Does the name Mariska Hargitay ring a bell? I bet not. But these two words might, Olivia Benson. If you watch crime related television, then you must know who I’m talking about. The Queen and old hand of “Law & Order” SVU. I honestly often wonder, how bad is Liv’s back pain from carrying the entire show on her back? Just kidding, the other main characters are truly just as amazing. Benson is the “O.g” of the crew. She has premiered on the first season of the series called “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (which is also just known by “SVU”) and has continued to play the main role ever since. The series is about various sexual assault cases that are inspired by real incidents. For example, season 18 episode five is about a college boy who sexually assaults an unconscious female. He seems very ritzy and ends up being found guilty but gets a lenient sentence. This episode is inspired by the well-known case of Brock Turner. There are other episodes that are inspired by very well-known cases such as the gypsy rose case and plenty of others. This show brings so much awareness to cases and situations that occur that aren’t as well-known as well. For instance, I remember watching an episode where there was a rape claim from a woman in jail. Her daughter told detective Benson and Benson goes undercover as an inmate to inspect the situation further. This episode was nail biting. Benson is nearly sexually assaulted by an officer without any form of backup or weapons. The officer lures her into the basement and attempts to harm her. She tries her best to fight him off although he has weapons and extra things such as cuffs. They are also in a secluded area where no one else goes. Luckily, Benson’s crew gets there in time but a little too late. This episode was INSANE to say the least. The intensity and emotion in the episode was crazy. Her acting made it very realistic.
Benson is truly so amazing at playing her role. Her acting is very natural and emotional. There are times where I question “Is this reality TV?” but it is not. Its Benson, doing what she does best. A few of her skills that make her best in the show is her physically fighting and not having a stunt double doing the work for her. Seeing the actress sweat, cry and fight at a realistic angle makes the episode very realistic and so much better. Her face expressions and tone of her voice in scenes are spot on. She acts with compassion. She can act with fear, sadness, anger and relief. Those are typically the emotions expressed throughout the series. Benson plays a special victims unit detective and eventually works her way up to being Captain of the unit. She has been a part of this series that is now going on twenty-two seasons. She is very well known for her iconic role as Captain Benson and never less. She posts photos on social media of her spending time together with other cast members not even on set. She is great at what she does, and I can’t express that enough. I’d highly recommend for anyone to watch this show. Its available on Hulu and regularly places on ION television and more.
Note on audience: I chose to discuss Mariska Hargitay’s role as an actress on the show SVU because I feel like the show doesn’t have the recognition it deserves. I believe that my intended audience is crime tv lovers, but this could also be intended for those trying to find a new show in general. This will be great for those who are trying to find a show that they can binge watch for a long time. Considering that this show has 22 seasons this could very well be intended for binge watchers.
