Tonight on NBC Law & Order SVU returns with an all-new Thursday, April 17, 2025 episode and we have your Law & Order SVU recap below.
In tonight’s Law & Order SVU season 26 episode 19 “Play with Fire Pt. 2,” as per the NBC synopsis, “When the SVU and the 2-7 uncover a pattern of rape and murder targeting marginalized women, Carisi and ADA Price team up to charge the suspect with multiple crimes.”
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Continuing the case from the “Law & Order” episode, Captain Benson was looking for a cop killer. The cop that died was Detective Maria Recinos. She was the little girl that Benson rescued all those years ago. They reconnected recently and its why Maria knew that Benson could still be trusted. Maria was working a case. She was looking for a human trafficker when she across another perp. This second guy was also taking advantage of undocumented migrant women. He was sexually assaulting them. He thought he was safe with attacking those women because the victim themselves would never go to the cops. They feared being deported too much.
They found the original human trafficker that Maria was looking for. Tonight, they went looking for the man that killed Maria. Their best bet was Father Alberto. Or at least that’s what Maria’s supervisor felt they should start. Detective Paul Gomez demanded to help out with the case. He said Maria died on his watch. He should have taken her off the case when he wanted to. He also mentioned that Father Alberto knew all the undocumented women. Gomez was the one that believed the priest was in the best position to target them and so Detective Gomez went go talk to the priest with Captain Benson.
Father Alberto saw them. He ran off. They pursued him. He got into a fight with Gomez. Gomez was the first to get close to Father Alberto. Meaning Benson had no idea how Father Alberto got a grip on Gomez’s gun. She came upon them fighting over the gun and Gomez saying that the priest got it off him. Benson asked Father Alberto to let go of the weapon. He said “I can’t” and then gun went off. Gomez got shot in the shoulder. He quickly reached for his backup gun to shoot Father Alberto when he hit the ground.
Father Alberto died from his wounds. Yet, something about the scene seemed off to Benson. She couldn’t really see during the struggle and what she did see was that Gomez’s hand was laying on top of Father Alberto’s. Benson suspected that Gomez shot himself. It was like he said. Father Alberto was trusted by the women in that community. His shelter has rescued plenty of women off the street. He was known for protecting them against predators. There was no reason why he would suddenly become a predator himself.
The only thing that made sense was if Gomez was afraid of what Father Alberto knew. He was a priest after all. They told him everything in the confessional and they also sought guidance from him when they were scared. Ana was scared after Maria was killed. Ana was another murder victim She was first an assault victim and she trusted Maria enough to tell her about her sexual assault. They were both now dead. There’s no telling what the priest knew. Benson followed up on her hunch. She had Gomez’s blood on her jacket. She had that ran against the DNA sample found in Maria’s rape kit.
Gomez assaulted then murdered his own rookie. The DNA test proved it. Benson didn’t have a warrant for Gomez’s DNA and, while the test proved he was involved, she couldn’t get a wiretap on his phone. She didn’t have a legal leg to stand on. He could claim the sex was consensual. Neither the District Attorney nor his Assistant District Attorneys were willing to take such a risk. They needed an airtight case to move against a cop. Captain Benson was working with Lieutenant Brady and they visited Gomez’s hospital room. They pretended they were just dropping off flowers, but they did mention they had a lead.
They told Gomez that DNA was taken from Maria’s rape skit. Her body had been burned in an oil drum. Gomez seemed shocked that the DNA wasn’t destroyed by the fire. He waited until the cops left his room when he made a call. Benson would later learn it was to his lawyer, Rita Calhoun. Benson didn’t know about Calhoun until after she picked up her son from school and she spotted a man that was trying to talk Noah into getting in a car with him. Benson pursued that man. The guy looked really smug. And then he drove off.
Benson knew that Gomez was connected to that stranger. She reported what happened. She got some patrol officers to sit outside of her apartment while she went back to the DA’s office. She fought for a warrant for Gomez’s phone. She found out he called a lawyer. Not just any lawyer. He called a truly despicable lawyer. Rita was so hated that no good cop would ever hire her. There was also a third murder victim. Her name was Rosa Ortego. She was killed two years ago. They couldn’t find DNA on her when her body was first found.
There’s been updates to retrieval since then. Rosa was exhumed. They got DNA from her and it too was a match for Gomez. Gomez has slept with two women that were murdered the same way. The evidence was piling up against him. Benson was also right in that he wasn’t acting alone. Benson was right to suspect the man that tried to kidnap her son was connected to Gomez. He was. He showed up at the trial when a witness was telling everyone she saw Gomez fleeing the scene of a murder.
After the mystery man showed up, the witness pretended she wasn’t sure if it was Gomez after all. Gomez had tried to frame another man for the crime. He got his DNA by using a prostitute. The prostitute testified against him. She told everyone how she stole the other’s man condom from the trash for Gomez. Gomez also paid her for it. The evidence taken in together showed that Gomez is a predator and that he kills women for standing up to him. His little buddy was spotted by Benson. Benson called Stabler.
Stabler wasn’t afraid to break the rules when he feels like it. He followed the man into the bathroom. He identified him as a cop and threatened to kill him as well as Gomez if they ever come near Benson or her son again. There was also another witness they put on the stand. Her name is Cassie Reyes. She was Rosa’s friend. Cassie struggled with drugs and it didn’t help that Gomez was assaulting her. She told Rosa. Rosa admitted the same thing was happening to her. That’s when Rosa told Cassie that she was going to report Gomez.
It was the last thing she said before she was found murdered. Cassie also knew Maria. Maria was undercover at the time and she helped Cassie get clean. Cassie has since left the shelter. She was living with her fiancé. She wanted to start over only she couldn’t let Gomez keep getting away with his crimes. She testified against him. It was enough to convict him on all counts. They got him on rape and murder. Gomez was a dirty cop going to prison. Everyone knew he was going to be tortured to death in there.
Benson didn’t care about that though. She was just glad to get justice for Maria. She attended the funeral for all the victims with Lieutenant Brady. They made peace after they were fighting earlier about this case. They were both in a better place now. They might team up again later.
THE END