Tonight on NBC Law & Order SVU returns with an all-new Thursday, February 22, 2024 episode and we have your Law & Order SVU recap below.
In tonight’s Law & Order SVU season 25 episode 5 “Zone Rouge,” as per the NBC synopsis, “A cryptic message sends SVU on a new track to find Maddie. Benson tries to help a federal agent when the case hits too close to home. Capt. Curry tries to make amends with Fin.”
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In tonight’s Law & Order SVU episode, the case of Maddie Flynn still haunts Captain Benson. Things may have changed. She might even have a new boss, but she never stopped looking for Maddie. Maddie was kidnapped in broad daylight. She had been taken by a man. He transported her in a van that Benson saw.
She saw her. She thought it was strange and she ignored her instincts. This was why she never let the case go. She blames herself for Maddie’s disappearance. She kept looking for her. She became obsessed and that’s when a miracle happened. There was an actual Maddie sighting. Maddie had short brown hair now. She was kept high on drugs. And she still managed to pass a sign that said “call NYPD” to someone on the train.
Maddie had been taken by someone known as George. George frequently used Amtrak. He claimed to a previous victim that he was from Canada and so it looks like he was heading to Cleveland. It’s in Ohio. He was trafficking Maddie. Benson saw the message after it was passed to her. She also saw the photo that the witness had taken.
She knew instantly that it was Maddie. She’s been studying Maddie’s face for the past month. She knew what she looked like in every angle. She also knew that she had to contact the FBI. Maddie had been taken across state lines. This was usually the feds’ jurisdiction.
The feds didn’t want to rush into anything. They didn’t think that photo alone was credible enough evidence. NYPD also didn’t want to exhaust manpower or pay for their own to go to Pittsburgh.
Benson contacted Pittsburgh’s SVU. They got note for three days after Maddie was sighted. With the photo now, Benson had her unit search security cameras out of Buffalo. They found one of Maddie with George. George was keeping Maddie high on fentanyl he dissolved in her water bottle. The cops learned all of that from Tanya. The previous victim.
Tanya was doing better now. She was drug free. She even has a job now and she identified George. She explained about the water bottle as well. That was all she could say before she had to return to work only it had been enough.
The cops knew they were on the right lead. Benson stopped caring about what the new acting Chief thought about it. She hopped in her car and she drove to Pittsburgh. It was revealed that Maddie had given the note to a sleazebag known as Cash Bowford. He was a drug dealer.
Cash ignored the note at first. His baby mama found it in his laundry and she handed it over to Pittsburgh police. Benson headed to Pittsburgh because she wanted to talk to Cash.
Again, Cash was a drug dealer. He might be George’s supplier. The cops didn’t know for sure and so they questioned him. He lied to them. He lied to Benson. His baby mama was in the next room. She sang like a bird because she’s the one with the conscience. She said that Cash has this guy’s number. She had Cash’s phone. He gave it to her to hide it from the cops.
Heather then gave it to the cops. Special Agent Sykes from the FBI was working with Benson to track down George. They found out he was heading back to Pittsburgh based on the phone.
They couldn’t understand why until they found him on the train. George was suddenly flush with cash. He had sold Maddie. Probably to one of the people that bought her sex doll. George quickly lawyered up. He was extradited to New York. Benson questioned him. He was willing to say where Maddie was in return for a deal.
Benson was ready to turn it down. She didn’t like how George was playing with them. Or how he taunted Agent Sykes by guessing that the chief federal expert on child abduction had lost someone. Benson was all set to taunt George with Tanya when Fin announced they found George’s texts. George thought he had deleted them. Nothing deleted stays gone. George had sold Maddie to someone in Rochester. They have the man’s number. From that they learned his name. It was Leonard Flemming.
Fleming was thirty-five. He lives alone since his mother died. He has a juvie record for being a peeping tom. He usually spied on girls that are Maddie’s age. The cops went to Fleming’s home. He wasn’t there. They went to his mom’s old house. They found Maddie in the basement. They saw Fleming was watching them from the outside window. Benson went racing after him. She eventually arrests him. But it’s not over. They got Maddie back only it wasn’t over. Maddie has endured so much and no one wanted to put her through a trial.
Thankfully, neither Fleming nor George “hurt” Maddie.
Benson and Agent Sykes talked during the drive to Rochester. Sykes revealed that her sister had been taken. They were a year apart. Her sister disappeared on the way to the pool.
There were remains found. It took a year to get them DNA tested. It showed that the remains weren’t her sister. There were also photos of her sister showing that she was still alive int their hometown and they never found her. Sykes no longer believes that her sister is alive. She doesn’t feel her in the world. And after they saved Maddie, Sykes asked Benson to forget what she said and Benson couldn’t do that.
Sykes needed a new office on the east coast. She’s been bouncing around a lot. Benson offered to let Manhattan SVU be her permanent home. It would give the city access to the federal database. And so Benson couldn’t wait to welcome her.
Benson also didn’t get in trouble what she did and was instead rewarded at a press conference.
THE END!