<p id=”par-1_38″><em><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/law-and-order-svu/”>Law & Order SVU</a></em> star Mariska Hargitay has gone up against several dangerous criminals during <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/mariska-hargitay-didnt-mind-playing-olivia-benson-long.html/”>her long time playing Olivia Benson</a>. But there was one character that Hargitay insisted needed to return despite the pain he caused Benson.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-mariska-hargitay-felt-olivia-benson-could-only-heal-after-bringing-back-this-character”>Mariska Hargitay felt Olivia Benson could only heal after bringing back this character</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Law-Order-SVU-Mariska-Hargitay.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Mariska Hargitay talking to someone in an episode of ‘Law & Order SVU’.” class=”wp-image-3766400″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Mariska Hargitay | David Giesbrecht / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-2_92″>Many characters have had a lasting impact on Benson, even the criminals she’s put away. William Lewis, however, might’ve been the villain with the most effect on Benson. Played by Pablo Schreiber, Lewis was a serial rapist who held Benson captive for four days before she managed to free herself. During that time, Lewis both physically and psychologically tortured Benson in an episode that <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/law-order-svu-difficult-episode-changed-mariska-hargitays-dna.html/”>completely changed Hargitay’s DNA</a>. But even after Lewis was caught, Hargitay felt Benson needed to face her abductor one last time before SVU completely moved on from him.</p>
<p id=”par-3_12″>“I’m pitching a last one with him,” Hargitay once told <a href=”https://www.eonline.com/news/496912/mariska-hargitay-on-what-s-next-for-benson-directing-svu-and-preparing-for-her-eventual-exit”>E! News</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-4_50″>“I want him back. I have such a good idea. I already told Warren [Leight]. It leaves it open and it’s so painful and Olivia is left in pain, which I don’t like,” Hargitay added. “I don’t have closure. And so I want closure. I know how to get it.”</p>
<p id=”par-5_45″>When Lewis and Benson faced each other in court, Benson lied about the way she neutralized Lewis after her escape. Lying while on stand was one of the many ways Lewis changed Hargitay’s character, but Hargitay felt it was necessary to put Lewis behind bars.</p>
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<p id=”par-6_91″>“[S]he is lying and struggles with lying. It’s this idea of lying—‘I’m a cop, I don’t lie. I’m about justice and the truth’—and yet it was this: ‘Do I lie and put this guy away because I know that he is evil? I know he is evil. I need to deal with evil, I need to deal with it the way that I can. The way that I can deal with it doesn’t feel good and I’m scared to death of it. It scares the s*** out of me,’” Hargitay said.</p>
<p id=”par-7_31″>In many ways, Hargitay didn’t even feel like she was playing the same character anymore after Benson’s experience with Lewis. Which made Hargitay uncertain about how Benson would handle the trial.</p>
<p id=”par-8_93″><em>“</em>[It’s] completely the first time she’s testifying as a victim,” Hargitay said in an interview with <em><a href=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56-QqETLveM&ab_channel=ScreenSlam”>Screen Slam</a></em>. “And, really feeling, which is a testament to Warren Leight and [writer Julie Martin], feeling like a new character and not able to define herself anymore and is utterly changed from what happened. It’s certainly an actor’s dream to have a new character 15 years in. But it’s been an extremely painful process, so she is processing everything in a new way, and quite frankly doesn’t know if she’s gonna make it through the trial.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-mariska-hargitay-got-her-wish-with-beast-s-obsession”>Mariska Hargitay got her wish with ‘Beast’s Obsession’</h2>
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<div class=”related-article related-article–simple”>
<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
<p class=”related-article__title”>
<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/mariska-hargitay-says-doesnt-need-law-order-svu-anymore.html/”>
Mariska Hargitay Says She Doesn’t Need ‘Law & Order SVU’ Anymore </a>
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<p id=”par-9_52″>Although “Surrender Benson” was <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/mariska-hargitay-once-called-this-law-order-svu-episode-the-hardest-shes-ever-shot.html/”>the hardest episode Hargitay ever shot</a>, she and <em>SVU</em> welcomed Lewis back under similar circumstances in “Beast’s Obsession.” This episode saw the criminal break out of prison one last time. The showrunner back then, Leight, turned to a classic television series to use as inspiration for the episode.</p>
<p id=”par-10_68″>“When we thought about it, we thought a lot about the final <em>Fugitive</em> episode which took place at an abandoned amusement park. I just wanted big real estate for the last acts of the episode…He’s taken a young girl hostage and Olivia knows there’s only one way to get this girl freed and that’s what he wants her to know,” Leight said in a separate <a href=”https://www.eonline.com/news/520272/pablo-schreiber-returning-to-law-order-svu-for-a-dangerous-confrontation-with-mariska-hargitay-s-benson”>E! News</a> interview.</p>
<p id=”par-11_20″>He also reassured fans that Hargitay would get the closure she was looking for, although not without revisiting old traumas.</p>
<p id=”par-12_61″>“I think it’s going to provide some closure, but exacerbate and reopen—it’s not great for your PTSD to have the guy who took you hostage escape from prison and try and lure you into a one-on-one confrontation. It’s going to in some ways reopen some of those wounds and he knows exactly what he wants and what he’s doing,” he said.</p>