Every once in a while, just for a brief moment, Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Sergeant Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish) get to be “a couple of regular moms” on Law & Order: SVU, right up until reality sets back in.
In a clip from the Thursday, May 1 episode, the two BFFs are walking their kids to school, marveling at how rare it is that they get to do that. Rollins thanks Benson for getting her daughters into the same gifted program as Benson’s son Noah, and Noah kindly helps one of Rollins’ daughters with a heavy instrument case. It’s all so nice and wholesome. But right as they arrive at the school, Benson’s phone rings.
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It soon becomes clear this isn’t just a regular SVU case, because Rollins is also being called in as part of the intelligence bureau. A car has been stolen with an eight-year-old girl in the backseat, so it’s all hands on deck to bring her back home.
The episode, called “Shock Collar,” follows the investigation as Benson and her team try to figure out if this was just a car theft or a targeted child abduction. Unfortunately, this is SVU, so it’s probably the latter.
Related: Everything to Know About Law & Order: SVU Season 26
Giddish left the show full-time in Season 24, but returned on a recurring basis for Season 26. This is her fifth appearance this season in Rollins’ new role in the NYPD intelligence bureau, which became a bit of a conflict of interest in the recent episode “Accomplice Liability.” Carisi (Peter Scanavino) was called as a witness after he was the victim of a hold up in a convenience store, so Rollins was not only providing support as the wife of a victim, but she was also supporting Benson as she convinced a rape victim to unnecessarily testify in the case as well.
“Shock Collar” sounds like a far more normal role for Sergeant Rollins and Captain Benson, even if it’s a reminder that their normal is anything but. They aren’t regular moms. They’re crime-fighting moms.
Law & Order: SVU airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.
Related: Why Chris Meloni Wrote Olivia Benson’s Story on ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’ Season 5 Premiere (Exclusive)
