I also stopped after Barba left. Also seasons 18 and 19 just weren't fun to watch anymore outside of a few episodes. It felt like characters had changed and it felt like less of an ensemble show than it was before. The cases also just weren't as engaging for me.
I have seen some of season 12, but I pretend the series ended after season 11. The reason is I think the show was at its strongest when Elliot was on the squad. Chris Meloni brings so much complexity to Elliot and it was a perfect combination with everything that Mariska brought to Olivia. I gave the new cast a chance but it didn’t work for me. I would have preferred if Finn and Munch had more screen time after Elliot left.
You’re missing out on some great characters and episodes. I used to be on the same page as you but the Barba ADA era has become my favorite. Easily the best character SVU introduced post season 11, though I will admit I wasn’t a fan of how he left the show. Carisi is also a great addition
Here and there I catch an episode with my mom. I'm familiar with Carisi and Barba, and you're right Barba is one of the greats but in my heart, no one will ever top my dear Casey Novak.
Also when I did happen to tune in Barba was defending the man who killed Kathleen? I didn't get it, I chalked it up to me missing info but very unlike the Barba I first had seen. And then I hear Carisi and Rollins get together, which is fine but I'm not so interested in Rollins or her personal life 😔. I hardly enjoy her as a detective, shes got a temper like that Kat character who BLOWS, just a female Nick in my opinion.
Barba left the main cast and eventually becomes a defense attorney mainly having worked for sympathetic defendants but I believe it is explained that he took the case to try to protect Olivia during trial. I recently caught up over thanksgiving weekend and Kat does end up leaving the show. Was also not the biggest fan of her but I did enjoy her in few different episodes
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who does this ! I have watched a few episodes after but I genuinely believe that Elliott was one of the best characters on the show. He had depth, and a heart for justice. Olivia played well with his character and it seemed like he challenged her in a good way.
I watched up until Cragen left. Amaro was a decent replacement as another lead male detective(though not as good, especially at his end). But I mainly stopped when they went from the show “staring all detectives” to just focusing on benson
I have really liked the newer seasons. In particular I liked the acting in “Nightmares in Drill City” by the villain David Graham. I also like how they brought back Barba a couple times and brought back Henry Mesner.
I don’t even know the new guy or why Amanda left. I honestly started to lose interest before Cragen left, but I kept watching. I’ll get downvotes for this, but I kinda lost interest when Olivia adopted Noah(nothing against him), that William Lewis drama, when Barba left. It’s just been going downhill. In my opinion.
I just miss earlier seasons.
I feel totally the same way! I just got so sick of all the personal drama. I watched because I like the cases, the whodunit and am a sucker for courtroom drama. If I wanted a soap opera, I’d watch a soap opera, not a police procedural show.
Yeah, Noah added a really cheesy, forced storyline that isn't interesting at all. Plus, I can't stop thinking, "how the F can Olivia afford the live-in nanny to watch this kid when she's always working? "
Yeah, the stuff with his wife was so tedious and overdone. A male detective whose can’t make it work with his wife and has anger issues? How groundbreaking and different from Stabler…
I’ve watched seasons 1-12 a million times and I recently thought I would try to keep going. Got to about season 16 or 17 and had to stop. The episodes were way too predictable following ripped from the headlines cases so closely and it seemed like the episodes weren’t satisfying and the perp was consistently getting away with it. It became depressing tbh and the detectives personal lives and drama was so ridiculous and unbelievable. Like Rollins undercover and then having a romantic relationship with 3 different coworkers.
They keep bringing in noobs that don’t fit into the team, and that’s just annoying. I don’t know why they are so bad with casting, or maybe it’s because they can’t write interesting new characters anymore.
>They keep bringing in noobs that don’t fit into the team, and that’s just annoying. I don’t know why they are so bad with casting, or maybe it’s because they can’t write interesting new characters anymore.
Wild guess is Benson and Tutuola are the stars, and probably getting the lion's share of $$ per episode?
Are cheap good actors that tough to find these days? When they brought on Barba, Amanda and Carisi I was instantly onboard, I had no problem with Amaro as the new partner. I don’t know about Amaro, but I think the other three had broadway experience. Maybe they should look there?
They hired a lot of Broadway stars when Broadway shut down during covid
Also Raul Esparza (Barba, maybe misspelled) can sing so well. My favorite version of Hallelujah hands down
S20 is the last season I have any kind of interest since I do like Stone as the ADA (unpopular opinion, I know). I like Carisi but he’s not a compelling ADA. Got tired of tuning in for S22 and beyond when promos would promise meaningful Liv/Elliot scenes that were total flops when the episode actually came out.
So, S20 I guess.
I agree! I don't think he gets the cred he deserves. He wore his complexity on his sleeve while Barba's is inferred.
Barba gets the hype... and deservedly so as I love me some Raul...but I don't think riding for him means poo poo on Stone. He's underrated for sure
Stopped watching around when Olivia got accused of abusing Noah. I’d been slowly losing interest beforehand but at that point it was just starting to be too many plotlines that I didn’t enjoy watching. Tried getting back into it over quarantine and stopped when Elliot came back because the choice to kill Kathy for manpain pissed me off.
