Law & Order: SVU Finale - Why Did Fin Cover for the Person Who Shot Him?

Get all the details on why Fin covered for the person who shot him in the SVU finale

Tonight's Law & Order: SVU season finale was action-packed, putting several show favorites in the line of fire. One particular sequence though was rather unexpected, as it involved beloved SVU favorite Fin Tutuola being shot. That would be shocking enough, but the person who shot Fin was also surprising, as it was a young boy named Toby who had never shot a gun before. After taking the hit, Fin would cover for him and try and fix the wound himself, only to end up on the floor and taken to the hospital. So the question is, why did he cover for him in the first place?

When Fin is ambushed by Toby, Toby has a right to be angry, as his father is in jail for a crime he didn't commit. Fin tells Toby he knows about his father and that they are trying to help him, but Toby keeps holding the gun in front of him and aiming it at Fin. Fin finally gets him to stop for a second and then rushes in to try and take the gun, but Toby gets a shot off, hitting Fin in the shoulder.

Toby switches from angry to scared after the gun goes off, telling Fin he didn't mean to. Fin tells him to drop the gun and go, telling Toby he was never there and no one will know. Toby runs away and Fin goes to work on his wound, and despite his effort, he's still in bad shape.

That doesn't keep him from heading to the evidence lock-up to turn in the gun, saying that he was approached by someone on the street who wanted him to turn it in for them. Fin then starts to lose balance and the other officer sees blood coming through his shirt. Fin hits the floor and then we see him in the hospital when Olivia Benson comes in to greet him.

Fin comes clean with Olivia (for the most part), and then later the SVU team is able to finally get Toby's father out of prison and cleared. Fin goes to greet him with Toby, and it's a welcome and heartfelt reunion. Before they leave Fin talks to Toby and leaves him with a message. "I don't want to see you in a place like this. if I ever find you touching a gun, you're going to wish you hadn't. Now get out of here." Toby gets the message and then leaves with his father.

Fin looks to have gotten his point across, and hopefully, things for Toby and his father get better from here. There was more good news in the episode too, as Olivia got to visit Maddie for her birthday celebration, leading to a heartwarming exchange between Olivia and Maddie's mother.

What did you think of the SVU season finale? You can talk all things Law & Order with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!