Law&Order:SVU

Law & Order: SVU has started its 14th season this year and it is even better than ever with new detectives and new cases to investigate. I first came across the episodes when I was up late one night flicking through the channels and saw that there was an episode of SVU just after starting so I decided to watch it and have been addicted ever since. I have the series recording on Sky+ and I think I have seen every single episode at this stage. The detectives investigate rape cases in New York so as you can imagine the scenes are graphic and the storyline are brutal but they keep you on edge throughout. Just to give you a glimpse of how this season started:

Picking up where the thirteenth-season final left off, Special Victims Unit boss Captain Cragen (Dan Florek) has woken up with a dead woman in his bed - the witness who previously approached Detective Amaro (the still vastly under appreciated Danny Pino). Cragen can't remember how she got there, but we learn through flashbacks that she wasn't as innocent as she wanted him or Amaro to believe. It's a classic setup, one that we've seen on cop shows before, but what holds our attention isn't the "what happened" but the "how is he going to get out of it?" 

Cast of Law & Order:SVU

It was a pleasant surprise to see Dean Winters reprise his role as Detective Brian Cassidy. He is an entirely different person now and the only thing that rings hollow with his return is Benson's renewed romantic interest in him, which seems more like a knee-jerk reaction than anything else, and doesn't add anything to the story. We've seen a number of short-lived romantic partners for Benson over the course of the series, most recently David Hayden (Harry Connick, Jr.) last season, and it feels as if the show ought to finally allow her a long-term romantic relationship.

Actors Mariska Hargitay & Dean Winters

Amongst all these strong performances, though, the winner here is Dann Florek, who continues to add more and more to the character of Captain Cragen. Cragen is probably the shows most stable character - both in terms of time served and how he is always there for his detectives through all the drama they have faced.  Having played him for the better part of twenty-two years, it's amazing that he hasn't tired of the role or run out of places to take the character.

Actor Dan Florek "Captain Cragen"

SVU​ writers do a good job of refreshing the audience's memory as well as keeping all their plot threads in order. With two major antagonists and characters coming in and out of the narrative, there's enough information to need a flowchart, but the two episodes never feel cluttered. The plot moves along at a fairly steady pace, and even though it doesn't always ring true, it's consistently entertaining and hints at places the season could take all of the characters. 

Detectives Benson & Stabler

While there's a lot of talk about the ​Law&Order​ formula, ​SVU​ it has still managed to flesh out 14 seasons without losing momentum or the interest of their audience. There is still plenty to explore with these new characters, and Season 14 should continue the momentum established by its predecessor. I know I am looking forward to the exciting episodes ahead. 

Catch Law& Order:SVU on Universal at 9:00p.m on Sunday nights. 

Until next time,

Liz X