'Law & Order: SVU' Season 23 Episode 10: Olivia's Chirstmas gets murkier with hate crimes

Olivia Benson and her team were immersed in one of their most dangerous cases in recent times
UPDATED JAN 7, 2022
Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson in 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 23 (NBC)
Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson in 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 23 (NBC)

‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’ is back after a small hiatus and while everyone else is busy celebrating Christmas, Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and the team are busy solving one of the hardest cases of their lives. On ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’, we already saw that Olivia did not attend Elliot Stable’s (Christopher Meloni) Christmas party. The latest episode of ‘SVU’ was a chance for viewers to know if Benson will make it to the party or not.

However, it seems the team had their hands full. The entire unit was busy with a case that actually took the whole nation by storm. The city has been rocked by a series of hate crimes on the occasion of Christmas and the culprit is still at large. The team is trying hard to catch whoever is doing it and that’s when they get to know that the issue is escalating.

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The team gets the news of a mosque being bombed by someone and they realize that it’s nothing, but hate crimes against the minority communities. During the investigation, the NYPD meets a man named Don Johnson and he becomes one of the suspects. The team gets information about him and as soon as they were about to get him, a person on a bike shoots him. He is safe and admitted to the hospital. Don’s real name is Darko and when police search his apartment, they find several bombs in his apartment closet.

The investigation gets even more intense when Ruz gets the information that four bombs are still with the people who are behind these hate crimes and they might strike again soon. This is when Olivia decides to interrogate him and that leads them to AJ. Odafin and his team arrest AJ and also help them in reaching a man who is an important part of the plan.

A still from 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 23 (NBC)

He finally gives in and tells them where they are because his wife is also involved in the bombings. Olivia and her entire team catch them and tell them to surrender. The woman surrenders and tells the man that it’s over, but he doesn’t surrender and says that he has a bomb. As soon as he reaches out to detonate the bomb, Olivia shoots him on the head and kills him. Everyone is shocked, including Olivia. The woman says thank you for doing that because the movement was looking for a martyr for motivation and she just gave them that.

The episode ends with Benson and her team anticipating what could happen next. So now, we know that Olivia never made it to Elliot’s Christmas party and she might get in a little bit of trouble for killing that guy. On the other hand, it might escalate hate crimes in the city and the entire group may come out and strike once again. This time, it might be more deadly than the previous incidents. 

'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Season 23 returns to NBC with a new episode every Thursday at 9 pm EST. 

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