Law & Order: SVU Season 22 is a portrait of people in crisis.

Over the course of a year, a restaurant owner named Vanessa loses everything to the COVID pandemic. Her business. Her marriage. Her mother, who dies of the disease.

Shortly after roleplaying dealing with a violent person suffering from mental illness, Benson decides to get takeout from Vanessa's restaurant and learns that Vanessa is holed up inside, holding a man hostage. She goes in and sends the cops who are about to shoot Vanessa away.

Vanessa has lost it because the landlords have found a loophole and are sending marshalls to evict her from the restaurant's premises. Benson uses her training to try to talk her down and gets her to put the knife down... but Vanessa grabs a gun. Benson gets her to let the landlord go and tries to keep talking her down.

Meanwhile, Rollins has driven her father back to New York to a rehab facility. She and Carisi visit and he assumes Carisi is her boyfriend and is super critical when he finds out he is wrong. Jim has a major stroke and may die. Carisi drops everything to stay with Rollins and support her through it, while Rollins is suspicious of her dad's new wife.

To find out what happens, watch Law & Order: SVU Season 22 Episode 12 online.