Law Order- Special Victims Unit - Season 16 -

Essential viewing for the Lewis trial, the adoption of Noah, and Barba’s finest ethical dilemmas.

Executive Summary Season 16 of Law & Order: SVU (airing from September 24, 2014, to May 20, 2015) marks a pivotal transitional period for the series. Following the explosive departure of long-time lead Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) in Season 12, the show had spent several seasons solidifying a new status quo. By Season 16, however, the cracks in that foundation become chasms. This season is defined by the systematic deconstruction of the personal lives of its main characters, a deep interrogation of the justice system’s flaws, and the quiet, painful evolution of Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) from a frontline detective into a commanding officer burdened by bureaucracy and trauma. Law Order- Special Victims Unit - Season 16

The final image of the season – Benson cradling baby Noah in her apartment, alone, with the city lights behind her – is a quiet revolution. After 16 years, the show finally allowed its protagonist a moment of private, fragile happiness. It is a season about surrender: surrendering to trauma, to bureaucracy, to love, and finally, to the hope that tomorrow might be better. Essential viewing for the Lewis trial, the adoption