Law And Order SVU
Sex Offenders And More

Law and Order SVU is a dramatic, dynamic television series introduced by NBC in September of 1999. It's the second of three in the long-running Law and Order television series created by Dick Wolf.

With riveting drama and acting, SVU depicts the inner workings and cases of a special unit of detectives in the New York City Police Department who specialize in solving brutal sex crimes.

Real Acting Works

Part of the program's success can certainly be attributed to its high-intensity acting and plot lines. Like its predecessor Law and Order, many are based on real world cases, current events, and famous but fictitious cases.

While episodes don't always end as they do in the original versions, nor do they claim to adhere to actual events at all, they certainly connect with their viewing audience by mirroring current and well-known events.

Another success factor is that writers of Law and Order SVU have evolved with their audience. They've skillfully incorporated current elements of daily life, such as Facebook and Ebay into the story lines.

Also unmistakable in influencing the success of SVU is its character-driven plot lines, which are notably more pronounced than in any other Law and Order series. Episodes don't just focus on the criminal investigation; they also wrap a good amount of story line around the characters.

Good, Bad Characters

The main characters are Detectives Stabler and Benson, a man and woman partnership who the audience comes to know, and often like, quite well. Their relationship is often volatile, and the two are always passionate, largely because of their deeply personal reasons for joining the Special Victims Unit.

Stabler has children and is a veteran of the police force who decided that it was his duty to both society and his family to hunt down and bring to justice the most heinous criminals out there. He has some of the traditional renegade bad-guy cop in him, and often will work around the system if he believes it to be in the interest of justice.

Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni)

Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay)

Benson was conceived when her mother was raped, and felt a duty to join the Special Victims Unit to protect other women like her mother and bring to justice the criminals that hurt them.

While Benson is not portrayed as weak, she is the more nurturing detective who works more directly with the rape victims. She can take a softer approach than her partner whose rage often bubbles just below the surface.

No Subjects Taboo

Controversial subject matter is certainly another factor that keeps Law and Order SVU at the top of the television ratings. The show deals almost entirely with rape and child abuse, topics many viewers find hard to swallow.

This is possibly why so much of the audience can relate to the angry break-all-the-rules vigilante justice of Detective Stabler. The cases that the two investigate, as well as the lengths they go to make an arrest, bring to light a number of real world relevant topics.

Topics treated include assisted suicide, gun control, statutory rape, and perhaps most commonly, what lines the legal authorities should or should not be able and willing to cross in the pursuit of justice.

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