'Law & Order: SVU' season 18, episode 8 spoilers: a missing boy's case prompts Benson to re-examine her own life choices as a mother

A brand-new week means a brand-new case for Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and her team to tackle. This time, a missing boy gets the spotlight prompting the veteran Manhattan officer to re-evaluate her own life as a mother in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

The episode titled "Chasing Theo" would have the squad in precinct 16 diving into a case about a young boy suddenly disappearing after his mother threw a party at their own home. The case gets a complicated spin upon finding out that what appears to be just a normal party is a drug-induced one full of junkies partaking in the supposed gathering. As it turns out, the boy was comfortably lounging in his own room when he suddenly goes missing without any trace of having been abducted. Given that there are no signs of a struggle in the crime scene although there is a hint of blood on the table, and testimonies of the boy's mother saying he was sound asleep that it is hard to determine how the supposed kidnapping had taken place.

The promo clip for the installment shows Benson and Rollins (Kelli Giddish), ironically both mothers, scouring the New York apartment and talking to the mom of the child. And despite having illegal drug paraphernalia scattered throughout the house, the mother in question was adamant that she would never do anything to harm her boy. Noticeably toward the end of a clip, an intense cat-and-mouse chase ensues.

Not much has been given in terms of where the narrative will eventually go at this point. But it seems like the case will resonate on Benson who is raising Noah for a couple of years now following his adoption. It is no secret that in the past couple of seasons, Benson's boy had been in a few tricky situations — something that the lieutenant has always struggled to come to terms with. And with Tucker's (Robert John Burke) continuous pondering of what could life out of the service could possibly be, it seems that "SVU" is tapping into the agent's struggle in balancing her work and personal life.

"Law & Order: SVU" season 18 airs every Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET on NBC.