Mariska Hargitay jumped into gear as Olivia Benson once again after finding out longtime friend ADA Dominick “Sonny” Carisi, Jr. (Peter Scanavino) was in trouble.
In Us Weekly’s exclusive clip from the Law and Order: Special Victims Unit fall finale — titled “Cornered,” which is set to air on Thursday, November 21 — Carisi gets trapped in a hostage situation during what should have been a normal day at work.
“Hey it’s me, where are you?” Benson asks while leaving Carisi a voicemail during her walk through the courthouse. What she doesn’t know is that Carisi walked right into an armed robbery taking place at the deli near his office.
“If you’re not going to listen to me about police headquarters being so close, then at least let the girls go,” Carisi pleads, referring to two of the four civilians trapped in the deli with two gunmen. “They’re a liability.”
In a tense moment between one of the assailants and Carisi, the ADA gets a gun pointed at his head. The gunman forces Carisi to lock the deli door so no one else can come inside. While doing so, he comes face to face with Benson who is watching him through the window.
No words are exchanged between the two, but she immediately clocks the danger inside before walking away. (It seems one of the gunmen sees the back of Benson’s head, potentially leading to more danger for Carisi as the episode goes on.)
“Operator, this is Captain Benson, Manhattan SVU. I have a 10-30 on the corner of Madison and James,” Benson says on the phone. “Be advised that there is an ADA on site who is a hostage.”
In the promo video released following last week’s episode, Benson will also be calling up Carisi’s wife, Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), for extra assistance. (Silas Weir Mitchell also guest stars.)
“Amanda, hey, it’s me. It’s Carisi. He interrupted a robbery in progress,” Benson says in the clip. “He’s being held hostage.”
Rollins can be heard on the phone asking if her husband is OK when a gunshot rings out. Benson audibly jumps, keeping audiences on their toes as they prepare for what’s sure to be a tension-filled fall finale.
Law & Order: SVU season 26 airs on NBC Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET and is streaming the next day on Peacock. After tonight, new episodes will return on Thursday, January 16.
