Law & Order Crossover Event Review: Play with Fire

The beauty of the Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, “Play with Fire,” crossover is that it feels like one big episode, rather than a puzzle of random moments from both teams together. The team members actually fit together very well.

Reid and Silva are the best example of this. Her previous work with homicide helps her understand how he is handling the investigation and be part of it without stepping on any toes. While at first it felt very much like homicide versus SVU, they end up finding a balance that helps lead to the real killer.

The only downfall to this team-up is Price and Carisi’s partnership. While they’re both doing their job in the stoic manner that represents them, they don’t bring anything to the table. Their work together doesn’t even stand out in the courtroom, where Rita Callhoun proves she is an experienced defense lawyer. Even though Rita loses, her work shines brighter than that of the duo.

The case is immediately connected to Benson when they discover the victim is Maria, the girl she rescued all those years ago. This places the captain at the center of the case, making us believe she will be the most important piece of this crossover.

However, she shares the spotlight (for the first time in a long time) with Brady. Maura Tierney doesn’t shy away from the legacy that Mariska Hargitay brings to the screen. She uses her many years of experience to stand Brady as tall as Benson, giving her the place she deserves in the investigation.

The women don’t always see eye-to-eye, but it is great to see two female characters in charge. While we’re used to seeing Benson in charge on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, it is rare to see two women work together in a male-dominated field. That is why the moments of tension between them are a bit disappointing.

It is great that the crossover shows that just because they are two women in charge, they don’t need to be on the same side, but it is also necessary to see them work together toward the same goal. In the end, it becomes clear there is so much tension between them because they’re approaching the case from different perspectives.

Benson approaches Maria’s death as a personal case that she needs to avenge. She once saved the little girl, and she can’t let that be for nothing, so the killer must be brought to justice.

Meanwhile, Brady thinks about Rosa, approaching the case with the guilt she carries for having never caught the man who killed her and spending so much time chasing the wrong man.

Benson and Brady are at the center of the case together, but their personalities are polar opposites. Even though she feels guilty, Brady manages to keep her composure and always be calm (in the field and the interrogation room). Meanwhile, Benson reminds us of Stabler.

Her attitude is strong-willed and more violent. Brady has to reel her in and remind her of her place when she comes too close to threatening a suspect and forcing a coerced confession. This is the kind of behavior Benson stopped Stabler and Voight from having in her interrogation room, but displays when someone she cares about has been killed.

While it’s understandable that Benson’s reaction is this because she once saved Maria, it would have had an even bigger impact on the audience if we had seen the relationship between the two women since they reunited. Benson mentions she had been trying to mentor Maria, but we never get to see that onscreen.

The same thing happens when her fiancé mentions that Maria looked up to Olivia. Wouldn’t it have been better to display this relationship during the season leading up to this?

Nevertheless, her connection to Maria is still fresh and raw in the audience’s hearts, so we feel Benson’s pain. It would be nice to see Olivia happy instead of constantly being made to face trauma and death.

For Benson and Stabler fans who had been waiting for a reunion on her show after witnessing her presence on Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 Episode 2, “Dante’s Inferno,” Stabler’s SVU moment didn’t disappoint.

Benson once said the only person she trusted to bring her son home safe was Stabler, so it makes sense that when she needs someone to go after the man who threatened her son, she calls (or texts) Stabler. Their connection is still as strong as it always has been, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens between them now that Stabler is officially back in the Dick Wolf Universe.

The Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit crossover is the perfect reminder of the quality these shows can deliver. Each character receives the treatment they deserve, allowing Brady and Benson to shine for their expertise, compassion, and caring nature.

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Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit air Thursdays at 8/7c and 9/8c on NBC.

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