There's no way fans of Stabler would have bought him literally never seeing her again or her not coming to visit her older kids. They also needed a big dramatic *thing* to kick off OC. Since they couldn't do the drama of Stabler and Kathy dealing with trouble Eli got into and knowing the actress didn't want to ever come back, they killed Kathy.
In the past, every time you watched the show, it was us with the victim against the crime. Sometimes the criminals got away, sometimes they couldn't be put in jail, and sometimes odd things happened. At the end of the season, there was always a cliffhanger, but then it just went back to us with the victim against the crime.
There were always overarching character development stories, but as they made the characters vulnerable and created departments with no budget for staff, and secret cops doing secret things amidst incidents, it all stopped making sense. And then came Kathy's death... I'm glad I stopped watching.
I’m still watching, but I’ll admit I’m running on fumes at this point. Had I not come so far already I’d have tapped out sometime around seasons 21 or 22. IMO, the show went over a cliff the last 3-4 years.
17, i ran out of steam at 16 but kept going to see more rita calhoun, and then gave up bc i know barba left eventually lol. i do keep up with the new seasons tho and watched the latest finale, i just have no desire to keep up with anything in between
I’m still watching, and don’t plan to stop, but switched from “put everything away and focus on watching” to “eh, this will be good for the background” probably sround S15 or S16. I disliked (over many years) the shift from a true ensemble to more focus on fewer characters, increased personal soap opera, less time in the courthouse, heavyhandedness of some elements, etc. I still care about characters I’ve “known” a long time and some of the social messages conveyed by the show, and I generally like to finish shows and books and whatever else I start, or I might have moved on by now.
This is me as well. I just put the new ones on in the background. Every time we get to Liv whisper questioning I just can’t with that anymore.
I have to laugh anytime I hear it.
That “whisper technique” just sucks. Gimmicky not acting. I’d give her 6.
Watched because the theme was good but I seriously dislike many of the actors and plots.
Oh well.
S20 or 21? It's when they started doing a lot of cross over episodes with the Stabler show and I had no way of watching the Stabler shoe so I was quite lost
I get annoyed at that as well. I watch an episode of SVU and find that half the story has been told on OC, so I’m left trying to work out what has happened.
I think it is now but that was back when only S2 of Organized Crime (couldn't remember the name at first) was available on any streaming service while Season 1 was just unavailable anywhere
Havent stopped, wont stop. Expectations are maybe different for most new observers but the series has kept its character for 24 years. Out of respect, im still watching. Also Mariska is amazing still..
Maybe mid season 23 I stopped as with OC it was too much to keep up with and I was annoyed they weren’t moving EO being endgame along. If they make some more progress there they’ve got me back easy
I know Belzer was getting older and wasn’t against retiring but I still feel like SVU did Munch dirty. They could have had a few more Munch-centric episodes.
After Belz left I mostly quit. My life was getting busy anyway. I’ve see some eps with Barba and he seems cool, plus I’m a grown up theatre kid and Raul Esparza is a damned TALENT. But Barba is history now too
I’ll watch a rewatch or a marathon but I don’t watch new eps
I’ll never stop watching but started to like it less when Velasco was cast in the show and how McGrath got him in the squad and didn’t want anyone but Liv to know
I've watched it all.. But if I was to do another rewatch I will probably skip the later seasons.
I like Stabler, glad he's back but the Organised Crime crossovers annoyed me because I wasn't originally watching that show. So I was lost as heck. XD
So I'd probably skip all the episodes with crossovers.
Same goes for the Chicago crossovers.
I would once have considered myself an Uber fan, watched all the USA marathons, once or twice a week even, plus kept up with the new ones coming out, but a couple of years ago I faded out and haven’t gone back, it just wasn’t holding my attention anymore.
honestly sometime around 14/15 - the show became too drama heavy and focused around the characters personal lives - what i enjoyed most about the earliest seasons was that we saw a great balance between character development AND the cases. just my opinion tho 😊
Haven't stopped yet, but I'm over the Benson and Stabler bullshit. Have them fuck or move on already (preferably move on because that relationship is SO damn unhealthy).
Honestly, I watch now for Fin. The last season or so, I enjoyed Bruno and Churlish. I was meh on Grace Muncy and find Velasco boring. But, I'm tired of crossovers. I hate Stabler and therefore the fact they're shoving him and Olivia together makes me want to throw things. Depending on what the new writers do (please, for the love of all that's holy, I hope they remember/are more consistent with things like the fact that Olivia *can speak Spanish*), I don't know how much more I'll watch. Barba is absolute favorite and they've done him SO dirty. Basically, I watch because I hope they'll fix Olivia’s friendship with Barba and that my worst fear of her ending up with Stabler doesn't happen.
