A layman's guide to Law and Order SVU
What is Law and Order SVU?: A show about a special victims unit in New York who investigate sex crimes. It has lasted for, according to my estimates, the entirety of recorded human history.
Where do I watch it?: You half-watch it when it's on while your mother and brother are in the room. If you are watching a full episode, it means you are currently 14 and have run out of Tivoed shows on your dad's TV you are interested in, like Psych or Aladdin.
What happens on it?: The cops in SVU investigate a sex crime. Sometimes it turns out to not be actually a sex crime, but they keep working on it anyway because dibs I guess? Often it is related to current events in the news, so Ice-T will fight Gamergate or Paula Deen will shoot Trayvon Martin in a particularly ill-advised media tie-in.
Who are the characters?:
This is Benson. She is the main detective lady. She is more level-headed than her partner. Taylor Swift has a cat named after her. Here is the cat
This is Stabler. He is genuinely unstable and has issues with sex criminals that mean he probably should have been kicked out of the SVU years ago, but he is Benson's partner except for the seasons where he is not
This is Ice-T. He is a rapper. Despite having been in the SVU since the beginning of recorded history, every crime is vaguely confusing to him, as he does not understand how someone could be a rapist or be sexually attracted to children. Nevertheless, he persists.
This is John Munch. He is Tommy Westphall's real father and the cosmic lynchpin that prevents the TV universe from collapsing. It is for his sake that God spares the world from destruction.
This is the chief. He is their boss. He hugged a monkey that came out of a basketball once
What about the various assistant DAs?: I don't care
When do the autistic guy and American national treasure Paget Brewster show up?: They are not on this show. They are on Criminal Minds
Why should I watch this show?: You watch it when you have nothing better to do.
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Comments
I was definitely kinda ehhhhhhh about the argument because I don't know if it's the responsibility of a show that's ostensibly about sexual assault to go out of its way to show positive mother/child relationships, but at the same time I also feel like if it's something that is considered worth pointing out in such a setting then it probably would be worth it for the producers to try every now and then
(disclaimer: I don't really watch SVU and I only have an entry level understanding of feminist praxis so I can't consider myself an expert in this subject area in any way)
Munch is the best character. Cragen is second best.
Benson is given too much spotlight and is too often shipped with Stabler. Stabler is not stable at all and should have been kicked out of the force years ago.
You're Under Arrest or Psycho-Pass?
> ignoring Casey Novak and Alex Cabot
not even @Crystal would do this
yntkt
also are you serious
jezebel.com/the-trayvon-martin-paula-deen-episode-of-svu-was-absolu-1440775748
Though to be honest I find myself uninterested in most of them and only really interested in L&O's subseries, specifically because of L&O's presentation being very dry/serious and very case-focused (rather than character-focused).
the joke
as opposed to things that actually happened
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead