This Character’s Absence From ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Points to a Larger Issue Within the Show

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 26, Episode 20.When Law & Order: Special Victims Unit first began, it was simply a spin-off of the mothership series Law & Order meant to focus on the sex crimes unit. And for the first season, that’s how it remained, but as early as Season 2, SVU began to delve deeper into its characters and explore their lives outside of the job. The main focus being Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler’s (Christopher Meloni) personal lives, of course, with certain cases intertwining into their storylines. SVU was already tasked with heavy cases, so the added personal element allowed the show to really get under the audience’s skin and stake its claim. It’s not always comfortable, but it’s important, and the stories that SVU has continuously told over the years have made it a mainstay piece of television.

However, in recent years, the show has seemingly pivoted away from the personal storylines that made it resonate with fans. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when the switch happened, but one character’s recent reappearance serves as a glaring reminder that SVU has lost sight of what made it stand out.

Noah Provided a Major Shift in ‘SVU’

After Stabler departed the series after Season 12, SVU shifted the spotlight to Benson, and so it has remained ever since. But the show really shifted in Season 15 with the episode “Wednesday’s Child” when she found a baby boy in a dresser drawer of a motel room. When no one came forward to claim him as their child, he was put into foster care, where he was bounced from home to home until his biological mother was finally found. Unfortunately, she died before she could regain custody of him, despite her attempts to get clean and step up as a parent figure. He’s nearly put into foster care again, but the judge notices Benson’s continued interest in the baby and asks if she would be interested in fostering him instead, assuring Benson that she has a good feeling, and in a year she can choose to adopt him officially if she’d like. The rest is history.

Benson’s journey into motherhood completely shifted the series, as did Noah’s (Ryan Buggle) character. He became a pivotal part of Benson’s character as we saw her blossom and heal her own childhood trauma by being the best mother she can be for Noah. Their relationship is a beautiful thing to see unfold, and even on his own Noah is an integral piece of the show. That is, until Season 26 apparently, because he’s been absent for much of the season and has only recently returned for the first time since Season 25. It’s a joyous moment to see him again, of course, but it’s also a sour reminder that the show has majorly sidelined his character, and in turn, put Benson — and all other personal stories — on the back burner.

Noah’s Return to ‘SVU’ is a Reminder the Show Needs to Get Back to its Roots

Many fans have been wondering where Noah is this season, so it was nice to see him again, but his scenes were very brief and got lost in the rest of the episode. It’s not the same as it used to be, where we’d get multiple scenes with Benson and Noah, whether it be the pair bonding, or Noah confiding in her. Either way, it was always a scene that added something to the story. Now we barely get any of those scenes with any character. It would be fine if the show hadn’t spent so many seasons shifting in that direction. But it made the switch so early on that it feels hollow without those added stories now, which is not how a show about a Special Victims Unit should feel.

Not every storyline has to be about Benson either (though she is the clear fan-favorite), it would be nice to dive into more of the new squad members since we don’t know as much about them. Sure, we know Fin (Ice-T) since he’s been at the unit since Season 2, but Benson has brought in new squad members that we know hardly anything about. The show should dig into them like it did with the old characters, even if it’s just details to help color them in, like how we learned about Novak’s (Diane Neal) fiancé and her history with him, or how we learned about Rollins’ (Kelli Giddish) gambling addiction. These sorts of details make the characters human and allow us to relate to them and sympathize with them, which is important in a show like SVU where the characters are detectives investigating horrific and emotional cases.

Noah’s absence and sudden, unacknowledged reappearance are a reminder of how far the show has strayed from the path it carved out. SVU has never been a show that shies away from heavy topics or deep storylines, so the sudden tone shift in terms of characters and backstories has been jarring, to say the least. That’s not to say it needs to focus solely on personal stories, because at the end of the day, it’s still a procedural, but a little return to its roots wouldn’t be such a bad thing. It would actually be pretty great. SVU was a much better show because of how it blended both elements, and it’s time it gets back to that balance.

Watch all episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on Hulu in the U.S.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Release Date

September 20, 1999

Showrunner

Robert Palm, David J. Bruke, Neal Baer, Warren Leight, Rick Eid, Michael S. Chernuchin, David Graziano

Directors

David Platt, Jean de Segonzac, Peter Leto, Alex Chapple