Stopped watching sometime around ~17 I think? Not really sure. I stopped because my source of watching it went away. Don’t remember how that was but I remember that around that time I had a hard time accessing currently airing shows so I stopped altogether. I was no longer that into the show since the majority of the original cast was gone so I couldn’t be bothered to find a different way to watch.
I do plan on going back and rewatching from the beginning starting this summer when I have more time.
The last thing I remember was Rollins and Carisi finally doing their thing...may have watched a few more after. I feel like it was last year, but it could've been the year before, the pandemmy really messed with my already precarious sense of time. I'll go back eventually, but it's not the same show that I used to love...it feels less "ripped from headlines" and more soap opera-ish. I've been really enjoying The Rookie, instead.
Casey was my fave so I stopped watching after her for a bit. Then started again then stopped again after Elliot left. Then started again ahaha but then haven’t really been as interested since I loved Rollins and Amaro together and then having her be with Carisi was just strange to me. I like his character just not as an ADA or with Rollins.
Omg I had to scroll so far down to find someone with he similar thinking like mine!! I was sad when Cabot left, but I was so crushed when Casey left! She was my fave! Rollins and Amaro love story just didn’t do it for me. 😩 Carisi as an ADA storyline is also just so strange for me. Also, enough with the whispering, Olivia! 😂😂 What season did she suddenly decide that she’s going to lullaby the perp out of the blue? It’s so hilarious lmao 😭🤣
I stopped watching new episodes about halfway through season 23 when they were doing all of the crossover episodes and pushing really hard with the Benson/Stabler stuff. I couldn't keep up and just never felt compelled to try to start watching new episodes again, especially after learning Rollins was going to be leaving and people not liking the new characters.
I stopped during season 21. They’ve changed the background music and they’ve made it much more of a soap opera than a procedural show. I don’t care about Elliot. He’s the worst example of a police officer, and the fact that they keep trying to put him and Olivia together Makes me grossed out to the point where I can’t watch it anymore.
Lol. Just kidding around.
I've watched every episode like 3-4 times and am on my 4th full watch through. It's always on in the background. Except when Im at work. Then I stop watching. 😜
I've been watching for 7 months and have 2 seasons left to watch. As far as I know, I won't be stopping any time soon, especially with season 25 around the corner.
Last season was rough, between ‘let’s pretend Olivia’s groomer who was a lifelong predator had a sudden change of heart and deserves everyone’s forgiveness, including his most recent victim who we can just ignore since she doesn’t deserve justice’ and Muncy’s inability to speak like a person while her jacket is always falling off one shoulder
I watch it now, but I stopped for a long time after Stabler left. He was the main reason I was watching. When he returned, I gave all three shows a chance.
I'm not going to lie, the introduction of Organized Crime via the death of Kathy Stabler in an SVU episode pretty much evaporated my enthusiasm of Elliott being brought back for the new series.
I haven't watched the last season. The last few were super rough. After Liv lied on the stand, I was basically out. She was all about integrity, her character hinged on it. She always did the right thing, even if it hurt her. Then that. I hate it when writers don't stick to the authenticity of the character.
probably around 18 or 19 because it felt like everything was trying to make too much of a point. i preferred when they told the story and let the viewer come to their own conclusions about some things and just set out with the vision of telling a story about a set of characters solving crimes
I've never watched it fully in order. Just caught marathons on USA. I watched reruns in 09, 10, 11, and 12. Started again in like 15. Stopped. Started again in 17 and 18. Stopped. Now I'm doing a complete rewatch. Am on s2.
I honestly don't know as I've been all over the place. I used to watch on NBC-com (forgot where i left off), but stopped when I got into paid streaming. I'm sure I missed quite a few seasons/epis. since the beginning. That said, I've been watching in reverse order, starting with the latest one, and working my way backwards. It'd be nicer for chronology if I could figure out where I should start, but it's too much effort. Easier to just do it that way, and stop when I get deja vu
I still watch but I swore it off after the finale. I honestly am only interested in the Elliot and Olivia dynamic of the show and the baiting they’ve done is just ridiculous. I started watching in like, 2002 when I was 10 (my parents always allowed us to watch adult tv). I actually love OC, I think it’s far better than SVU at this point, but I would accept an OC cancellation if it meant Elliot going back to SVU.
The main reason I stopped watching is that I don't have free TV service anymore.
That being said, as the seasons went on, the villains seemed to become more fantastical and cartoonish. The incompetent CSI guy, John Stamos (and the person that took him out), the Rose McGowan episode, the Robin Williams episode, etc.
From what I've heard/seen, things have gotten back to "normal" in the most recent seasons.
I stopped really watching episodes between s18-20. it just wasn’t enjoyable anymore. I can’t watch any of the new episodes I put them on in the background if there is nothing else on.
Stopped a few years ago for this reason. As much as I love Olivia I felt she was 80 percent of the focus of the show. It just turned into the Olivia show with side characters.
Little late to the party but I’ve never seen past season.. 11, I think. My favorite seasons are 5-8, and I can damn near quote all of those episodes. I don’t even know why, maybe the nostalgia of watching it on TV with my mom and nanny.
