It is only a matter of time before fans can finally check back on the Special Victims Unit in "Law & Order: SVU" season 17. The team will be dealing with a teacher-student affair gone wrong in the upcoming episode titled "Catfishing Teacher."
The group will discover that a student who decided to sleep with her teacher has gone missing. As they investigate, the team finds out that there are two "predators" that are victimizing students in the campus, thus, complicating the search for the perpetrator.
An intense promo for the upcoming "Law & Order: SVU" season 17 episode teases that the investigation will lead to a campus-wide manhunt. The group may even end up walking in on the person responsible and the student in the middle of their hook-up.
Meanwhile, the episode after "Catfishing Teacher" will put Benson in grave danger. "Townhouse Invasion," which is deemed "the scariest episode of the season," will see Mariska Hargitay's character taken hostage as she attempts to put a stop to a violent home invasion.
In an interview with TV Guide, executive producer Warren Leight painted a picture of what could happen to Benson in this dreaded "Law & Order: SVU" episode, saying that they "haven't quite gone this far with her since the William Lewis stuff."
William Lewis, as fans will remember, is an extremely dangerous "professional rapist" who first appeared in season 14. Benson fell into the hands of Lewis, who tortured her by forcing her to take sleeping pills, whiskey, and vodka while he torched her with cigarettes and heated keys.
This is why there is a reason to fear for Benson's safety when "Law & Order: SVU" season 17 returns. While it is not crystal clear how Benson will put herself in unthinkable peril, Leight was generous enough to give a teaser.
"We're going to start out with a moment in which she drops her guard just for a moment and gets herself into a horrible, threatening situation," the EP told TV Guide. "She'll be dealing with the after-effects of that for a little while," he added.
"Law & Order: SVU" season 17 returns Jan. 6 on NBC.
