The record-breaking show Law and Order: Special Victims Unit is currently on its 25th season. Since season 21 SVU has been the longest-running primetime live-action series in television history. Throughout the 25 seasons, viewers have grown to love the diverse cast of detectives, defense lawyers, and assistant district attorneys.
It’s hard not to develop favorites after 24 years of watching detectives chase suspects on the streets of New York and ADAs argue their cases in court. Captain Olivia Benson will always be the best police officer the show has ever seen, but other squad members deserve recognition, too.
Excluding Queen Olivia, here are the top 3 SVU squad members.
#3: Sergeant Mike Dodds. SVU Hasn’t Been the Same Without You.
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Mike Dodds, played by Andy Karl, had a short but memorable time on the show. He was introduced in season 17 as the son of Deputy Chief William Dodds and thrown into some of the most outrageous cases, like a Catholic church cover-up involving teenage girls.
Dodds was dedicated to SVU from his first day on the job. Right away, viewers knew he cared less about wanting to impress his father and more about justice for the victims. Dodds was immediately respectful to Olivia as his boss and was eager to learn from her. He never took advantage of the fact that his father held a position of power.
On Sergeant Dodds’s last day of work at the end of season 17, he and Olivia were helping the wife and kids of an abusive corrections officer escape when the CO created a hostage situation and shot Mike. He had a stroke in the hospital that left him brain dead and he passed away. 8 seasons later, he’s still one of the best squad members SVU has ever had.
#2: Detective/Future ADA Dominick Carisi, Jr
Peter Scanavino plays the talkative and humorous Italian detective who joined the SVU squad in season 16. His first case was breaking up a trafficking ring and he wasn’t as gentle or professional with victims as Olivia would have liked. As he spent more time on the squad and worked with Olivia, he learned how to better approach victims and quickly became a fan favorite.
When he’s not cracking jokes and making sarcastic quips, he’s fighting for justice. Before he became an ADA, he would be the first to chase down a bad guy in his polished suit and cleverly interrogate suspects. As an attorney, he passionately proves his cases with his impressive knowledge of the law.
Carisi is easy to root for. All he wants is to put criminals behind bars and enjoy life with his wife, former detective Amanda Rollins, and their three kids. It doesn’t hurt that he’s handsome too.
#1: Detective Amanda Rollins
From season 13 to 24, Kelli Giddish graced the screen as Amanda Rollins. She was introduced as a transfer from Georgia and brought empathy and intelligence to the SVU squad. Rollins’s issues like gambling, addiction, and PTSD made her more relatable to fans.
Even though she had dangerous things happening in her own life, she was relentless in her pursuit of answers in every case. She felt for the victims and went above and beyond to make them feel safe again. She went as far as to break into a house where parents were abusing their children with no regard for the rules.
Olivia was sad to lose such a committed detective and friend, and so were the viewers.
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