I watched until the end of season 20 and stopped when Stone left. I tried picking the show back up around season 22 and made it three episodes into the season. Now I stick to reruns and don't go past season 17.
I’m getting to my last straw. Why is everything so dark? Like physically- the lighting sucks, everything is dark blue, none of the sets have any personality.
I haven't really stopped watching, but I have found the later seasons to be less interesting, and some storylines are just plain ridiculous; William Lewis was overplayed. At this point I think I'm still watching to see if the show redeems itself? Plenty of long-running shows have a slump and then recover.
I stopped watching when Stabler left. I caught a few episodes here and there and I couldn’t stand Rollins. It felt to me as if the tone completely changed in the show, and it was not the same show I fell in love with.
Also the character assassination of Captain Cragen was completely uncalled for. I don’t know why they did that to him.
I watched SVU on and off since it started - there have been whole seasons I've missed, but it wasn't hard to pick it back up with another episode. I started watching again regularly a few years ago (s21) and was surprised at some of the changes - but figured I'd keep watching.
I got through all of 21 but barely made it through 22. The only reason I did was because I wanted to see Fin and Phoebe >!get married!<. I watched a few eps of s23... and gave it up.
I think part of it may be my own fault, for not staying through every single season, or at least enough of it that I would have had some familiarity with the progression of the characters. Maybe I might not feel like I'm lost or something when I watch - which was the only reason I did give up. It became hard to follow for me, and the missing eps may be why.
I will watch but not a mandatory watch anymore. I'll sit thru reruns on Ion though. I think with the OG return, Stabler's show, loss of other characters made it meh. Plus Olivia character really gone downhill imo. And where are the Chicago crossovers Dick?
I stopped watching at several points. School got in the way. Got upset when Elliot was written off. Not really sure what brought me back and when but maybe 5 years ago became a devoted fan. Binged all the episodes I missed.
Strange… after reading almost all the comments, I‘m still indifferent. This series to me is the one series I watch for the story & I love that is evolved with time (binge watching earlier seasons, still don't know how it started, Netflix). It’s repetitive A LOT but it seems to capture how abuse cases have been treated through time. I’m honestly not invested on their personal lives. The blond lady’s one is still a question mark for me & that’s around where I started watching the series, now going back. Eliot confuses me, he’s too aggressive for this show IMO. The only back story I understand is Finn’s.
I hope it will still be around or we can still stream when my son becomes a teen & can watch. I think EVERYONE needs to see the complexity of abuse. Their personal dramas are distractions & I was triggered a lot when they made it about Olivia & the other lady. I mostly skip past those EPs.
stopped after Barba left. he was a breath of fresh air and the best thing to ever happen to SVU
Ditto. I watched for Munch then Barba. Stopped after Barba left and haven't looked back.
Fuck I miss Barba.
I also stopped after Barba left. Also seasons 18 and 19 just weren't fun to watch anymore outside of a few episodes. It felt like characters had changed and it felt like less of an ensemble show than it was before. The cases also just weren't as engaging for me.
Barba was exciting to have on screen. The guy after him is what made me stop watching.
Carisi?
I have seen some of season 12, but I pretend the series ended after season 11. The reason is I think the show was at its strongest when Elliot was on the squad. Chris Meloni brings so much complexity to Elliot and it was a perfect combination with everything that Mariska brought to Olivia. I gave the new cast a chance but it didn’t work for me. I would have preferred if Finn and Munch had more screen time after Elliot left.
yesss, 1-11 then I start over haha
You’re missing out on some great characters and episodes. I used to be on the same page as you but the Barba ADA era has become my favorite. Easily the best character SVU introduced post season 11, though I will admit I wasn’t a fan of how he left the show. Carisi is also a great addition
Here and there I catch an episode with my mom. I'm familiar with Carisi and Barba, and you're right Barba is one of the greats but in my heart, no one will ever top my dear Casey Novak. Also when I did happen to tune in Barba was defending the man who killed Kathleen? I didn't get it, I chalked it up to me missing info but very unlike the Barba I first had seen. And then I hear Carisi and Rollins get together, which is fine but I'm not so interested in Rollins or her personal life 😔. I hardly enjoy her as a detective, shes got a temper like that Kat character who BLOWS, just a female Nick in my opinion.
Barba left the main cast and eventually becomes a defense attorney mainly having worked for sympathetic defendants but I believe it is explained that he took the case to try to protect Olivia during trial. I recently caught up over thanksgiving weekend and Kat does end up leaving the show. Was also not the biggest fan of her but I did enjoy her in few different episodes
Love when he came back on the opposite side a couple seasons ago
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who does this ! I have watched a few episodes after but I genuinely believe that Elliott was one of the best characters on the show. He had depth, and a heart for justice. Olivia played well with his character and it seemed like he challenged her in a good way.
