For 25 years, Olivia Benson’s fought the good fight, but it sucks when she loses a victim.

This strange, heartbreaking case was the perfect way to kick off the long-running series’ historic 25th season — but is this the end of Maddie’s story?

The SVU Family – Law & Order: SVU Season 25 Episode 1Maddie’s kidnapping happened at the same time as the baptism of Rollins’ baby. The celebratory scenes at the church and the bar afterward made Maddie’s disappearance even more powerful a gut punch.

I was surprised that nobody explicitly referenced the parallel.

Is Benson the Godmother? – Law & Order: SVU Season 25 Episode 1

It might have been especially terrifying if she knew all the details. Maddie’s parents did their best to protect their daughter, but her mother didn’t realize that putting a photo on Instagram could endanger her teenager.

That’s something many parents probably don’t realize. The media focuses on how important it is to teach children Internet safety.

Still, parents often use sites like Facebook and Instagram to share photos of their children with friends without being aware of the risks.

Caris and Rollins Celebrate – Law & Order: SVU Season 25 Episode 1

Maddie’s parents appeared to be headed for a split for the sake of drama after Maddie’s disappearance.

Maddie’s mother will never get over the loss of her daughter, but will Benson?
Olivia Benson gets attached to victims all the time as it is and is more like a social worker than a cop, often as invested in helping them heal as getting them justice.
A Stressful Case – Law & Order: SVU Season 25 Episode 1
Being unable to find a teenager taken by a pedophile would hit her hard no matter what, but knowing that she crossed paths with the victim will eat at her forever.
Benson claimed she had no idea anything was wrong when she spotted Maddie in the energy drink van.
But she was so lost in staring at it that Noah had to tell her that the light had changed, suggesting that, on some level, she had an instinct something was wrong.

She probably let it go because she wasn’t sure that anything was untoward and had Noah in the car with her, making it difficult to investigate.

Proud New Father – Law & Order: SVU Season 25 Episode 1

Either way, she spent the entire hour snapping at anyone who told her she needed to take a break, getting annoyed at the suggestion that she didn’t see Maddie, and racing against time to find the girl alive… only to get nowhere.
That’ll haunt her for a long time. But is this the end, or will a clue to Maddie’s whereabouts surface later in the season?

They may be dealing with a human trafficker — Hal’s description of agreeing to pay $8,000 for Maddie and then changing his mind sounds like it.
And if so, could a crossover with Law & Order: Organized Crime to bust a trafficking ring lead to finding Maddie alive?
That was a great callback to the earlier days of the series, which is precisely what I expect of the 25th anniversary season.