Law and SVU Order 26 Review: What went wrong?

Let’s get something out of the way: I’m a ride-or-bar Law and order: SVU Fan.

I will be at Stan Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Odafin Tuva (Ice-t) for the rest of the time. I will cling to them through every new, slightly different but very similar squad room, and I will pretend not to know that the famous guest star is the bad guy as soon as I see him. Nothing gives me comfort as a trusted “chung-chung”-what is called a “soundtrack” on my flat-and I can watch the same chapter 25 times, in fact, without boredom. It is – strange, but not uncommon – like a weighted blanket for my soul.

However, the 26th season, which ended on Thursday, left May 15, I wanted more. I hesitated before saying that, because I hesitated before saying anything critical about anyone’s art, because of his art, and many talented people worked very hard on it. Also… 26 Freakin ‘seasons. That’s crazy and unknown and a victory to celebrate. But this season felt a little unmanageable.

I appreciated that the show started the mid -term with an episode called “First Light,” stars the great Amy Landecker As a Gisèle pelicot– Victim increased and just as great Lilan orser as her abuser. There is no more inspirational woman in the world at the moment than a pelicot, and her story could have played out over a whole multi-episode arc. Instead he was crushed into 42 minutes. If you need to slow down and take several episodes – maybe even a whole season – to unpack tragedy and the many ways in which systems and individuals can miss women (something the show often makes great), this was.

More recently, chapter left May 8 “aperture” for me to scratch my head. It was – I think – for a rich couple traveling around a flat that had a telescope, where the rich man spyed sexually assault, except that the couple were not rich, they like to look at flats; And while it was an attack, it was very different, very difficult to believe even-Sv A kind of attack than detectives first think. And also the episode was a kind of murder CEO United Healthcare Brian Thompson? (Side Note: Do so many people really have telescopes in their apartment? I’ve lived in New York all my life and no one I know with a telescope. Anyway.)

Over 26 seasons, the most memorable story lines of the series have been slow burns – clusters of chapters where drama plays out over a long period of time (the William Lewis Saga, who had two periods; Ganzel War Delia Wilson/Bart Ganzel, etc.); Any number of shortcomings once and for all see the righteous justice of Crypto Bros, racists, men’s rights operators and other d bags; And the introduction of such unclear and strange crimes they make you worry a little about the writers. (There is no one Sv Fan watched a third season White lotus and he did not immediately think, “Family Annihilator” as Timothy Ratliff set those poisonous smoothies.)

For a show that often tears of conspiracies from headlines, I can understand why things might be overwhelming. News in the most terrible timeline is moving fast – too fast for our nervous systems – and our attention spans is short. There is so much to cover. But recently, no story line has had enough space to breathe, and the result is often confusing.

Speaking of a place to breathe, I would like some of the actors who have come and gone in recent years. On May 7 that was announced Juliana Martinez assistednever clicked to his place during his same season as detective Kate Silva, and, more surprisingly, Octavio writtenO (Detective Joe Velasco for three seasons) would leave. They follow a long line of Blinc-and-you-fiss-them-recent managers: Jamie gray confidence. Demore Barnes. Molly Barnett. Phillip Winchester. The most exciting but quickly shattered development was when Jordana Spiro Going from Standout guest star playing a woman who was mistreated in 2022 to a FBI profile in 2024, then disappeared forever. (Back to Martinez for a moment: Who can blame him for not clicking? I’m sure any actor who plays a new female detective in the special victim unit comes in with a great deal of premature PTSD knowing how things have gone for so many ahead.)

But the cast shaking, as sad as it is, especially for Pisano, is likely to good news. On the heels of that announcement, it was revealed that season 27 would correct egregious error – dismissed Longtime cast member and fan favorite I got giddish. (It was difficult not to feel that every new member of the squad who came and went trying to fill a Rollins -shaped hole in the place, as were Rollins himself, who still exhibited as a guest star.)

But the best sign that things look for Sv came in April, when Close break that news Michele Pottery – Who has produced nearly 100 episodes – becomes (amazingly) Showrunner first woman of the show, replacing David Graziano. Playwright Warren Leight He served as a showwrunner for more than a decade, with a break between them, and supervised some of the best episodes of the series (including those that torn from the headlines, such as “Scorched Earth,” in 2011 which took inspiration from the Dominique Strauss-Kahn Cause, and “Strange Fruit,” on the theme of a body ahead of his time Britt’s lowerwhich was already Geiriog). I have a feeling that we are aiming for another golden age like that one in the hands of Fazekas and her writing partner, Tara Butters.

“I obviously haven’t done Sv And I still have so much responsibility there, which keeps me artistically. It’s challenging. In the meantime, I’ve also had these incredible moments, ”said Hargitay in May 2024 for staying on the show since her premiere in 1999.” I’m very happy and have achieved with my life right now. So, let’s see what will come. But for now, I’m very happy on the ride. “

This is all to say: SvTitan are you. I believe in you. Twenty -six are ancient in television years, in the best way. And I’m so excited to see where we’re going from here. (Also, try another pelicot gisèle arc. You – and she and us – deserve it.)

Each chapter of Law and order: SVU Available for streaming on Baun.