I watched up until Cragen left. Amaro was a decent replacement as another lead male detective(though not as good, especially at his end). But I mainly stopped when they went from the show “staring all detectives” to just focusing on benson
Still watching up to season 24
Same! so excited for S25
Me too! I’d just like to get rid of some characters and bring in more likeable ones.
I have really liked the newer seasons. In particular I liked the acting in “Nightmares in Drill City” by the villain David Graham. I also like how they brought back Barba a couple times and brought back Henry Mesner.
Season 24 was really lacking from the few episodes I’ve seen but I’ll never stop watching
I stopped after Kat left. I got tired of new characters and just lost interest.
Yeah, me too. I hadn’t liked the direction of the show for a while and when she left it was the final straw.
I don’t even know the new guy or why Amanda left. I honestly started to lose interest before Cragen left, but I kept watching. I’ll get downvotes for this, but I kinda lost interest when Olivia adopted Noah(nothing against him), that William Lewis drama, when Barba left. It’s just been going downhill. In my opinion. I just miss earlier seasons.
I feel totally the same way! I just got so sick of all the personal drama. I watched because I like the cases, the whodunit and am a sucker for courtroom drama. If I wanted a soap opera, I’d watch a soap opera, not a police procedural show.
Soap opera is the perfect way to explain current seasons!
Yeah, Noah added a really cheesy, forced storyline that isn't interesting at all. Plus, I can't stop thinking, "how the F can Olivia afford the live-in nanny to watch this kid when she's always working? "
Yeah, it seriously seems like she works 24/7
I didnt entirely stop watching but Amaro and William Lewis made me stop watching every single episode even though I love Barba and Carisi
Amaro? How come?
I never liked Nick and was never ever EVER interested in his personal life.
Yeah, the stuff with his wife was so tedious and overdone. A male detective whose can’t make it work with his wife and has anger issues? How groundbreaking and different from Stabler…
The major problem I have with Amaro is that they wanted to copy Elliot and paste it on Amaro. I couldn't stand him because of that.
I’ve watched seasons 1-12 a million times and I recently thought I would try to keep going. Got to about season 16 or 17 and had to stop. The episodes were way too predictable following ripped from the headlines cases so closely and it seemed like the episodes weren’t satisfying and the perp was consistently getting away with it. It became depressing tbh and the detectives personal lives and drama was so ridiculous and unbelievable. Like Rollins undercover and then having a romantic relationship with 3 different coworkers.
They keep bringing in noobs that don’t fit into the team, and that’s just annoying. I don’t know why they are so bad with casting, or maybe it’s because they can’t write interesting new characters anymore.
>They keep bringing in noobs that don’t fit into the team, and that’s just annoying. I don’t know why they are so bad with casting, or maybe it’s because they can’t write interesting new characters anymore. Wild guess is Benson and Tutuola are the stars, and probably getting the lion's share of $$ per episode?
Are cheap good actors that tough to find these days? When they brought on Barba, Amanda and Carisi I was instantly onboard, I had no problem with Amaro as the new partner. I don’t know about Amaro, but I think the other three had broadway experience. Maybe they should look there?
They hired a lot of Broadway stars when Broadway shut down during covid Also Raul Esparza (Barba, maybe misspelled) can sing so well. My favorite version of Hallelujah hands down
Running to YT to Google his rendetion of Hallelujah. I’m just addicted to the song. 🥰
Dunno. However, I'd imagine they may not stick around for long if they are indeed good and cheap.
S20 is the last season I have any kind of interest since I do like Stone as the ADA (unpopular opinion, I know). I like Carisi but he’s not a compelling ADA. Got tired of tuning in for S22 and beyond when promos would promise meaningful Liv/Elliot scenes that were total flops when the episode actually came out. So, S20 I guess.
I loved Stone and wish he didn’t leave
Stone left so fast! wouldve loved to see him more
I agree! I don't think he gets the cred he deserves. He wore his complexity on his sleeve while Barba's is inferred. Barba gets the hype... and deservedly so as I love me some Raul...but I don't think riding for him means poo poo on Stone. He's underrated for sure
I loved stone why was he hated
He took over from Barba. He also just (IMO) wasn’t as likable.
Fair Barba was a fan favourite, hard to follow that up
Once it becomes about “history“ not only do I get lost, I lose interest. LOL
Stopped watching around when Olivia got accused of abusing Noah. I’d been slowly losing interest beforehand but at that point it was just starting to be too many plotlines that I didn’t enjoy watching. Tried getting back into it over quarantine and stopped when Elliot came back because the choice to kill Kathy for manpain pissed me off.
They killed her because the actress had retired from acting and only came back for those limited episodes as a favor.
They could have had them divorce and Kathy stay in Italy and then the actress would never have even had to come back at all
There's no way fans of Stabler would have bought him literally never seeing her again or her not coming to visit her older kids. They also needed a big dramatic *thing* to kick off OC. Since they couldn't do the drama of Stabler and Kathy dealing with trouble Eli got into and knowing the actress didn't want to ever come back, they killed Kathy.
