Fans are loving Olivia Benson’s response to her son coming out on ‘SVU’

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https://www.today.com/popculture/tv/...-svu-rcna12247

Well, just when we thought it was impossible to love Mariska Hargitay's Capt. Olivia Benson any more, she gave us a pretty great reason to on Thursday night's "Law & Order: SVU."

At the end of the episode, her son, Noah (Ryan Buggle), who's about 8 years old, made a very big — and important — revelation to his mom: that he is bisexual.

His coming out happened after a cruel instance of bullying at the beginning of the episode, when Noah could be seen on all fours in a cage with a collar on being told by a boy named Hudson, who was filming the scene on his phone, to "bark like a dog."

Not long after, Hudson's mom stumbles upon the scene with Olivia close behind, and Hudson insists they "were just playing," and Noah says the same when asked by his mom if he's OK.

"Let's get you home," Olivia says, as she ushers him out of the room.

Outside, Olivia asks Noah to explain what happened, and while Noah remains silent, she follows up wondering why his neck is red.

"If I tell you, will you stop asking?" he replies. "Hudson's a jerk. He put his dog's collar on me, locked me in the cage and he wanted me to eat dog food."

"What!" Olivia says, as she bends down to speak to her son at eye level.

"I said, 'No,'" Noah explains. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Olivia and her squad catch a case, so the conversation with Noah doesn't pick back up until the episode's final scene when mother and son are taking an evening walk together.

Olivia informs Noah she suggested to Hudson's mom that the next play date be at their house instead.

She also tells him she talked to Hudson's mom about the dog cage incident, even though he told her not to mention it.

"Mom, I asked you not to! Hudson's just an idiot, no one likes him anyway," Noah says. "He bullies everyone: It was just my turn to be his target."

When Olivia asks why, Noah says he doesn't understand why and explains how Hudson went after other kids, including one who uses they/them pronouns whom Hudson started calling "a fairy."

"Then I said that I was bi," Noah tells his mom.

At this moment, the camera lingers on Olivia's face as she takes in her son's news. (Again we ask: Where is Hargitay's Emmy?)

"And that there's no shame in being true to yourself," Noah continues.

"That's right, Noah," Olivia, clearly proud, replies, acknowledging how her son stood up for himself as well as the other bullied kid.

"That is incredibly brave," she says.

"Well, it's my truth. I just hadn't told anybody before," he tells her.

"Well thank you for telling me," Olivia says, smiling at her son.

"No big deal," he replies. "It's not like I have a boyfriend or girlfriend, it's just not fair for anybody to be left out."

"I hear that," Olivia says while pulling Noah in for a hug and dropping a kiss on his head, "I'm really proud of you."

In that moment, Olivia let Noah take the lead in the chat and didn't interrupt or push him as he spoke his truth. She also treated their talk like any other conversation.

After the episode aired, Buggle opened up about his character's big moment and how Hargitay supported him ahead of filming.

"SVU" fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the scene.