"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" Surrender Benson (TV Episode 2013) Poster

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10/10
Best Character ARC in the whole Franchise!
NemoToad3692 July 2015
I honestly believe that this particular story-line revived the whole SVU series. First off, The acting is just absolutely 110% there with everybody giving their best, including Hartigay (Olivia Benson) & Schreiber (William Lewis). Throughout these 5 episodes and the few or so in-between (when Schreiber doesn't appear), we get to see a total transformation of Benson as her character goes through an unbelievable ordeal with a Serial Killer/Rapist. Everything from supporting characters to costumes and special effects, right down to the music chosen (When Two Worlds Collide) could not have been more captivating. I have to say that the acting was far beyond superb and the dialog was written so perfect that the first episode of this ARC just draws you in on the edge of your seat holding your breath in suspense. Schreiber was so convincing in playing his part and Hartigay hasn't had that great of a chemistry with anyone since Christopher Meloni was her partner. I gotta say that the suspense of waiting a whole summer what happened definitely renewed my interest and many of the people I know who were avid fans SVU. And the 1st episode of Season 15 picks up right were it left off becoming "Part II" of this incredibly shocking and suspenseful Story-line. We get to see how Benson becomes traumatized as she becomes the victim and become bewildered how her character endures on while she breaks down.

I tried not to mention anything that would spoil it if you haven't seen it. If you still have not seen them and you are a fan of SVU in particular, than it is definitely worth renting or buying the seasons on Amazon's Instant Video and watching them in a one or two day marathon. Trust me, you won't regret it! It will be some of the best acting you have ever seen on television.
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10/10
Lewson: Pure Nervous
yazguloner30 July 2021
The first act of the struggle between Delinquents and the Law was introduced in the previous chapter. Barba and Svu tried everything but to no avail. The criminal, who made a strong defense by using the law or legal loopholes, was released.

Encouraged by this, hunter Lewis chooses a big prey to celebrate: Nypd police detective Olivia Benson.

After this episode, I started to follow svu constantly and watch all its seasons.

Frankly, the first time I watched it, when the scene where the serial rapist and murderer Lewis is pointing a gun at Olivia is finished... Svu calculated that, Nick and Fin will raid there with their guns, Munch and Amanda will handcuff Lewis, Brian I thought i would throw a few punches at him and Cragen and Barba would send him to the bars he deserved. The story in my head was that simple. Because it was always like that.

However, when the first act of Season 15 opened, I was shocked. I never expected, all that. Actually I should have understood, I had Svu in front of me and it was unpredictable. Therefore, I figured out that Svu has an iconography. So everything became clearer.

The first episode of Lewis' hunt for Olivia was told through Alice Parker (Judith Ivey).

"Ain't we got fun?" listens to the song. Because he knows what he wants. It is clear. He does not question whether it is good or bad. He wants to bring out the bad inside of Olivia by removing her good personality and police identity. He had access to the brain and emotions of the other person: Olivia's father.

We learn that Lewis was his father who turned into a monster , who was abused by his caregiver. So, He played like a cat and mouse with the law.

There was a murderer committed in 7s 19e who discovered Olivia and Elliot's weaknesses. Also; On 9s 15e, Olivia was seriously attacked. And on 9s 12e, law or execution in the face of a cold-blooded murderer? The dilemmas of becoming a beast among beasts were questioned.

At this point, Olivia for the first time in a long time, remembers Elliot at this difficult moment. He talks about his comfort and unquestioningness when he used violence as a police officer.

When Olivia takes control, her showdowns with Lewis are the moments of questioning where her battle begins, whether the law will win or the beast will win.

At first, when Olivia was in the hands of the beast Lewis, that is, the policeman was in the hands of the delinquent, the picture has now changed. She is in the hands of the delinquent police, she. So what will happen next? What will happen after that contains many questions and problems.

Should Olivia make Lewis pay for what he did to her? God she knows we all hit Lewis's head. Without question, should she act like Elliot... But then what's the difference between the macho cop Elliot and a sadistic beast?

So does the law know every trick against delinquents who try every trick? Should you believe or trust the Law?

While handcuffed beast Lewis and cop Olivia face off, which path will the better Olivia win?

Should Olivia, the guardian of the law, shoot the beast right now and get away with every chance she has?

As Olivia said, the easy way is the way. Implementing "criminal justice" is always the easy way out.

There is no difference between being shot and killed or raped and killed but short-term satisfaction. But waiting for justice to be served is a long road. Must have serious patience. The hardest way, though, is to solve the problem from the source.

Because, instead of eliminating one beast William Lewis at that moment, reckoning with the law would mean destroying many like beast William Lewis.

Think of it this way, instead of using violence in the face of injustice, we raise our two hands to the sky and pray patiently. We believe in divine justice. There is no difference between justice and belief!