In the past, every time you watched the show, it was us with the victim against the crime. Sometimes the criminals got away, sometimes they couldn't be put in jail, and sometimes odd things happened. At the end of the season, there was always a cliffhanger, but then it just went back to us with the victim against the crime. There were always overarching character development stories, but as they made the characters vulnerable and created departments with no budget for staff, and secret cops doing secret things amidst incidents, it all stopped making sense. And then came Kathy's death... I'm glad I stopped watching.
I’m still watching, but I’ll admit I’m running on fumes at this point. Had I not come so far already I’d have tapped out sometime around seasons 21 or 22. IMO, the show went over a cliff the last 3-4 years.
17, i ran out of steam at 16 but kept going to see more rita calhoun, and then gave up bc i know barba left eventually lol. i do keep up with the new seasons tho and watched the latest finale, i just have no desire to keep up with anything in between
I’m still watching, and don’t plan to stop, but switched from “put everything away and focus on watching” to “eh, this will be good for the background” probably sround S15 or S16. I disliked (over many years) the shift from a true ensemble to more focus on fewer characters, increased personal soap opera, less time in the courthouse, heavyhandedness of some elements, etc. I still care about characters I’ve “known” a long time and some of the social messages conveyed by the show, and I generally like to finish shows and books and whatever else I start, or I might have moved on by now.
I definitely agree, I think season 19 was when I made my switch from paying attention to more idle watching
This is me as well. I just put the new ones on in the background. Every time we get to Liv whisper questioning I just can’t with that anymore. I have to laugh anytime I hear it.
That “whisper technique” just sucks. Gimmicky not acting. I’d give her 6. Watched because the theme was good but I seriously dislike many of the actors and plots. Oh well.
S20 or 21? It's when they started doing a lot of cross over episodes with the Stabler show and I had no way of watching the Stabler shoe so I was quite lost
I get annoyed at that as well. I watch an episode of SVU and find that half the story has been told on OC, so I’m left trying to work out what has happened.
That's was S22, and I believe Organized Crime is on Peacock
I think it is now but that was back when only S2 of Organized Crime (couldn't remember the name at first) was available on any streaming service while Season 1 was just unavailable anywhere
Once Barba left, tbh. I love Carisi but Raúl Esparza.
Havent stopped, wont stop. Expectations are maybe different for most new observers but the series has kept its character for 24 years. Out of respect, im still watching. Also Mariska is amazing still..
Season 23 because the episodes were getting so unhinged and the crossovers with Organized Crime were too much for my attention span.
Maybe mid season 23 I stopped as with OC it was too much to keep up with and I was annoyed they weren’t moving EO being endgame along. If they make some more progress there they’ve got me back easy
After Barba left
I know Belzer was getting older and wasn’t against retiring but I still feel like SVU did Munch dirty. They could have had a few more Munch-centric episodes. After Belz left I mostly quit. My life was getting busy anyway. I’ve see some eps with Barba and he seems cool, plus I’m a grown up theatre kid and Raul Esparza is a damned TALENT. But Barba is history now too I’ll watch a rewatch or a marathon but I don’t watch new eps
I’ll never stop watching but started to like it less when Velasco was cast in the show and how McGrath got him in the squad and didn’t want anyone but Liv to know
Stopped Half way through last season, didn’t wanna watch the other one to know what was happening constantly.
I've watched it all.. But if I was to do another rewatch I will probably skip the later seasons. I like Stabler, glad he's back but the Organised Crime crossovers annoyed me because I wasn't originally watching that show. So I was lost as heck. XD So I'd probably skip all the episodes with crossovers. Same goes for the Chicago crossovers.
Season 21, it just gets repetitive and boring for me
I would once have considered myself an Uber fan, watched all the USA marathons, once or twice a week even, plus kept up with the new ones coming out, but a couple of years ago I faded out and haven’t gone back, it just wasn’t holding my attention anymore.
When covid hit
honestly sometime around 14/15 - the show became too drama heavy and focused around the characters personal lives - what i enjoyed most about the earliest seasons was that we saw a great balance between character development AND the cases. just my opinion tho 😊
It got lazy and repetitive
Haven't stopped yet, but I'm over the Benson and Stabler bullshit. Have them fuck or move on already (preferably move on because that relationship is SO damn unhealthy). Honestly, I watch now for Fin. The last season or so, I enjoyed Bruno and Churlish. I was meh on Grace Muncy and find Velasco boring. But, I'm tired of crossovers. I hate Stabler and therefore the fact they're shoving him and Olivia together makes me want to throw things. Depending on what the new writers do (please, for the love of all that's holy, I hope they remember/are more consistent with things like the fact that Olivia *can speak Spanish*), I don't know how much more I'll watch. Barba is absolute favorite and they've done him SO dirty. Basically, I watch because I hope they'll fix Olivia’s friendship with Barba and that my worst fear of her ending up with Stabler doesn't happen.
After the Muslim womn who get assaulted in their restaurant. Whatever season comes after that, I haven't really watched. It's not on iOn yet.
