Now I have always dismissed the Law & Order SVU as a bit of an emotional piece of drama designed at a particular demographic. However, I may have to stand corrected. It is rather good, much better than I expected.
Still, not half as good as Law & Order CI or classic Law & Order. But as far as good crime dramas go, coming in third is not the end of the world. It is much better than most of the other crime dramas we see on TV so one must tip one’s hat whenever one gets a chance.
A spin-off of the classic Law & Order show, SVU debuted on NBC in September 1999. The full name of the show is Law & Order, Special Victims Unit. It primarily deals with sex crimes and related matters such as murder. Unlike the classic L&W, the whole unit is usually focused on one crime and the resources are usually allocated as such.
In a sharp contrast to the parent L&W show, this series is primarily involved with the investigation of a case and the courtroom scene is often skipped. The typical episode begins with the discovery of a crime (usually of sexual nature). The SVU detectives are called and they begin the investigation and off it goes all the way to the end usually culminating in an arrest and/or confession.
The DA’s office has a permanent counsel assigned to the unit who deals with the legal ramifications. Although the courtroom is not always off camera, the Assistant District Attorney is not one of the stars of the show. The limelight is often taken by the detectives entirely.
The readers who are familiar with the early L&W show would recognize Captain Don Cragen, played by Dann Florek, who heads the SVU. He has not lost his dedication to justice works tirelessly to keep his unit from being interfered with. His independent attitude may have had rubbed the DA’s office the wrong sometimes, but he delivers and ultimately that’s what matter to the bureaucrats.
The prominent members of the unit are Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler, played by Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni. Fiercely loyal to the unit and to each other, these two are usually in the lead for an investigation. Benson is the child of a rape so she has a personal stake in the unit. She cares deeply about the victims and does her best to bring justice to their lives.
Stabler is the father of five children and is fiercely loyal to his family. Because he can relate to each victim so well, he is the perfect partner to Benson. His protective attitude towards his children is understandable since he sees horrors every day. He also relates to every child victim because he can identify aspects of his own children in them, giving him extra incentive to bring the perpetrators to justice. He once got into trouble because he confessed that he fantasized about killing people who abused children. He is also a very sympathetic man in an emotional crisis, just the kind of cop needed to deal with victims of rape.
The other two members of the unit are Detectives John Munch and Odafin Tutuola, played by the excellent Richard Belzer and Ice-T. They are by no means second fiddle and play their important roles in pursuing investigations in different directions. Munch is an intellectual and well versed in arts and languages. His wry and cynical attitude towards everyone, including victims and witnesses as well as perpetrators, makes him one of the most interesting characters of the show. However, one may say that his depiction is a façade for underneath all that cynical outlook and ironic humor, he is deeply sympathetic to victims, especially children. He used to work in homicide but transferred to SVU thinking it would be less emotionally taxing. However, he says, it is the sufferings of the victims that are alive that gets to him.
Tutuola used to work in the narcotics department but after his partner took a bullet for him, he transferred to SVU. He is a no nonsense cop with a penchant for flash of rough handling of perpetrators. This makes him an ideal contrast to Munch. Their dealings with the investigation and the differences with each other makes very entertaining character dialogues.
The show deals with many harrowing stories that can only be found in an L&W series and their emotional impact is indeed demonstrated by the popularity of the show. It has been running for more than 12 seasons and the writers and producers must have been doing something right.
However, I do stand by some of my criticisms of the show. It is often said that the emotional toll of the job means that the turnover rate in the unit is very high. Since we see the original cast remaining in place, I find it interesting that they have survived for so long and still manage to remain well adjusted. Sometimes the storylines seem contrived to allow the detectives to get emotionally involved. I think this departure from the trusted L&W formula of emotional minimalism makes the storylines vulnerable in terms of credibility. The stoicism of the police in the face heinous acts is what makes L&W such an immensely likable show. Mix in emotions and you may be courting disaster.
But I recommend the show without prejudice. It is immensely watchable and a good crime drama.
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