In that moment of reckoning, Olivia is faced with a large mirror, an iconographic element. Olivia looks in that mirror and puts the gun in her hand by the mirror. She prefers and knows what she wants. But she is traumatized. She can't take the provocation any longer and takes the iron rod instead of the weapon.

She leaves what is lethal. (weapon) She takes what is destructive. (iron bar). They are now equated with fractures and wounds.

Looking at herself in the mirror again and cutting her hair... is wanting to get rid of what she's been through.

Now, the war between the law and the beast turns into chaos.

This story series is one of Svu's masterpieces. And Lewis Svu is the badass in history.
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10/10
Begins Season 15 with a bang
TheLittleSongbird1 August 2022
Season 15's opener "Surrender Benson" picks up from where the cliffhanger of the wonderful Season 14 finale "Her Negotiation". Having loved that episode that much and considering it by far one of the show's best season finales, hopes were high for "Surrender Benson" on first watch. The promos were truly harrowing to watch and there was a lot of hype, on first watch the hype was lived up to and more and quite a lot of episodes have fared very well on re-watch.

One of those "quite a lot of episodes" is "Surrender Benson". And it fares more than very well on re-watch, everything comes over as even better now and it is one of not many episodes of 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' that whole-heartedly lives up to the huge amount of hype prior to airing. The show varied with its season openers (though much more so with its season finales), and "Surrender Benson" is one of the best ones in my view and one of the best episodes of Season 15.

The good things are pretty much endless and they are more than good. First and foremost, Mariska Hargitay's performance here is one of her best of the show where she has material that plays to her strengths. Her performance here is intense, yet her vulnerability is also harrowing. Even better is Pablo Schreiber, who is every bit as bone chilling as he was in "Her Negotiation" as one of the show's most talked about and widely lauded recurring characters. The chemistry between Hargitay and Schreiber is nothing short of scintillating.

It is their chemistry that would have been perhaps the most important component/ingredient to get right and would make or break the episode, and it's nailed in "Surrender Benson". The story is hard hitting and tension-laden, where Olivia's rescue is rooted for. The treatment of Olivia is truly hard to watch without being too heavy on the shock value, which it could easily have done. The ending is unexpected and shocking.

Even with the location number being more restricted, "Surrender Benson" is solid visually with some suitably nightmarish lighting in the beachhouse scenes. The photography is intimate but not claustrophobic. The music when used is not too over-emphatic and has a melancholic edge that is quite haunting. The direction is sympathetic enough without being leaden, while having enough momentum to make the drama sing in its atmosphere.

Furthermore, the script is constantly intriguing and taut. Lewis' taunting is not easy to forget in the long run.

Brilliant season opener. 10/10.
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10/10
Hard to Watch
kjh-8396630 March 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This was one of the top five most difficult episodes/SL's SUV has done. Watching Olivia helpless, at the hands of Lewis-a certifiable lunatic who was capable of playing 'normal' was 'edge of your seat' watching. While we have watched Liv in vulnerable positions before, this was unbearable. While I have come to accept and love Amaro and Rollins, all I kept thinking throughout the SL was 'please bring in Stabler just for this-he'd never let her be taken for this long!'. If there were ever a time for an essential guest appearance by Chris, it would have been this-even if only one episode to rescue her or show up as she was beating his sorry a$$! Watching that maniac pour vodka down her throat, taunting her with possible rape or death-I still have a very hard time watching it. Then to make her face him at trial with him representing himself, then escaping and luring her out-it seemed to never end. Even is self-inflicted death did not stop the inquisition Liv had to endure. The bullet through his brain was the most satisfying character death I have ever seen.
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10/10
Definitely one of the best arcs, I love Pablo Schreiber
UniqueParticle20 January 2021
Absolutely captivating 2 part episode! I'm shocked a few people judged it and even said is it becoming a soap opera that's dumb even with other episodes Law and Order: SVU has always stayed great at least since I got into it. As for other stuff I love the editing especially with Olivia I appreciate that in any cinematic form! Both parts are well done and I feel as if the show gets better from here onward.
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10/10
It's over and I can breathe again
barbararush-9583016 October 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The psychopathic rapist was actually terrifying. The detective, Hargitay, absolutely enabled us to feel her terror, rage, disgust, helplessness, and ultimately vindictiveness. I confess I cheered when she started whacking her captor with the metal pole. I was actually looking around my living room for a pole so I could join in with the thrashing he so richly deserved. Bravo to every actor in this episode. It was so well done. I would have liked to see Vanessa finding out how badly she had misjudged her client. This series is well written. I don't follow who writes what, but it really seems like Season 13 forward has improved 50 percent over earlier seasons. I'm actually watching it, rather than multitasking while I watch, for the most part, because it's riveting. (I binged the first 22 seasons in 2021.)
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8/10
Olivia's Ordeal
bkoganbing1 January 2014
This SVU episode is one that will truly convince you that some people are just pure evil, a concept that many find difficult to grasp. After his lawyer Lauren Ambrose gets him free creating reasonable doubt in the jury's mind, serial rapist Pablo Schreiber decides to celebrate by kidnapping and torturing Mariska Hargitay.