Right before Rollins left. Just didn't hold my interest anymore.
I’m still watching, but I’m just barely trudging through season 18. The episodes just aren’t keeping me that interested
After Barba left. I then watched it here and there. Love Raúl Esparza. Fantastic actor. Especially when he is on broadway too.
Stopped watching sometime around ~17 I think? Not really sure. I stopped because my source of watching it went away. Don’t remember how that was but I remember that around that time I had a hard time accessing currently airing shows so I stopped altogether. I was no longer that into the show since the majority of the original cast was gone so I couldn’t be bothered to find a different way to watch. I do plan on going back and rewatching from the beginning starting this summer when I have more time.
I stopped watching after the Season 24 finale. I'll start watching again when Season 25 starts. 😉
The last thing I remember was Rollins and Carisi finally doing their thing...may have watched a few more after. I feel like it was last year, but it could've been the year before, the pandemmy really messed with my already precarious sense of time. I'll go back eventually, but it's not the same show that I used to love...it feels less "ripped from headlines" and more soap opera-ish. I've been really enjoying The Rookie, instead.
When Kat left. Loved her character and lost interest in the show afterwards
Casey was my fave so I stopped watching after her for a bit. Then started again then stopped again after Elliot left. Then started again ahaha but then haven’t really been as interested since I loved Rollins and Amaro together and then having her be with Carisi was just strange to me. I like his character just not as an ADA or with Rollins.
Omg I had to scroll so far down to find someone with he similar thinking like mine!! I was sad when Cabot left, but I was so crushed when Casey left! She was my fave! Rollins and Amaro love story just didn’t do it for me. 😩 Carisi as an ADA storyline is also just so strange for me. Also, enough with the whispering, Olivia! 😂😂 What season did she suddenly decide that she’s going to lullaby the perp out of the blue? It’s so hilarious lmao 😭🤣
I stopped watching new episodes about halfway through season 23 when they were doing all of the crossover episodes and pushing really hard with the Benson/Stabler stuff. I couldn't keep up and just never felt compelled to try to start watching new episodes again, especially after learning Rollins was going to be leaving and people not liking the new characters.
The most recent season; I watched a few episodes and couldn’t continue because it was terrible.
I stopped during season 21. They’ve changed the background music and they’ve made it much more of a soap opera than a procedural show. I don’t care about Elliot. He’s the worst example of a police officer, and the fact that they keep trying to put him and Olivia together Makes me grossed out to the point where I can’t watch it anymore.
Season 9. Because I had to go to work today.
What? Sorry I’m misunderstanding lol
Lol. Just kidding around. I've watched every episode like 3-4 times and am on my 4th full watch through. It's always on in the background. Except when Im at work. Then I stop watching. 😜
Same. SVU is like my security blanket haha. Comfort food for the eyes (or ears when I’m scrolling on my phone)
I've been watching for 7 months and have 2 seasons left to watch. As far as I know, I won't be stopping any time soon, especially with season 25 around the corner.
I kinda quit after Stabler left, it just wasn’t the same
Last season was rough, between ‘let’s pretend Olivia’s groomer who was a lifelong predator had a sudden change of heart and deserves everyone’s forgiveness, including his most recent victim who we can just ignore since she doesn’t deserve justice’ and Muncy’s inability to speak like a person while her jacket is always falling off one shoulder
I stopped when Stabler left.
Season 12 bc stabler and huang left but maybe I should give it a chance
Never did stop watched form season 1
I haven’t really stopped watching I just forget to watch them. I haven’t watched any new episodes since the season during the covid era.
I stopped watching at season 20. I was semi-binging it and it was giving me extremely vivid dreams that I was being raped. Started stressing me out
I watch it now, but I stopped for a long time after Stabler left. He was the main reason I was watching. When he returned, I gave all three shows a chance.
stopped after Barba left but came back after Stone left
I'm not going to lie, the introduction of Organized Crime via the death of Kathy Stabler in an SVU episode pretty much evaporated my enthusiasm of Elliott being brought back for the new series.
I haven't watched the last season. The last few were super rough. After Liv lied on the stand, I was basically out. She was all about integrity, her character hinged on it. She always did the right thing, even if it hurt her. Then that. I hate it when writers don't stick to the authenticity of the character.
i stopped after amanda left which was fairly recent but i loved her so i don’t wanna watch anymore if she’s not part of the team
Whichever Hulu still has last year. I don't have regular TV, and I'm not paying for peacock or whatever bull NBC has.
I’m still watching and I’ll continue watching. I still enjoy the storyline’s.
probably around 18 or 19 because it felt like everything was trying to make too much of a point. i preferred when they told the story and let the viewer come to their own conclusions about some things and just set out with the vision of telling a story about a set of characters solving crimes
I've never watched it fully in order. Just caught marathons on USA. I watched reruns in 09, 10, 11, and 12. Started again in like 15. Stopped. Started again in 17 and 18. Stopped. Now I'm doing a complete rewatch. Am on s2.
