SVU's Benson and Stabler Become the Hunted — Plus, Grade the Finale!

The Law & Order: SVU/Organized Crime crossover that started last week came to its conclusion Thursday as the season finales of both shows chronicled the hunt for the criminal mastermind behind a rape-and-murder-for-hire website. Most of the first hour, however, was spent with the team spinning its wheels — and the site’s creator shutting it down, leaving them nearly without a lead.

Read on for the highlights of SVU‘s hour, titled “All Pain Is One Malady.” (And make sure to check out our recap of the Organized Crime episode, too.)

The chief puts pressure on Olivia to nail down the open rape cases in New York — and he doesn’t care much about the operation to shut down the Shadowërk creator. She points out that the guy clearly has his eye on the federal warrant system and likely NYPD tech as well, but McGrath doesn’t want to hear it: He wants suspects in the open rape cases arrested and arraigned that day.

So all of the suspects, including Junior Suarez, are hauled into court. Meanwhile, a Shadowërk rape victim named Kate who’s staying in town as the NYPD investigates her case goes for a walk and winds up getting sexually assaulted by a stranger. Fin and Bruno talk to her and find out that she was forced to perform oral sex on the man; though the M.O. was different from her first rape, and the guy who ordered the first attack is in prison and had no way to buy a follow-up.

Meanwhile, Jet introduces a virus into Shadowërk and it seems to be working in terms of gumming up the server — yet the process isn’t quick enough for a frustrated McGrath. And when the site’s creator shuts down Shadowërk, leaving the team without any leads except for the seemingly innocuous office where it’s physically located, the chief is apoplectic and blames Jet.

Rollins swings by Liv’s office to discuss the case. “The site is his sole reason for being alive,” she says. “He’s not selling revenge. He’s trying to take it on the world.” Liv notices how lit-up Rollins gets when talking about the absolute scum of humanity and they talk about how bored she is teaching. In fact, they basically have the same conversation Rollins and Stabler had last week, but they’re both so smiley, I’m not even mad about it.

Then Kate’s rapist, who also assaulted a 14-year-old boy, attacks a man in a subway station… and gets a knife in the ribs in return. When the guy goes to a clinic to get stitched up, Bruno and Fin nab him. And because Kate can make a positive ID, and the rapist left DNA at all three crime scenes, it’s a slam-dunk: He’s looking at life, no chance of parole.

Eventually, it’s just Liv and El left at the precinct. “I wish I could bottle this,” he said as they joked around while eating takeout Chinese. He asks her about the unopened Christmas present in her office, which is from Noah’s half-brother’s family. She won’t let him open it, and he thinks he knows why: “Whatever’s inside this box, you’re afraid it’s too normal.” He says that “too normal” is a concept that scares her to death. Their conversation is interrupted when they see, via the video feed in Ohio, that an IT person has suddenly announced he’s going to come by and fix their problem.

Liv and El, as well as the FBI team in Ohio, watch as the guy — a college kid — fakes his way into the building and attempts to take the server with Shadowërk on it. The FBI rushes in to arrest him, and Stabler and Benson hop a flight to Ohio. But when they arrive, the team back in New York calls with bad news: The site is back up, running faster than ever, and there’s a high-paying hit on both liv and El now posted.

Now it’s your turn. What did you think of the finale? Grade it, and the season as a whole, via the polls below!

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