Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 21 Episode Guide
Plot summaries for the twenty-first season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which aired on NBC from September 2019 to April 2020, featuring Olivia Benson, Det. Amanda Rollins, Sgt. Fin Tutuola, ADA Sonny Carisi and Officer Kat Tamin.
- 1
I'm Going to Make You a Star
A powerful media mogul is accused of sexually assaulting a young actress during a late-night audition, and his connections reach into the DA’s office.
- 2
The Darkest Journey Home
A young woman who blacked out on a night of heavy drinking believes she was raped after a ride home, and Benson uses a new interviewing technique to help her remember.
- 3
Down Low in Hell's Kitchen
A closeted pop star says he was assaulted by a serial rapist who targets Black men living on the down low, but his account falls apart as the squad closes in on the real attacker.
- 4
The Burden of Our Choices
A pregnant 13-year-old flees Ohio to get an abortion in New York, and her fight to end the pregnancy exposes years of abuse at home and sets off a legal battle with Ohio prosecutors.
- 5
At Midnight in Manhattan
Over one weekend, the short-staffed squad and Carisi juggle three new cases: a battered wife, a woman attacked after a ride-hail pickup and a transgender sex worker assaulted by a wealthy client.
- 6
Murdered at a Bad Address
DNA from the rape of a teenage girl in a housing project matches a 16-year-old double murder, suggesting the man imprisoned for killing his mother and sister is innocent.
- 7
Counselor, It's Chinatown
A raid on a Chinatown massage parlor uncovers trafficked women working off smuggling debts, and the squad follows the money from the parlor’s manager to its powerful owners.
- 8
We Dream of Machine Elves
Young women are found drugged with huge doses of DMT after being sexually assaulted, and the trail leads to a radical psychiatrist and his devoted followers.
- 9
Can't Be Held Accountable
A retired detective asks SVU to stop a billionaire he believes is grooming his teenage daughters, but the case collapses in court and the father takes matters into his own hands.
- 10
Must Be Held Accountable
Enraged that a billionaire who abused his daughter walked free, a retired detective takes Rollins hostage while the squad works to put Getz behind bars.
- 11
She Paints for Vengeance
A stripper whose rape report was thrown away paints a billboard to force SVU’s attention, and Carisi faces a ruthless former judge in his first trial.
- 12
The Longest Night of Rain
When a former officer kills herself after accusing her old Vice captain of rape, SVU finds that Ed Tucker’s IAB inquiry let the case drop years earlier.
- 13
Redemption in Her Corner
Kat suspects a boxing coach of sleeping with a 16-year-old fighter, but when her rival knocks him out and he dies, SVU uncovers abuse in the rival’s own home.
- 14
I Deserve Some Loving Too
A subway groper gives up his boss at the immigration service, who demands sex from women seeking green cards, and Rollins goes undercover as a bride to catch him.
- 15
Swimming with the Sharks
A wellness CEO reports that her finance chief raped her, then is accused of fraud and sexual assault herself as her executives work to push her out.
- 16
Eternal Relief from Pain
Rollins’s estranged sister, Kim, facing a parole violation, reports that her doctor demanded sex for painkillers, and the squad’s undercover work leads to a drug company that uses sex to win prescriptions.
- 17
Dance Lies & Video Tape
When a ballerina’s secretly filmed sex video turns up on a porn site, SVU uncovers a ballet company where male dancers trade such videos and the leadership uses them to coerce women.
- 18
Garland's Baptism by Fire
A church bookkeeper caught embezzling accuses Reverend Delman Chase, Deputy Chief Garland’s pastor and mentor, of paying off teenage girls he sexually abused.
- 19
Solving for the Unknowns
A baker arrested for drunk driving realizes a man she met on a dating app drugged and raped her, and SVU finds a bartender who mixes custom sedatives for several men.
- 20
The Things We Have to Lose
As Sir Tobias Moore’s long-delayed trial nears, the squad struggles to keep his accusers on board while Tamin hunts a rapist who walked free, Rollins tries to rescue a troubled teen and Fin confronts an abusive father.