Beware, spoilers!
I’ve been a huge fan of Law and Order: SVU for over ten years now. I have quite a few of the earlier seasons on DVD and spent a lot of my younger years binge-watching the show. Even nowadays, I watch SVU with my mom whenever I visit home and get super excited when I turn on the TV and find a marathon.
Season 19 has recently been airing on NBC, and I’ve been diligently watching it every week. However, I’ve walked away from every episode completely dissatisfied. At this point, SVU is just fundamentally different from what it used to be.
I think one of the biggest differences between earlier SVU episodes and the later ones, (especially this current season) is that they follow a completely different formula. More specifically, the new seasons have changed the game for how the audience is supposed to interact with the show. Earlier Law and Order: SVU episodes were diverse, action-packed and interesting. We would find out a crime was committed in the beginning, and we would go through the whole journey with the detectives – their first trip to the crime scene, following leads and discovering breakthroughs, questioning perps and then eventually trying to bring them to justice.
Now, most of these episodes opened with the crime happening. We see the perp and the victim and we know exactly what happened. There is no mystery; no case for the detectives to figure out. In many of the season 19 episodes (including “The Undiscovered Country,” “Flight Risk,” and “Intent”), most of the episode focuses around the detectives trying to convict somebody we already know is guilty. It’s much different than the diversity of earlier seasons.
Let’s also not forget the changes in cast. Even after Elliot Stabler left, I continued to watch the show for the many other beloved cast members, like Olivia, Finn, Munch and Cragen. Now, the only primary detective from the first season is Olivia, and the only one from the second season on is Finn. Although I still enjoy the new characters, it’s hard not to miss the old ones.
Also, the show used to focus on different characters, but now the only one that’s ever focused on in the show is Olivia. Don’t get me wrong, Olivia Benson is a bada** woman (and so is the actress that portrays her, Mariska Hargitay), but this current season has focused so much on her personal life – such as all of the crazy allegations made against her saying that she abuses her son, or when her son’s biological grandmother showed up and kidnapped him! Earlier seasons of SVU used to sometimes feature the families of the main cast members, but only when it advanced the plot of a particular episodes; they weren’t featured in every one. After awhile, it gets a little annoying to see Olivia’s family drama when I want to watch the detectives try to solve an exciting case.
Ultimately, SVU just isn’t what it used to be. True, it’s been almost twenty years since it’s been on the air, so changes are to be expected. However, it’s nothing like the earlier episodes used to be – and for that, I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to want to watch it.