Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 25 Episode 12 Review: Marauder

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 25 Episode 12, “Marauder,” brings the resolution to a decades-old cold case that involves Sykes’s sister. However, getting there isn’t as exciting or as thrilling as one imagined the case would be when Sykes was introduced.

Benson’s eagerness to solve the case is borderline obsessive. Only Velasco seems to be the one bold enough to voice this concern before being disregarded by Bruno, who claims Benson is just looking to bring closure to the families.

But is it really about the families? Or is Benson trying to prove what she can do 25 years into the SVU?

The season’s theme seems to be that Benson doesn’t give up on the victims. This has been very clear since the beginning of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, but these days, it feels that’s all Benson is trying to prove.

Even though this is remarkable and one of the reasons that makes Benson one of the best characters on TV, we wonder if she has stopped respecting boundaries in order to solve a case.

This time, she goes behind Sykes’s back to solve her sister’s disappearance. Ultimately, it pays off, and the team finds the killer, but why not respect Sykes’s wishes?

For a moment, Benson forgets the importance of listening to the victims’ families in cases like this one. The pain is still there, and most don’t want to relive every minute of the investigation.

We understand Benson’s motive, but she should have taken another route to solve this case — one that involved Sykes.

Sykes isn’t a likable character. As the audience, we haven’t connected with her or her storyline.

The only thing that made us want to see more of her was the story of her sister’s disappearance. Every time they mentioned it, it was a hint that the case would be revisited throughout Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 25 with the possibility of Benson solving the case.

Given that, it is extremely disappointing to see that Sykes’s involvement in the case is non-existent. Instead of working with her, Benson goes behind her back.

Crystal Sykes’s name isn’t mentioned in the squad room until Sykes discovers what is happening and says Benson didn’t even have the decency to put her picture on the board. Her reaction to the case being reopened isn’t what we thought it would be with previous mentions of her sister.

In the end, Sykes is left heartbroken, and as the audience, we see nothing of interest in her character. There seems to be no point in her staying at Manhattan SVU.

Fin is the only one capable of pointing out Benson’s mistakes for her. Even though he doesn’t say, “I told you so,” he tells her how terrible it is that her words pushed someone to create a fake confession.

From the moment Benson tells him they’re working on Crystal Sykes’s cold case, Fin is on the fence about it. On the one hand, he believes Sykes should be involved or at least know what Benson is doing.

On the other hand, he wonders what will happen with 1PP when they find out Benson is working on this cold case. This, luckily, is quickly resolved when one of the victims belongs to their jurisdiction.

We understand why Benson wants to solve the case, but is pushing for a false confession really necessary? Fin’s annoyance and frustration make perfect sense.

Her words carry more weight than she realizes; this time, they could have cost a man his freedom.

Even though she goes behind Sykes’s back and acts borderline obsessive with the case, Benson solves it and brings closure to the families — exactly like Bruno says she is trying to do.

It is always rewarding to see a rapist and a killer be brought to justice, and it’s extra nice to see the entire team working together to achieve it. As disappointing as it is that Sykes isn’t involved in solving her sister’s case, she has never felt like a part of the squad.

Hopefully, the Manhattan SVU team will continue to work together on the season finale of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 25.

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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit airs Thursdays at 9/8c on NBC.

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