Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 25 Episode 4, “Duty to Report,” hits close to home when the victim turns out to be McGrath’s (Terry Serpico) daughter. As complicated as it might be, Benson (Mariska Hargitay) must investigate what happened the night of Shea’s attack. However, McGrath doesn’t make it any easier.

As always, Benson’s priority is the survivor, and she won’t stop until she gets justice for Shea. That is why she doesn’t hesitate to call in IAB when McGrath threatens a suspect and pulls out his gun on the perp’s father.

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The Case

Benson showing her badge.

The episode starts off by setting up the case by showing a teenager biking at night and arriving at a party. He immediately starts looking for Shea, and by the time he finds her, we know she is the victim. Saagar, her math tutor, found the teenage girl in her bed, almost passed out.

We have no idea who the victim is until Benson’s therapist mentions she’s been having some issues with a patient. According to what the girl told her, the therapist believes she was sexually assaulted. She wants Benson to help the young girl but knows it might be a conflict of interest since the girl is McGrath’s daughter, and he is Benson’s boss.

But Benson doesn’t back down from any cases, and she never leaves survivors alone, so she shows up at Mcgrath’s home asking to speak to his daughter. Even though he is hesitant, McGrath allows them to talk. It is then that Shea tells Olivia what happened to her. As she retells the events of the night, she mentions it was her math tutor who assaulted her.

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Even though Benson is set on taking the cases and not passing them over to Brooklyn SVU, Fin (Ice T) and Bruno (Kevin Kane) are a bit more hesitant because it’s McGrath they are dealing with. Their fears come true when McGrath barges in during the interrogation of the math tutor and threatens to kill him.

Not long after that, the detectives confirm that Saagar did not assault Shea. This confirmation, plus McGrath’s behavior, pushes Captain Curry (Aime Donna Kelly) from IAB to be present at all times while the case is being investigated. Of course, McGrath and his wife don’t like this one bit, but there is nothing they can do about it.

As they begin to question Shea about the night of her attack again, she confesses she had lied about her math tutor. The truth is she was afraid to say who had assaulted her because his family lived right across the street and his dad had been good friends with McGrath for a long time.

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With the new name, Benson, Fin, and Curry show up at the kid’s home to take him in for interrogation. The dad tries to call McGrath, but he doesn’t answer the phone. At first, Fin and Carisi (Peter Scanavino) try to play it off nicely and say they know someone had assaulted Shea, but when Liam says he had sex with her, the dad tells him that’s enough. He is now lawyering up and the squad cannot touch him.

In order to get more evidence for Carisi to press charges, Fin and Bruno begin questioning the kids who were present at the party. It is then that they discover the math tutor had a camera in his helmet and the footage from that night shows that Shea had spoken to another girl right after the assault. That is the outcry witness Carisi needs.

After confirming with the girl that Shea told her she had been attacked, Liam is taken into custody. Instead of going to trial, because Shea’s parents don’t want her to testify, they are able to cut a deal, and Liam will be going to juvie for three years.

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Soon after the deal is made, there is a call to 9-1-1 about a domestic disturbance at Liam’s place. His dad had attacked him, and while trying to stop him, his mom had gotten injured. She is taken to the hospital, but before tells Benson that she wishes she had told someone years ago.

McGrath’s End

Benson talking to McGrath.

Because the case is so closely related to McGrath, nobody is surprised when he shows up in the squad room. However, things get pretty heated when he breaks into the interrogation room and threatens to kill Saagar if he did, in fact, assault his daughter. After this incident, Benson reports him to IAB.

In IAB, Benson talks to Curry (the captain who investigated her) and tells her that McGrath isn’t aware Benson is reporting him, but she knows it has to be done. From that moment on, Curry is present at every interrogation and keeping a close eye on McGrath.

It is Shea’s mom who asks Benson to call off IAB, saying McGrath has promised to be on his best behavior. When Benson refuses to, she accuses the captain of coming for her husband’s job.

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Despite Shea’s mom’s behavior, Benson continues to investigate. The night they arrest Liam, McGrath and his dad get into a fight. While Liam’s father calls Shea a slut, McGrath pulls out his gun and threatens to shoot him. Benson and Fin are the ones who have to stop him from doing anything crazy.

After the 9-1-1 call, McGrath shows up at the hospital to check in on Liam’s mom. He blames himself for not seeing what was going on in the house across from him. But he mostly blames himself for acting up and letting everyone down.

That same night, Benson and Curry get together and Curry informs her that McGrath has been transferred and 1PP is looking for a replacement.

Benson: Therapy and a New Partner

Curry smiling at Benson in Law and Order: Special Victim's Unit episode, 'Duty to Report'

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 25 Episode 4, “Duty to Report,” is the first time we see Benson meeting with her new therapist. This session focuses on her discussing what happened to Maddie. Benson has flashbacks of the last time she saw Maddie.

Even though Benson can still recall every missing child she’s ever looked into, Maddie has hit her the most and that is something her therapist mentions. But she points out that there might be something else going on in Benson’s life. It is then that the therapist asks about the compass necklace and the man who gave it to her.

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While she is getting help from her therapist personally, professionally she has the help of Captain Curry. After discussing McGrath’s transfer, they talk about the possibility of Curry joining Manhattan SVU. Curry would be a change to the all-male squad Benson is now leading.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit airs Thursdays at 9 PM on your NBC affiliate.

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