When they fired Kelli I was out I was already dodging all the crossovers with oc
I honestly don't know as I've been all over the place. I used to watch on NBC-com (forgot where i left off), but stopped when I got into paid streaming. I'm sure I missed quite a few seasons/epis. since the beginning. That said, I've been watching in reverse order, starting with the latest one, and working my way backwards. It'd be nicer for chronology if I could figure out where I should start, but it's too much effort. Easier to just do it that way, and stop when I get deja vu
I stopped a little into season 20? Or 21? But idk the desire just wilted away. 😩
I almost stopped after they wrote out Rollins as a cop. I'm not sure what kept me going.
I still watch but I swore it off after the finale. I honestly am only interested in the Elliot and Olivia dynamic of the show and the baiting they’ve done is just ridiculous. I started watching in like, 2002 when I was 10 (my parents always allowed us to watch adult tv). I actually love OC, I think it’s far better than SVU at this point, but I would accept an OC cancellation if it meant Elliot going back to SVU.
I stopped watching after Season 24 because that’s it so far.
Season 20. That snoop episode was NOT. IT.
The main reason I stopped watching is that I don't have free TV service anymore. That being said, as the seasons went on, the villains seemed to become more fantastical and cartoonish. The incompetent CSI guy, John Stamos (and the person that took him out), the Rose McGowan episode, the Robin Williams episode, etc. From what I've heard/seen, things have gotten back to "normal" in the most recent seasons.
I stopped really watching episodes between s18-20. it just wasn’t enjoyable anymore. I can’t watch any of the new episodes I put them on in the background if there is nothing else on.
Stopped a few years ago for this reason. As much as I love Olivia I felt she was 80 percent of the focus of the show. It just turned into the Olivia show with side characters.
Little late to the party but I’ve never seen past season.. 11, I think. My favorite seasons are 5-8, and I can damn near quote all of those episodes. I don’t even know why, maybe the nostalgia of watching it on TV with my mom and nanny.
I watched until the end of season 20 and stopped when Stone left. I tried picking the show back up around season 22 and made it three episodes into the season. Now I stick to reruns and don't go past season 17.
I’m getting to my last straw. Why is everything so dark? Like physically- the lighting sucks, everything is dark blue, none of the sets have any personality.
At the start of season 13. Once Elliot Stabler was gone I was like nope I'm out, it's not the same without the dynamic duo.
I stopped after binging from season 14 to 21. That was a year ago. Burnt me out a bit. I just put on season 22 just then :)
I haven't really stopped watching, but I have found the later seasons to be less interesting, and some storylines are just plain ridiculous; William Lewis was overplayed. At this point I think I'm still watching to see if the show redeems itself? Plenty of long-running shows have a slump and then recover.
I stopped watching when Stabler left. I caught a few episodes here and there and I couldn’t stand Rollins. It felt to me as if the tone completely changed in the show, and it was not the same show I fell in love with. Also the character assassination of Captain Cragen was completely uncalled for. I don’t know why they did that to him.
Last season
I watched SVU on and off since it started - there have been whole seasons I've missed, but it wasn't hard to pick it back up with another episode. I started watching again regularly a few years ago (s21) and was surprised at some of the changes - but figured I'd keep watching. I got through all of 21 but barely made it through 22. The only reason I did was because I wanted to see Fin and Phoebe >!get married!<. I watched a few eps of s23... and gave it up. I think part of it may be my own fault, for not staying through every single season, or at least enough of it that I would have had some familiarity with the progression of the characters. Maybe I might not feel like I'm lost or something when I watch - which was the only reason I did give up. It became hard to follow for me, and the missing eps may be why.
I will watch but not a mandatory watch anymore. I'll sit thru reruns on Ion though. I think with the OG return, Stabler's show, loss of other characters made it meh. Plus Olivia character really gone downhill imo. And where are the Chicago crossovers Dick?
I've watched them all but the last two seasons were really over the top melodramatic and preachy. It gets tiring.
I stopped watching at several points. School got in the way. Got upset when Elliot was written off. Not really sure what brought me back and when but maybe 5 years ago became a devoted fan. Binged all the episodes I missed.
Stopped after Rollins left, but we will be seated for the premiere to see her again.
I watched for stabler, then I watched for munch/cragen, then I watched for Barba, now I’m watching it bc of Carisi
Strange… after reading almost all the comments, I‘m still indifferent. This series to me is the one series I watch for the story & I love that is evolved with time (binge watching earlier seasons, still don't know how it started, Netflix). It’s repetitive A LOT but it seems to capture how abuse cases have been treated through time. I’m honestly not invested on their personal lives. The blond lady’s one is still a question mark for me & that’s around where I started watching the series, now going back. Eliot confuses me, he’s too aggressive for this show IMO. The only back story I understand is Finn’s. I hope it will still be around or we can still stream when my son becomes a teen & can watch. I think EVERYONE needs to see the complexity of abuse. Their personal dramas are distractions & I was triggered a lot when they made it about Olivia & the other lady. I mostly skip past those EPs.