‘Law & Order: SVU’: Ranking 8 Best Detectives

While the longevity of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has helped the show stand out even among the Law & Order series, the show still has a rotating cast. But the show also has a big, irreplaceable heart in the form of Mariska Hargitay‘s Sgt. Olivia Benson.

For most of SVU‘s run, it appeared that the show could not survive without its two most popular detectives, Benson and Christopher Meloni’s Elliot Stabler. But it has been eight seasons since Stabler’s final appearance and the show will be back for its ninth this fall.

Over the past two decades, Benson has worked with more than a dozen detectives and assistant district attorneys.

With the show preparing for a record 21st season and several episodes of Season 20 left, here’s a tanking of the eight best detectives in SVU history.

Photo credit: NBC

8. Dominick Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino)

Carisi is the most recent addition to the “law” side of the series, making his first appearance in the Season 16 premiere. Played by Peter Scavanino, the character took awhile to fit into the SVU formula, but has built a rapport with Kelli Giddish’s Amanda Rollins. It appeared that Carisi was on track to become the first SVU detective to move to the “order” side, as he is a law school graduate. However, he chose to stay with the NYPD and references to his law career dreams have become few and far between.

7. Brian Cassidy (Dean Winters)

Dean Winters’ Detective Brian Cassidy only appeared in the first six episodes of the series, and was portrayed as a newcomer to the SVU division. He was paired with Richard Belzer’s Munch, but having two sarcastic detectives working together did not quite gel. Winters left for other commitments and did not come back until Season 13.

Most recently, we learned the in-universe explanation for Cassidy’s departure – he was molested as a child and SVU cases came too close to home for him. Cassidy proved to be a much better character in his recent appearances compared to his brief tenure as a regular SVU detective.

6. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish)

At a time when a home life is reserved for Benson, Kelli Giddish’s Amanda Rollins is one of the few detectives allowed to have one seen on the screen. The former Atlanta detective gave the series a much-needed shake-up, providing a new P.O.V. in the precinct. Rollins also has two children now from different fathers and a very different personality than Benson. Over time, the two have learned to work together. In Season 20, we’ve seen the two frequently interrogate suspects together.

5. John Munch (Richard Belzer)

The cynical Munch, played to perfection by Richard Belzer, debuted on NBC’s Homicide: Life on the Streets, which was set in Baltimore. By the time Munch retired in 2014, Belzer had played the character on 10 different shows on five networks. Munch was obsessed with conspiracy theories and his personality surprisingly worked well with Ice-T’s Fin. It was tough to see the character leave, but Ice-T has taken over the role of “detective who takes everything with a grain of salt.”

4. Nick Amaro (Danny Pino)

Rollins and Danny Pino’s Nick Amaro were introduced in the same season, as replacements for Stabler. Thankfully, both Amaro and Rollins became their own characters, who brought in their own fans. Pino was coming off the success of CBS’ Cold Case, so he was more than up to the task of being in another cop drama. Like Rollins, Amaro also had a complicated home life, and wound up leaving the SVU to care for his children in California.

3. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T)

Where would SVU be without Ice-T’s one-liners? It simply would not be SVU as we know it today.

Fin came in at the start of Season 2 and has been an irreplaceable part of the show. Amazingly, we know very little about Fin’s home life and it was not until Season 20 that we finally saw the inside of his apartment. Hopefully, we can find out more about what makes him tick other than mentions of his ex-wife, son and nephew.

2. Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni)

For years, it was impossible to think of SVU without Christopher Meloni’s intense performance as Elliot Stabler. His sudden departure at the end of Season 12 is still an unforgettable shocker and fans have long hoped he would finally come back for a proper goodbye. While Meloni and Mariska Hargitay often make cameos on each others’ Instagram and Twitter pages, it seems unlikely. Still, he left behind an incredible body of work on the show. Sadly, he was only nominated for an Emmy once during SVU’s run, back in 2006.

1. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay)

No other Law & Order show — or any other crime drama in the history of television — has had a central character like Sgt. Olivia Benson. Mariska Hargitay’s incredible performance has made it hard to see where Benson ends and Hargitay begins, especially as Hargitay takes on many of the real-life causes Benson fights for on the show. Hargitay won a Golden Globe back in 2005 and an Emmy back in 2006, but how she’s only won one of each is still a mystery. No actor or actress has played a character as well as Hargitay so consistently.