‘Law & Order: SVU’ Season 21, Episode 12: Fans React to a Shocking Death
This week’s episode of Law & Order: SVU holds a deeper meaning, specifically to bring awareness about suicide among law enforcement and sexual assault survivors. Episode 12 was also deeply personal for Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay). Read on to learn what happened and how fans are reacting to a shocking death that hit a little too close to home.
Episode 12 is called ‘The Longest Night of Rain’
Viewers will remember Ed Tucker (John Burke), Benson’s old boyfriend and internal affairs agent. He plays a key role in this episode. Things start out innocent enough with Benson at a party for Tucker’s retirement. He’s been busy and has gotten married and seems ready to live a life away from the hustle and bustle of internal affairs.
Next, a former officer arrives on the scene by the name of Rachel Wilson (Holly Robinson Pete). She accuses Tucker of blatantly ignoring her own report of rape. The former officer then goes out to her car and commits suicide.
Tucker admits he’s dying
Benson and Tucker have the opportunity to reconnect before the unthinkable happens. Tucker admits to Benson that he’s dying of brain cancer. The shocking reveal wasn’t the end to the story. The SVU detectives eventually get Gary Wald (Michael Gaston) for his assault on Wilson.
However, the suicides didn’t stop there. Kat Azar’s (Jamie Gray Hyder) old sergeant takes his life after they speak with him about the case. But that isn’t the end to the tragedy. Tucker takes his life as well and Benson has a really tough time dealing with what’s happened.
Fans react to this week’s ‘SVU’ episode
Viewers had mixed feelings about this week’s episode. There were a lot of deaths. One described it as “lazy writing” and that it could have been done differently.
“This may have been the worst episode,” a Reddit user wrote. “The main ‘plot’ was barely important. The suicides felt super irresponsible and the Tucker crap was just a stupid attempt to get an emotional reaction. Just awful.”
Some say they really enjoyed the episode and that it got to them. “I actually liked it, made me very emotional,” another Reddit user expressed.
One Reddit user said they couldn’t finish the episode and in fact, they couldn’t even make it past 15 minutes. “I watched for about 15 minutes and was bored out of my mind so I switched to Friends instead,” a Reddit user admitted. “I absolutely hate these ‘blast from the past’ episodes, especially when the entire episode revolves around it. It’s one thing if there’s a separate case that’s actually interesting. But nope they had to tie everything in to this soap opera drama.”
Emotional fans weigh in with their thoughts
A lot of viewers on Twitter are emotional at the losses this week. “So powerful— and sad,” a Twitter user wrote.
“Wow!!!!…Great episode,” another wrote.
“Indeed. A downpour…😞 #SVU21 #TheLongestNightOfRain,” another Twitter user expressed.
Some fans are worried about how all the trauma affects Benson. “Sometimes I really worry about Olivia. Yeah, I know she is strong and always gets through things, but I worry. This was an amazing episode,” another user said.
One Twitter user didn’t like the fact that Tucker was killed off at all. They actually wanted him and Benson to stay together.
“You didn’t have to kill him off. Olivia and Tucker should have been together for the duration of the show,” the Twitter user said. “But if not he at least could have stayed for his character. Too many changes too fast. And too many rains from my eyes.”
Fans are clearly still reeling from the losses on the latest episode of SVU.