I suppose to be defense attorney one must believe that all are redeemable in some manner. I would suggest that Lauren Ambrose has probably changed her mind after this episode Schreiber doesn't leave her out of his sick twisted little mind.

This story is dominated by the attacker and his victim, Pablo Schereiber and Mariska Hargitay. Schreiber is terrifyingly good and Hargitay does some of her best work since SVU began.
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10/10
Best episode
carolhardman-073308 May 2020
This was the best episode ever. Olivia's performance was beyond outstanding.
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8/10
The criminal who can defeat God on His best day
chris-j-chuba15 January 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I'm giving this a high rating because it is good for type. This is one of those 'supernaturally gifted villain vs bafflingly dumb cops' stories. Stories like this are good in that you keep watching because you must see the villain get his comeuppance and this keeps building every time, he gets away with something. The actor who plays the villain, BIll Lews did very well. He gets under your skin.

This takes 4 episodes. This is part 1, the other 3 are 'Psycho/Therapist', 'Beast's Obsession', and ending with 'Post-Mortem Blues' (part 4).

The bad part about stories like this is that they have the cops do dumb things to keep the story going. It starts out well. The despicable Bill Lewis outwits the SVU because they underestimate him, and he catches a lucky break. But then it gets progressively more absurd. He can go anywhere and do anything with impunity. An example, he rapes and tortures a woman for 18 hrs leaving behind DNA with the victim immediately blurting out his name when the police arrive. But they end up discarding the DNA evidence, the victim/witness conveniently dies without warning shortly after leaving the hospital and they never use Lewis' statements from his interview. Oh no, he said 'hypothetically' before describing the crime, it's not a confession! Okay it's not a confession but the fact that he knows all the unpublished details is certainly worth mentioning to the jury (they don't). To make matters worse, Lewis puts them on the defensive by attacking Benson's part of the interview in the courtroom.

Regarding the DNA evidence, the medical examiner has no answer to provide when Lewis brings up the possibility of cross DNA contamination. That could give a false indication of Lewis presence if there was another perp but doesn't explain why ALL the DNA matches Lewis.

The dumb cop theme keeps getting worse when Lewis finally shoots himself to setup Benson for a murder charge. The IAB guys glare at her when Benson says that Lewis used his left hand to shoot himself. IAB, 'Det. Benson, Lewis is right-handed, why would he use his left hand!' Well, you could test his left hand for gun powder residue rather than create false drama for the 4th episode.

I liked Donal Logue's performance. Harvey from 'Gotham', he becomes an acting commander of SVU, and he was able to bring the fight to Lewis rather than flounder like the rest of the staff. I found this episode flawed but I can see how people could like it.
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7/10
Drawn out Episode for Olivia and SVU
philip-4723031 October 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I watched both parts one and two. I think the acting is fine for Olivia and her main Perp. My main problem with story line, we know the bad guy likes to punish his accusers. Why would the Captain send Olivia to her apartment with no Police escort?? The show almost runs off the rails for me. But I want to see what happens. I still like the show, but it has some small kinks.
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3/10
Horrible episode
scottca07515 June 2016
Warning: Spoilers
This is one of the worst L&O SVU's I've ever seen, but then again I think the show has been sliding downhill in its writing since about season 8 maybe.

The stories used to be realistic, a lot were pulled from actual incidents. At some point they went off the rails with psycho-dramas and focusing more on the recurring characters than on the story.

This was one of those episodes. It was a horribly written episode, the acting was terse and over the top. Then they started carrying the stories over several episodes, which made it worse. It is one thing to have continuity about a character's life, but it is dumb when they try to turn it into an episodic serial drama.
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1/10
bad actor, terrible story for a L&O show
martinmontano5028 January 2014
is this show turning into a soup opera? can there be a worst actor? he can only smile, laugh, smile... i hope next season goes back to the episode story itself, the police investigating, and the DA. trying to send to jail the offender, with a little bit of information about the main characters, but instead, now it is about each character personal life and drama, and they seem to hire actors with no performance abilities. and they seem to be running out of stories, again Olivia attacked, again almost rapped, again traumatized, again the offender almost getting out of it on trial (another wasted episode), so this never ends (at least they should had hire a better actor. This is the last L&O show on US TV, it is very important for us fans they can keep on the air. I love the show, i know they can do really better.
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