Law and Order: SVU
By
User:Kristenmollica @timeAndDate(1276178785)
"In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories." Clang, clang! This infectious introduction is the basis for the popular show, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, which began as a spin-off of the original ''Law and Order'', and was aired in 1999. SVU will enter into its 12th season in 2010. Although many will argue the original is the best, SVU sure does come close!
Meet the Special Victims Unit
Like that nice little intro describes, SVU deals with sexually based crimes and crimes against children. There are vast differences between this show and the original ''Law and Order''. For starters, the victim is not always murdered. Since we're dealing with sexual crimes, there are many cases dealing with rape, as well as child kidnapping and molestation. The living victims naturally become the center of the show and are prominent characters. Another difference is that the show isn't always so evenly split between the detectives and the prosecutor. A number of episodes will deal mostly with the detectives and maybe give a good 10-15 minutes for the trial. Quite possibly the biggest difference between the two shows is that we become emotionally invested in the two main characters. We do not have the rotating door of character roles in this series.
Although we had some minor character changes in the beginning, we can always rely on Detective Elliot Stabler and his partner Olivia Benson, Detective John Munch and his partner Fin Tutuola, and Captain Don Cragen. We also have the psychiatrist Dr. Huang, the medical examiner Dr. Warner, and two Asst. District Attorneys Alexandra Cabot and Casey Novak. Although we don't get bombarded with the mind-numbing drama that we see on other shows, we do get a look into their pasts and learn about their personalities as characters. Fans of SVU do ''not'' put up with character changes in this show.
The crimes of this show are not as easy to swallow as with ''Law and Order'': the grotesque nature of these crimes make the show both fascinating and repulsive. While the show may be shocking and controversial, it is also the very reason why most of its viewers watch the show to begin with. Because these crimes are so heinous, its fans watch intently show after show to see the 'bad guys' come to justice. It's a common thought that most people murder because of jealously or money, but trying to fathom why someone would harm a child or commit rape is something that the TV-watching masses can't always wrap their brains around. And that is the reason why most say SVU is their favorite.
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