Lieutenant Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and the Special Victims Unit (SVU) will track down a peculiar kind of rapist in "Law & Order: SVU" season 18 episode 18.
In last week's episode, viewers saw the team go after a website owner who was spreading salacious rumors, which included issues about a certain restaurant being a sex trafficking ring and a congressman being a protector of criminals. When the SVU was able to prove that the information on the website were all just lies, the owner targeted Benson and released an article about her adoptive son.
This week, according to the synopsis for episode 18 titled "Spellbound," the SVU will be investigating a spiritual healer, played by guest star Stuart Townsend, when a female client accuses him of rape. According to the woman, the healer was able to incapacitate and sexually assault her with the use of hypnosis.
NBC has released a trailer for the upcoming episode, and in the video, the said woman is seen telling Benson that her limbs "went really heavy" and she was "frozen." As per the police investigation, no drugs and alcohol were found in her system, which led Benson to ask: "Are you suggesting she was hypnotized?"
The preview also shows a few clips of what happened before the assault. The woman was in a room with a group of people during a spiritual retreat. They gathered around a table that had candles, incense, and a big bowl right in the middle. However, it was only her who filed a complaint against the healer. Based on the trailer, it looks like no other person in the group has reported anything.
"Law & Order: SVU" season 18 airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EDT on NBC.
The show also stars Kelli Giddish as Detective Amanda Rollins, Ice T as Detective Odafin Tutuola, Raúl Esparza as ADA Rafael Barba, and Peter Scanavino as Detective Sonny Carisi. Appearing as guests in the upcoming episode, aside from Townsend, are Kristen Hager as Abby Clarke, John Ellison Conlee as Jack Roe, Elizabeth Marvel as Rita Calhoun, and Akintola Jiboyewa as Lieutenant Richard Hill.
