Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Season 18
Season 18 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 17.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 18 Progress Shield
Terrorized
Sep 21, 2016 · 43 min
A young boy is found wandering alone in Central Park and the search for his parents leads to startling evidence of a planned mass casualty event in the city. As the SVU works with
Making a Rapist
Sep 28, 2016 · 43 min
Newly tested DNA evidence leads to the exoneration of a prisoner who served 16 years for a rape conviction. However, he's investigated again one day later in the wake of a shocking
Imposter
Oct 5, 2016 · 43 min
When a man uses a false identity to lure a vulnerable married woman to bed, Barba thinks the evidence amounts to rape.
Heightened Emotions
Oct 12, 2016 · 43 min
A sexually assaulted athlete's double life could destroy her Olympic career and ruin the case against her attacker; Rollins sister is released from prison on parole.
Rape Interrupted
Oct 26, 2016 · 43 min
A sergeant makes Benson choose between loyalty and duty when his son is accused of rape.
Broken Rhymes
Nov 9, 2016 · 43 min
A record label CEO and his protégé are questioned for their involvement in the assault of a transgender student.
Next Chapter
Jan 4, 2017 · 43 min
The SVU team investigates a woman has been sexually assaulted by a masked man, but she believes the rapist is the same man who went to jail for stalking her. Meanwhile, Tucker cont
Chasing Theo
Jan 11, 2017 · 43 min
A 6 year-old boy disappears from his bed in the midst of a wild, drug-fueled party thrown by his mother. With a child's life on the line, the case causes Benson to scrutinize her o
Decline and Fall
Jan 18, 2017 · 43 min
The powerful family of a retail empire closes ranks when a bartender accuses one of their own of rape.
Motherly Love
Feb 8, 2017 · 43 min
A teenaged boy uses a rifle to stop an assault on his mother, but soon learns the target was someone he knows.
Great Expectations
Feb 15, 2017 · 43 min
The SVU investigates the players of a top youth hockey team after a vicious locker room hazing.
No Surrender
Feb 22, 2017 · 43 min
Fin revisits his military roots when a fellow Army Ranger struggles to recover from a sexual assault.
Genes
Mar 22, 2017 · 43 min
An investigation hits a nerve with Benson when a suspect claims his genetics causes him to commit rape.
Net Worth
Mar 29, 2017 · 43 min
A top-level investment banker accuses her billionaire client of rape.
Know It All
Apr 5, 2017 · 43 min
A man under investigation for rape and murder threatens to expose the secrets of those working the case.
The Newsroom
Apr 26, 2017 · 43 min
Benson and Barba ask witnesses to put their jobs on the line after a news anchor makes an on-air disclosure of rape against her boss.
Real Fake News
May 3, 2017 · 43 min
A fake news story leads the squad to a real child sex trafficking ring.
Spellbound
May 10, 2017 · 43 min
A popular spiritual guru with a dark past is accused of rape.
Conversion
May 17, 2017 · 43 min
A young woman visiting NYC with her church group is raped by a friend.
American Dream (1)
May 24, 2017 · 43 min
A hate crime is committed against a Muslim family, resulting in the death of their daughter. Things get complicated when a crucial witness in the case is deported, forcing Barba to
Sanctuary (2)
May 24, 2017 · 43 min
In the 18th-season finale, two families seek justice for their loved ones in the wake of a suspect's unexpected release. Soon, public protests on the matter escalate to violence, l