Law & Order: SVU season 25 ended with a bang — literally.
Ice-T’s character Sergeant Odafin “Fin” Tutuola got shot by Toby Hedges (Max Malas), during the season finale, which aired on Thursday, May 16.
The show’s latest installment, titled “Duty to Hope,” brought ADA Dominick “Sonny” Carisi (Peter Scanavino) back into the field as Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and the SVU squad are on the hunt for a pattern assailant — dubbed “the wire hanger rapist” — as his crimes continued to escalate.
After multiple assaults, the SVU squad identified Billy Hedges (Spenser Granese) as the main suspect after discovering his fingerprint on the inside of one victim’s glass door. While it seemed like the case was closed, Detective Joe Velasco (Octavio Pisano) got alerted of another assault — and it was just like the rest.
As their investigation continued, Benson went head-to-head with the new Trial Division Chief Heidi Russell (Kate Loprest), Carisi’s boss, who continued to rush the SVU team to find the correct suspect.
Benson sent her detectives home while waiting for DNA evidence results, and while taking out the trash, Fin came face-to-face with Billy’s son, Max, who was holding a gun. As Fin attempted to take down the youngster, the gun went off, grazing the sergeant’s arm. Protecting Max, the police officer lied about how he obtained the injury.
When the DNA evidence returned, the SVU team had the name Glenn Duncan (Eric Olsson), who eventually was identified as the actual rapist. When attempting to arrest the actual suspect, the NYPD found themselves in a shootout. Things got intense as Benson put herself in the line of fire to save an officer who got shot.
“I’ll yell at you later,” Fin told his longtime friend. Benson replied, “I look forward to that.”
Following the shootout, the NYPD infiltrated Glenn’s apartment. The suspect fired at the police, which resulted in his death. After the case was marked closed and Billy was released from jail, Benson had a full-circle moment.
The SVU captain reunited with Maddie Flynn (Allison Elaine) to help celebrate her 16th birthday. SVU season 25 kicked off with a multi-episode arc to hunt down the man who kidnapped Maddie. Benson refused to give up on the search, eventually finding Maddie and helping the teen with her healing process.
In typical Benson fashion, she called former partner Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) after the birthday party, ending the season with a sweet moment between the two.
SVU’s milestone 25th season premiered in January and consisted of only 13 episodes because of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes that came to an end late last year.
Prior to the finale, Hargitay told Us Weekly exclusively that she dubbed the season 25 finale as “Olivia’s anthem,” referring to the character she’s played since the show premiered in 1999.
“The way the season ends is really beautiful,” the actress gushed to Us earlier this month. “The way the season ends is so profound to me and it’s something that I learned, and also such a gift that I got from somebody — a dear friend of mine in law enforcement. He said something so beautiful, and we wanted to end this season on it.”
While that’s a wrap on season 25, NBC announced that SVU is set to return for its 26th season later this year.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
