alongside Benson and Fin.
Admittedly, part of why I’m not convinced that Benson will get her teamwork might just be because neither Fin nor Carisi appeared in “Lime Chaser,” and there was no reason to expect that Rollins would make an appearance. Benson and Stabler certainly caused their share of problems for their captain back in the day (complete with personal issues affecting their work), but it’s harder to be invested with characters who fans have barely gotten to know so far. Fortunately, the promo for the next episode reveals that Carisi at least will be back:
See what’s next for Benson and Co. (which will hopefully include Fin back in action) with the new episode of Law & Order: SVU on Thursday, April 6 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, between Law & Order (which just saw Price do what actor Hugh Dancy described as “a terrible thing”) at 8 p.m. and Law & Order: Organized Crime at 10 p.m. You can also revisit earlier episodes of SVU streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription.
